BB003 - Principles and Practice of Hermeneutics

The discipline of biblical hermeneutics seeks to understand what is involved in reading, interpreting and applying the Scriptures and offer guidance for how those tasks are best performed.

In this unit, students are introduced to the general principles of hermeneutics, including the relationships between author, text, reader and interpretive community and the role played by biblical theology and cultural/historical context in our interpretation and application of Scripture. After a survey of these general principles, students then work through a series of different biblical genres or collections of books (OT Narrative, OT Law, OT poetry and wisdom, OT prophecy, Gospels/Acts, Epistles and Revelation), reflecting on what is involved in faithfully interpreting and applying each of them as Christian readers today.

Pre/Co-requisite Units: 

We recommend that students take this unit after they have completed at least two units of biblical survey (e.g. OT001/002; NT001/002) and before enrolling in preaching units.

Unit Exclusions: 

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code BB303 / BB503.
Unit exclusions: BB003-512, BB003-712, BB008-512, BB008-712
BB003-612 - may only be undertaken by students enrolled in the Bachelor of Divinity

Full Course Unit Descriptor:

For the full Course Unit Descriptor, please see the Australian College of Theology website