Process Theology and Biblical Interpretation

By Ronald L. Farmer

Can one profitably read scripture from a relational or process point of view? Can one do so without discarding those portions of scripture that on first read seem problematic to a modern-day reader?

Ronald L. Farmer, a minister and New Testament scholar, thinks it is possible and can, in fact, be a liberating and stimulating experience. His Beyond the Impasse: The Promise of a Process Hermeneutic (Mercer UP, 1997) was the first book-length work describing this exciting interpretative perspective. He then wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation (Chalice Commentaries for Today, 2005), a book that is one of the most challenging for modern interpreters, and has been problematic throughout Christian history.

In the present book, Farmer explores the way in which we read scripture and asks us to be conscious of what we bring to the table and the ways in which we use it. He then examines various interpretive tools and approaches to help us understand the ways of thinking that contributed to their development. Finally, he uses Revelation 4 & 5 to illustrate the impact of how rethinking our approach to scripture can contribute to us receiving and applying scripture in new and dynamic ways.

This book does not propose new interpretative tools for Bible study but rather focuses on a process perspective that enables us to gain new insights from the tools that have been developed over the centuries. This book will be valuable to anyone who wants to study the Bible while being conscious of one’s own (and others’) biases and presuppositions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781631997471

Book preview

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Process Theology and Biblical Interpretation

Topical Line Drives, Volume 45

Ronald L. Farmer

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, Florida

2021

Copyright © 2021, Ronald L. Farmer. All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-63199-746-4

eISBN: 978-1-63199-747-1

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, Florida 32560

energion.com

[e-mail]

Dedication

To Patricia,

My partner in the adventure of life

Table of Contents

1 How Am I to Read the Bible?

The Quest for a Satisfying Hermeneutic 1

2 The Importance of Glasses:

The Power of Presuppositions 5

3 Building a Toolbox:

The Tools of Biblical Interpretation 12

4 Key Components of a Process Approach

to Biblical Interpretation 19

5 An Application of a Process Hermeneutic:

Revelation 4-5 25

Suggested Readings on Process Hermeneutics 38

Chapter One

How Am I to Read the Bible?

The Quest for a Satisfying Hermeneutic

Introduction

My first exposure to the theological and ethical use of the Bible was in the context of the fundamentalist Protestant church of my childhood. Almost weekly, I listened to biblically-based sermons espousing patriarchy and sexism, racism and speciesism, paternalism and unfettered capitalism, imperialism and militarism. Such teachings clashed with the youthful personal convictions I was formulating based on my own experience and educational journey, especially my high school natural and social sciences courses. Because the pastor stressed how important it is to accurately divide the word of truth (he loved to quote 2 Tim 2:15—from the King James Version, of course), I came to view the Bible and the church as agents of oppression. As is frequently the case when people are forced to choose between intellect and religion—a crisis all too common when the only form of religion known is fundamentalist in nature—I left the church.

Toward the end of my undergraduate college years, an existential crisis reawakened deep spiritual concerns that had lain dormant for almost five years. Fortunately, my former church had recently called a pastor who held more moderate theological convictions and was interested in reaching out intellectually to college students. I found his sermons to be generally compatible with my educational and life experiences—which confused me. You see, like the previous fundamentalist pastor, the new pastor also claimed that his sermons were biblically based. How could two pastors read the same Bible yet preach radically different sermons? Which pastor was accurately dividing the word of truth? Did the Bible promote oppression or liberation? Or to phrase my confusion succinctly, How was I to read the Bible?

I began to meet with the new pastor weekly in an effort to answer this question. Although I did not know the terminology at that time, I had embarked on a quest for a satisfying hermeneutic.¹ Little did I know that this quest would lead me to seminary, on to graduate school, and finally to a career as a professor of New Testament and an ordained minister of a progressive Christian denomination.

From the Beginning of the Quest to the Impasse²

Not surprisingly, my quest for a satisfying hermeneutic in many respects paralleled the history of modern biblical interpretation. Like a starving man moving along a cafeteria line, I spooned out generous helpings of all the offerings: one after another I immersed myself in the historical-critical method, classical liberalism’s progressive revelation, the Biblical Theology Movement, Bultmann’s existentialist interpretation, the New Hermeneutic, liberation criticism, feminist criticism, literary criticism, and finally deconstructionism. Imagine my disappointment when, after years of exploration and experimentation, my quest for a satisfying hermeneutic brought me to an impasse. Never mind that the same impasse had been encountered by many others who reflected deeply on the current