The Place of Theology in Theological Hermeneutics

This article attempts to analyse the recent theological interest in special hermeneutics by tracking the place it accords Christian doctrine when construing the context of scriptural interpretation. A typology is developed which both takes up and relativizes the distinction between general and special hermeneutics, arguing that while the church may welcome the renewed interest in its own peculiar reading practices, it need not lean too heavily on the philosophical and sociological commitments that underlie much of the interest in special hermeneutics. Theological hermeneutics will best serve the church when it attends from first to last to the divine grace that establishes and limits the church’s interpretation of scripture.