Anabaptist Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is a field of study that concerns itself with how a text (especially the Bible) is understood and interpreted.

In a thread last fall on MennoDiscuss I found this link to an article on Anabaptist Hermeneutics. I have referenced this article many times since, and am working through its main points with my Anabaptist History class. The more I explore the implications of what the author Stuart Murray Williams says, the more I appreciate the Biblical interpretation heritage that has come down to us. This way of interpreting Scripture feels as comfortable as a ratty old bathrobe, probably because its what I've seen all my life. Yet it is profound enough to file away for discussion with seminarians--if you count such people among your conversation partners.

If you look at the article and read heavy material in the same way that I do, you may want to skip directly to the main points, which are listed at the beginning of part B. After you see where he's going with it, the introduction makes a lot more sense. Most of the remainder of the article is a discussion of the main points.

I am listing the main points below with the material following the dash in each numbered point providing a very brief off-the-top-of-my-head summary of that point as I understood it.

(1) The Bible as Self-interpreting--Any specific Scripture can be better understood through knowledge of and reference to other Scriptures. Each part harmonizes with the whole.

(2) Christocentrism--Christ is at the center of Scripture. The Old Testament points forward to Him, and the New Testament reveals Him.

(3) The Two Testaments--We understand the Old Testament through the lens of the New.

(4) Spirit and Word--The Spirit brings the Word to life. Lacking a proper respect for the Word, people can justify all kinds of excess by claiming the motivation of the Spirit. Lacking the work of the Spirit, the Word has little more life than any words on any paper.

(5) Congregational Hermeneutics--Understanding of Scripture comes by active participation in a brotherhood of believers--with strong relationships a prerequisite. This also provides the "staging area" for the practical outworkings of Scriptural norms.

(6) Hermeneutics of Obedience--People grow in their understanding of truth by being obedient to the truth they already understand.

There. Isn't that sensible and balanced?

Perhaps it is cold and calculating of me to reduce it to these terms, but (Challenge me if you wish.) I think most people from other backgrounds who don't make it in Anabaptist congregations either don't get some part of the Anabaptist hermeneutic, or the other members of their congregation don't get it.

Although I know almost nothing of Williams, the author I'm quoting here, I take him to be a careful observer rather than an "authorized articulator" of the tenets of Anabaptism. That too is a good Anabaptist tradition--connecting deeply with what is and what it means rather than operating from a position of lofty academic or ecclesiastical authority.

All of us who are ordinary Anabaptists can celebrate the presence of those among us who use their gifts to illuminate truth and help unite us in affirming it. God bless Stuart Murray Williams for doing so.