An important lesson to take away thus far from this large series that started as “Digging into the Old Testament” and has morphed into a Hermeneutics study is the necessity of receiving the Bible as history. Humanity, up to the age of the Enlightenment, effectively stayed beneath Scripture as a student at the feet of a teacher. Scripture had something to teach humanity about God and how He reveals Himself to His creation. As time moved on, a major shift took place. Reason reigned supreme, and even as world events, such as war, raged on and human optimism waned, reason never saw its high ivory tower demolished.
In the age which we currently live, reason has continued to march forward, now to the point that Scripture is effectively irrelevant for daily life. Kevin Vanhoozer diagnoses the problem in his book Is there a Meaning in This Text. He concludes that in today’s landscape, meaning of a text comes from the reader, not the author or the text. While existentialism tried to “transcend nihilism” ( Sire, Universe Next Door, 112 ), the tenets of nihilism claimed victory, and much postmodern thought falls in line. Vanhoozer notes the death of God rang the alarm bells that the author was far behind.
Jacques Derrida is the father of Deconstructionism and possibly the postmodern age. In quick work, Derrida argues that meaning and author are not connected. In fact, there cannot be one correct meaning. Words are only signs that point to more signs, which cannot move beyond or above to some higher meaning. Not even author’s intentions are understood to convey meaning. Instead, meaning is purely subjective. The text becomes a jungle gym for readers to exercise their own creativity. Readers create whatever meaning they desire.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO
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