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 HERMENEUTICS

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HERMENEUTICS

incomplete and infected with error; it was on this account that St. Augustine (d. 430) wrote his work " De doctrina Christiana libri quatuor", in which lie treated the rules of interpretation more satisfactorily than had ever been done before his time. Hermeneu- tic principles may be found scattered also in other works of the great African Doctor, e. g., in his "De Genes.", liis "Exposit. Psalm.", and his "De civit. Dei". Isidore of Pelusium (d. about 440-4.50) left letters explaining the hermeneutic principles of the School of Antioch, and also a work entitled "De interpretatione divinae scripturoe". To Eucherius of Lyons (d. about 450) we are indebted for two herme- neutic works, "Formularum spiritualis intelligentiae ad Uranium lilier unus" and " Instructionum ad Sa- lonium tilium libri duo ". In the fifth century, too, or at the beginning of the sixth, the monk Adrian explained the figurative expressions of Sacred Scripture, espe- cially of the Old Testament, according to the principles of the .School of Antioch in a work entitled " Introduc- tio ad divinas scripturas". About the middle of the sixth century Junilius Africanus wrote his celebrated letter to Primasius, " De partibus divina; legis", in which he expounds the rules of Bil>lical interpreta- tion, as he received them from an adherent of the School of Edessa. About the same time M. Aurelius Cassiodorus (d. about 565-75) wrote, among other works, " De in.stitutione divinarum litterarum", "De artibus et disciplinis liberalium litterarum", and "De schema ti bus et tropis".

(c) To the Council of Trent. — Though we meet with fewer complete hermeneutic works during the period of the Middle Ages, still we have copious exegetical rules in the commentaries and introductions of St. Venerable Bede, Alcuin, Rabanus Maurus, Hugh of St. Victor, and especially St. Thomas (Summ. theol., I, Q. i, n. 9 sq.). There were several special reasons which led to the promotion of Biblical and herme- neutical studies in the fourteenth and fifteenth centu- ries. The Council of Vienne (1311) ordained that chairs of Oriental languages were to be erected in the universities; the humanistic studies began to flourish anew and reacted favourably on the pursuit of the Bil> lical languages; the discovery of the art of printing (1440-14.50) facilitated the spread of the Scriptures; the taking of Constantinople by the Turks (1453) occasioned the westward emigration of numerous learned Greeks, who carried with them their literary treasures as well as their learning and artistic skill. It was during this period, too, that Nicolaus Lyranvis (d. 1340) wrote his works, "Tractatus de differentia nostrse translationis ab Hebr. littera" and "Liber differentiarum V. et N. Testamenti", and John Gerson (d. 1429) produced his hermeneutic treatise entitled " Propositiones de sensu litterali Scripture Sacrae", in which he considers the various kinds of Scriptural sense, and expresses his preference for the literal sense to be determined according to the teaching of tradi- tion and the pronouncements of the Church. In the sixteenth century the so-called Reformers began with regarding the analogy of faith and the sj-mbols as the criteria of Biblical exegesis, but in the end they had to fall back on the rules of Christian and even rational- istic hermeneutics, so that they naturally prepared the way for the Biblical rationalism of the eighteenth century. The Catholic hermeneutic literature also grew during these centuries, partly owing to the rivalry between Catholic and Protestant scholars. As this tendeii to enlarge the hermeneutic works, clearness and thoroughness demanded the separation from her- meneutics of critical, historical, and dogmatic ques- tions, and the development and solid proof of the strictly hermeneutic principles.

VIII. Rel.\tion of Hermeneutics to the other

Branches of S.icred Study. — It may be of interest

to consider the relation in which hermeneutics, thus

reduced to its own specific limits, stands to the other

VII.— 18

branches of Scriptural studies. Needless to say, the first step in the scientific study of the Bible consists in acquainting oneself with the foundation and the extent of the human and Divine authority with which the Scripture is endowed; the so-called historico- critical introduction to Sacred Scripture teaches us all this. The second step leads us to the key for the right understanding of this doubly authoritative col- lection of books, that is, to the study of hermeneutics proper. The final stage of Bible study is exegesis, which opens to us the innermost treasures of the inspired writings. All this would be very simple and clear, if the second stage did not demand the additional erudition now taught by three distinct branches of knowledge: sacred philology, history, and sacred archaeology. It would be quite impossible to apply the rules of hermeneutics without possessing this knowledge. Finally, those who arrange theological studies systematically place philosophy and Bible study, together with ecclesiastical history and patrol- ogy, among the preambles preparing us for theoretic theology (fundamental, dogmatic, and apologetic), practical theology (moral), pastoral theology, and canon law.

IX. Contents op Hermeneutics. — After consider- ing hermeneutics in its relation to its cognate branches of study, we may return to a more accurate scrutiny of its own contents. We have seen that the science of interpretation has for its formal object the discovery and the presentation of the sense of Sacred Scripture. Starting from this fact, we may infer that (1) a com- plete treatise of hermeneutics ought to treat first of the sense of Scripture in general; (2) it must lay down definite rules for finding this sense; (3) it must teach us how to present this sense to others. These three questions have been fully explained in the article Exegesis (vol. V, 692 sqq.), so that it is unnecessary to repeat their respective developments here. It will be useful, however, for the reader to have before his eyes a summary of the principal points treated in that article.

X. SuMM.uiY OF Hermeneutic Principles. — (1) The genuine sense of Sacred Scripture is first divided into (a) the literal, and (b) the typical sense. Then follows a consideration of (a) the nature, (|8) the divis- ion, (7) the ubiquity, and (5) the unity and multiplicity of the literal sense. Next comes a brief study of the two kinds of a so-called sense of Scripture which at best bear only an analogy to the real Biblical sense, (e) the derivative or consequent sense, and (f) Biblical accommodation. Then, as to the typical sense, the writer (a) describes the nature of the tjfpical sense, (/3) gives its divisions, (7) shows its existence, (5) con- siders its occurrence in the Old Testament and in the New, (c) indicates its criterion, and (f) investigates its theological value.

(2) In the next place the writer treats of the method of finding the genuine sense of Scripture, considering:

(a) the human character of the Bible, which demands an historico-grammatical interpretation so that the commentator must keep in mind (a) the significance of the literary expression of its sacred and Scriptural language; (/3) the sense of its literary expression, which is often determined by the subject matter of tlie writing, by its occasion and purpose, by the grammat- ical and logical context, and by parallel passages; (7) the historical setting of the book and its author.

(b) The Divine or inspired character of the Bible re- quires a so-called Catholic interpretation, which involves additional directions of both (a) a negative character preventing (i) all irreverence and (ii) the admission of any error, and ((3) of a positive nature, which bid the interpreter to re-spect (i) the definitions of the Church, (ii) the patristic interpretation, and (iii) the analogy of faith.

(3) After the genuine sense of Sacred Scripture has been found, it has to be presented to others by means