אבנימ

Biblical Hermeneutics Part Third Chapter 8

Exegesis in the eighteenth century took the track of free inquiry established in the seventeenth century and followed it into a more scientific approach to the Bible. Hence it yielded valuable fruits of careful research and firmly laid the groundwork for the distinct grammatico-historical method of interpretation which would soon become prominent. But this humanistic age of “enlightenment” also provided fertile ground for rationalistic assaults upon the authority of the Scripture. The effects of both of these trends continue into the present.

The author provides a long catalog of scholars who exerted significant influence in the field of biblical hermeneutics, whether for good or ill. Among the many named are Witsius who ably maintained the Federal theology, Bengel, Matthew Henry the commentator, John Wesley, Michaelis, Ernesti and Semler. The spirit of this century also quite naturally yielded notable progress in textual criticism.

There were three significant national trends in the eighteenth century, which had a profound impact upon biblical exegesis: English deism, French infidelity and German rationalism. Each of these in their own way cut at the heart of authoritative biblical revelation, and left trails of spiritual carnage in their paths. Deism denied the possibility of supernatural revelation, asserted the supremacy of reason, and advanced a completely naturalist religion. The writings of Frenchmen like Diderot, Rousseau and Voltaire promoted unabashed unbelief and materialism. German rationalism produced pernicious ideas like the Accommodation theory of Semler, skepticism regarding any imminent act of God, and thus it cleared the way for the writings of Immanuel Kant. The necessary outcome of Kant’s philosophy was the submission of all Scripture to the demands of reason, and the setting up of man’s moral judgment as the supreme arbiter of biblical interpretation.