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Religious Studies & Theology vocabulary · Scripture and Interpretation

Hermeneutics

Meaning in religious studies & theology, with examples

/ˌhɜːmɪˈnjuːtɪks/nounCommon term

In religious studies & theology, hermeneutics means: The theory and method of interpretation, especially of sacred texts; it asks how readers can understand a text written in another time, language and culture.

In Turkish: hermenötik, yorumbilim, yorum bilimi

How it is used

Takes a singular verb (hermeneutics is...). Exegesis is the practice of interpreting a particular text; hermeneutics is the reflection on how interpretation works. Philosophical hermeneutics is linked to Schleiermacher, Gadamer and Ricoeur. The adjective is hermeneutic or hermeneutical.

Example sentences

  1. Debates about hermeneutics shaped Qur'anic studies in Turkey from the 1990s onwards.

  2. Feminist hermeneutics asks whose voices are missing from traditional readings of scripture.

Common collocations

  • biblical hermeneutics
  • philosophical hermeneutics
  • hermeneutic circle
  • hermeneutics of suspicion
  • exegesisCareful, detailed explanation of a text, especially of scripture, that tries to bring out its meaning through its language, historical context and tradition of reading.
  • scriptureThe sacred writings of a religion, regarded by its followers as authoritative and often as revealed or inspired, such as the Qur'an, the Bible or the Vedas.
  • phenomenology of religionAn approach to studying religion that describes religious phenomena as believers experience them, while setting aside the question of whether their claims are true.
  • Qur'anThe central sacred text of Islam, which Muslims believe God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic over about 23 years; it has 114 chapters called suras.

More terms: Scripture and Interpretation

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