Presuppositions/Foundational Beliefs and Preunderstandings

Question 

Offer a definition of the terms “presuppositions/foundational beliefs” and “preunderstandings.” How can we test these things to see if they are adequate or appropriate? What can be done to change preunderstandings? List some of the presuppositions or preunderstandings from your own life that may inform your reading of Scripture. From what sources do these things originate? How does a person’s intellectual and spiritual history (i.e., education and religious instruction) influence the interpretation of texts? In what way then is objectivity possible in the interpretation of Scripture?

Response

All interpreters of Scripture bring a perspective to the text. William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard explain that presuppositions are a set of specific preconceived assumptions, consciously stated or unconsciously adopted, that inform other beliefs.[1] The specificity of presuppositions broadens when referencing preunderstandings. Scott Duvall and Daniel Hays define preunderstanding as “all our preconceived notions and understanding that we bring to the text, which have been formulated, both consciously and subconsciously, before we actually study the text in detail.”[2]

At least two methods exist for testing if preunderstandings and presuppositions are adequate or appropriate. Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard suggest that one test is to compare the preunderstandings and presuppositions with biblical evidence and a second test is to “evaluate the evidence for the Christian claims in light of all the alternative truth claims.”[3] These preunderstandings then can change with understanding, which often take the form of a spiral.[4] For example, a biblical interpreter brings a preunderstanding to a text, then the text is studied, a new preunderstanding forms, and finally, the interpreter brings the new understanding to another text.

Personally, I hold a number of presuppositions that Duvall and Hays refer to as foundational beliefs: The Bible is the word of God, trustworthy, and not contradictory.[5] These presuppositions originated from the small church and Christian university I attended a number of years ago. Without question, an individual’s intellectual and spiritual history influence the interpretation of the text. For example, due to the influence of my church, family, culture, and evangelical background, I have always presumed that no other gods existed in Scripture besides Yahweh. However, Psalm 82 suggests otherwise by stating, “God stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods” (Ps. 82:1 [ESV]). Michael Heiser explains that the plural elohim in the Psalm is not suggesting polytheism, but instead, a one and only Yahweh with a pantheon of gods as part of the spiritual world.[6] My intellectual and spiritual history would have discounted Heiser’s assertion as heretical if I had relied solely on my preunderstandings and presuppositions. However, objectivity is possible in the interpretation of Scripture if one is willing to take the text to the preunderstanding and allow the text to inform new understanding.

Bibliography

Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

Heiser, Michael S. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015.

Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004.

References 

[1] William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), 143.

[2] J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 139.

[3] Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 163.

[4] Ibid., 165–66.

[5] Duvall and Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 145.

[6] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 28–32.