Theology and meaning

Gracia’s entry is very good – a clearly written, thorough, stimulating summary of philosophical and literary debates about the meaning of meaning.

He ends with the claim that theology “establishes not only textual meaning, but also the degree to which other factors play roles in the proper interpretation of Scriptures.” It “contains not only interpretations of the world, but also rules that determine the legitimate meaning of the texts regarded as revealed.” He points to different interpretations of Genesis 1, which differ according to the theology assumed by the interpreter.

A couple of notes: Obviously, this places us in a hermeneutical circle, in that Protestants seek to derive theology from Scripture. Plus, I’m not sure that theology is as determinative for interpretations of Genesis 1 as he says; there are Christians who interpret Genesis 1 literally with being “committed theologically to the literal interpretation of Scriptures.” Finally, it seems that he has slightly switched the topic of discussion. Theology, he says, establishes textual meaning, but then his example has to do with the interpretation of the text. But he’s already gone some way to distinguish between establishing meanings and interpreting texts.