On Tue, 19 Dec 1995 GRMorton@aol.com wrote:
> Dave Probert wrote:
>
> >And somebody, please tell me what `eisegesis' is.
>
> Denis firmly affixed that label to me last spring and he was kind enough to
> explain it to me. I am a dedicated eisegesisist! It means attaching modern
> concepts to an ancient document. It is an "unclean" hermeneutical approach.
> Have I gotten it right, Denis? :-)
>
> glenn
>
Sorry, if I have scarred you for life ;-). Your definition is operable.
But I always appeal to the Greek to help me remember, and in a way this
word and another (EXEGESIS) provide principle rubrics under which my
hermeneutics operate.
eis: prep. for "in or into"
ek: prep. for "out or out of"
Egeomai: verb for "to guide"
Thus, exegesis: to guide out of the text
eisegesis: to guide into the text
Ideally, we want the Bible to shape us, not us to shape the Bible. So
when that incurable eisegete Glenn takes his WONDERFULLY CORRECT view
of evolutionary science and JAMS & SQUEEZES into those wonderfully
Holy Spirit inspired first chapters of the Word of God
I pray: "Lord, forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing . . ."
Hope this is helpful.
Awaiting for a blast from my directly southern neighbor.
Blessings,
Denis
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Denis O. Lamoureux DDS PhD PhD (cand)
Department of Oral Biology Residence:
Faculty of Dentistry # 1908
University of Alberta 8515-112 Street
Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton, Alberta
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CANADA CANADA
Lab: (403) 492-1354
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E-mail: dlamoure@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
"In all debates, let truth be thy aim, and endeavor to gain
rather than expose thy opponent."
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