“I Contain Multitudes”: The Divine Basis for the Theological Interpretation of Scripture

Abstract

Theological interpretation of Scripture has often been understood in terms of method. This essay, drawing on Christian, Jewish, and Islamic reflection, as well as the anarchic metaphysics of Paul Feyerabend, argues that the category of “method” or “methodology” does not apply to theological interpretation, which ought instead to be understood as a human posture of receiving divine speech. This receptive posture is shaped especially by the infinitely complex character of divine speech that the Scripture constitutes, and it is just this character that subverts “method” itself as an adequate conceptuality for defining how one hears and understands God's Word.