LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
What are the different types of biblical hermeneutics?
Submitted to Dr. James Sulfridge
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500
Discipleship Ministries
By
Anthony Bean
What are the different types of biblical hermeneutics?
It will come as no surprise that agreeing on the importance and veracity of the Bible is only
the first step in what can be a very long conversation. There are four major types of biblical
hermeneutics that have arisen throughout history, although only the first is widely accepted
today amongst evangelical churches.
Literal Interpretation
This approach seeks out the “plain meaning” of a biblical text. This is not to imply that every
passage of Scripture should be interpreted literally, but rather the plain meaning be accepted
as truth. For instance, when Jesus said the Christians are the light of the world, we don’t believe
we are literally a 100-watt light bulb. We do believe that Jesus was telling us plainly that it is our
role to showcase the love of God to everyone around us. We’ll discuss this more in-depth
below.
Moral Interpretation
Originally practiced by Jews who believed their laws, poems, and historical narratives had
multiple layers of meanings, this approach supposes to reveal the ethics behind any text. One
popular example is the Epistle of Barnabas, where the author believes the Old Testament food
laws were misunderstood by the people of Israel. Rather than restricting diet, he believes the
laws were meant to avoid behavior which was associated with these animals.
Allegorical Interpretation
Closely associated with moral interpretation, this type of hermeneutics viewed the biblical
narratives as having a secondary level of meaning. Most often this meant interpreting people
