A Hermeneutic for the Aqedah Test: A Way beyond Jon Levenson's and Terence Fretheim's Models
type: CreativeWork
description: Problem The works of Jon Levenson and Terence Fretheim highlight the problem of determining which interpretations of the biblical worlds of meaning around the text are congruent with the text of the Aqedah (also known as the Sacrifice of Isaac, Genesis 22: 1-19) and which should be disclaimed. A hermeneutical model is needed for Abraham's test that provides a text-based paradigm for sound interpretation of the narrative world (in the text), the historical world (behind the text), the theistic world (above the text), the cosmological world (below the text), and the present world (in front of the text). Method Four steps were taken to create and apply a hermeneutical model for understanding the Aqedah test. First, Levenson's and Fretheim's interpretations of the Aqedah were compared to test the usefulness of a tri-level hermeneutic analysis. Second, a tri-level (micro-meso-macro) spiral hermeneutical model was created that integrated the biblical text as the long central axis of the model and related the five biblical worlds of meaning to the text. Third, this model was tested by the Aqedah narrative of Genesis 22:1-19 and a new interpretive hypothesis was perceived. Fourth, the hermeneutical model and the interpretive hypothesis were evaluated. These four functional tasks were accomplished through six chapters. Chapters one and two introduced the issues and compared the interpretations of two theologians on the Aqedah. Chapters three to five paired sequential construction of the three levels of the hermeneutical model to their Aqedah application. The final chapter evaluated the two products of this study. Results Two conceptual products have emerged from this dissertation project: the Axial Model of hermeneutics and the Covenant Hypothesis for the Aqedah. The Axial Model embeds the biblical text as the central long axis of a hermeneutical spiral. This text axis emanates the five biblical worlds of meaning (in, behind, in front of, above, and below the text) and norms…
abstract: Problem The works of Jon Levenson and Terence Fretheim highlight the problem of determining which interpretations of the biblical worlds of meaning around the text are congruent with the text of the Aqedah (also known as the Sacrifice of Isaac, Genesis 22: 1-19) and which should be disclaimed. A hermeneutical model is needed for Abraham's test that provides a text-based paradigm for sound interpretation of the narrative world (in the text), the historical world (behind the text), the theistic world (above the text), the cosmological world (below the text), and the present world (in front of the text). Method Four steps were taken to create and apply a hermeneutical model for understanding the Aqedah test. First, Levenson's and Fretheim's interpretations of the Aqedah were compared to test the usefulness of a tri-level hermeneutic analysis. Second, a tri-level (micro-meso-macro) spiral hermeneutical model was created that integrated the biblical text as the long central axis of the model and related the five biblical worlds of meaning to the text. Third, this model was tested by the Aqedah narrative of Genesis 22:1-19 and a new interpretive hypothesis was perceived. Fourth, the hermeneutical model and the interpretive hypothesis were evaluated. These four functional tasks were accomplished through six chapters. Chapters one and two introduced the issues and compared the interpretations of two theologians on the Aqedah. Chapters three to five paired sequential construction of the three levels of the hermeneutical model to their Aqedah application. The final chapter evaluated the two products of this study. Results Two conceptual products have emerged from this dissertation project: the Axial Model of hermeneutics and the Covenant Hypothesis for the Aqedah. The Axial Model embeds the biblical text as the central long axis of a hermeneutical spiral. This text axis emanates the five biblical worlds of meaning (in, behind, in front of, above, and below the text) and norms…
author: Drew, Arlyn Sunshine
keywords: Aqedah, Sacrifice, Isaac, Abraham, Genesis, Hermeneutics, Biblical Studies, Religion, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
date published: 2020-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:53:24Z
provider: Andrews University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Andrews University