Troeltsch's Argument Paper

1407 Words6 Pages
Utilizing the historical method as a mean to construct new interpretations of the Bible is widely used in contemporary biblical scholarship. Troeltsch composed this method and argued that an accurate interpretation of religious texts must consider its historical, political, and cultural contexts. Also, he claims that utilizing this method will not create an atheist perspective, but rather it merely improves the interpretations of religious texts and traditions. However, throughout his treatise “On The Historical and Dogmatic Methods in Theology” (1898), he either contradicts his argument or criticizes the dogmatic method for viewing the Bible with “spiritual” perspective. Contrary to Troeltsch’s beliefs, the historical method disproves the…show more content…
Troeltsch argues that examining religious traditions by utilizing the historical method allows for an accurate understanding of it. In his article, he states that: “Judaism must be explained with reference to its relationship during the exile and the synagogal reorganization” (Troeltsch 1898, pp. 4). This means that in order to understand and interpret the Old Testament accurately, one must understand the Israelites’ historical contexts. For instance, reading Exodus without the proper historical contexts will produce an entirely different interpretation and understanding of the event than reading it within contexts. Interpreting it without contexts will explain the event as a historical account of the Israelites freedom from Egyptian oppression. However, reading Exodus within contexts—the fact that it was written during the Babylonian exile—a new interpretation is presented. It transforms into an account of the Israelites management of their exile and diaspora; they wrote a metaphorical story that mirrored their current circumstances, which illustrated them as God’s chosen people in order to maintain hope and remind their community of their status in their region and the cosmos. He further states, “The observation of analogy between similar events… does not presuppose an

    More about Troeltsch's Argument Paper

      Open Document