MCC Sacred Scripture Exegesis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'hermeneutical circle' in biblical interpretation?
- The circular arrangement of books in the biblical canon
- The interplay between understanding the whole text through its parts and the parts through the whole (Correct answer)
- The process of translating Scripture through multiple languages
- The cyclical nature of lectionary readings across liturgical years
Correct answer: The interplay between understanding the whole text through its parts and the parts through the whole
The hermeneutical circle describes how understanding a text requires moving back and forth between individual parts and the whole, each informing the other.
Question 2: Which prophetic technique involves proclaiming a future event with such certainty that it is described in the past tense?
- Typology
- The prophetic perfect (Correct answer)
- Inclusio
- Chiasm
Correct answer: The prophetic perfect
The 'prophetic perfect' is a Hebrew grammatical feature where a future event is described in perfect (past) tense to express absolute certainty of its fulfillment.
Question 3: What does 'redaction criticism' primarily seek to uncover?
- The original oral tradition behind written texts
- The theological perspective and editorial activity of the final compiler (Correct answer)
- Scribal errors introduced during manuscript copying
- The sociological context of the original audience
Correct answer: The theological perspective and editorial activity of the final compiler
Redaction criticism studies how editors (redactors) shaped, arranged, and modified source materials to express their own theological viewpoints.
Question 4: In the context of New Testament exegesis, what is the 'Q source'?
- A collection of Pauline letters preserved in Qumran
- A hypothetical sayings source shared by Matthew and Luke but not Mark (Correct answer)
- The original Aramaic Gospel of Matthew
- The first draft of John's Gospel
Correct answer: A hypothetical sayings source shared by Matthew and Luke but not Mark
Q (from German 'Quelle,' meaning source) is a hypothetical written source of Jesus' sayings posited to explain material common to Matthew and Luke but absent from Mark.
Question 5: What literary device is present when the same word or phrase appears at both the beginning and end of a passage?
- Chiasm
- Inclusio (Correct answer)
- Parallelism
- Anaphora
Correct answer: Inclusio
Inclusio (or 'envelope structure') is a literary framing device where a passage begins and ends with the same or similar word, phrase, or idea.
Question 6: What does the Catholic principle of the 'analogy of faith' mean for biblical interpretation?
- Scripture must be compared only to other ancient Near Eastern texts
- Individual passages must be interpreted in harmony with the whole of Christian doctrine (Correct answer)
- The faith of the individual reader determines the meaning of Scripture
- Biblical texts should be analyzed using only historical methods
Correct answer: Individual passages must be interpreted in harmony with the whole of Christian doctrine
The analogy of faith (analogia fidei) requires that individual scriptural passages be interpreted in coherence with the entire body of revealed truth and Church doctrine.
Question 7: The Pontifical Biblical Commission's 1993 document 'The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church' identified which method as indispensable for Catholic exegesis?
- Allegorical interpretation alone
- The historical-critical method, used within the Church's faith tradition (Correct answer)
- Strictly literal fundamentalist reading
- Exclusively patristic interpretation
Correct answer: The historical-critical method, used within the Church's faith tradition
The PBC affirmed the historical-critical method as indispensable while insisting it must be integrated with theological and ecclesial interpretation.
MCC Sacred Scripture Exegesis 3
What is the 'hermeneutical circle' in biblical interpretation?