Glossary

Often called the “Old Testament” by Christians. Using many different kinds of literature, and originating over several centuries, it tells the story of God’s lovingly calling a group of people (the Hebrews/ Israelite/Jews)  to be his own in a special way, through a covenant, how that people responded and that people’s reflections on what this call and response means.  Our calling it the “Old” Testament is in no way meant to convey an idea of its being inferior to the “New” Testament.

The science of interpretation, especially of a text. Having a “different hermeneutic” will see different readers/hearers approach the same text in different ways. 

A branch of Biblical criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". Its goal is to discover the historical situation of the author and recipients of a text and therefore how the text may have been understood in its original setting.. Related methods include source, form and redaction criticism.