„Pantoiosemie“: der vielfache Schriftsinn – zur Interpretation von Bibeltexten

Abstract

An investigation bei comparing 19 sermons about two texts from the Bible demonstrates grate differences of interpretation and preaching by ministers and priests. The question arises whether the interpretation of parts of the Holy Scriptures follows other rules than the reception of profane texts. It seems as if there is something like „theological polysemy“. To be said for it there is not only the medieval teaching of the „fourfold exegesis“ (literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical) but also the modern varied methods of interpretation such as the historical-critical, the allegorical, the existential, the depth psychological, the feminist, the liberation theological, the reception aesthetic and the hermeneutic method. But today the general textlinguistic and texttheoretical knowledge must be taken into account even in the exegesis ob Bible texts. Only then a limited and comprehensible ambiguity of texts (polysemy) can be prevented from transforming into an unlimited ambiguity (pantoiosemy) with total arbitrariness of interpretation. Though every text is the result of a communicative act between the text producer with his intentions and the text recipient with his expectations. Different recipients will interpret the message of a text against the background of their individual experiences and their personal ways of thinking. But the language character orientation of texts hast to be considerd as well as an interpretation framework when searching for meaning. It is always about the interrelationship between language structures, communicative acts and the situations of text use. For this reason each interpreter of texts is obliged to justify and to verify his reception towards oneself and other people referring to the language-bound informations even of a Bible text.

Keywords

• text
• bible text
• text semantics
• polysemy
• text producer
• text recipient
• interpretation
• exegesis