Major Tasks of an Evangelical Hermeneutic: Some Observations on Commonalities, Interrelations, and Differences

An evangelical hermeneutic is involved in three major tasks: an interpretive or descriptive task, a transformational task, and a contextualization task. At the heart of all three is the Good News of God's redemptive activity in human history on behalf of all people. So there are interrelations between these tasks. There are, however, also distinctive differences. This article seeks to sensitize Christians to the commonalities, interrelations, and differences inherent in these three hermeneutical tasks and to offer an overview as to how these tasks should function in an evangelical theology.