Az újszövetségi hapax legomenonok hermeneutikai paradigmái: a Galatalevél pragmalingvisztikai súlypontjai

Hermeneutical Paradigms of the New Testament Hapax Legomena: The Pragmalinguistic Emphases of Galatians

Abstract

At the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, there were two main methodological perspectives of theology: on the one hand, there was the historical-critical method that characterized the approach to theology in Europe, especially the Tübingen School and its theologians. On the other hand, there was the Anglo-Saxon perspective that started to gain increasing importance from the 19th century onwards. This latter method mainly characterized theology in the 19th century, but also it underwent a certain change during the 19th century. It changed from a pragmatic approach to a magisterial one. The reason for this transition was the increasingly global presence of evangelicalism in Europe, which could not avoid confrontation with the so-called “official” theological method on the Continent.
As part of Evangelicalism, Seventh-day Adventist theology has mainly been characterized by this transition. Such theology in transition can be recognized by what could be coined a borrowing of doctrines and teachings from the so-called “collateral offshoots” of the Reformation, in the 19th century. These adopted characteristics and interpretative methods have become part and parcel of European, as well as Anglo-Saxon biblical interpretation.
Researching a certain interpretative tradition from a hapax legomena point of view is not a common hermeneutical practice. However, we have used it in our investigation of biblical interpretation within Adventist theology. This, due to its complexity, was deemed worthy to be investigated from the abovementioned hermeneutical perspective, having in view our topic of research: The Epistle to the Galatians. In addition, while we were researching this topic, we found evidences, in contemporary linguistic sciences, for the interpretative method of hapax legomena being compatible with the Anglo-Saxon perspective. This was deemed adequate for the task of interpreting the Pauline letter, while having in view the confrontation of the abovementioned two kinds of theological thinking in Europe. The Adventism of the late 19th century showed a special interest in the interpretation of the Epistle to Galatians. So, it is our hypothesis that to study the Seventh-day Adventist way of textual analysis of this Pauline writing, being inside my field of research, would yield an adequate understanding of the hermeneutical progress within Adventism.