Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament

Interpretation of the New Testament (NT) in general and the Pauline corpus in particular still appears to be at a crossroads. Scholars continue to publish articles and monographs in binary opposition to one another. The terminology used to designate the overarching perspectives of these binary publi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Henri Louis Goulet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/868
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849251965488332800
author Henri Louis Goulet
author_facet Henri Louis Goulet
author_sort Henri Louis Goulet
collection DOAJ
description Interpretation of the New Testament (NT) in general and the Pauline corpus in particular still appears to be at a crossroads. Scholars continue to publish articles and monographs in binary opposition to one another. The terminology used to designate the overarching perspectives of these binary publications sharply contrasts a “traditional” perspective (Protestant in general, and Lutheran in particular) with a variously named “new” or “radical new” perspective. Most recently, beyond the imprecise “new” terminology, the non-traditional perspective is being referred to as the “post-supersessionist”, “nonsupersessionist”, or “within Judaism” perspective and is still strongly being contested. Historically speaking, these antithetical perspectives cannot both be completely correct. Arguably, then, the time has come to explore what the study of Kuhnian paradigms might reveal about this state of affairs in NT scholarship. Most important, in proffering a twofold hermeneutical way forward that is focused on better understanding the emic perspective of the texts that we interpret—to the extent humanly possible—it is hoped that we might become more keenly aware of the ethical implications of our paradigms, terminology, and exegesis for those who rely on our work for their understanding and appropriation of the Scriptures in their everyday living.
format Article
id doaj-art-edefd58cd24744e6a6fb24368a8fc75f
institution Kabale University
issn 2077-1444
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Religions
spelling doaj-art-edefd58cd24744e6a6fb24368a8fc75f2025-08-20T03:56:46ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-07-0116786810.3390/rel16070868Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New TestamentHenri Louis Goulet0Messianic Studies Institute, Columbus, OH 43230, USAInterpretation of the New Testament (NT) in general and the Pauline corpus in particular still appears to be at a crossroads. Scholars continue to publish articles and monographs in binary opposition to one another. The terminology used to designate the overarching perspectives of these binary publications sharply contrasts a “traditional” perspective (Protestant in general, and Lutheran in particular) with a variously named “new” or “radical new” perspective. Most recently, beyond the imprecise “new” terminology, the non-traditional perspective is being referred to as the “post-supersessionist”, “nonsupersessionist”, or “within Judaism” perspective and is still strongly being contested. Historically speaking, these antithetical perspectives cannot both be completely correct. Arguably, then, the time has come to explore what the study of Kuhnian paradigms might reveal about this state of affairs in NT scholarship. Most important, in proffering a twofold hermeneutical way forward that is focused on better understanding the emic perspective of the texts that we interpret—to the extent humanly possible—it is hoped that we might become more keenly aware of the ethical implications of our paradigms, terminology, and exegesis for those who rely on our work for their understanding and appropriation of the Scriptures in their everyday living.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/868paradigmsterminologybinaryexegesishermeneuticalnew perspective(s)
spellingShingle Henri Louis Goulet
Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
Religions
paradigms
terminology
binary
exegesis
hermeneutical
new perspective(s)
title Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
title_full Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
title_fullStr Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
title_full_unstemmed Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
title_short Paradigms, Terminology, and Exegesis: Toward the Nonsupersessionist Reading of the New Testament
title_sort paradigms terminology and exegesis toward the nonsupersessionist reading of the new testament
topic paradigms
terminology
binary
exegesis
hermeneutical
new perspective(s)
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/868
work_keys_str_mv AT henrilouisgoulet paradigmsterminologyandexegesistowardthenonsupersessionistreadingofthenewtestament