Vol. 2 No. 1 (2025) – OralityTalks

Oral Hermeneutics?

Charles Madinger — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 06:06:00 +0000

This issue of Orality Talks Journal explores a holistic approach to hermeneutics, moving beyond the Western grammatical-historical method. Biblical interpretation originally engaged all senses, reflecting God’s communication. The articles challenge dominant epistemologies and advocate for inclusive methods.

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Rethinking the Old Wineskins of “Academic” for the New Wine of Oral and Oral-Preference Learners

Larry W. Caldwell — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 20:11:33 +0000

For too long, the West has dominated theological education worldwide. This reality is primarily due to the West’s past centuries of colonization of the non-Western world, which has ramifications for theological education even today. In light of this continuing Western theological dominance, it is critical that the “old wineskins” of the Western academy and what it considers to be “academic” be rethought today, especially in light of the new wine of oral and oral-preference learners. This article explores such necessary rethinking in four parts. First, examining the West’s hegemony of what is considered academic today and the implications of this for theological education in the non-Western world. Second, exploring the new concept of “theological intelligence” (TQ) and its implications for other understanding of what is considered academic, especially for more orally-based pedagogical models. Third, looking at how one theological institution—Kairos University—is using Competency-Based Theological Education (CBTE) to help bridge the gap between readers and non-readers in the academy. Finally, the article concludes with recommendations for theological institutions and educators. It is hoped that this rethinking of what academics is will help theological institutions worldwide better meet the training needs of the Christian constituencies that they serve, including oral and oral-preference learners.

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Oral Hermeneutics in Theological Education

Laurence Gatawa — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:14:03 +0000

Oral hermeneutics provides an important framework for theological education by emphasizing the oral foundations of Scripture and their relevance in contemporary interpretation. The transmission of the Gospel began in oral form before it was written, shaping the way early communities understood and communicated biblical narratives. While Walter Ong’s Great Divide Theory distinguishes between orality and literacy, recent scholarship argues for an orality-literacy continuum, recognizing the interplay between spoken and written traditions. An oral-aural hermeneutic, informed by narrative criticism and social memory, highlights the communal and dynamic nature of interpretation. Oral performance further deepens engagement with Scripture, making its message more vivid and participatory. In the digital age, oral hermeneutics bridges traditional oral cultures with emerging technologies, enriching theological education and fostering a more rounded understanding of Scripture.

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Oral Ethics: How can Oral Hermeneutics Build a Christian Ethic?

Caroline Reel — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 18:27:24 +0000

Few lay Christians routinely practice the disciplines of ethics and hermeneutics confidently and appropriately. Many who have learned to practice these disciplines often leave that knowledge to gather dust between the covers of a textbook. This paper discusses how the various folklore or literary genres in the Bible are particularly suited for the study and practice of the three branches of Christian ethics. Lessons built on spiral logic or pedagogy patterns can use the genres of myth to teach meta-ethics, prescriptive narrative, and others for normative ethics, as well as descriptive narrative to teach and enact applied ethics. The practice of oral hermeneutics may pair with this course of study to deliver that ethical material from Scripture effectively to the oral majority or anyone who desires not only to learn ethics but to live them.

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Exegeting Orality: Interpreting the Inspired Words of Scripture in Light of Their Oral Traditional Origins

Janet Stahl — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:35:27 +0000

Nick Acker, an OT scholar, explores new discoveries in oral traditions and identifies several commonly used rhetorical features, such as repetition of themes, catchwords, patterns, and activation. He then demonstrates the recognition of these features in a text to help in the interpretation of portions of Judges, Habbakuk, the synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, and portions of Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

Acker, N. (2024). Exegeting orality: Interpreting the inspired words of scripture in light of their oral traditional origins. Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978 1 6203 2942 9.

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