Biblical Hermeneutics as Conceived by Bishop Jan Bernard Szlaga

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show specificity of hermeneutics used by Bishop Szlaga in his interpretation of the Bible. The first stage of research was to organize his scholarly achievement that include nearly 1700 items. This allowed to indicate the main areas of his interest in the Bible: biblical theology, biblical symbolism, the Letter to the Hebrews and biblical hermeneutics. The second part of the article presents basic pillars of biblical hermeneutics used by Szlaga in his biblical studies, primarily in the field of literary criticism of the Bible as he focused on studying of etymology, composition and context. The third part of the article discusses the three pillars of Szlaga’s biblical thinking, which incorporated the historico-redemptive, symbolic and narrative character of God’s word. Ultimately, Szlaga’s biblical thinking is based on hermeneutics of faith, combining historical-critical hermeneutics with theological hermeneutics.