What is the Meaning of: Hermeneutics | Concept and Definition of: Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the art of interpreting texts and, in particular, the texts sacred. In the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer, hermeneutics is the theory of truth and method expresses the universalization of the interpretative phenomenon since the concrete and personal historicity.
Thus, it is necessary to differentiate between philological hermeneutics (born in Alexandria to establish the authentic meaning of the ancient texts), biblical hermeneutics (arose in the 17th and 18th centuries for an interpretation correct, objective and understandable of the Bible) and philosophical hermeneutics (which is independent of the language and which is designed to determine the transcendental conditions of any interpretation).
Christian Theology may be at the origin of the hermeneutical studies insofar as it makes a distinction between two different meanings of the Bible: the literal and the spiritual, which, in turn, can be either anagogical, allegorical or moral.
The literal meaning of the Bible is the meaning through the words of Scripture, discovered by Philological exegesis, which conforms to the rules of the correct interpretation.
On the other hand, the spiritual sense is infused by God on man, giving an additional religious meaning to the signs. It can make the difference between the allegorical meaning (so that Christians gain a deeper understanding of the events. For example: the crossing of the Red Sea symbolizes the victory of Jesus Christ and baptism), meaning moral (the events recounted in the Scriptures can lead the person to act fairly) and the anagogical or mystical sense (the saints can see realities and events of eternal significance).