Abstract

The aim of the paper is to explore the determinants of early Christian exegesis in context of modern debate on biblical hermeneutics. Consequently, first at all the author discusses briefly the main Jewish methods of exegesis in the time of the New Testament as the hermeneutical background of early Christian exegesis. Then, he proceeds to present the early Christian exegesis of the Hebrew Bible: the Jewish methods employed by the authors in the New Testament as well as the christological exegesis of the Scripture in the teaching of Jesus and apostles. The last paragraph deals with the determinants of Christian interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. There are three main features: this exegesis is christological, theological and pneumatical. There is in the Bible no conflict on biblical methods of exegesis so we may speak about the biblical oecumene of different hermeneutics, but there is the question of biblical truth and the authentic human life of faith. So the most fascinating determinant of the early Christian exegesis for contemporary exegesis is especially its theological character and its primary determinative task, and not descriptive one. The hermeneutic of faith proposed by Benedict XVI, who employs complementarily historical exegesis and theological exegesis as well, leads back to this great hermeneutical tradition of the early Church.