Comparative study of Reformed and Pentecostal hermeneutical understandings of the miracle imperatives in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9

Abstract

This was a comparative study of Reformed and Pentecostal hermeneutical understandings of the miracle imperatives in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9. Its overarching aim was to develop a hermeneutic key that could demonstrate the strengths and help reduce the weaknesses of Reformed and Pentecostal hermeneutical approaches to the miracle imperatives in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9. The key was also anticipated as one of the possible means of fostering cooperation between the Reformed and Pentecostal traditions, contrary to the often-dichotomous or antagonistic conception of them. To achieve this main aim, the study focused on the following objectives: to study the meaning and role of "miracle" in the New Testament; to study the history of interpretation of New Testament miracle stories within Reformed and Pentecostal traditions; to study the natures of Reformed and Pentecostal hermeneutics; to examine the meaning of Mark 3:13-19, Matthew 10:1-8 and Luke 10:1-9 from a Reformed exegetical perspective; to examine the understandings of the miracle imperatives in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9 by contemporary Reformed and Pentecostal interpreters; and to develop the hermeneutic key. The methodology for achieving these objectives encompassed a critical engagement with literature in the aforementioned areas; exegetical analyses of Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9, adapting Du Toit's (2009a:120-148) Reformed approach; and an empirical investigation of sampled Reformed and Pentecostal interpretations of the passages. Chapter 2 explored the meaning of the concept "miracle" in the New Testament, investigating philosophical, etymological and socio-historical, and biblical-literary viewpoints. It concluded that while all the perspectives are useful in their unique ways, the first two have serious deficiencies that would detract from the biblical notion of "miracle". Philosophy was seen to be largely entrapped in arguments against the possibility of "miracle" or at least that excise religious significance from it. Etymological inquiry emphasises the external character of wonderment at the expense of the concept's religious or even theological significance. The study therefore recommended a biblical-literary approach that simultaneously articulates the various shades of meaning of the NT quadruplet terms-σημεῖα, τέρατα, δυνάμεις, and έργα-as used by Jesus in the Gospels. The chapter also outlined the role of "miracle" in the NT to include revealing Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel, signalling the dawning of the kingdom of God, and serving apologetic and theological purposes. Chapter 3 investigated the history of interpretation of NT miracle stories within Reformed and Pentecostal traditions. It reviewed the various conceptions of NT miracles by the Reformation leaders. Luther posited that miracles were not a means of revelation of the divinity of Christ, whereas Calvin held that they issued from Christ's inherent power and testified to his divinity. Zwingli anchored his conceptualisation of miracles on Christ's work of redemption. Overall, they tended toward cessationism. Among contemporary Reformed theologians, NT miracle stories are conceived to fulfil Christological and soteriological roles and validate the divinity of Christ. Miracles are granted today as Christological "signs" and "redemptive analogies" and as a means of resolving human existential needs. From the Pentecostal perspective, the study suggested that Pentecostalism has from its origins been open to miracles, especially anchoring its disposition on Mark 16:17-18. Its forebears taught a range of ideas, including that physical healing was the birthright of Christians, that God always wants to heal the sick, and that healing is part of Christ's redemptive work. Contemporary researchers opine that NT miracle stories function missiologically and soteriologically, and that healing is integral to the salvific work of Christ. Chapter 4 investigated the natures of Reformed and Pentecostal hermeneutics. It noted that Reformed hermeneutics emphasises the authority of the Scripture as God's inspired word and filters the meaning (or meanings) of a biblical passage through the overarching redemptive message of the Bible. It identified the principles of Reformed hermeneutics to include acknowledgement of the historical and literary contexts of Scripture, careful investigation of the grammar of the passage, and analogy of Scripture. Pentecostal hermeneutics was described as an experience-, narrative-, and praxis-oriented approach to Bible reading in which the Holy Spirit plays an active role. Its principles were identified as: narrative, intertextual and Christological reading of the Bible, openness to a supernatural-experiential intervention, and negotiating meaning within the triadic framework of Spirit, text, and community. Chapter 5 focused on the exegeses of Mark 3:13-19, Matthew 10:1-8 and Luke 10:1-9. The analyses emphasised a literal interpretation of the passages in general and the miracle imperatives in particular. It combined synchronic and diachronic tools as necessary, and also interpreted the various parts of the passages in relation to one another. It synthesised the lessons from the three passages into applications for today. These included that the church should cultivate disciples who are wholly committed to following Jesus, no matter the cost, as well as engage both clergy and laity to authoritatively preach God's good news and perform miracles among those in need. The socio-historical significance of exorcism in GMark and GMatthew formed a basis for the church to be challenged to authoritatively confront social ills, confident of ultimate victory. Chapter 6 analysed sixty (60) sampling units that were drawn into six (6) sample groups. It used ATLAS.ti 24 to identify and code twelve (12) pre-determined themes that were prominent or implied in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9. These included: kingdom, authority, disciple, demon, exorcism, leprosy, preach, dead, heal, miracle, mission, and "we". The study generated 434 theme-codes from 397 quotations, classified them as "strong" or "weak" depending on whether they agreed or disagreed with the theoretical and exegetical conclusions in the preceding chapters of the study, and grouped them based on similarity of assertions. It further summarised and evaluated the group assertions under each of the themes identified above, from where it drew inferences regarding the hermeneutical issues involved in each instance. The inferred hermeneutical patterns for the "strong" theme-codes included that certain assertions were biblically informed, reflected awareness of the genre and literary as well as socio-historical contexts of the passages, followed a continualist view of miracles, and so on. On the other hand, the "weak" theme-codes suggested that the interpreters lacked the insights of word-study and broader literary context, tended toward eisegesis, and paid limited attention to grammatical rules, among other things. Based on these inferred patterns, the researcher formulated hermeneutic hints that could enhance interpretation of the themes, and in turn, proposed a multidimensional hermeneutic key that could both demonstrate the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses of Reformed and Pentecostal interpretations of the four miracle imperatives broadly identified in Matthew 10:18, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9, namely, "heal the sick", "raise the dead", "cleanse the lepers", and "drive out demons". The hermeneutic key suggested that interpreters of the miracle imperatives should attend carefully to the literal meaning of the miracle imperatives, undertake careful word-study of concepts, investigate the literary and socio-historical contexts of the passages, and emphasise the literary connections between the miracle imperatives and the mission mandate in the passages, among other things. The study reached a conclusion in chapter 7, highlighting biblical testimony as the essential guiding principle for scholarly or pragmatic reflection on the NT "miracle" subgenre. It also concluded that from NT evidence, miracles and the miracle imperatives in Matthew 10:1-8, Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 10:1-9 are valid today. It emphasised the strict literal meanings of the imperatives on a synchronic level, while conceding that they bore subtle political and social undertones within their original settings. Based on evidence in this study, the researcher concluded that both Reformed and Pentecostal interpreters grapple with differential understandings of the meanings of the miracle imperatives in the passages, indicating that the two traditions need a hermeneutic key that can improve their interpretations of these motifs. The study therefore recommended that Reformed and Pentecostal interpreters should take seriously the existential implications of the maladies being targeted by the miracle imperatives in the passages, and therefore should interpret the imperatives in hermeneutically faithful ways in order to practically and effectively help resolve such problems today. It also recommended that they explore the suggestions offered in the hermeneutic key formulated in this research.