Contextual Biblical interpretaion: a theological necessity

This paper argues that contextual biblical interpretation is not only desirable from the point of view of more general hermeneutical considerations, or because Western cultural hegemony needs to be questioned, but also that themes and topics pertaining to one’s understanding of the character of the scriptures, the notion of tradition and the understanding of the church, all three classical doctrinal ‘loci,’ can be seen as making contextual biblical interpretation a particularly legitimate enterprise, also for ecumenical reasons. The sketch that this essay provides amounts to the claim that, from a Christian theological perspective, contextual biblical interpretation is the most desirable form of biblical exegesis.