Pro tempore, No. 19, 2024.
Professional paper
A contribution to the Historical Analysis of the Proto-Hermeneutics of Matthius Flacius Illyricus (Summary)
Ruben Prstec
Abstract
This paper aims to reconstruct the hermeneutic model by which Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520-1575) analyzes and seeks to explain the Holy Scripture. This is done from the perspective of Michel Foucault’s archaeology of knowledge and in light of recent views on intellectual history, In the paper, Flacius’ twofold system of interpreting the Bible is simultaneously interpreted as a product of its time and a significant philosophical and theological breakthrough. The author concludes that from the perspective of Foucault’s archaeology of knowledge Flacius’s theory of biblical interpretation stands out from the then-dominant episteme and transitions into a new one: Flacius’s interpretation of biblical texts relies on some traditional theological approaches and mental tools, but also on previously neglected linguistic and semantic insights. In this sense, Flacius is a precursor to later theories of textual interpretation; his so-called hermeneutic circle, with certain modifications, remains a relevant part of philosophical hermeneutics to this day.
Keywords
hermeneutics, Matthias Flacius Illyricus; reformation; Michel Foucault; the Bible; intellectual history; episteme
Hrčak ID:
335706
URI
Publication date:
17.9.2025.
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