Empirical explorations into biblical theologies of grace : employing the SIFT approach among Anglican clergy

This qualitative study was positioned within an emerging scientific field concerned with empirical explorations into theologies of grace. The theoretical framework was provided by the SIFT (sensing, intuition, thinking, and feeling) approach to biblical hermeneutics, an approach rooted in reader-perspective hermeneutical theory and in Jungian psychological type theory, that explores the distinctive readings of sensing perception and intuitive perception and the distinctive readings of thinking evaluation and feeling evaluation. The empirical methodology was provided by developing a research tradition concerned with applying the SIFT approach to biblical text. In this study, a group of 32 Anglican clergy were invited to work in type-alike groups to explore biblical theologies of grace. Dividing into three workshops according to their preferences for sensing and intuition, the clergy explored the messages of grace in Matthew 6: 25-30 (birds and lilies). Dividing into three workshops according to their preferences for thinking and feeling, the clergy explored the messages of grace in Matthew 20: 1-15 (labourers in the vineyard). The rich data gathered from these workshops generated insight into contemporary theologies of grace and also confirmed the hypothesis that scriptural reading and interpretation may be shaped by the reader’s psychological type preference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved