Paul Ricoeur and Biblical Hermeneutics: Narrative, Genre, and Self

In short, this thesis seeks to develop a biblical hermeneutic centered on one central axis, based on the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. That central axis is narrative. The Bible is written in various genres, ranging from prophecy to wisdom to hymn. The goal of this thesis is first to show how a biblical hermeneutic that treats narrative as the central mode of discourse informs a better understanding of the other biblical genres of discourse, and thus of the Bible as a whole. Furthermore, this thesis takes an existentialist direction by taking the narrative-centered biblical hermeneutic and deriving from it a robust hermeneutic of the self also centered on narrative. In other words, the goal is not just to interpret the Bible based on narrative, but to take that hermeneutic as a model for interpreting one’s life. This hermeneutical framework is directly inspired by the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, using his concepts of biblical genre, narrative, and temporality