Questions around the Three Worlds of the Text

Three Worlds of the Text
Select questions that are specifically relevant to the text being covered.

World Behind the Text
How is an understanding of this text influenced by what we can learn about its context?

• What can we learn about the cultural world of the time in which the text was created (for example: the significance of “the land” of Israel;  values, customs and beliefs; reference to festivals or heroes; status of individuals; demography; social hierarchy and relationships between characters and peoples; purity codes; moral codes; understanding of God; relationship with other cultures/peoples)?
  

How is an understanding of this text influenced by the community that produced this text?

• What can we learn about the community for whom this text was originally created? 
  
• What is happening at this time in history in the community for which the text was written? Where is it on the timeline of Revelation History?
  
• Who authored, edited and/or translated this text? Is there more than one author? Is it the work of an individual or a community? Is it possible to establish authorship at all? Does the author draw on other texts in creating this one?
  
• Why was the text created?
  
• Why has the author chosen specific words or phrases?
  
• What messages might the text have conveyed to its original audience?
  

How is an understanding of this text influenced by what can we learn about its development and communication across time?

• Is there an oral tradition evident? When was the text first put into written form? In what language was the text first set down? Do these factors affect the meaning of the text for its original audience?
  
• Were there any historical or cultural events that caused the text to be edited or translated across time?
  

World of the Text
How is an understanding of this text influenced by what is actually in it?

• Who are the characters in the text? 
  
• What happens in this text? 
  
• Where does the story take place? 
  
• What text features are in the text (e.g. imagery, metaphor, simile, repetition, contrast, symbol, vocabulary, voice, treatment of sources, grammar and/or style)?
  
• What is the most memorable or central scene in this text? Why is this scene central?
  
• What key words or phrases, or interesting, new or difficult ideas need further exploration? What Biblical tools can be used to find this information (e.g. Biblical commentaries, Biblical dictionaries, Biblical atlases, annotated Bibles, online Bible search engines)?
  
• What evidence can we find in the text of the historical, social, cultural, political and religious life of the time?
  
• Who speaks and who is silenced?
  
• Can the original language in which the text was written help with understanding the text? Do other English translations give a clue to this? Can concordances and online homilies on the text help?
  

How is an understanding of this text influenced by its type and structure?

• Is there a particular structure to this text? Why was it structured in this way? 
  
• How do different parts of the text relate to each other?
  
• What clues or text features help the reader to identify the type of text (e.g. greeting in a letter; sense of touch in a healing miracle; evocative language in a psalm)?
  
• Why has the author chosen this style or form of writing to convey the message? 
  

How is an understanding of this text influenced by what can we learn about it from its connections with other Biblical texts?

• What comes before and after this text?
  
• Is the text attested to in other gospels or books of the Bible?
  
• Is this text used for different purposes in other books of the Bible?
  
• Is this text drawn from or connected to texts in other books of the Bible?
  

World in Front of the Text
For whom might this text be relevant today?

• What are some messages from or about God that modern believers can take from this text in their time and place?
  
• Is there anything in this text that might be open to challenge or questioning by a modern reader?
  
• ·What factors make it possible for modern readers to bring to this text interpretations not intended by the author? 
• How might gender, culture or life experience, including experiences with religion or religious groups, affect the way a modern reader might respond to the text? How can the experience of the reader add to the richness of interpretation? 
  

How might a modern reader gain a deeper awareness of this text?
How might the following help the reader better appreciate the text’s relevance and application for today?

• Exploration of different translation/s of the text?
  
• Substitution of alternate images/metaphors? 
  
• Knowledge of background or contexts of the text? 
  
• Exploration of the rich tradition of the Church?
  
• Application of Biblical criticism (e.g. form criticism, narrative criticism, socio-historical criticism, rhetorical criticism)?
  

Can a line be drawn between reliable and unreliable modern interpretations of the text?
Does the Church have a specific teaching about the meaning of this text?

How might this text be used/applied in contemporary contexts?

• In liturgy?
  
• For personal spiritual reflection (e.g. Lectio)?
  
• To inspire action for justice?
  
• To reassure?
  
• To console?
  
• In prayer?
  
• To challenge the status quo?
  
• To invite to belief?
  
• Rewritten to engage a particular audience?
  

World Behind the Text

World of the Text

World in Front of the Text