Looking at the Birds, Considering the Lilies, and Perceiving God’s Grace in the Countryside: An Empirical Investigation in Hermeneutical Theory

Leslie J. Francis · Greg M. Smith · Jeff Astley

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Biblical Studies and Interpretation Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education Religious and Theological Studies

Abstract

This study is situated within the newly emerging interest in the concept of grace as a legitimate topic for empirical enquiry, and draws on the theoretical framework provided by the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, an approach rooted in reader-perspective hermeneutical theory and in Jungian psychological type theory. Data were draw from two one-day workshops with Anglican Readers (lay ministers). On each occasion the participants were invited to divide into three separate groups according to their preferences for sensing or intuition (the two perceiving functions) and within these groups to explore the messages of grace in Matthew 6: 25–30 (Jesus’ invitation to look at the birds and to consider the lilies). The rich data gathered from these workshops generated insights into contemporary theologies of grace and also confirmed the hypothesis that biblical interpretation is shaped by the reader’s psychological type preference for sensing or for intuition.

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References

2007The Gospel of Matthew 1988Sin and Self-Functioning, Part 1: Grace, Guilt and Self-Consciousness 1988Sin and Self-Functioning, Part 2: Grace, Guilt and Psychological Adjustment 2013Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Compendium of Critical Commentary on the Books of the Bible and Related Literature 2017Psychological and theological reflections on grace and its relevance for science and practice.2011Reading and Proclaiming the Resurrection: An Empirical Study in Psychological Type Theory among Trainee and Experienced Preachers Employing Mark 16 and Matthew 28 2012What happened to the fig tree? An empirical study in psychological type and biblical hermeneutics 2016Dimensions of grace: Factor analysis of three grace scales.

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2022Reading the Good Samaritan (Lk 10: 25–37) through the lenses of introverted intuition and extraverted intuition: Perceiving text differently 2025Accessing visitor perception of an immersive cathedral experience: applying the Jungian lenses of sensing and intuition and Bailey’s theory of implicit religion

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