Interpreting Biblical Texts

Interpreting Biblical Texts deals with the reception history of the Gospel of John in the Tamil context. By employing the Tamil context as a distinctive hermeneutical perspective for the first time, this well researched volume engages in a historical analysis of Tamil religiosity represented by Saiva Siddhanta, Advaita Vedanta (Neo-Hinduism) and Dalit traditions and questions how these realities shaped the reception of the Bible. Specific texts from each of these perspectives have been examined to show how and to what extent intercultural interpretations of John have taken place among the Tamils. Being interdisciplinary in nature, the book traverses between the areas of intercultural theology and New Testament. It endorses the heterogeneous hermeneutical context of the Tamils, and demonstrates why and how different interpretations of John should be analyzed in terms of this diversity. Additionally, the book deals with the question of how mainstream biblical scholarship, represented by European and North American contributions, has influenced Tamil intercultural understandings of John. The volume focuses on some of the pre-understandings of western biblical scholars, and brings to light the individual contextual stand of Tamil interpreters, who have creatively engaged with these authors. Finally, As a way of answering how contemporary Tamils interpret the Gospel of John, the book represents, through interviews, some aspects of the oral tradition of John in the Tamil context.