Undoing Scriptural Authority? An Appraisal of Some Anti-foundational Hermeneutical Approaches from an Evangelical Perspective

Scriptural authority is under siege. From an evangelical perspective, Scripture is the believer’s primary authority for belief and practice. Furthermore, the goal of biblical interpretation is to uncover the original intended meaning of Scripture before application. But some methodologies and presuppositions seem to be overturning the tables. Therefore, this article reviews the foundational beliefs and principles of evangelical hermeneutics vis-à-vis anti-foundationalism in general and then critiques the underlying presuppositions of reader-response and feminist hermeneutics in particular as two of the prominent anti-foundational hermeneutics. The purpose of the paper is to critique some anti-foundational hermeneutical presuppositions and to offer some recommendations, in the conclusion, on sustaining and promoting evangelical hermeneutics.