Playing with Scripture: Reading Contested Biblical Texts with Gadamer and Genre Theory

by Andrew Judd

This book puts a creative new reading of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and literary genre theory to work on the problem of Scripture. Reading texts as Scripture brings two hermeneutical assumptions into that the text will continually say something new and relevant to the present situation, and that the text has stability and authority over readers. Given how contested the Bible’s meaning is, how is it possible to ‘read Scripture’ as authoritative and relevant? Rather than anchor meaning in author, text or reader, Gadamer’s phenomenological model of hermeneutical experience as Spiel (‘play’) offers a dynamic, intersubjective account of how understanding happens, avoiding the dead end of the subjective–objective dichotomy. Modern genre theory addresses some of the criticisms of Gadamer, accounting for the different roles played by readers in different genres using the new term Lesespiel (‘reading game’). This is tested in three case studies of contested the recontextualization of psalms in the book of Acts, the use of Hagar’s story (Genesis 16) in nineteenth-century debates over slavery and the troubling reception history of the rape and murder in Gibeah (Judges 19). In each study, the application of ancient text to contemporary situation is neither arbitrary, nor slavishly bound to tradition, but playful.

228 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2025

Reviews

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable monograph on Gadamerian hermeneutics brought into conversation with modern genre theory and economic game theory, all applied to biblical interpretation. The primary thrust is that historically situated (i.e., effected) readers read authoritative/relevant texts (i.e., Scripture, God’s Word) best when they are consciously putting their presuppositions to the test, or into a contest of ‘play/Spiel’, by adopting reading strategies (Lesespiele) productive of relatively higher explanatory payoffs (and uptakes/‘disruptakes’). Judd’s work in theory is impressive, and his applications to three cases (the apostles’ use of Davidic psalms, 19th century readings of Hagar’s plight and flight/return in debates over slavery/abolition, and reading Judges 19 in the genre of modern horror) are astute and engaging. I read this quickly, but not hastily, because I found it so interesting.