Abstract:
Taking the conversation between the Old Testament scholar Jurie le Roux
and the dogmatician Johan Heyns as point of departure, it is argued that his well-founded
criticism of Heyns has to be taken seriously, as well as his proposition in favour of spiritual
empathy to enhance the understanding of historical texts. However, his recommendation for
spiritual emphaty is subsequently constructively valued and criticised from a theologicalexperiential
perspective. It is especially noted that, on the one hand, Le Roux’s reactionary
historical point of view regarding, amongst others, the retrieval of the orginal intention of the
author/text is convincing. On the other hand, it is argued that his perspective is predisposed
toward an unproblematical self in the present. As a result, the act of historical interpretation
is reduced to dependence on ‘the seams of the heart’ in the individual quester. It is after
all argued and substantiated from systematic-theological, postmodern, philosophical and
theological-scientific perspectives that historicity does not consist solely of historical ‘seeing’
in the sense of retaining the original intention of the author. Historical understanding also
entails historical ‘hearing’ (that is, a surplus of meaning) which broadens and enriches
historical understanding.
