A Hermeneutical Exploration of the Revelatory Text of John 4:1–42, in a Performative Key

Abstract

This article makes a case for the use of music in biblical interpretation and theological method. It places the hermeneutical approach to Scripture developed by Sandra Schneiders from the work of Gadamer and Ricoeur into dialogue with theopoetical approaches to theological thought. Musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez’s method for analyzing musical meaning frames the analysis of an original piece of music, offered as a second naiveté, transformative interpretation of the Johannine narrative of the Samaritan woman in John 4:1–42.