Poem On Hermeneutics

Pat Bergeron

                                                                        11/27/91



It cannot mean what it never meant

I’ve etched that on my brain

And when I study scripture

I echo that refrain

I’ve studied hermeneutics and exegesis too

So, as a consequence of this

I’ve somewhat changed my view

I’ve learned some nomenclature

too lengthy to define

like cultural relativity and textual design

There is so much I want to know

How to ferret out the truth

I hope someday that I’ll become

a Bible reading sleuth

A new respect has taken me, for God’s own holy word

inspiring me to know the truth, to hear as it was heard

But I know I must remember, I stepped through an

open door

and never can return again to where I was before