Secular Hermeneutics

The interpretation of texts, traditions, and experiences without recourse to supernatural or divine authority—grounding meaning entirely in human history, culture, psychology, and material conditions. Secular hermeneutics reads sacred scriptures as human documents, interprets religious rituals as social practices, and understands spiritual experiences through cognitive and affective science. It does not necessarily deny transcendence but brackets it, focusing on what can be said about meaning, belief, and practice from an immanent, naturalistic standpoint. Secular hermeneutics is essential for comparative religion, critical biblical studies, and any inquiry that seeks to understand why humans believe what they believe without assuming the truth of any particular faith.

Example: “His secular hermeneutics of the Bible treated the Exodus story not as divine history but as a foundational national myth that shaped Jewish identity through centuries of exile and resistance.”

Secular Hermeneutics by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 22, 2026