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Urgency of the research. In the 20th century the postmodern intellectual context challenged the rational discourse of modern era, as well as it questioned not only those approaches which had been used before that in philosophy and natural sciences, but also in the field of theology and exegetics. In the new intellectual and cultural conditions of the present, historical-critical exegesis needs careful rethinking from the prospect of the most powerful biblical studies of the 20th and 21st centuries, with its encroachment on absolute objectivity and solid impartiality,

Target setting. Popularity of the historical biblical studies in the scientific and church communities are focused on absolutization of historical and critical approaches towards bible texts. Thus, it requires some balanced and serious evaluation by means of alternative approaches that had been developed in the 20th century, but nowadays are being forced out on margins of western academic biblical studies.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. PhD thesis of Richard Burnett, as well as other works of J. Webster, M. Wallace, G. Bromiley, H. Hartwell, G. Hunsinger and others are devoted to the review of Karl Bart's attitude to historical-critical exegesis and his own theological. The orthodox view on this issue was worked out by J. Breck, T. Stilianopulos and J. Karavidopulos.

The research objective. In respect of the attempts to absolutize the historical-critical discourse in modern biblical studies and thus to relativize the centuries-old experience of conceptual perception of the Bible as the Word of God, the researchers are tasked with carrying out of the apology for holistic theological exegesis of biblical texts. The aim of this article is to make a creative and critical rethinking of the role of historical-oriented exegesis in the modern context and to try to adapt the positive achievements of this methodology to the modern requirements.

The statement of basic materials. According to the general concepts of modern era, scientific-critical exegesis aims to rationalize the learning process of biblical texts and deal with it on the same level with other literary works of the ancient. The attitude to modern biblical hermeneutics varies from radically negative to carefully positive in the theological and academic world of the 20th century. The philosophic hermeneutics of the 20th century (in particular, Paul Ricoeur) questioned the adequacy and prospects of the fundamental principles of the modern biblical studies and its encroachment on non-distorted objectivity in its researches

Conclusions. The methods of the historical-critical analysis of the Bible are characterized by some creativity potential and the ability to make the deep contextual approach possible towards biblical texts. At the same time the post-structural criticism and deconstructivism deprived the historical-critical exegesis of its monopolistic status in the market of intellectual ideas. Historical critical exegesis with its hermetic impermeability for any other approaches turns inevitably into some kind of rationalistic, idealistic or historical theology.

Keywords. Theology, exegesis, hermeneutics, biblical studies, Dogmatic theology, Barth.

 

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