Reading and Hearing Biblical Texts

Abstract

Studies and experiments undertaken over the past fifty years have shown that the types of interpretations readers make are often different from those of listeners. My thesis contains ten studies where I applied theories based on such research to segments of the Greek text of Mark's Gospel. I demonstrate in these studies that the types of interpretations readers are likely to make are different from the types of interpretations people hearing the text read are likely to make. I verify my assessments by citing interpretations made by scholarly readers, and by literary analyses of the Greek text. An abbreviated version of one of these studies is set out below. In this particular study the text is Mk 8:14-21. The outcomes of my research are significant, as biblical scholars often overlook the likelihood that the interpretations of listeners will be different from their interpretation as scholarly readers. The issue is important as even in this literate era more Christians hear the biblical text than read it.