Hermeneutics of Fulfillment

The Plumb Line

Biblical Theology 2 - Exodus, Exile, and Eschatology

Part 14

Chuck Hartman

Dec 11, 2025

Hebrews 1-13

The Plumb Line: Biblical Theology - Exodus, Exile & Eschatology Part 2, Session 14 - Hermeneutics of Fulfillment Chuck Hartman Fall Session 2025 December 11, 2025 Text: Hebrews In this study we have introduced the concept of ‘typological prophetic history’ as descriptive of the underlying meaning of the redemptive history of the people of Israel. In spite of the order of the words in this phrase, the key point is ‘history’ – an approach Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) to the Hebrew Scriptures that is built firmly on the historicity of the events recorded there. This hermeneutical approach is experiencing a revival among biblical scholars of both the Old and New Testaments after the near-fatal blow suffered in the 19th Century by Julius Wellhausen and his ‘Documentary Hypothesis.’ Wellhausen’s source criticism was not well received in his day either by Christian or Jewish scholars as both perspectives realized the great damage his Source Criticism did to pre-modern biblical interpretation. Yet, as with so many scholarly views, the Documentary Hypothesis came to dominate 20th-century biblical studies to the point that even 21st-century scholars find it hard to depart from Wellhausen’s basic source thesis, even though his views have been largely refuted. We have seen in this study how Brevard Childs led the move away from Wellhausen in the latter decades of the previous century, not by abandoning the German scholar’s hypothesis (which, in truth, had largely become a governing thesis of Old Testament studies), but by positing the importance of taking the Scriptures as we have received them – a canonical approach to biblical exegesis. Childs’ approach has itself become mainstream, though the vestiges of Wellhausen can be found in most contemporary studies.

Hermeneutics of Fulfillment

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