Interpreting the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31): An application and evaluation of the SIFT methodology.

This empirical study was designed to explore and to evaluate the contribution of the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics for interpreting the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The SIFT approach is a recent addition to hermeneutical theories, rooted in the reader perspective approach and informed by the development of the Jungian theory of psychological type. The opening four chapters provide the theoretical context for the empirical study by exploring the historical trajectory of biblical hermeneutics, examining how different hermeneutical approaches have added to the interpretation of this parable. The roots and development of the SIFT approach are examined in discussion of reader response within hermeneutical theory, in the nature of ordinary theology and in psychological type theory. Then the fifth chapter roots the study in the discussion of methodology. In the empirical component to this study 16 individuals (one from each of the 16 complete psychological types) were interviewed to elicit their interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The results from their interviews are discussed in eight chapters, with each chapter presenting the interpretation of two contrasting types. These chapters support the conclusion that the interpretation of individual readers reflects their unique psychological type and helps to validate the theory underpinning the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics.