The holy book (Koran) as a speech event: hermeneutical approaches

Abstract

In the presented article, the Sacred Text, which is the core of theological research, is considered as the Speech of the Most High, addressed directly to the theologian-researcher, who is ready for a “hermeneutic dialogue” with the living Word and is ca-pable of reflecting on the depths of its meaning. To conduct the presented research, an integrative approach was applied, which consists in understanding the philosophi-cal, cultural and religious hermeneutic concepts. Particular attention is paid to the re-ligious hermeneutical tradition of Orthodoxy and Islam. The principle of the herme-neutic circle (spiral) in biblical hermeneutics is considered; comprehension of spiritual experience in the Orthodox religious tradition; principles of the Sufi hermeneutical tradition and Sufi communication studies. In addition to scientific concepts, frag-ments of the description of the personal feelings of researchers that arise when work-ing with cultural and historical monuments are analyzed. For a deeper understanding of the theologian's inner feelings that arise in the process of their contact with the Sa-cred Text, the process of establishing a non-verbal connection between the reader and the author of an ordinary book or an ancient manuscript is analyzed. Further, the spe-cial ontological status of the Sacred Text is considered, which makes it possible to es-tablish a connection with the Almighty, and the hidden rules of reading (recitation) of the Koran proposed by the medieval Muslim thinker al-Ghazali are given, the ob-servance of which can lead the reader to a “hermeneutic dialogue” with the Sacred text. Then the idea of a hermeneutic spiral is analyzed, the movement along which can lead to the realization of the Event of the soul (spirit), shifting the framework of world perception, which leads to the fulfillment of an epistrophe and the experience of metanoia, which are the most important conditions for approaching the knowledge of a true transcendent being. The paper proposes consideration of the possibility of expanding the field of theological research by presenting the world as a Sacred Text (Primitive Manuscript), which will allow a somewhat different look at the "core of the methodology of theology", significantly enriching the scope of the theologian's scientific activity.