Michael Demetrius H. Asis (“Exploring the Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics in Two Biblically-Based Homilies”) investigates the complexity of biblical interpretation. The historical-critical approach to interpretation cannot surely be neglected because of the historical character of biblical revelation. Yet, must one determine only the original meaning of the biblical text and the literary genre employed to express its meaning? Studying the sermons of St. Augustine and Rev. David Q. Liptak, the writer comes to the following conclusions: 1) “First, it is clear that both homilies presuppose that the biblical text as a whole presents itself as testimony of religious witness and not simply as a historical document to be subjected to thorough critical scrutiny.” 2) “Second, both homilies display an explicit affinity to a rhetorical sense of Scripture.” 3) “Third, given the more rhetorical style of both homilies, meaning is uncovered in the very performance of the text to uncover the ‘world in front of it’” (cf. 154–155). In other words, biblical interpretation must have an existential referent and must be capable of construing a world that is feasible only if contextualized and reappropriated. – from the Editor’s Preface