What is controlled interpretation?

In the Evidence-Based Biblical Studies methodology, Controlled Interpretation is a secondary stage to data analysis and basic translation. Its goal is not to correct the text but to clarify meaning based on previously established evidence. At this stage, the use of canonical context, parallel traditions, the development of theological concepts, and reception history is permissible, but only in the form of explicit interpretive hypotheses. Harmonization serves a modeling, not a normative, function. Controlled interpretation assumes the possibility of multiple competing understandings of meaning and the need to assess their epistemic costs. Here, meaning is not a starting assumption but the result of an auditable interpretive process.

Myicahel Tamburini | pexels.com

Harmonization serves as an interpretative hypothesis, not a corrective tool.