That's why I asked you what your idea of "authoritive hermeneutics" were. What method of hermeneutics do you feel is the correct one to use?
I use the method of hermeneutics that has been approved by almost all translators, regardless of whether it is the translation of ancient secular writings or of religious works such as the Bible and other works by religious writers.
So, in order to understand you, I need to know what standard of hermeneutics you seem to want. If you could supply such, I would seriously consider them and compare them with what the great majority of translators have approved.
Earnestly awaiting your method....
More and more I see the aversion to "philosophy". I don't understand it but I see it.
Your question concerning a "method of hermeneutics" prompted my observation that there are various meanings to the term. That is different from saying there are different hermeneutical methods. So repeating the question doesn't even approach the issue.
Nonetheless,let me take a crack at it:
I suppose I am using the term in a very broad way, to mean interpreting the Scriptures to the end that they inform our thought and guide our lives. And as for "method" I guess I would say the interpretation should be done in communion with the Church and in dialogue with members of the Church.
As I think of the term, hermeneutics is more about bringing the meaning of the text and of the message conveyed through the text into our current situation. For a clergyman, a major sort of hermeneutical activity would be the final stages of sermon prep.
"Exegesis" in my usage (which I do not propose as normative, I'm just trying to be clear) would be the task whose tools would be translation, all the various "geschichten", 'comparing and contrasting' with other Biblical texts and so forth.
And somewhere in the process there needs to be something like "Lectio Divina" or some prayerful contemplation of the text under study. When I was in the game, my sermon prep started with what I called "blitzing" the texts: checking the Hebrew and Greek if I had any questions, rooting around among the commentaries and scholars, etc.
Then I would pray with the Scriptures and beg God for something to say to His people.
Then I would start the process of applying all that I'd garnered to "real life." And then I would organize the sermon.
So if I had a "scheme" it would be