Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency

by Bowald,Mark Alan

• ISBN13: 9780754658771
• ISBN10: 0754658775
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book proposes an original typology for grasping the differences between diverse types of biblical interpretation, fashioned in a triangle around a major theological and philosophical lacuna: the relation between divine and human action. Despite their purported concern for reading God's word, most modern and postmodern approaches to biblical interpretation do not seriously consider the role of divine agency as having a real influence in and on the process of reading Scripture. Mark Bowald seeks to correct and clarify this deficiency by demonstrating the inevitable role that divine agency plays in contemporary proposals in relation to human agency enacted in the composition of the biblical text and the reader. This book presents an important contribution to the emerging field of theological hermeneutics. Bowald discusses in depth the hermeneutics of George Lindbeck, Hans Frei, Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, Stephen Fowl, David Kelsey, Werner Jeanrond, Karl Barth, James K.A. Smith, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Immanuel Kant's proscription of reason to immanent agency as representative of a common feature of enlightenment epistemology

the effect of this immanent restriction: the eclipse of God's agency

Fashioning a triangle typology

toward the recovery of divine agency in contemporary Biblical hermeneutics

a clarifying conversation with 4 other typologies

Defining type 1

survey of representatives of type 1

the trade off: strengths and weaknesses of type 1

Defining type 2

survey of representatives of type 2

the trade off: strengths and weaknesses of type 2

Defining type 3

survey of representatives of type 3

the trade off: strengths and weaknesses of type 3

Taking stock: the current hermeneutical state

a new look at the role of 'principles' in Biblical hermeneutics

a modest proposal for a divine rhetorical hermeneutics

Bibliography

Index

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