Virtue and the Voice of God

by Treier, Daniel J.

• ISBN13: 9780802830746
• ISBN10: 0802830749
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-30
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co

Summary

Theology has its deepest roots as a course of study that leads to wisdom. Yet with the growth of the academy it began to be sidetracked into a fixation with the "predictable" results of science.In this illuminating study, Daniel Treier retrieves this older, deeper understanding and connects wisdom in theological education to the theological interpretation of scripture, giving rise to a renewed understanding to the role of virtue. Engaging in dialogue with a number of prominent proponents of theological interpretation of scripture, Treier builds on a biblical theology of wisdom that involves daily lives of all God's people. Ultimately, Treier connects educational discussions of theology and hermeneutical discussions through a Trinitarian understanding of wisdom. As a result, the increasingly diverse forms and social locations of theology can be integrated into the mainstream of theological reflection.Filled with interdisciplinary wisdom, "Virtue and the Voice of God" is a timely recovery of the essential conversation between theological education, virtue and the interpretation of scripture.

Author Biography

Daniel J. Treier is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xii
Preface	xiv
PART I Education and the Nature of Theology
1. Understanding Theology in a Postmodern Context	3	(28)
Sapientia and/or Scientia? From Pre-Modern to Modern	5	(5)
Christian Theology before Schooling	6	(1)
Christian Theology and Schooling: Medieval and Modern	6	(2)
Christian Theology between Medieval and Modern Schooling	8	(2)
Scientia and/or Semantics? From Modern to Postmodern	10	(21)
Theology Understood "Objectively": "Cognitive-Propositional" Knowledge	12	(4)
Theology Understood "Subjectively": "Experiential-Expressivist" Knowledge	16	(3)
Theology Understood "Actively": Second-Order Critical Reflection/Inquiry	19	(3)
Theology Understood "Practically": Knowledge of/for "Cultural-Linguistic" Action	22	(5)
Theology as Pursuit of Wisdom: Prospectus	27	(4)
2. Wisdom: Knowing God and Living Virtuously in Communion	31	(36)
Shall Wisdom Be Found?	32	(15)
Reading Prov. 3:13-18 within Prov. 1-9	33	(3)
Reading Prov. 3:13-18 within the OT	36	(4)
Reading Prov. 3:13-18 with the NT	40	(2)
Reading Prov. 3:13-18 in the City of God	42	(3)
But What About the City of Humanity?	45	(2)
Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? Virtue and Knowledge of God	47	(14)
The Wise Christ	47	(1)
The Spirit of Wisdom	48	(9)
The Need for Practical Reason	50	(1)
The Nature of Practical Reason	51	(2)
The Nurture of Practical Reason	53	(2)
The Norm of Practical Reason	55	(2)
The Wisdom of the Faithful	57	(4)
Wisdom, Phronesis, and Being-Sanctified-in-Communion	61	(6)
3. Doctrine: Learning to Speak of God	67	(36)
Defining Theology "Practically": Doctrine as "Cultural-Linguistic" Grammar?	68	(7)
The "Cultural-linguistic" Approach and Public Practice	68	(3)
The "Cultural-Linguistic" Approach and the Meaning of Truth	71	(4)
Defending Theology's Theoria: Doctrine vis-à-vis Church, Language, and Truth	75	(8)
Eschatology, Epistemology, and Testifying of Divine Action	76	(3)
Ecclesiology, Pneumatology, and Practicing Theology	79	(4)
Redefining "Practice" via the Pathos of Theology	79	(2)
Suffering Divine Things and the "Practice" of Theology	81	(2)
Redefining Theology "Practically": Doctrine as Instruction in Communicative Praxis	83	(16)
The "Who" of Theology: Everyone's "Priesthood"	84	(6)
Church Teaching	85	(3)
Communicative Praxis	88	(2)
The "What" of Theology: Doctrine and Communicative Praxis	90	(6)
"Relative Adequacy" and "Critical Realism"	91	(3)
"Relative Stability" and Narrative Identity	94	(1)
"Concepts" as Habits of Christian Practice	95	(1)
Theology as Practice-Encompassing Meta-Discourse	96	(3)
Prospectus: Theological Interpretation of Scripture	99	(4)
PART II Interpretation and the Nature of Wisdom
4. Understanding Biblical Interpretation in a Postmodern Context	103	(26)
The Critics of Critical Biblical Scholarship	105	(1)
Practice over Theory: Interpretation and Christian Virtue	106	(7)
Stories of Interpretation	107	(2)
Postmodern Interpretation: Engaging the Community	109	(1)
Retelling the Stories of Interpretation	110	(3)
In and for the Church: Interpretation and the Rule of Faith	113	(12)
Historical Warrant: For Pre-Modern Ruled Reading	114	(5)
Contemporary Warrant: Against "Biblical Theology" as Usual	119	(12)
Accepting "Biblical Theology" as Usual	119	(3)
Redefining "Biblical Theology"	122	(1)
Rejecting "Biblical Theology"?	123	(2)
For the Word of God: Interpretation of the Bible as Scripture	125	(4)
5. Phronesis and Theological Interpretation of Scripture	129	(36)
The Bible as Text(s): Theological General Hermeneutics	131	(5)
The Possibility of Understanding a Text	132	(2)
The Actions of Understanding a Text	134	(2)
Question and Answer	135	(1)
Directed Dialogue	135	(1)
Provisional Monologue	135	(1)
The Bible as Canon and Special Hermeneutics	136	(12)
Hermeneutical Distance between the Bible and Theology	137	(5)
Historical Distance from Author and Audience?	137	(2)
Human Distance from the Authoritative Word?	139	(3)
Transcending the Hermeneutical Distance Theologically	142	(6)
The Transitive Aspect of Divine Discourse?	142	(2)
The Timeliness of Divine Discourse?	144	(1)
Two Hermeneutics or One?	145	(3)
The Bible as Canon and Hermeneutical Theology	148	(17)
Performing Theology with Diverse Canonical Voices	149	(3)
Which Texts Should Be Heard and What Do They Say?	149	(2)
What Are the Implications of Performing These Texts?	151	(1)
Figural Reading with Development in Canonical History	152	(18)
Must Scripture Be Read Allegorically?	152	(13)
Must Scripture Be Read with the Rule of Faith? 16o
PART III Education and Interpretation: Synergy
6. Phronesis and Wissenschaft	165	(18)
Uncertainty and Universality: The Public Importance of Phronesis	166	(4)
Phronesis and the Parameters of Critical Reason	170	(10)
Recovering Theology from Apologetics	171	(1)
Reforming Theological Disciplines	172	(7)
Biblical Theology and/or Theological Interpretation? Discovery versus Warrant	175	(1)
Historical, Literary, and Philosophical? Disciplines as Discourses with Textual Practices	176	(3)
Revisiting the Classroom	179	(1)
Summary: Phronesis in Public	180	(3)
7. Phronesis and Paideia: The School of the Triune God	183	(24)
Sapiential Interaction with Concerns for Theological Education	183	(4)
Sapiential Concerns and Interaction with the Triune God	187	(16)
Word and Spirit	188	(7)
Adopting a "Functional" View of the Bible's Authority?	193	(1)
Abandoning the Filioque?	193	(1)
Appropriating Scripture to the Spirit?	194	(1)
General and Special Hermeneutics: The Christian Virtue of Understanding?	195	(8)
Sapiential Understanding of Scripture	203	(4)
Bibliography	207	(18)
Endnotes	225	(47)
Index of Names and Subjects	272	(4)
Index of Scripture References	276