Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics

Alan Bowald Mark

Description

When interpreting Scripture, do we take an academic or a spiritual approach? Do we emphasize the human or the divine agency? Do we focus on man's authorship or God's inspiration?Mark Bowald argues that these are false dichotomies. We need to understand both the human qualities of Scripture and the divine, as an overemphasis on either will lead to distortions. In Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics, Bowald surveys various schools of thought, explaining where they lose the balance between the two. He analyzes the hermeneutical methods of George Lindbeck, Hans Frei, Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, Stephen Fowl, David Kelsey, Werner Jeanrond, Karl Barth, James K. A. Smith, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.Bowald shows that we should view Scripture as equally human and divine in origin and character. And our reading of Scripture should involve both critical rigor and openness to the leading of God's Spirit.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 17 novembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781577996811
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics
Mapping Divine and Human Agency
MARK ALAN BOWALD
STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency
Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology
Copyright 2015 Mark Alan Bowald
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
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All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [e-mail] .
Print ISBN 978-1-57-799661-3
Digital ISBN 978-1-57-799681-1
Lexham Editorial Team: Lynnea Fraser, Abigail Stocker
Cover Design: Christine Gerhart
Back Cover Design: Brittany VanErem
To Dora Lee
Sine qua non
Contents
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Eclipsing and Usurping of Divine Agency in Enlightenment Epistemology and Their Influence on Scriptural Hermeneutics
Kant’s Proscriptions to Reason’s Activity: Defining the Ideal Knowing Act
Further Defining Kant’s Critique of Antecedent Judgments with Special Attention to the Relationship of Human and Divine Agency
Clearing the Modern Ground: The Eclipse of God’s Agency
The Hermeneutic Reversal: The Usurping of God’s Agency
Summary
2. A Triangle Typology: Mapping Divine and Human Agency in Contemporary Theological Hermeneutics
The Triangle: Coordinating Divine and Human Action
Type One: Human Agency in/through the text of Scripture
Type Two: Human Agency in the reading and reception of Scripture
Type Three: Divine Agency in the Hermeneutics of Scripture
A Clarifying Conversation With Four Other Typologies
Summary: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
3. Type One: Human Agency in the Text
The Evangelical Tradition
The Early Hans Frei: The Eclipse of Modern Biblicism
Kevin Vanhoozer: From General Hermeneutics to General Christian Hermeneutics to Divine Canonical-Linguistics
Francis Watson: Negotiating Text, Church, and World
The Implications of Type 1: Benefits and Detriments
4. Type Two: Human Agency in the Reading
David Kelsey: Using Scripture
The Later Hans Frei: The Emergence of Meaning in the Tradition
Werner Jeanrond: Reviving the Critical Interpreter
Stephen Fowl: The Community’s Underdetermined Engagement with Scripture
The Implications of Type Two: Benefits and Detriments
5. Type Three: Prioritizing Divine Agency: God’s Agency In, With, and Under Scripture and Its Reading
Karl Barth: God’s Word as God’s Act
Nicholas Wolterstorff: Reading for Divine Discourse
James K. A. Smith: Post-Phenomenological Language of God
The Implications of Type Three: Benefits and Detriments
6. Implications of the Triangle Typology: A Modest Proposal for a Divine-Rhetorical Hermeneutics
Before, Beside, or Beyond the Bible: The Role of “Principles” in Theological Interpretation of Scripture
Interrogating Three Modern Myths of Reading and Interpreting the Bible:
The Heart of the Problem: Interrogating Hans Frei
Reading the Bible as Divine-Rhetorical Hermeneutics
Conclusion
Bibliography
Subject and Author Index
List of Figures
2.1. The Triangle and Modern Hermeneutics: Coordinating Divine and Human Action
2.2. The Triangle Typology: Mapping the Three Types
3.1. Mapping Hans Frei: His Early Position and Trajectory
3.2. Tracking Hans Frei: His Late Position and Movement in the Triangle
3.3. Mapping Kevin Vanhoozer and Francis Watson
3.4. Comparing the Hermeneutical Development of Kevin Vanhoozer and Hans Frei
3.5. Tracking Kevin Vanhoozer’s Late Hermeneutical Development
3.6. Mapping Francis Watson’s Hermeneutical Trajectory
4.1. Mapping Type Twos
5.1. Comparing the Hermeneutical Positioning of Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, and Karl Barth
5.2. Locating Nicholas Wolterstorff on the Triangle
5.3. Mapping James K. A. Smith in the Typology
6.1. Theological Rhetorical Hermeneutics: Redefinining the Triangle
6.2. The Flow of Theological Rhetorical Hermeneutics
Preface
Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the interest in theological interpretation of Scripture. 1 This has been indicated in three ways: First, new historical works invested in recovering an appreciation for methods of reading the Bible in premodern settings, particularly in the Church fathers; second, in the gradual emergence of the field of hermeneutics as a legitimate free standing arena of inquiry; and, third, in the growing interest in reaching across and rethinking well-established dividing lines among theological disciplines in order to better understand the act of reading Scripture. These interdisciplinary movements seek to overcome weaknesses in the contemporary perception of the event of reading the Bible.
It is assumed in what follows that this trend is good and necessary: that the reading of Christian Scripture is undertaken properly by diversely gifted members of self-consciously Christian communities, both ecclesiastical and scholarly. Further, that this reading is always a response to the free and gracious speech action of God. As old scholarly dividing lines are erased and new ones are drawn it behooves us to be self critical about the assumptions that shape and guide our understanding of the very act of hearing God’s Word in the reading of Scripture. Here we contribute to this movement by taking a careful look at one aspect of this discussion: the relationship between divine and human agency. In place of the ideal objectivity of the singular unaffected reader advocated by the Enlightenment, the picture that will emerge and recommend itself is, rather, for readers who are aware of their theological and social location and the matrix of agencies ( both human and divine) that shape their reading. This is undertaken with the goal that we (re)learn to embrace these in their complexity and proceed to critically and constructively read the Bible with a sense of encountering God’s gracious rhetorical Word. The word “render” in the title evokes the diversity of these influences. So: “Rendering” the text of Scripture can be an act of grace or judgment; of respectful deference or of dismissive violence; and is most often some admixture of both. It also evokes the complexity of the relationship between agents. So “rendering” the work of another person becomes a way of imaging the relationship between the divine author and human authors and readers of God’s Word.
We will examine how the idealist Enlightenment epistemological tradition continues to exert influence over how the act of reading of the Bible is construed in such a manner that inhibits a fuller awareness of divine agency in reading Scripture. This is shown in the continuing bias against the influence of other agents (human or divine) on a supposedly objective, morally and spiritually self-sufficient reader. The developments in postmodern epistemology and hermeneutics have contributed to partially correct this idealism by demonstrating the intersubjectivity of all interpretation. However, while the full spectrum of the influences of human agency is more fully acknowledged, there nevertheless remains a bias against the influence of divine agency.
Further, the very notion of removing oneself from the influence of divine agency is untenable: The idea of setting ourselves up as agents outside the milieu of God’s activity quickly fails to give us any purchase on how it is that we attend to the viva vox Dei and neglects the appropriate and helpful ways that God’s faithful and corrective leading accompanies and underwrites our communal and tradition-laden locations and influences these at every point and turn. Nevertheless, there remains an influential contingent of Enlightenment epistemological ideals that descry these influences and continue to distort our understanding of the act of reading the Bible.
An initial goal of this work is to survey a range of contemporary proposals; to both demonstrate the continuing bias of this idealism as well as show how each representative approach assumes a constructive theological stance regarding the relationship of the mixture of human and divine agencies. The ultimate goal is to lay bare in a more comprehensive manner the basic dynamics of the reading of Scripture that underwrite any and all hermeneutical proposals. It asserts that any conscientious hermeneutical theory of reading the Bible must account for both dynamics: between the text and readers and between the divine and human agents. Also there is proffered a shared framework within which members of disparate fields can meet and find a common parlance to negotiate the similarities and differences that characterize their work: differences that are more clearly defined and, therefore, more easily negotiated (although not resolved) when their theological character is revealed. In this way, this project contributes a modicum of clarity to the emerging interdisciplinary movement that recognizes the value of reaching across the stale and rigid theological divides. The goal: new ways of joining together to listen to God’s gracious Word and reading and responding together in faith are obtained and encouraged.
Acknowledgments
The individual graces expressed to this author in the process of writing this book were profound and humbling. First and foremost: thanks to John Webster for his patience, encouragement, and sure-handed guidance, and Dora Lee for extraordinary things too precious to name in print.
Appreciations also to a group who variously shared coffee, comradery, conversation, and valuable verbal and written responses along the way: Frederick Bauerschmidt, Joe Mangina, Iain Nicol, Jim Olthuis, Jim Reimer, Fr. George Schner S. J. ( requiescat in pace ), Dan Treier, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Nick Wolterstorff.
Also to a circle of friends, family, and colleagues who also contributed support and help both personal and professional during this project: C