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275th out of 283 books
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177 voters
Whose Community? Which Interpretation?: Philosophical Hermeneutics for the Church (The Church and Postmodern Culture)
In this volume, renowned philosopher Merold Westphal introduces current philosophical thinking related to interpreting the Bible. Recognizing that no theology is completely free of philosophical "contamination," he engages and mines contemporary hermeneutical theory in service of the church. After providing a historical overview of contemporary theories of interpretation,...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
September 1st 2009
by Baker Academic
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Call me a mystic. My epistemology includes external influence which others might diagnose as purely internal influence. There are even experiences in my life which I am unable to classify purely according to psychological causes or mystical causes. I prefer to take a stance of tentative diagnosis with enough reservation to await further evidence. To me, that is the only honest approach to the problem of truth.
My background is rural, conservative, and evangelistic. My formal training includes a s...more
My background is rural, conservative, and evangelistic. My formal training includes a s...more
You have to like a book when one of its major catch-phrases is wirkungsgeschichtliches Bewusstsein (aka 'historically effected consciousness').
Well, perhaps that's not the only reason.
Merold Westphal has written a book on interpretation. He's most interested in interpreting the Bible, but places Bible reading in the context of reading in general. Westphal spends a few chapters setting the topic in its current intellectual climate. Then the main part of the work is a presentation of hermeneutics...more
Well, perhaps that's not the only reason.
Merold Westphal has written a book on interpretation. He's most interested in interpreting the Bible, but places Bible reading in the context of reading in general. Westphal spends a few chapters setting the topic in its current intellectual climate. Then the main part of the work is a presentation of hermeneutics...more
This may very well be the best work of theology I've read this year. Westphal takes us through a crash course in Gadamerian hermeneutics and posits his own view of "relativistic hermeneutics," that is, hermeneutics that recognize that our interpretations are relative to our socio-economic, historical, and physical context. He argues against the idea of there being only one interpretation for texts, but does not give into a complete relativism. Westphal expertly shows how postmodernism is ultimat...more
I only read chapter 1, but this quote from the end of the chapter sticks with me.
"Here the hermeneutical question arises whether some texts, including biblical texts, are like the elephant: rich enough to require, not merely to permit, a multitude of different readings just because human readings are always partial and perspectival and because no single reading is able to capture and express the overflow of meaning these texts contain. We think this way about Shakespeare. Why not think this way...more
"Here the hermeneutical question arises whether some texts, including biblical texts, are like the elephant: rich enough to require, not merely to permit, a multitude of different readings just because human readings are always partial and perspectival and because no single reading is able to capture and express the overflow of meaning these texts contain. We think this way about Shakespeare. Why not think this way...more
I suppose that my three star rating has more to do with my lack of background in philosophical hermeneutics than the book itself. I didn't catch a lot of the fine points but did come away with at least an appreciation that everyone comes to the text through a perspective, with a preunderstanding and yet need not fear absolute relativism. I particularly appreciated the author's emphasis in the Spirit's role in interpretation and his community hermeneutic.
Enjoyed reading--helped me improve my understanding of the background to the debates, the exaggerated rhetoric of some realists, New Criticism, 'death of the author,' the world 'in front of' the text, and interpretation as performance. Introduced me to Gadamer, hugely helpful drawing from/overviewing T&M. I'd recommend the series to people like myself, just thinking on the fringes of these philosophical/linguistic questions, trying to learn more.
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