In this multi-faceted volume, Christian and other religiously committed theorists find themselves at an uneasy point in history -- between premodernity, modernity, and postmodernity -- where disciplines and methods, cultural and linguistic traditions, and religious commitments tangle and cross. Here, leading theorists explore the state of the art of the contemporary hermeneutical terrain. As they address the work of Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Derrida, the essays collected in this wide-ranging work engage key themes in philosophical hermeneutics, hermeneutics and religion, hermeneutics and the other arts, hermeneutics and literature, and hermeneutics and ethics. Readers will find lively exchanges and reflections that meet the intellectual and philosophical challenges posed by hermeneutics at the crossroads. Contributors are Bruce Ellis Benson, Christina Bieber Lake, John D. Caputo, Eduardo J. Echeverria, Benne Faber, Norman Lillegard, Roger Lundin, Brian McCrea, James K. A. Smith, Michael VanderWeele, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.

This volume addresses a far-reaching aspects of Petrarch research and interpretation: the essential interplay between Petrarch's texts and their material preparation and reception. To read and interpret Petrarch we must come to grips with the fundamentals of Petrarchan philology.

Theological interpretation of Scripture is a growing trend in biblical interpretation, with an emphasis on the contexts of canon, creed, and church. This approach seeks to bridge the gap between biblical studies and theology, which grew wide with the ascendancy of critical approaches to Scripture. Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture is the first clear, systematic introduction to this movement for students. The book surveys the movement's history, themes, advocates, and positions and seeks to bring coherence to its various elements. Author Daniel Treier also explores what he sees as the greatest challenges the movement will have to address as it moves into the future. This helpful book is appropriate for pastors and lay readers interested in biblical interpretation.

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.

Hermeneutics introduces English-speaking readers to a field of increasing importance in contemporary philosophy and theology—hermeneutics, the theory of understanding, or interpretation. Hermeneutics is concerned with the character of understanding, especially as it is related to interpreting linguistic texts. It goes beyond mere philological methodology, however, to questions of the philosophy of language, the nature of historical understanding, and ultimately the roots of interpretation in existential understanding. Palmer principally treats the conception of hermeneutics enunciated by Heidegger and developed into a “philosophical hermeneutics” by Hans-Georg Gadamer. He provides a brief overview of the field of hermeneutics by surveying some half-dozen alternate definitions of the term and by examining in detail the contributions of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey. In the “Manifesto” which concludes the book, Palmer suggests the potential significance of hermeneutics for literary interpretation. When the context of interpretation is pressed to its limits, hermeneutics becomes the philosophical analysis of what is involved in every act of understanding. In this context, hermeneutics becomes relevant not simply to the humanistic disciplines, in which linguistic and historical understanding are crucial, but to scientific forms of interpretation as well, for it asserts the principles involved in any and every act of interpretation.

The problem of the limits of reason is by no means a privileged subject of an academic discourse. By reducing reality to what can be conceived of within the paradigms of the scientific laboratory, manipulative despotism, which positivistic notion of objectivism has established, creates in a human being a unilateral conscience of the world and of oneself; a conscience that dominates today our understanding of existence in its manifold senses of Being and the world we live in. This way of thinking, based on a powerful and skillful technique aimed at controlling human life in all its dimensions, intends to impose this limiting positivistic horizon on human beings in the name of Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite. Hermeneutic rationality resists the claims of modern science and promotes the culture of hospitality toward the world as it shows itself in its complexity. Maria Luisa Portocarrero, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, Professor of Philosophy, specializing in the phenomenological hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur. Luis Antonio Umbelino, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, Professor of Philosophy and Artistic Studies. Andrzej Wiercinski, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, Germany, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, specializing in Practical Philosophy/Philosophical Hermeneutics.

The SCM Studyguide: Biblical Hermenuetics offers entry-level undergraduates a framework for interpreting the Bible. The book goes beyond offering guidance on how to do exegesis, and is intended as a practical tool to help readers develop good interpretative strategies for themselves. As such it features pedagogical tools such as Try-it-Out boxes to assist students to develop a tested and thought - through overall interpretative strategy of their own. This fully updated 2nd edition takes into account the changing church and world context, and the new challenges this context brings as students seek to read the Bible with attentiveness, integrity and faithfulness. Table of contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Where Do We Want to Go? 2. Past Experience and Present Expectations 3. Tools for Exegesis 4. Our Reality 5. Committed Readings 6. Enabling Dialogue with the Text 7. Our Goal: Life-Affirming Interpretations Summary of the Interpretative Process References and Further Reading Index of Biblical References Index of Names Index of Subjects

Moving away from Jacques Derrida's deconstructionism and Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics, and building on his experiences as a politician, Vattimo asks if it is still possible to speak of moral imperatives, individual rights, and political freedom. Acknowledging the force of Nietzsche's "God is dead," Vattimo argues for a philosophy of pensiero debole or "weak thinking" that shows how moral values can exist without being guaranteed by an external authority. His secularising interpretation stresses anti-metaphysical elements and puts philosophy into a relationship with postmodern culture.

The first reference resource on how Asian Americans are currently reading and interpreting the Bible, this volume also serves a valuable role in both developing and disseminating what can be termed as Asian American biblical hermeneutics. The volume works from the important background that Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic/racial minority population in the USA, and that 42% of this group identifies as Christian. This provides a useful starting point from which to examine what may be distinctive about Asian American approaches to the Bible. Part 1 of the Handbook describes six major ethic groups that make up 85% of Asian population (by country of origin: China, Philippines, Indian Subcontinent, Vietnam, Korea, Japan) and outlines the specific concerns each group has when its members read the Bible. Part 2 of the Handbook examines major critical methods in biblical interpretation and suggests adjustments that may be helpful for Asian Americans to make when they are interpreting the Bible. Finally, Part 3 provides 25 interpretations by Asian American biblical scholars on specific texts in the Bible, using what they consider to be Asian American hermeneutics. Taken together the Handbook interprets the Bible both with and for the Asian American communities.

2016 Word Guild Award - Academic category Honorable mention, Grace Irwin Prize Renowned scholar Craig Bartholomew, coauthor of the bestselling textbook The Drama of Scripture, writes in his main area of expertise--hermeneutics--to help seminarians pursue a lifetime of biblical interpretation. Integrating the latest research in theology, philosophy, and biblical studies, this substantive hermeneutics textbook is robustly theological in its approach, takes philosophical hermeneutics seriously, keeps the focus throughout on the actual process of interpreting Scripture, and argues that biblical interpretation should be centered in the context and service of the church--an approach that helps us hear God's address today.