Between Vision and Obedience - Rethinking Theological Epistemology: Theological Reflections on Rationality and Agency with Special Reference to Paul Ricoeur and G. W. F. Hegel

Contemporary discussions of problems of selfhood and knowledge have offered a wide range of solutions, from calls for a new Enlightenment (in the face of the resurgence of myth and the irrational), to attempts to 're-enchant the world' (in the face of the growth of an impersonal instrumental Reason). In Between Vision and Obedience - Rethinking Theological Epistemology, George Ille offers a theological response to these competing views, with the specific purpose of evaluating the present state of epistemological rationality in theology. Ille anchors his concerns historically and thematically through the work of the philosophers Paul Ricouer and G.F.W. Hegel. Invoking theological insights from Eastern and Western philosophies, and seeking recourse to a number of philosophers and theologians from both the continental and analytical traditions, he traces the contours of a theological rationality freed from both modern and post-modern hermeneutical anxieties. He proposes a rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world through dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and eucharistic communion. This important text challenges and reframes existing theological and philosophical engagements with hermeneutics and epistemology. The new critical perspective it offers will be an invaluable resource for academics and scholars across the humanities. Annotation Contemporary discussions of problems of selfhood and knowledge have offered a wide range of solutions, from calls for a new Enlightenment (in the face of the resurgence of myth and the irrational), to attempts to "re-enchant the world" (in the face of the growth of an impersonal instrumental Reason). In Between Vision and Obedience Rethinking Theological Epistemology, George Ille seeks a theological response to these competing views, with the specific purpose of evaluating the present state of epistemological rationality in theology. Ille anchors his concerns historically and thematically through the work of the philosophers Paul Ricouer and G.F.W. Hegel. Invoking theological insights from Eastern and Western philosophies, and seeking recourse to a number of philosophers and theologians from both the continental and analytical traditions, he traces the contours of a theological rationality freed from both modern and post-modern hermeneutical anxieties. He proposes a rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world through dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and eucharistic communion. This important text challenges and reframes existing theological and philosophical engagements with hermeneutics and epistemology. The new critical perspective it offers will be an invaluable resource for academics and scholars across the humanities." Front Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Information 5 Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 Part I: The Hermeneutical Self—From Meaning to Revelation: Reflections on Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutical Project 16 1. The Search for Foundation: From Reflexive Philosophy to Hermeneutics 22 2. The Ontological Horizon: Preface to a Transcendental Poetics? 45 3. Hermeneutics, Creation, and the “Re-enchantment” of the World 74 Part II: The Absolute Self—Hegel’s Journey from Revelation to Meaning 138 4. Hegel the Philosopher of Revelation 142 5. The Unfolding of God’s Story: Revelation, History, and Rationality in Hegel 159 Part III: The “Responsive” Self—Theological Rationality in Trinitarian Perspective 194 6. Trinitarian Description Between Metaphysics and Hermeneutics 196 7. Epiphanies of Presence: On the “Return to the World” 226 8. Conclusions: Towards a Theological Epistemology Informed by a Trinitarian View of Agency 253 Bibliography 294 Back Cover 304 Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: The Hermeneutical Self. From Meaning to Revelation. Reflections on Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutical Project 1: The Search for Foundation:From Reflexive Philosophy to Hermeneutics 2: The Ontological Horizon. Preface to a Transcendental Poetics? 3: Hermeneutics, Creation and the 'Re-enchantment' of the World Part II: The Absolute Self. Hegel's Journey from Revelation to Meaning 4: Hegel the Philosopher of Revelation 5: The Unfolding of God's Story: Revelation, History and Rationality in Hegel Part III: The 'Responsive' Self. Theological Rationality in Trinitarian Perspective 6: Trinitarian Description between Metaphysics and Hermeneutics 7: Epiphanies of Presence. On the 'Return to the World' 8: Conclusions: Towards a Theological Epistemology Informed by a Trinitarian View of Agency Bibliography The present study seeks to respond theologically to current discussions about ideas of self from the perspective of God's action in and towards the world. Its aim is to trace a view of rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world, thus involving dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and Eucharistic communion. Since, as Calvin notes, knowledge of God and knowledge of self are intimately bound together, this exercise of discerning the shape of a theological rationality in the present arena of competing promises of meaning and truth is carried o An analysis of contemporary issues of rationality and knowledge in theology, offering an epistemology rooted in a Trinitarian understanding of God's action in and towards the world.