Gadamer, Barth, and Transcendence in Biblical Interpretation

The essay reflects on how Hans-Georg Gadamer and Karl Barth view interpretation of the Christian Bible. It proceeds in three main sections. The first contends that Gadamer secularizes Christian theology, and that this has drawbacks for the sort of reading his hermeneutic can give to Christian Scripture. The second part turns to Barth, arguing that the whole structure of his approach to the Bible factors in theological commitment, with benefits for the readings he can deliver. The final part makes a case that contemporary reflection on interpretation can nonetheless glean important insights from Gadamer, especially regarding the readerly reception of texts, because his perspective has a certain sort of richness that Barth’s cannot match. The overall suggestion emerging from the interrogation of these two thinkers is that phenomenology and theology might learn from one another, that they each contribute something valuable to discussions of biblical interpretation.

UMA PEDAGOGIA DA ESPERANÇA E DA CO-HUMANIDADE: PAULO FREIRE E KARL BARTH EM DIÁLOGO

Os avanços de fundamentalismos e das comoditizações do ensino desvelam uma lógica hegemônica de negação das alteridades e da diversidade humana. Diante desse quadro, uma abordagem esperançosa de valorização das pessoas pode auxiliar a pensar a condição humana e a questão religiosa na situação contemporânea. Uma pedagogia da gratuidade, inspirada na ética da graça de Karl Barth e na pedagogia libertadora de Paulo Freire, bem como em diálogo com outros interlocutores do campo da filosofia e da teologia, haure das noções de co-humanidade e ser mais para pensar as relações humanas e sociais. A questão do destino, como educação e construção de si mesmo, e a perspectiva da transgressão, como atitude criativa diante da vida, caracterizam uma antropologia filosófico-teológica da educação que questiona totalitarismos vários em suas pretensões de universalidade, indicando, a partir de baixo, a valorização do outro como humanização de si mesmo.

The Future of New Testament Theology, or, What Should Devout Modern Bible Scholarship Look Like?

Consideration of the nature of New Testament Theology (NTT) necessitates an account of theology or “God-talk”. Karl Barth grasped that all valid God-talk begins with God’s self-disclosure through Jesus and the Spirit, which people acknowledge and reflect on. Abandoning this starting point by way of “Foundationalism”—that is, resorting to any alternative basis for God-talk—leads to multiple destructive epistemological and cultural consequences. The self-disclosure of the triune God informs the use of the Bible by the church. The Bible then functions in terms of ethics and witness. It grounds the church’s ethical language game. Creative readings here are legitimate. The New Testament (NT) also mediates a witness to Jesus, which implies an historical dimension. However, it is legitimate to affirm that Jesus was resurrected (see 1 Cor 15:1–9), which liberates the devout modern Bible scholar in relation to history. The historical readings generated by such scholars have value because the self-disclosing God is deeply involved with particularity. These readings can be added to the archive of scriptural readings used by the church formationally. Ultimately, then, all reading of the NT is theological (or should be) and in multiple modes. NTT focuses our attention on the accuracy of the God-talk operative within any historical reconstruction, and on its possible subversion, which are critical matters.