Between authorial intent and indeterminacy: the incarnation as an invitation to human–divine discourse

Abstract

There has been a range of philosophical and linguistic responses to the phenomenon of indeterminacy and the place of authorial intention in the hermeneutical task. In the face of these responses, others have developed various theological responses to the problem, responses which this paper refers to collectively as ‘believing criticism’. A theological undergirding for all such approaches may be found in the application of the incarnation to an understanding not only of the nature of the Christian scriptures but also of the interpretative process itself. This application enhances our appreciation of the role both of divine intention in the divine discourse evident in the Bible and of the contextualised response to that discourse, and provides further impetus for those who would argue that both intention and indeterminacy must be recognised in the apprehension of meaning. This is in tune with an epistemology of ‘personal knowledge’ as espoused by Michael Polanyi.