Abstract
Over the last several decades, academic theology in America has seen a resurgence of interest in the 20th century German-speaking theological movement known as “dialectical theology.” While primarily focusing on the theology of Swiss Reformed theologian, Karl Barth, there has also been a revival of curiosity in Barth’s academic rival, Rudolf Bultmann, who cultivated the controversial program of “demythologization.” Though the recovery of Bultmann’s work in English-speaking circles is historically valuable to our understanding of how modern theology progressed, the question still stands as to how it might aid our dialogue in an increasingly pluralistic world. Unpacking one such opportunity is the aim of this paper. Through dialogue with the Zen Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hanh, I show how different contours of Bultmann’s thought can aid us in understanding and approaching interreligious discourse through hermeneutical consistencies and resemblance. While this paper discusses several different aspects of Bultmann’s and Nhat Hanh’s religious thought, the consistencies and resemblance between the two individual thinkers are, no doubt, emblematic of greater Familienahnlichkeit between their respective faith traditions – a topic to be taken up at a later time.
Highlights
Academic theology in America has seen a resurgence of interest in the 20th century Germanspeaking theological movement, "dialectical theology", for the last several decades
Bultmann's theology has seen a revival of curiosity in American academic circles in recent years, due largely to the publication of David Congdon's The Mission of Demythologizing: Rudolf Bultmann's Dialectical Theology (Congdon 2015a)
Though similarities will no doubt arise in the mind of the reader as progress though Nhat Hanh’s thought is made, I will end by pointing out the hermeneutical resemblance between these two thinkers in their respective religious traditions
Summary
Academic theology in America has seen a resurgence of interest in the 20th century Germanspeaking theological movement, "dialectical theology", for the last several decades. I outline Bultmann's hermeneutical program of demythologizing, three key elements which find parallels in the Buddhist thought of Thich Nhat Hanh: myth, kerygma, and nonobjectifiability. I bring Bultmann and Nhat Hanh together, arguing for the RAIS Conference Proceedings, August 19-20, 2019 one-to-one hermeneutical resemblance which can be found between them, using the three components of thought from each, discussed in the sections prior, as merely a sample of the broader elements of Familienähnlichkeit which surely exist, both among the thought of the individual thinkers and their respective faith traditions, yet remain to be exposed
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