Hermeneutics and Tradition: the Role of the Past in Jurisprudence and Theology

Abstract

The current disarray within the field of theology is readily apparent to anyone having even a cursory acquaintance with the issues and problems that have generated the most intense discussions during the past decade. Although substantive issues continue to elicit divergent perspectives, problems of method have increasingly come to the fore in theological discussion. The historical roots of this methodological crisis in theology have been long in the making. Whether one calls it the “eclipse of biblical narrative” with Hans Frei, the collapse of the “house of authority” as Edward Farley does, or the emergence of “theology as imaginative construction” as Gordon Kaufman does, theology is experiencing a radical revolution in the criteria and warrants which characterize persuasive argumentation. Put briefly, there is a growing sentiment that theology can no longer invoke authorities to buttress its claims but must make its case in a public forum without privileged warrants. Appeals to Scripture, tradition, or institutional decrees lack the sanction once accorded them.