The Hermeneutic of Dogma

Abstract

THE PURPOSE of this paper is to formulate a hermeneutic of dogma in light of the contemporary German hermeneutical discussion. The philosophical hermeneutic developed in Hans-Georg Gadamer's Wahrheit und Methode is the primary basis for my own reflections. Of secondary importance is the work of the post-Bultmannian New Hermeneutic, the closest theological counterpart to Gadamer's thought. Both Gadamer and the Bultmannians have clarified the basic structure of historical understanding. My concern is to explore the implications of this structure of understanding for the interpretation of dogma. Understandably, the limits of the paper prevent a full presentation of the main themes of the German hermeneutical discussion. Footnote references to the primary literature must suffice in indicating the theoretical context for my own analysis. The distinctive focus of the contemporary hemeneutical discussion, including the work of Gadamer and the Bultmannians, is the impact of the subjectivity of the interpreter upon interpretation. Part of the hermeneutical task is locating the meaning of texts in their original historical setting, but the full scope of understanding and textual meaning is not confined to this level. The historical situation of the interpreter as well as that of the text must be kept in mind. The mediation of past into present, an awareness of the existential significance of tradition, thus becomes an essential function of interpretation. The past can only be fully understood from and by being translated into the horizon of interpretation. Gadamer has described this interpretative movement from past to present as effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte) and as a fusion of the horizons of text and interpreter (Horizontverschmelzung). The meaning of texts is located in an ongoing