Forthcoming Symposium on Merold Westphal's Whose Community? Which Interpretation

In the months of November and December we will be hosting a symposium here on the Church and Postmodern Culture blog to engage Merold Westphal's latest book--and the latest book in the Church and Postmodern Culture series along with Graham Ward's The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens. Westphal's book is entitled Whose Community? Which Interpretation: Philosophical Hermeneutics for the Church, and touches on the following issues:

In this volume, renowned philosopher Merold Westphal introduces current philosophical thinking related to interpreting the Bible. Recognizing that no theology is completely free of philosophical "contamination," he engages and mines contemporary hermeneutical theory in service of the church. After providing a historical overview of contemporary theories of interpretation, Westphal addresses postmodern hermeneutical theory, arguing that the relativity embraced there is not the same as the relativism in which "anything goes." Rather, Westphal encourages us to embrace the proliferation of interpretations based on different perspectives as a way to get at the richness of the biblical text.

Here is the schedule of engagements with the book:

• November 14: Carl Raschke, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Denver
  ch. 01. Hermeneutics 101: No Interpretation Needed?
  ch. 02. Hermeneutics 102: A Little Historical Background
• November 21: Jim Chapman, Th.M. student at Duke University
  ch. 03. Against Romantic Hermeneutics: Away from Psychologism
  ch. 04. Objectivism and Authorial Privilege
• November 30: Andrew Talbot, PhD student at the University of Nottingham
  ch. 05. Revoking Authorial Privilege
  ch. 06. Rehabilitating Tradition
• December 7: Cynthia R. Nielsen, PhD student at the University of Dallas
  ch. 07. On Not Clinging to the Prejudice against Prejudice
  ch. 08. Art as the Site of Truth beyond Method
• December 14: Christina Smerick, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Greenville College
  ch. 09. Performance, Application, Conversation
  ch. 10. Conversation and the Liberal-Communitarian Debate
• December 21: Father Robert Coates, SSC, Vicar of St Augustine's at Bexhill-on-Sea, England
  ch. 11. The Church as Conversation
  ch. 12. Transcendence, Revelation, and Community

Please read along and join us in the conversation starting November 14th! If you don't already have the book yet, an excerpt containing the preface and first chapter may be obtained here on the Baker Academic website.

Comments

[Thomas J Bridges]

Looks sweet (just saw this).