"Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one"
About this Quote
Paul Ricoeur names a tension at the heart of Christian faith: from the beginning, believers have wrestled with how to understand Scripture, tradition, and the meaning of revelation. Early debates over literal and allegorical readings, patristic exegesis, the creeds, and the Reformation’s disputes over authority all testify that interpretation has never been simple. Yet he also insists that, for us, the question feels new. The novelty is not the existence of interpretation but the conditions under which interpretation now occurs.
Modernity has transformed the horizon. Historical-critical methods, philology, and archaeology have introduced a sharp sense of the Bible’s human authors, sources, and redactions. The rise of historical consciousness distances readers from the sacred text and the world that produced it. At the same time, philosophy and the human sciences have cultivated a hermeneutics of suspicion: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud teach us to question the interests, illusions, and desires that shape belief. Add to this pluralism, the fragmentation of a single authoritative tradition, and new theories of language that treat texts as autonomous, and the stakes of interpretation shift. The issue is no longer only what a passage means, but how meaning itself is possible for modern readers whose assumptions diverge from those of the text.
Ricoeur’s response is a both-and: accept the rigor of explanation while seeking understanding. Critical distance is not an enemy of faith but a necessary passage. After suspicion, there can be a second naivete, a postcritical trust that lets symbols and narratives open a world before the reader. Scripture then is not a set of propositions to be extracted but a world to inhabit, one that calls for appropriation in a community of interpretation.
The ancient problem persists, but under transformed conditions. That is why the hermeneutic question appears new: our age demands a renewed practice of reading that honors historical distance, welcomes critique, and yet dares to listen for a word that addresses us today.
Modernity has transformed the horizon. Historical-critical methods, philology, and archaeology have introduced a sharp sense of the Bible’s human authors, sources, and redactions. The rise of historical consciousness distances readers from the sacred text and the world that produced it. At the same time, philosophy and the human sciences have cultivated a hermeneutics of suspicion: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud teach us to question the interests, illusions, and desires that shape belief. Add to this pluralism, the fragmentation of a single authoritative tradition, and new theories of language that treat texts as autonomous, and the stakes of interpretation shift. The issue is no longer only what a passage means, but how meaning itself is possible for modern readers whose assumptions diverge from those of the text.
Ricoeur’s response is a both-and: accept the rigor of explanation while seeking understanding. Critical distance is not an enemy of faith but a necessary passage. After suspicion, there can be a second naivete, a postcritical trust that lets symbols and narratives open a world before the reader. Scripture then is not a set of propositions to be extracted but a world to inhabit, one that calls for appropriation in a community of interpretation.
The ancient problem persists, but under transformed conditions. That is why the hermeneutic question appears new: our age demands a renewed practice of reading that honors historical distance, welcomes critique, and yet dares to listen for a word that addresses us today.
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| Topic | Bible |
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