Beyond Dogmatism And Innocence

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, neoscholastic approaches to the interpretation of the scriptures, dogmas, and tradition came to reflect and represent the position of the official magisterium. Since the council, we have witnessed, on the one hand, the proliferation of methodological developments in the fields of hermeneutics and critical theory, while, on the other hand, the current contested interpretation of the council has brought the term “hermeneutics” back onto theology’s front burner.

This collection of scholarly essays has three aims. The first is to identify dominant trends in philosophical hermeneutics and in critical theories that have been influential in Catholic theology since the time of Vatican II. The second is to identify the most important disputed issues in hermeneutics and critical theory that bear upon the work of the theologian. The third is to develop constructive proposals that would set the stage for our ongoing discussions in the field and would point to specific applications of hermeneutical and critical-theoretical understandings in theology.