Perichoretic imagination

Gadamer waxing (Hegelian and) perichoretic (quoted in Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: A Reading of Truth and Method , p. 159): “Life is defined by the fact that what is alive differentiates itself from the world in which in which it lives and to which it is bound, and preserves itself in such . . . . Continue Reading »

Coherence of history

As Weinsheimer ( Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: A Reading of Truth and Method , p. 150) explains, Dilthey like every other theorist of historical hermeneutics is haunted by the Hegelian ghost he tries to escape. For Dilthey, the problem is to prove the coherence and unity of history. He points to . . . . Continue Reading »

Historicism’s dilemma

Weinsheimer ( Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: A Reading of Truth and Method , p. 144) neatly summarizes the dilemma of anti-Hegelian historicism, influenced as it was by the hermeneutical theories of Schleiermacher and later Dilthey. Here’s the problem: Historicism rejects the Hegelian notion . . . . Continue Reading »

Understanding understanding

Gadamer ( Truth and Method (Continuum Impacts) , p. 180 ) says, “We begin with this proposition: understanding means, first of all, understanding one another. Understanding is first of all having come to a mutual understanding. People understand one another immediately for the most part, or . . . . Continue Reading »

Animal Orchestra

The NYT Book Review has a fascinating review of Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places , which argues that “the healthier the habitat, the more ‘musical’ the creatures, the richer and more diverse their . . . . Continue Reading »

Eucharistic meditation

Acts 2:43-45: They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold . . . . Continue Reading »

Exhortation

We steal because we think we don’t have something we need or should have. We don’t have enough money, the right kind of electronic device or blouse, our favorite candy. We steal because we believe good things are scarce. Sometimes we steal intangible things. Our co-worker or friend has . . . . Continue Reading »

Easter Octave Homily

“Where have you been for the past week? You must be the only one in town who doesn’t know what happened.” Cleopas and his friend were rushing to get out of Jerusalem. Three days before, the Romans had captured their teacher, tried him, and crucified him. They knew what Romans did . . . . Continue Reading »

Taking the entertainment industry

As Young notes ( In Procession Before the World: Martyrdom As Public Liturgy in Early Christianity (The Pere Marquette Lecture in Theology, 2001) , p. 12), the early Christians had their own way of taking over the Roman entertainment industry: Martyrs “invaded those spectacles and turned them . . . . Continue Reading »

Training Camp

In her 2001 Pere Marquette Lecture Robin Darling Young ( In Procession Before the World: Martyrdom As Public Liturgy in Early Christianity (The Pere Marquette Lecture in Theology, 2001) , pp. 1-2 ) notes that martyrdom in the early church highlights the clash between “opposing religious . . . . Continue Reading »