Poetical Postmodern Exegesis: Paul Ricoeur and Olivier-Thomas Venard in Dialogue
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Date
2025
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wydawnictwo KUL
Abstract
In a postmodern linguistic turn, Paul Ricoeur pays great attention to the subject and the Biblical text itself. This helpfully presents a very pristine text, one which can move and re-create the subject who encounters the text with humility. However, when it comes to Biblical exegesis specifically, Ricoeur’s method is immanentist, a historical, and unhelpfully rejects any interpretive authority. Olivier-Thomas Venard, like Ricoeur, pays great attention to the sign-character of the Bible’s language, but offers a more holistic exegesis which takes the Bible on its own terms and is metaphysically and historically grounded. In this article, I first lay out Ricoeur’s poetical exegetical project and offer interpretive and metaphysical critiques; specifically, I contend that his “distanciated” reading of the Bible and his rejection of authority fail to interpret the Bible on its own terms. I then turn to Venard, who sympathizes with Ricoeur’s subjective and linguistic turn while remaining grounded in interpretive authority, history, and providence, offering what Matthew Levering calls a “participatory exegesis.”
Description
Keywords
Paul Ricoeur, Olivier-Thomas Venard, Poetics, Postmodernity, Biblical interpretation
Citation
"Verbum Vitae", 2025, T. 43, nr 1, s. 165-184