Eschatological Hermeneutics: The Theological Core of Experience and Our Hope for Salvation

Description

Eschatology is the foundation for exploring Edward Schillebeeckx’s work. Daniel Minch provides an in-depth analysis of his hermeneutical theology, informed by access to original texts previously unavailable in English. He examines the historical and doctrinal origins of his methodology, hermeneutics as human experience, and the continuing relevance of the approach for today’s socio-economic context. Today, economics drives our predictions for the future. But Minch shows that Schillebeeckx’s work reminds us of a ‘new image of humanity’, as well as a ‘new image of God’, part of the Catholic shift to a future-oriented ‘theology of hope’ that took place after the Second Vatican Council. These resist both economic logic and fundamentalist views of God and history that have become pervasive in popular notions of Christianity. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1: The End of Traditional Eschatology—Vatican II as Catalyst for Fundamental Theology 1.1 Preconciliar Rumblings: Renewal of Christian Eschatology 1.1.1 Eschatology in the Run-Up to the Council 1.2 Eschatology and Theology of Hope: The Impact of Schema XIII 1.3 Th e “Church” and the “World”: Unity of Creation and Salvation in Gaudium et Spes 1.3.1 Gaudiumet Spes and Traditional Eschatology 1.4 Decisive Commentary and the New Image of Humanity 1.4.1 A Conciliar Theological Anthropology 1.4.2 Defining and Engaging the World 1.5 New Image of Humanity, New Image of the World: Other Approaches to Hope 1.5.1 Moltmann’s Theology of the Promise 1.5.2 Metz’s Eschatological Development Conclusion Chapter 2: Hermeneutics, Eschatology, and Critical Theory 2.1 Hermeneutics and History in Shifting Philosophical Horizons 2.1.1 History and Hermeneutics 2.1.2 Gadamer’s Tradition Hermeneutics 2.2 Critical Theory and Critical Reactions to Hermeneutics 2.2.1 Habermas: The Pressure of Language and the Unity of History 2.2.2 Praxical Responses to Concrete Oppression 2.3 Schillebeeckx between Gadamer and Habermas 2.3.1 A Critical Future-Oriented Th eology 2.3.2 The Decisive Role of Hope 2.3.3 Eschatology as the Foundational Concept for Interpretation 2.3.4 Eschatology as Theological-Philosophical Critique Conclusion Chapter 3: The Definitive Turn to Experience—Hermeneutic Mediation and Praxical Anticipation of Salvation 3.1 Universal History? Partial Wholes and Meaningful Holes 3.1.1 Fragmented Narratives and Views of Truth 3.1.2 Modern Philosophy and Infl uence of De Petter 3.1.3 The “Clear Break”: Questioning Schillebeeckx’s Relationship to De Petter 3.2 In Search of a New Point of Contact 3.2.1 The Unavoidable Mystery of Suffering 3.2.2 The Persistence of Sin in Human Structures 3.3 Contrast Experience and Its Structural Elements 3.3.1 Critical Negativity and the Humanum 3.3.2 The Structure of Negativity 3.3.3 Raising the Question of Pre-Linguistic Experience 3.4 Narrative Historicity, Praxical Anticipation 3.4.1 Hermeneutics and Alterity 3.4.2 A Narrative Revelation: The Calling of Zacchaeus Conclusion Chapter 4: Unifying Experience and Anthropology—The Ontological Reduction 4.1 Problematizing Negative Contrast Experience 4.1.1 Universality, History, and Context 4.1.2 The Intimacy of Suff ering 4.2 Contrastive Epistemology and Negative Dialectics 4.2.1 Intersecting Elements of Experience 4.2.2 Subject and Object 4.2.3 Positive Aspects of Negative Experiences 4.3 Reaching the “Absolute Limit” 4.3.1 Preconditions for a Hermeneutical Anthropology 4.3.2 Seven Anthropological Constants 4.3.3 The Transcendental Movement—One Ontological Constant Conclusion: The Absolute Limit—Hermeneutics as Eschatology, Eschatology as Ontology Chapter 5: Secularization and the Subversion of Christian Eschatology 5.1 Secularization, and the Rise and Fall of Modern Master Narratives 5.1.1 Lyotard’s Account of Modern Narrativity and Hegemony 5.1.2 Modern Shift from Conservative to Progressive Utopia 5.2 Th e “New Image of God” and the Future of Transcendence 5.2.1 Reconfi guring “Transcendence” 5.2.2 Flight from the World, Flight from the Future 5.3 Th e New Economic Master Narrative 5.3.1 The Digital Idealized Self and Coercion of the Market 5.3.2 The Content of the Market Narrative 5.3.3 The Goal of the Market Narrative and the Digital Idealized Self Conclusion Chapter 6: God, Experience, and Economic Apocalypticism 6.1 Experience Pointing to the Mystery of God 6.1.1 Human Question, Divine Answer? 6.1.2 Human Transcending Toward the Future 6.2 Apocalyptic and Eschatological—Postmodern Market Christianity 6.2.1 The Contemporary Understanding of Apocalyptic 6.2.2 Economic Apocalypticism 6.3 Christian Eschatology Must Be Realized Eschatology 6.3.1 Hominization and Humanization of the World 6.3.2 Self-Legitimation of the Market Narrative Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography Subject Index Name Index