Figuring the sacred : religion, narrative, and imagination

356 Pages·1995·21.264 MB·English

by  Paul Ricoeur, David Pellauer, Mark I. Wallace

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The Library
of the
School of Theology
at Claremont
1325 North College Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711-3199
1/800-626-7820
FIGURING
THE SACRED
NZ
AN

FIGURING
THE SACRED
Religion, Narrative, and Imagination
NZ
AN
Paul Ricoeur
Translated by David Pellauer
Edited by Mark I. Wallace
Fortress Press Minneapolis
‘| heology |_ibrary
‘CHOOL OF THEOLOGY
aN il S ee ey ia \ |' ® \ | —
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FIGURING THE SACRED
Religion, Narrative, and Imagination
Copyright © 1995 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief
quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced
in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher.
Write: Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, 426 S. Fifth St., Box 1209, Minneapolis,
MN 55440.
Biblical quotations, unless adapted or translated from the original by the author,
are from either the New Revised Standard Version Bible (copyright © 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the United States of America) or the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
(copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of Churches).
Interior design: ediType
Cover design: Cheryl Watson, Graphiculture
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ricoeur, Paul.
[Essays. English. Selections]
Figuring the sacred : religion, narrative, and imagination / Paul
Ricoeur ; translated by David Pellauer ; edited by Mark I. Wallace.
p.. cm,
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8006-2894-2 (alk. paper)
1. Religion—Philosophy. 2. Storytelling. 3. Storytelling—
Religious aspects—Christianity. 4. Hermeneutics. 5. Bible—
Criticism, interpretation, etc. 6. Theology. I. Wallace, Mark
ky, 1956- I Titke:
BL51.R43225 1995
200-dc20 95-5454
CIP
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984. eo)”
Manufactured in the U.S.A. AF 1-2894
99° 98 "97" 96 9S 1 2 3: 4 Se ey eee
Contents
vii
Preface
Introduction
~ Part One ~
THE STUDY OF RELIGION:
PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
_ 36
1. Philosophy and Religious Language
48
. Manifestation and Proclamation
. The “Sacred” Text and the Community 68
~ Part Two ~
PHILOSOPHERS OF RELIGION:
MEDIATION AND CONFLICT
15
4. A Philosophical Hermeneutics of Religion: Kant
5. The “Figure” in Rosenzweig’s The Star of Redemption 93
108
6. Emmanuel Levinas: Thinker of Testimony
~ Part Three ~
THE BIBLE AND GENRE:
THE POLYPHONY OF BIBLICAL DISCOURSES
7. On the Exegesis of Genesis 1:1—2:4a 129
144
8. The Bible and the Imagination
167
9. Biblical Time
181
10. Interpretive Narrative
vi ~ CONTENTS
~ Part Four ~
THEOLOGICAL OVERTURES:
GOD, SELE NARRATIVE, AND EVIL
203
1g Hope and the Structure of Philosophical Systems
PA
12. Naming God
Ls. Toward a Narrative Theology: Its Necessity, Its Resources,
236
Its Difficulties
14. Evil, a Challenge to Philosophy and Theology 249
15: The Summoned Subject in the School of the Narratives
of the Prophetic Vocation 262
~ Part Five ~
PRACTICAL THEOLOGY:
ETHICS AND HOMILETICS
16. The Logic of Jesus, the Logic of God 2719
ze “Whoever Loses Their Life for My Sake Will Find It” 284
18. The Memory of Suffering 289
19. Ethical and Theological Considerations on the Golden Rule 293
20. Pastoral Praxeology, Hermeneutics, and Identity 303
an. Love and Justice 315
Bibliographical Note 331
Index of Biblical Passages 333
Index of Names 335
Index of Subjects 332
Preface
There has long been a need for a systematic collection of Paul Ricoeur’s
important writings in religious studies. This volume is the most compre-
hensive anthology of Ricoeur’s work in the related fields of history of
religions, philosophy of religion, biblical studies, theology, and practical
theology. I have included here twenty-one of his most representative arti-
cles in religion, beginning with his early biblical and theological writings
of the 1970s to his more recent studies on such topics as Emmanuel Lev-
inas’s notion of testimony, the identity of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark,
and the meaning of suffering in theology after the Holocaust. The collec-
tion includes theological articles, philosophical essays, exegetical papers,
and sermons, and many of these pieces have been expressly translated for
this volume. The book is organized topically and chronologically to aid
the reader’s critical appreciation of the full scope of Ricoeur’s religious
thought.
I am deeply grateful to numerous individuals who assisted in the com-
pletion of this project. My student research assistants at Swarthmore Col-
lege—Alex Vishio, Erin Sawyer, Sean Latham, and Ben Bryson—prepared
chapter drafts and helped with bibliographical work. They were joined at
Swarthmore by Steven Sowards, humanities librarian, and Eileen McEl-
rone, administrative assistant, in the laborious task of securing permissions
for the book’s contents. Kenner Swain and Eric Crump, faithful friends
from the University of Chicago, shared with me some of Ricoeur’s un-
published manuscripts and made helpful suggestions as to the final shape
of the book’s contents. John van den Hengel regularly kept me up-to-date
regarding Ricoeur’s oeuvre, helping me with the task of organizing an an-
thology around a thinker whose published work is always expanding. Tim
Staveteig and Michael West at Fortress Press provided careful oversight of
the project from start to finish. David Pellauer expertly translated the many
texts included here, and together we mapped out the original vision for
this project and the final composition of the volume. Paul Ricoeur gener-
ously gave his permission to publish some of the unpublished material in
his possession, as well as his overall authorization to collect his writings
in this format. Ellen Ross reviewed drafts of the manuscript and provided
viii ~ PREFACE
friendship and support that helped to make the dream of this project a real-
ity. Finally, I am grateful to Swarthmore College, the National Endowment
for the Humanities, and the American Academy of Religion for provid-
ing fellowship support that funded release time for the completion of this
collection.
Mark I. WALLACE
Swarthmore College