Readers, Texts, and the Fusion of Horizons: Theology and Gadamer’s Hermeneutics

• Authors: Matthew W. Knotts
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The practise of hermeneutics originates in a theological context, and indeed, the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer has exerted an influence over theolo- gians and religious persons for the last half century. What if any relevance does a text, for instance, a biblical one, have for us today? Is it severed from us due to its historical and temporal distance? Even if it has some message which can be rele- vant today, how is one to access and interpret it? Gadamer deals with such issues in his masterwork Truth and Method, offering resources through his understanding of the nature of texts and what he calls the fusion of horizons. For Gadamer, an horizon constitutes one’s worldview. Yet this horizon is subject to expansion and revision, as well as contact with other horizons. In this process of fusing horizons, understanding occurs between minds, and one grows in one’s awareness and pursuit of truth. Gadamer maintains that this can happen across both hermeneutical and historical boundaries, hence preserving the applicability of a text to a different context without compromising its unique historical origins.

Keywords

EN

Hermeneutics; (Fusion of) horizons; Interpretation

Discipline

• THEOLOGY: THEOLOGY

• Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press, Czech Republic
• Journal: Acta Universitatis Carolinae Theologica
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 233-246

Dates

published

2014-12-11

Contributors

author

Matthew W. Knotts

• Research Unit of History of Church and Theology, KU Leuven