Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Priority of Questions in Religions: Bringing the Discourse of Gods and Buddhas Down to Earth
Ebook
Buddhas, gods, prophets and oracles are often depicted as asking questions. But what are we to understand when Jesus asks “Who do you say that I am?”, or Mazu, the Classical Zen master asks, “Why do you seek outside?" Is their questioning a power or weakness? Is it something human beings are only capable of due to our finitude? Is there any kind of question that is a power?
Focusing on three case studies of questions in divine discourse on the level of story - the god depicted in the Jewish Bible, the master Mazu in his recorded sayings literature, and Jesus as he is depicted in canonized Christian Gospels - Nathan Eric Dickman meditates on human responses to divine questions. He considers the purpose of interreligious dialogue and the provocative kind of questions that seem to purposefully decenter us, drawing on methods from confessionally-oriented hermeneutics and skills from critical thinking.
He allows us to see alternative ways of interpreting religious texts through approaches that look beyond reading a text for the improvement of our own religion or for access to some metaphysically transcendent reality. This is the first step in a phenomenology of religions that is inclusive, diverse, relevant and grounded in the world we live in.
Outlines a theory and method for interpreting philosophical questions in religious literature across multiple traditions.
Serves as a counterbalance to interpreting religious texts for the improvement of a single religion or access to a metaphysically transcendent reality
Considers what is at stake when reading philosophical questions in religious texts, drawing on methods from confessionally-oriented hermeneutics and skills from critical thinking
Takes an inclusive approach to texts, discussing the god depicted in the Jewish Bible, the classical Chan (Zen) master Mazu, and Jesus as depicted in canonized Christian Gospels
Preface
Introduction: Questions in Divine Discourse
Part I: Elements of a Hermeneutic for Interpreting Divine Questions
1. Questioning has Hermeneutic Priority
2. Religious Narrative is Literature
3. What Is at Risk with Questions in Religious Texts?
Part II: Questions in the Direct Discourse of Divine Beings on the Level of Story
4. YHWH asks, “Where Are You?”
5. Ancestor Ma asks, “Why Are You Seeking Outside?”
6. Jesus asks, “Who Do You Say I Am?”
Part III: Questions Posed by Texts to Readers on the Level of Discourse
7. A Biblical Author asks, “Where Do You Stand?”
8. Dharma Heirs ask, “Why Do You Seek Outside?”
9. An Evangelist asks, “What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?”
Conclusion: Human Response to Divine Questions
Bibliography
Index
In this volume, Nathan Eric Dickman rightly and adroitly draws attention to the place that questioning holds in three major forms of religious discourse. Dickman's careful consideration of the implications of the central role that skillful questioning plays in these traditions' processes of meaning-creation is impressive.
This book promises to shift profoundly our understanding of the role of questions in religion. While it is common today to conceive of religion as a source of answers to questions, Dickman masterfully demonstrates how this overlooks a pattern in sacred writings where deistic figures pose rather than resolve questions.
Dickman invites the reader into the opportunity and responsibility of dialogue. The distinction between deficit-driven and surplus-driven questions is innovative and striking in its ability to shake up how we engage “deific voices” and apply them to interpreting our reality. This work is an outstanding blend of challenging and accessible.
- Title: Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Priority of Questions in Religions: Bringing the Discourse of Gods and Buddhas Down to Earth
- Author: Nathan Eric Dickman
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350202177, 9781350202146, 1350202142, 1350202177
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350202177
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-08T22:05:25Z
Nathan Eric Dickman (PhD, The University of Iowa) is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Ozarks, USA. He researches in hermeneutic phenomenology, philosophy of language, and comparative questions in philosophies of religions, with particular concerns about global social justice issues in ethics and religions. He has taught a breadth of courses, from Critical Thinking to Zen, and Existentialism to Greek & Arabic philosophy. Using Questions to Think (Bloomsbury, 2021) examines the roles questions play in critical thinking and reasoning, and Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Priority of Questions in Religions (Bloomsbury, 2022) examines the roles questions play in religious discourse.