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James K.A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic. Downers Grove, Illinois 2000: Intervarsity Press. 228 pp. ISBN 0-8308-1574-0.

James K.A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. Philosophical Foundations for a Creational... book reviews 219 James K.A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic. Downers Grove, Illinois 2000: Intervarsity Press. 228 pp. ISBN 0-8308- 1574-0. James Smith has written an interesting book. Following philosophers like Heidegger, Gadamer and Derrida, he defends the position that all knowledge and understanding is the result of interpretation and therefore can never claim immediacy or total transparency. It is part of our human nature that our knowledge and understanding are always determined by our individual and cultural perspective, if only because our knowledge cannot be understood apart from the language we speak. The main emphasis of the book is, though, that this is not something that should be deplored: it is part of God’s good creation. Our limitations are primarily our positive possibilities. After an introduction explaining the main objectives the book is divided into three parts. Part one, ‘The Fallenness of Hermeneutics’, discusses the interpretation of interpretation of the American evangelical theologians, Koivisto and Lints, the German theologian Pannenberg, and the philosophers Gadamer and Habermas. The first two are seen as examples of the position that interpretation is the result of the Fall but can be overcome already in the present http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Philosophia Reformata Brill

James K.A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic. Downers Grove, Illinois 2000: Intervarsity Press. 228 pp. ISBN 0-8308-1574-0.

Geertsema, H.G.
Philosophia Reformata , Volume 66 (2): 3 – Dec 2, 2001
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0031-8035
eISSN
2352-8230
DOI
10.1163/22116117-90000236
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

book reviews 219 James K.A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic. Downers Grove, Illinois 2000: Intervarsity Press. 228 pp. ISBN 0-8308- 1574-0. James Smith has written an interesting book. Following philosophers like Heidegger, Gadamer and Derrida, he defends the position that all knowledge and understanding is the result of interpretation and therefore can never claim immediacy or total transparency. It is part of our human nature that our knowledge and understanding are always determined by our individual and cultural perspective, if only because our knowledge cannot be understood apart from the language we speak. The main emphasis of the book is, though, that this is not something that should be deplored: it is part of God’s good creation. Our limitations are primarily our positive possibilities. After an introduction explaining the main objectives the book is divided into three parts. Part one, ‘The Fallenness of Hermeneutics’, discusses the interpretation of interpretation of the American evangelical theologians, Koivisto and Lints, the German theologian Pannenberg, and the philosophers Gadamer and Habermas. The first two are seen as examples of the position that interpretation is the result of the Fall but can be overcome already in the present

Journal

Philosophia Reformata – Brill

Published: Dec 2, 2001

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