The Theology of Disclosure and Biblical Exegesis

The Thomist 70 (2006): 395-419 THE THEOLOGY OF DISCLOSURE AND BIBLICAL EXEGESIS WILLIAM M. WRIGHT IV Duquesne University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania IN HIS THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS, Robert Sokolowski articulates a program for what he calls "the theology of disclosure."1 This way of doing theology appropriates principles from Husserlian phenomenology to examine the appearances and modes of manifestation proper to sacred realities by which they are made known.2 Up till now, Sokolowski's theological contribution has received most attention from philosophers of religion and theologians who are concerned with the doctrine of God or human morality.3 Even though Sokolowski devotes chapters in his books The God of Faith and Reason and 1 See Robert Sokolowski, The GodofFaith andReason: Foundations ofChristian Theology (Notre Dame: University ofNotre Dame Press, 1982); idem, Eucharistic Presence: A Study in the Theology of Disclosure (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1993). 2 Sokolowski admits that his interpretation of Husserl, which is characteristic of the '"East Coast"' school of Husserl interpretation in the United States, is not shared by all phenomenologists. See Robert Sokolowski, Introduction to Phenomenology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 222-23. 3 For instance, the essays in Ethical and Theological Disclosures: The Thought ofRobert Sokolowski, ed. Guy Mansini, O.S.B., and James G. Hart (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2003); David B. Burrell, C.S.C., "The Christian Distinction Celebrated and Expanded," in The Truthful and the Good: Essays in Honor of Robert Sokolowski, ed. John J. Drummond and James G. Hart (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996), 191-206; Brian J. Shanley, O.P., "Sacra Doctrina and the Theology of Disclosure," The Thomist 61 (1997): 163-87; Allen Vigneron, "The Christian Mystery and the Presence and Absence of God," in Drummond and Hart, eds., The Truthful and the Good, 181-89. 395 396 WILLIAM M. WRIGHT IV Eucharistic Presence to the relationship between the theology of disclosure and Scripture, his work has yet to be considered as an interpretive resource by biblical scholars. This essay seeks to integrate some elements of Sokolowski's theology of disclosure with biblical scholarship by means of an exegetical case study: the Christological interpretation of Psalm 69 in the Gospel according to John. For this purpose, I will set forth the basic tenets of the theology of disclosure with special attention to the place of Scripture within it. Then, I will analyze the interpretation of Psalm 69 in the Fourth Gospel and explore its convergences with the theology of disclosure. I. THE THEOLOGY OF DISCLOSURE AND SCRIPTURE Sokolowski defines the theology of disclosure as having "the task of describing how the Christian things taught by the Church and studied by speculative theology come to light."4 He illustrates the character of the theology of disclosure by contrasting it with positive theology and speculative theology.5 Positive theological disciplines, such as biblical studies or patristics, are historical in character. They examine the treatment of theological realities in specific historical contexts. Speculative theology is more properly philosophical and systematic. It considers theological things in themselves (e.g., Christ) and in relation to other theological things (e.g., Christ and the Church), organizing them into a system. In contrast to positive and speculative theology, the theology of disclosure focuses on how sacred realities are manifested or presented to a subject.6 The theology of disclosure takes seriously the appearances by which sacred realities are presented. From these appearances, the theology of disclosure draws conclusions 4 Sokolowski, Eucharistic Presence, 7. 5 Sokolowski, God ofFaith and Reason, 91-103; idem, Eucharistic Presence, 5-12, 173-79. 6 Sokolowski articulates the distinction between the theology of disclosure and systematic and historical theology in this way: "the theology of disclosure differs from speculative theology because it examines the manifestation of Christian things and not, primarily, their nature, definition, and causes; and it differs from positive theology because it is concerned with essential structures of disclosure, which would hold in all times and places, and not with matters of historical fact" (Sokolowski, Eucharistic Presence, 8). THE THEOLOGY OF DISCLOSURE AND BIBLICAL EXEGESIS 397 about the character of sacred things and the ways in which sacred things are...