In this Book
Augsburg Fortress Publishers
- The Mission of Demythologizing: Rudolf Bultmann's Dialectical Theology
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
summary
Since 1941, Rudolf Bultmann’s program of demythologizing has been the subject of constant debate, widely held to indicate Bultmann’s departure from the dialectical theology he once shared with Karl Barth. In the 1950s, Barth referred to their relationship as that of a whale and an elephant: incapable of meaningful communication. This study proposes a contrary reading of demythologizing as the hermeneutical fulfillment of dialectical theology on the basis of a reinterpretation of Barth’s theological project. As such, the volume argues that dialectical theology is fundamentally governed by a missionary logic. Bultmann’s hermeneutical theology extends this dialectical, missionary theology into the field of interpretation. Contrary to many critics, the message of God’s saving work in Christ, and not modern science, funds Bultmann’s hermeneutical program. Like Barth’s own revolution, Bultmann’s program addresses a false relation between gospel and culture. Negatively, demythologizing is a program of deconstantinizing, opposing the objectifying conflation of kerygma and culture that he calls “myth.” Positively, demythologizing is a form of intercultural hermeneutics, composed of preunderstanding and self-understanding. Demythologizing is therefore a missionary hermeneutic of intercultural translation.
Table of Contents
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- Abbreviations
- p. xiii
- A Note on Translation
- pp. xv-xvi
- Introduction: Bultmann—Missionary to Modernity
- pp. xvii-xxxiii
- The Myth of the Whale and the Elephant
- The Mission of Dialectical Theology
- The Mission of Demythologizing
- Conclusion: The Future of Demythologizing
- pp. 829-836
- Bibliography
- pp. 865-922
Additional Information
ISBN
9781451496574
Related ISBN(s)
9781451487923
MARC Record
OCLC
909456895
Pages
704
Launched on MUSE
2015-05-19
Language
English
Open Access
No