First Theology: God, Scripture & Hermeneutics

Abstract

First Theology is a collection of previously published essays, some of which are extensively revised, in which Kevin Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, argues that all theology is hermeneutical and that all hermeneutics-even general hermeneutics-is invariably theological. Vanhoozer addresses theology, Scripture and hermeneutics in separate parts of this book, each organized with the core concept of "God's communicative action," which he explores with full attention to the contemporary climate of relativism and skepticism-a harrowing realm he has already explored at length in Is There Meaningin This Text? (Zondervan, 1998). According to Vanhoozer, when God proclaims in Scripture that his Word "shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose" (Isaiah 55.11), Scripture itself establishes the proper relationship between hermeneutics and theology proper, while refuting fashionable postmodem denials of meaning. Vanhoozer is an unrepentant Protestant of the Reformed variety, and he is thus able to bring his staunch Protestantism to bear on several key issues in contemporary hermeneutics and theology. Following David Kelsey's lead, for instance, Vanhoozer insists that theologians formulate their doctrine of Scripture and their theology in tandem. What Vanhoozer calls "first theology" must be a simultaneous development of both. He does not follow Kelsey, however, in the belief that these twin dimensions of first theology are developed prior to exegesis; to locate one's formulation of the God-Scripture relation in the practices of the church is to cede to the community an authority that belongs to God and his Word alone. At sev

Reading the Social Sciences Theologically (Part 2): Engaging and Appropriating Models of Human Development

“…Interpreting a text wisely is not a scientifically objective endeavor. Vanhoozer (2002) asserts that, "general hermeneutics is inescapably theological. .…”

“…Step three: Employ reflective discernment. In his treatment of the ways in which theology undergirds the task of all interpretation, Vanhoozer (2002) cites two dispositions for reading texts: the "hermeneutic of conviction" and "the hermeneutic of humility" (p. 229). These may be adopted here as sub-categories of the Reformed "hermeneutic of caution" and the corresponding "qualifying integrationist" type with regard to how social scientific texts may be engaged through reflection.…”

Relational Integration, Part I: Differentiated Relationality between Psychology and Theology

“…Theological reflection on God as Trinity may provide a helpful analogy and ideal for this "thirdness." As Vanhoozer (2002) looks to the Trinitarian formulation of filioque to suggest a parallel hermeneutical consideration for the speech-act movement from illocution to perlocution, so it may be helpful to propose that interdisciplinary conversation "proceeds" from two interdisciplinary partners to a third space, which itself can be considered a part of the interdisciplinary process (p. 200). And, as we have suggested above, the vision of God as three persons who are one in essence promotes a differentiated and collaborative way of pursuing integration.…”

From a Trinitarian Theology of Religion to a Trinitarian Theology of Religions: Bridging ‘First Theology’ and ‘Second Theology’

“… 3 Kevin J. Vanhoozer, First Theology: God, Scripture, and Hermeneutics (Downer Groves, IL: IVP, 2002), 9. …”