Between Vision and Obedience. Rethinking Theological Epistemology: Theological Reflections on Rationality and Agency with Special Reference to Paul Ricoeur and G.W.F. Hegel

An analysis of contemporary issues of rationality and knowledge in theology, offering an epistemology rooted in a Trinitarian view of God's action in the world.

Contemporary discussions of problems of selfhood and knowledge have offered a wide range of solutions, from calls for a new Enlightenment (in the face of the resurgence of myth and the irrational), to attempts to 're-enchant the world' (in the face of the growth of an impersonal instrumental Reason). In Between Vision and Obedience - Rethinking Theological Epistemology, George Ille offers a theological response to these competing views, with the specific purpose of evaluating the present state of epistemological rationality in theology. Ille anchors his concerns historically and thematically through the work of the philosophers Paul Ricouer and G.F.W. Hegel. Invoking theological insights from Eastern and Western philosophies, and seeking recourse to a number of philosophers and theologians from both the continental and analytical traditions, he traces the contours of a theological rationality freed from both modern and post-modern hermeneutical anxieties. He proposes a rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world through dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and eucharistic communion. This important text challenges and reframes existing theological and philosophical engagements with hermeneutics and epistemology. The new critical perspective it offers will be an invaluable resource for academics and scholars across the humanities.

George Ille is Affiliate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Asbury Theological Seminary.