Archive for May, 2008
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Human Life as Biography, not Substance
6 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 31st, 2006 in Hans-Georg GadamerA nice passage to contemplate by Hans-Helmuth Gander on Gadamer’s historically-friendly description of a human being as “biography”:
“Reflection on history means as well, therefore, that the one reflecting is himself always already involved in history. No one simply ‘takes up’ history, and no one begins it; for this reason a single reflection on history is [...]
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Solzhenitsyn on Dostoevsky and Beauty
3 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 30th, 2006 in Dostoevsky, Russian Literary Figures, SolzhenitsynIn Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Lecture (given in the 70’s), he recalls something that Dostoevsky once said—something that he used to consider quite puzzling, viz., “Beauty will save the world.” (“Мир спасет красота”). He goes on to say, “There is […] something special in the essence of beauty, a special quality in art: the conviction carried by [...]
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Part II: Aquinas and Calvin on Faith: A Difference of Substance or Semantics?
7 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 27th, 2006 in Aquinas, Calvin, TheologyHaving examined Calvin’s view on faith, we now turn to Aquinas. As is commonplace with St. Thomas, he takes his starting point from St. Augustine, who defines believing as “thinking with assent” ( cum assentione cogitare). Given his 13th century context and the categories that were now operative as a result of the [...]
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Part I: Aquinas and Calvin on Faith: A Difference of Substance or Semantics?
2 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 26th, 2006 in Aquinas, Calvin, TheologyWhen Calvin argues against the “Schoolmen” in his Institutes does he include St. Thomas in this group or does he primarily have men like John Eck, John Cochlaeus, Andreaus Osiander, and Albert Pighius (all contemporaries of Calvin who taught at the Sorbonne) in mind? As Arvin Vos convincingly argues, the latter are the targets of [...]
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You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,that though he was rich,yet for your sakes he became poor.2 Cor 8:9
***All praise to thee eternal Lord,clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;choosing a manger for thy throne,while worlds are thine alone.
Once did the skies before thee bow;a virgin’s arms contain thee now;angels who did [...]
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Luther: Continuities and Discontinuities with His Late Medieval Context
1 Comment Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 23rd, 2006 in Late Medieval Studies, LutherIf anyone is interested, I have just uploaded a new paper on Luther to my website. You can read it by clicking, Luther: Continuities and Discontinuities with His Late Medieval Context.
I hope to post more on Gadamer in the days to come. Until then, Merry Christmas to all!
Cynthia
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Gadamer’s Positive View of “Prejudices”
1 Comment Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 21st, 2006 in Hans-Georg Gadamer, HermeneuticsIn stark contrast to a modern aversion to prejudice or bias as a hindrance to “objectivity,” Gadamer presents a positive view of prejudices in his view of hermeneutics. According to Gadamer, all of us come to the text with our own prejudices or “horizons” and these biases are not be understood as solely negative or [...]
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“I-We” Sociality and Gadamer’s “Fusion of Horizons”
10 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 19th, 2006 in Hans-Georg Gadamer, HermeneuticsIn Kathleen Wright’s article, “On What We Have in Common: The Universality of Philosophical Hermeneutics,” she writes the following regarding Gadamer’s understanding of the universality of hermeneutics:
“the universal aspect of hermeneutics has to do with the community we join and the communion we feel in and through the fusion of horizons.”
What Wright wants to highlight [...]
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Gadamer’s Alternative Concept of Meaning
9 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 16th, 2006 in Hans-Georg Gadamer, HermeneuticsIn an excellent introductory essay to Gadamer’s work, Philosophical Hermeneutics, David Linge discusses the ways in which Gadamer’s phenomenology of the game overcomes a number of hermeneutical difficulties. For example, instead of attempting to explicate understanding from the subjective points of view of the author or interpreter, Gadamer describes understanding as analogous to what [...]
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Karl Rahner’s Theology of the Symbol
2 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 14th, 2006 in TheologyDru has an excellent post on Karl Rahner’s symbolism as found in Rahner’s Theological Investigations. Here is an excerpt from Dru’s post:
“From his Theological Investigations, Rahner begins the theology of the symbol with the suggestion that all beings are plural. Since we are plural, we are expressive because we must reconcile with our plurality. This [...]
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Listening for Built-in-Flexibility as a Hermeneutical Disposition
4 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 12th, 2006 in Biblical Hermeneutics, Hermeneutics, MusicBelow is an excerpt from the recent paper that I presented at Baylor. I would be interested in your feedback (positive and negative)—specifically, I would love to hear ideas as to how what I suggest might be brought into conversation with the hermeneutical insights of Gadamer [whom I have just begun to read this week [...]
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In Search of Good Films
17 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 11th, 2006 in MiscellaneousSince I recently finished my last exam and need a few days to “unwind” before attempting any “serious” posts, I thought that I would inquire as to some of your favorite films/movies. I am always seeking thought provoking films and am continually disappointed by most of what I am able to find at local video [...]
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Part III: A Brief Introduction to Jean-Luc Marion’s Sur la théologie blanche de Descartes
0 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 8th, 2006 in Descartes, Jean-Luc MarionWith this [see Part II] background in place, we are now ready to examine what Marion means by the “white theology” of Descartes. A good place to begin is with a brief glance at the work’s table of contents, whose basic twofold structure offers a helpful way in to the question. Book One of Théologie [...]
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Part II: A Brief Introduction to Jean-Luc Marion’s Sur la théologie blanche de Descartes
2 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 6th, 2006 in Descartes, Jean-Luc MarionBy Derek Morrow
[Part I can be accessed here].
So why does Marion place Descartes’ “white” theology in the middle of the trilogy? To answer this question, we first need to take a step back and look at what is meant by the “gray” ontology of the first book. In that book, Marion examines The Rules for [...]
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Part I: A Brief Introduction to Jean-Luc Marion’s Sur la théologie blanche de Descartes
1 Comment Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 4th, 2006 in Descartes, Jean-Luc MarionThe following is a three-part series on Jean-Luc Marion based on a recent lecture presented at the University of Dallas by Derek Morrow. Though I have been at UD for two years, this was my first semester to met Derek, and it has been my great pleasure to get to know him and become friends. [...]
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Towards a Theology of History
0 Comments Published by Cynthia R. Nielsen December 2nd, 2006 in TheologyIn a section entitled, “Towards a Theology of History,” Murray A. Rae highlights the Bible as a theological account of history “that is shaped by the conviction that all that takes place does so within the context of God’s providential care for the created order” (p. 283). That it is a theological account in [...]


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