Between Vision and Obedience - Rethinking Theological Epistemology

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.

"Innovative and intriguing." -Dr John Saxbee, Church Times, 9th January 2015 "While Ille's study is basically simple in outline, it is an intricately developed treatment of knowledge and epistemology... The author skillfully balances appreciation and critique of Ricoeur's work." -Peter B. Ely, S.J., Theological Studies, Vol. 77 Issue 1, March 2016 "The book offers an interesting contribution to the hermeneutical ontological debate" -Johann-Allberecht Meylahn, Theologische Literatur Zeitung 141. Jahrgang, Heft 4 April 2016 "The work is a magnificent contribution, underlining the ontological and narrative role of the self and the great drama of Revelation and Redemption; Ille's book is beneficial in the multi-disciplinary epistemological discussion." -Maya Hládek, The Expository Times, Vol. 127 No. 10, July 2016 "...[George Ille's] admirable argument allows for this book to be included in quarrying Hegel and, in particualr, Ricouer, and to be prescribed as a text in a graduate seminar on theological interpretation and ways of faith-based knowing." -Frank England, Theological Book Review, Vo. 26 No. 2, 2016

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