Using a philosophy of communication approach adapted from St. Augustine’s rhetorical theory, I propose the recovery of Augustinian scriptural hermeneutics to meet the hermeneutical crisis in current Evangelicalism. Evangelical identity is centered on scripturally mediated belief and mission that ties together its ecumenical coalition, but its hermeneutic principles were co-opted by modernism and have now become further embattled by the turn away from modernism to philosophical hermeneutic approaches. Augustine’s hermeneutical principles of charity, hermeneutical humility through responsiveness to the Word, and the social/communal action of lived hermeneutics are explained in terms of Augustine’s pre-modern cosmology of “participation” and are clarified by comparison with the hermeneutic theories of Gadamer, Ricoeur, and their Evangelical respondents. Fulfilling its philosophy of communication emphasis, this project concludes with a conceptual sketch of Evangelical interpretation as practiced through Augustinian participatory hermeneutics.
","abstract_html":"<p>Using a philosophy of communication approach adapted from St. Augustine’s rhetorical theory, I propose the recovery of Augustinian scriptural hermeneutics to meet the hermeneutical crisis in current Evangelicalism. Evangelical identity is centered on scripturally mediated belief and mission that ties together its ecumenical coalition, but its hermeneutic principles were co-opted by modernism and have now become further embattled by the turn away from modernism to philosophical hermeneutic approaches. Augustine’s hermeneutical principles of charity, hermeneutical humility through responsiveness to the Word, and the social/communal action of lived hermeneutics are explained in terms of Augustine’s pre-modern cosmology of “participation” and are clarified by comparison with the hermeneutic theories of Gadamer, Ricoeur, and their Evangelical respondents. Fulfilling its philosophy of communication emphasis, this project concludes with a conceptual sketch of Evangelical interpretation as practiced through Augustinian participatory hermeneutics.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hill, Joshua David"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Worldwide Access","degree_discipline":"Communication and Rhetorical Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Janie Harden Fritz","Ronald C. Arnett","Richard Thames"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:09:07Z","subjects":["Augustine","bible","Evangelical","Hermeneutics","participation","philosophy of communication"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/38","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Janie Harden Fritz","Ronald C. Arnett","Richard Thames"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hill, Joshua David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-12-20T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication and Rhetorical Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Worldwide Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Augustine","bible","Evangelical","Hermeneutics","participation","philosophy of communication"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/38"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Using a philosophy of communication approach adapted from St. Augustine’s rhetorical theory, I propose the recovery of Augustinian scriptural hermeneutics to meet the hermeneutical crisis in current Evangelicalism. Evangelical identity is centered on scripturally mediated belief and mission that ties together its ecumenical coalition, but its hermeneutic principles were co-opted by modernism and have now become further embattled by the turn away from modernism to philosophical hermeneutic approaches. Augustine’s hermeneutical principles of charity, hermeneutical humility through responsiveness to the Word, and the social/communal action of lived hermeneutics are explained in terms of Augustine’s pre-modern cosmology of “participation” and are clarified by comparison with the hermeneutic theories of Gadamer, Ricoeur, and their Evangelical respondents. Fulfilling its philosophy of communication emphasis, this project concludes with a conceptual sketch of Evangelical interpretation as practiced through Augustinian participatory hermeneutics.
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