Gaudet Mater Ecclesia as a Hermeneutical Lens

Gregory A. Ryan

Jump to Content

Chapter 3 Gaudet Mater Ecclesia as a Hermeneutical Lens

In: Hermeneutics of Doctrine in a Learning Church

Author:

Gregory A. Ryan

Gregory A. Ryan
Search for other papers by Gregory A. Ryan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 45–81

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004436404_004

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

€42.00€35.00 excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Abstract

Does a hermeneutical approach to doctrine simply mean re-clothing the essential content in new forms of words? Pope John XXIII’s distinction at the opening of the Second Vatican Council might appear to point in this direction. In this chapter, I challenge the adequacy of such a view by considering three responses to the relations of form and content in doctrinal hermeneutics: 1) reconstructive hermeneutics; 2) retroductive recognition; and, 3) reception theory.

In the same paragraph as John XXIII’s distinction between the substance of faith and the means of presentation is an emphasis on a magisterium which is ‘predominantly pastoral in character’. The second part of this chapter therefore relates the pastorality of doctrine, which several commentators identity as characteristic of Pope Francis’s magisterium, to the hermeneutics of doctrine. Building on Schillebeeckx and others I argue that doctrine is not first formed and then applied, but that the application informs the understanding of the doctrine. The chapter concludes by briefly considering two contemporary instances where hermeneutics are explicitly referenced in contemporary Catholic discourse: 1) Benedict XVI’s hermeneutics of continuity, reform, and rupture in relation to Vatican II; and, 2) Cardinal Blaise Cupich’s 2018 presentation of Francis’ approach to doctrine as a ‘revivified hermeneutic’.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9789004436404/BP000003.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

Hermeneutics of Doctrine in a Learning Church

The Dynamics of Receptive Integrity

Series: Studies in Systematic Theology, Volume: 23

Cover Hermeneutics of Doctrine in a Learning Church

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004436404

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 08 Jul 2020

Subjects
- Religious Studies
  - General
- Theology and World Christianity
  - Systematic Theology

Front Matter

Back Matter

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	620	178	19
Full Text Views	18	2	0
PDF Views & Downloads	29	2	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Chapter 3 Gaudet Mater Ecclesia as a Hermeneutical Lens

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Hermeneutics of Doctrine in a Learning Church

The Dynamics of Receptive Integrity

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics