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Historical consciousness and existential awareness in Karl Barth\'s hermeneutics


GMM Pelser
AG Van Aarde

Abstract



Karl Barth's hermeneutic legacy prolonged Western Christian tradition, especially influenced by Hegelian philosophy of history. This led to Barth's “theological exegesis” instead of a historic-critical exegesis. In a preceding article Barth's understanding of the notion “hermeneutic circle” is discussed against the background of the Enlightenment and its counter-movement in Romanticism. In this article Barth's attitude to the place and role of historical criticism is explained in light of his dialectic distinction between “scientific” and
“practical” interpretation. The article aims to show that Barth, with his dialectics, continues Schleiermacher's realism. In conclusion, the positivistic traits in the Barth legacy are raised once again, in order to open the door to Jürgen Habermas and other deconstructionist
thinkers of the postmodern era in hermeneutics.

HTS Theological Studies Vol. 63 (4) 2007: pp. 1377-1411

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eISSN: 2072-8050
print ISSN: 0259-9422