Christianity and the Honest, Rigorous Thinker: A Peculiar LoveStory and its Phenomenological Interpretation Open Access

Abstract

The dissertation begins with the question: Can an honest and rigorous thinker, living in our scientific world, take Christianity seriously? Part one offers an analysis of Augustine's conception of Christian charity and proffers the conjecture that putting aside questions of Christianity's objective truth and exploring instead how the Christian story expresses and responds to existential concern about the fragility and senselessness of existence will disclose a means for taking Christianity seriously. Part two investigates first what it means to be an honest and rigorous thinker, attending closely to the strengths and limitations of reason, and second what it means to interpret the Christian story as an expression of existential concern. Based on these investigations, a hermeneutic framework that makes use of the phenomenological method to interpret religious themes in terms of their meaning for the concretely situated subject is developed. Part three presents a phenomenological interpretation of Christian love as a true response to existential concern, suggesting that this interpretation discloses a means by which the honest and rigorous thinker may take Christianity seriously.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Part One

Introduction 7

Chapter One: Redeeming Love, Platonism, and Augustine's

Reconciliation of the Irreconcilable 10

Chapter Two: A Conjecture Rejecting the Interpretation of

Christianity as a Metaphysical Doctrine 34

Part Two

Introduction 59

Chapter Three: First Examination of the Pre-understanding:

The Honest and Rigorous Thinker 68

Chapter Four: Second Examination of the Pre-understanding:

The New Testament Redemption Story as an

Expression of Existential Concern 106

Chapter Five: Articulation of the Hermeneutic Framework 139

Part Three

Introduction 166

Chapter Six: The New Testament Story of Redemption

and a Phenomenology of Redeeming Love 167

Conclusion 240

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Philosophy
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy Religion, Philosophy of
Keyword	Christian thought phenomenology hermeneutics
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Carr, David, Emory University
Committee Members	Flynn, Thomas R, Emory University Makkreel, Rudolf A, Emory University

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