A Total Ethic for a Broken Body: Receptive Ecumenism’s Hermeneutical Virtue

Ryan, Gregory A.

Abstract

The apparently simple principle of Receptive Ecumenism rests upon a richer set of methodological commitments. These are outlined in order to counter the risk of superficial adoption of the approach. In the first part of the chapter, Receptive Ecumenism is located in relation to Paul D. Murray’s wider theological methodology, using the key concepts of expansive catholicity, recursive fallibilism, and dynamic integrity. Resources from doctrinal hermeneutics are used to elaborate these concepts in relation to the task of ecclesial learning. The second part of the chapter offers a new perspective on these commitments using the notion of hermeneutical virtue developed by Andrew P. Rogers in his book Congregational Hermeneutics (2015). Suitably adapted, this notion is proposed as a useful tool for avoiding the reduction of Receptive Ecumenism to a matter of either method or affectivity alone.

Citation

Ryan, G. A. (2022). A Total Ethic for a Broken Body: Receptive Ecumenism’s Hermeneutical Virtue. In P. D. Murray, G. A. Ryan, & P. Lakeland (Eds.), Receptive Ecumenism as Transformative Ecclesial Learning: Walking the Way to a Church Re-formed (321-333). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192845108.003.0026

• Online Publication Date: Jun 23, 2022
• Publication Date: Jun 23, 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 17, 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 321-333
• Book Title: Receptive Ecumenism as Transformative Ecclesial Learning: Walking the Way to a Church Re-formed
• ISBN: 9780192845108
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192845108.003.0026
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2387358
• Contract Date: Sep 11, 2022