88 Book Reviews / Horizons in Biblical Th eology 31 (2009) 77-96

Language, Hermeneutic, and History: Th eology after Barth and Bultmann. By James M. Robinson. Eugene, Oregon: CASCADE Books, 2008. Pp. 249. $29.00.

Robinson’s Language, Hermeneutic, and History has an introduction, abbreviations, three chapters, three bibliographies, and indexes of names, scripture, key foreign words and phrases. Th e works of , Heinrich Ott, , Ernst Fuchs and , and Wolfhart Pannenberg are all referenced and brought into fruitful conversation. Th is slim edition incorporates seminal introductions from the New Frontiers in Th eology series: Vol. 1 Th e Later Heidegger and Th eology (1963), Vol. 2 Th e New Hermeneutic (1964), and Vol. 3 Th eology as History (1967). John B. Cobb says there are no other volumes where the impetus and import of Continental is so meticulously and thoughtfully pre- sented. In each work, Robinson has an extensive essay that points to a new hermeneutical direction: “Th e German Discussion of the Later Heidegger,” “Hermeneutic since Barth,” and “ as Word and as History.” Our fi rst chapter rehearses the historical relevance of the Later Heidegger. Th e chapter will be familiar to readers with a background in existential philosophy and ontological theology. If there are any surprises, however, it is the amount of attention given to the smaller works of Heidegger like Being and Time, Existence and Being, Der Feldweg, Die Frage nach der Technik, Gelassenheit, Holzwege, An Introduction to Metaphysics, Kant und das Problem der Metapyisik. Paul J. Achtemeier descriptively notes the full range of Robinson’s encompassing encyclopedic knowledge and his mastery of theological issues. I highly recommend this chapter for any one interested in the development of German theology and philosophy. Regarding Heidegger’s philosophy, Robinson sees Dasein being relatively grounded in the Supreme Being, which is the uncaused cause (causa sui). Th e investigation of this prob- lem has been the traditional task of ontology since this Supreme Being is often conceived by metaphysics as God. Heidegger speaks of “the onto-theo-logical nature of metaphysics” (p. 15). In this context, Heidegger understands modern science and technology as the out- come of metaphysics. Robinson perceives that the end result of this metaphysics is modern technology. Under technology, Heidegger understands not only the machines of produc- tion, but also the materialized nature, engineered culture, professional politics, super- imposed ideals, and the whole artifi cial stance of modern man toward being a whole. Ott is seen as the fi rst theologian to attempt a programmatic way of using the Later Heidegger for theological purposes. Ott fi nds a correspondence between the biblical faith in God the Creator and the philosopher’s basic questions. He describes this as the philoso- pher’s encounter with “secularized Christianity.” Hence, the attempt to work out a correla- tion between the Christian concept of God and Heidegger’s philosophy consisted in a correlation between the believer’s numinous awareness of the world as creation and the philosopher’s amazement at the being of beings. Robinson argues that the Heideggerian understanding of being makes it possible to see the two basic objections that led Barth to reject the analogia entis and still affi rm the being of God. “Wesen is not static essentia, but rather a ‘taking-place;’ truth is not a static correlation, but an unveiling; physis is not a static nature, but the being of beings as it comes forward shows itself. (Th e Greek verb physein

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/187122009X425694 Book Reviews / Horizons in Biblical Th eology 31 (2009) 77-96 89 means to put forth shoots, engender, and grow.) Being is itself not a static ‘is-ness’ (Seiend- heit), but an unveiling” (p. 47). Even the ontological diff erence between being and the beings is not a fi xed separation, but it itself is the unveiling of being. According to Robinson, the outcome of this transfor- mation of categories is that the word “event” is given a deeper signifi cance in Heidegger’s philosophy. Th e correlation of Being and Time with respect to theology is of course worked out by Bultmann and his pupils. Indeed, the Bultmannian School was the fi rst to take up the discussion of the relevance of the Later Heidegger for theology. Chapter Two makes a brief methodological point: “It is a central recognition of the new hermeneutic that language itself says what is invisibly taking place in the life of a culture. An instance of this would be the sudden re-emergence of the term Hermeneutik within post-Bultmannian German theology” (p. 103). Robinson off ers a comparison between Bultmann and his pupils Fuchs and Ebeling. Th e diff erences are striking. For Bultmann, his approach was based on existential interpretation and demythologizing. In the project of Fuchs and Ebeling, existential philosophy is relegated to the periphery. It is none other than language, the basis of the Later Heidegger that takes center stage. For Heidegger, the term language does not merely designate audible or verbal articula- tion. It is more of the conveying of meaning. Fuchs’ understanding of language is well summarized in a passage where the form illustrates the central role of language in herme- neutic. In this sense, the “saving event” is a “language event” since language is God’s saving word. Ebeling arrives at a new hermeneutic that embraced the doctrine of the word of God which became the focus of his theological position. Robinson argues that New Hermeneu- tic is a new theology, just like dialectic theology and Ritschlianism that preceded it. Ebel- ing’s conviction is that theology itself is hermeneutic since it consists of translating what the words of the Bible have to say for us today. So Heidegger’s contribution to New Hermeneu- tic provides a new understanding for the nature of the theological task while furthering it in the context of the academy. Th e hermeneutical principle for theological exegesis in New Hermeneutic presses expo- nentially by even asking what is meant by the term God. If New Hermeneutic seriously proposes to bridge the gulf between historical and , in terms of a recur- rent event of language that moves from ’ word to that of a preacher, then New Herme- neutic becomes a fascinating new mode for the theological task. Chapter Th ree is devoted to Pannenberg. Robinson notes that it is not surprising that the Barthian wing of dialectic theology gradually moved towards salvation history—re-translating Paul’s statement “ is the end of the law” as “Christ is the end of history.” Salvation history, however, was soon replaced by Bultmann’s “saving event,” and the nascent philoso- phy of history that gave way to existentialism’s historicness of existence. On the Old Testa- ment theology side, began working out theology as an interpretation of history. Of course, the Later Barthian movement moved closer to the view of revelatory history, which is seen as the genesis of the Pannenberg movement. Robinson has argued that the situation in which Pannenberg’s theology emerged is not simply history being eliminated in favor of existentialism, but a diff erent understanding of history resulting in its various implications for the structuring of theology. In several instances, Robinson summarizes succinctly that Pannenberg speaks directly of “history” as