A Theology Of Reading: The Hermeneutics Of LoveIf the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the “law of love”—the twofold love of God and one's neighbor—what might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Jacobs pursues this challenging task by alternating largely theoretical, theological chapters—drawing above all on Augustine and Mikhail Bakhtin—with interludes that investigate particular readers (some real, some fictional) in the act of reading. Among the authors considered are Shakespeare, Cervantes, Nabakov, Nicholson Baker, George Eliot, W.H. Auden, and Dickens. The theoretical framework is elaborated in the main chapters, while various counterfeits of or substitutes for genuinely charitable interpretation are considered in the interludes, which progressively close in on that rare creature, the loving reader. Through this doubled method of investigation, Jacobs tries to show how difficult it is to read charitably—even should one wish to, which, of course, few of us do. And precisely because the prospect of reading in such a manner is so offputting, one of the covert goals of the book is to make it seem both more plausible and more attractive. |
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Page 23
... offer an interpre- tation of the scene that enables us to do what Augustine's memoria en- abled him to do , which is ... offers itself for our pleasurable contemplation . Surely this is nei- ther unhealthy nor un - Christian , since it ...
... offer an interpre- tation of the scene that enables us to do what Augustine's memoria en- abled him to do , which is ... offers itself for our pleasurable contemplation . Surely this is nei- ther unhealthy nor un - Christian , since it ...
Page 85
... offers his own in- terpretation of their gift , as though to forestall any explanation they might offer . Thus a few lines further into his discourse he says of his disciples — not describing them but rather exhorting them— “ You compel ...
... offers his own in- terpretation of their gift , as though to forestall any explanation they might offer . Thus a few lines further into his discourse he says of his disciples — not describing them but rather exhorting them— “ You compel ...
Page 87
... offering and receiving of them — in the moral life and in interpre- tation . The wise and charitable reader will understand the importance of receiving in the appropriate way the gifts that are offered to her , and will be willing to offer ...
... offering and receiving of them — in the moral life and in interpre- tation . The wise and charitable reader will understand the importance of receiving in the appropriate way the gifts that are offered to her , and will be willing to offer ...
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Common terms and phrases
achieve Adam Bede agape Alasdair MacIntyre Alcibiades argument Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle's attention Auden Augustine Augustine's Augustinian Baker Bakhtin Buffalo Bill C. S. Lewis calls Cartesian Chapter character charitable reading charity Christ Christian circus claim Claudio and Don context course criticism cultural Derrida Dickens Dickens's Dickinson Dinah Dinah Morris discernment discourse distinction Don Pedro essay ethical eudaimonia friendship Gadamer genuine George Eliot gift Gradgrind hermeneutics hermeneutics of love Hero human I-for-myself interpretation Iris Murdoch Jacques Derrida Jesus justice kenosis Kierkegaard Kinbote kind knowledge language literary live magnanimous means Milbank moral narrator neighbor Nietzsche Nietzsche's notion Nussbaum one's oneself pagan Pale Fire passage perhaps person philia pleasure poem political precisely question Quixotic quoted reader Rich Scripture sense Shade simply Sleary Sleary's spirit theology things thought tion Tompkins tradition truth understanding Updike Vereker virtue W. H. Auden words writes Zarathustra