Introduction: Theological Fusions

Hans-Georg Gadamer by Dora Mittenzwei
Source: http://tacitknowingblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/hans-georg-gadamer.html

What is a "theological fusion"?  Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) was a German philosopher who studied under Martin Heidegger.  He articulated a concept that he called the "fusion of horizons" in Truth and Method, a philosophical work he wrote on hermeneutics.  Gadamer explains the concept of the fusion of horizons in the following passage:

In fact, the horizon of the present is continually in the process of being formed because we are continually having to test all our prejudices.  An important part of this testing occurs in encountering the past and in understanding the tradition from which we come.  Hence the horizon of the present cannot be formed without the past.  There is no more an isolated horizon of the present in itself than there are historical horizons which have to be acquired.  Rather, the understanding is always the fusion of these horizons supposedly existing by themselves.  We are familiar with the power of this kind of fusion chiefly from earlier times and their naivete about themselves and their heritage.  In a tradition this process of fusion is continually going on, for there old and new are always combining into something of living value, without either being explicitly foregrounded from the other.¹

According to Gadamer, human beings are historically conditioned entities who have limited experiences and intellectual vision.  When an individual interprets a text she must interpret what she is reading in light of her limited knowledge and subjective experiences (i.e. her present horizon).  As a result of this encounter with a text, in the act of understanding the individual's horizon (which is conditioned by the present) is fused with the horizon of the author of said text.  This fusion is not simply a conglomeration of horizons in which the two are confused; rather, what happens is that the reader recognizes the limitations of the horizon of the author and "as the historical horizon is projected, it is simultaneously superseded."²

The "fusion of horizons," at least as Gadamer conceived it, is predicated on the assumption that a single world-view cannot express the truth of the world as it is in itself.  In other words, one's horizon is necessarily limited - no one can experience or express the fullness of the truth.  On the surface, this might seem problematic for Christians.  Some Christians might think that they have full access to the truth since they believe in Jesus, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6, RSV).  This view contains an ounce of truth in it since through their belief they have access to Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, but this does not mean that they have access to unmediated truth through their faith.  Christians are not able to have access to unmediated truth even through the Bible since it is a mediated reality.

Allow me to clarify my stance on truth a little more for those readers who might accuse me of not believing in objective reality.  I firmly believe that truth exists and that human beings can have some level of understanding of the truth; however, I also am aware that there are a multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives which call into question the ability of human beings to know the truth in its entirety.  Since truth exists people's viewpoints necessarily get either closer to the truth or further away from it.  In other words, it is possible to approach the truth in this life, but it is not possible to grasp it entirely.  At the same time, the Church insists that it is possible for one to know what is sufficient in order for a human being to spiritually prosper and properly fulfill his role in the universe.  In other words, the well-formed Christian's grasp of the truth is simultaneously characterized by incompleteness and sufficiency.

One of my primary philosophical assumptions is that although human beings have a limited grasp of the truth, there is a horizon which contains all truth: God's horizon.  This might lead a thoughtful person to ask, "But isn't God infinite?  How can he have a horizon?"  Yes, God is infinite, but He is who He is; He is not more than who He is.  In this sense, God does have a horizon: his own being and identity.  Although God is circumscribed by himself, his being is the grounding of all contingent beings.  Containing all things in himself, God's vision is limitless.  In contrast to the infinite scope of God's vision, because we have our origin in time and are confined by our human condition, we have necessarily limited horizons.  In order for our horizons to be extended, fusions need to occur.

These fusions are always interpersonal and most usually occur in the form of interactions between human beings, whether through conversation with others or through reading what others have written.  There is also a special type of fusion of horizons, i.e. the fusion of horizons between human beings and God.  Our interaction with divine revelation through reading the Scripture and through prayer enables us to experience a fusion of our horizons with the horizon of God.  The most radical fusion between a human being and God took place in the person of Jesus Christ.  The theological term for this fusion is the hypostatic union.  God's revelation of himself in Jesus is divine revelation par excellence. The fusion of our horizons with God's enables us to become children of God (John 1:12) and images of the Incarnate Word.

I am interested in the fusion of theological horizons.  My understanding of horizons, however, is broader than Gadamer's since he understood horizons as the limitations imposed on one's subjective experiences and knowledge by the present whereas in addition to making use of this meaning, I also apply the term "horizon" to intellectual systems of thought insofar as they have definite boundaries (by "definite" I do not mean "set in stone") which are capable of impacting boundaries of other systems.  For example, Catholic theology and modern cosmology have definite boundaries and, although they are two autonomous branches of thought, discoveries and developments in one of them can have an impact on the other.  The Big Bang theory, which suggests that our universe had a first moment (i.e. it was created), demonstrates this point.

Here are some of the fusions I am interested in exploring in this blog:

• Catholic theology and modern science
• The horizon of the reader and the horizons of the authors of Scripture
• Resourcement and postmodernism
• Inter-ecclesial fusions (ecumenism)
• Intra-ecclesial fusions
• The horizon of the believer and the horizon of the unbeliever (evangelization)

This list is by no means exhaustive; I merely intend to give a sampling of some of the theological fusions that capture my imagination.

I describe my blog as "Verbal Effusions on the Synthesis of Divine and Human Subjects."  This description contains a double meaning.  By subjects, I mean both academic subjects and personal subjects.  In other words, I envision my blog as my theological reflections on the relationship between theology and human sciences as well as God and human beings.  I look forward to blogging about theology, a subject that is deeply important to me.

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1. Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall, 2^nd ed. (New York: Continuum, 2004), 305; Emphasis Gadamer's.^↩

2. Ibid., 306.^↩