Abstract
One of the distinguished characteristics of Pannenberg's theology is his enthusiasm for defending the truth claim of the Christian Theology in the postmodern world. This paper aims to examine whether Pannenberg's effort in this aspect is successful from a philosophical hermeneutic perspective. The first part of the paper pinpoints two important concepts in Pannenberg's discussion of the question of truth: 1) Emphasizing coherence as the foundation of truth claim; 2) The truth grasped in the present world is provisional and we should approach the truth by means of ＂anticipation＂. The second part deals with the challenges of postmodernism to Pannenberg's assertion. While Pannenberg may defend his stand from some postmodern critiques by the concept of ＂anticipation＂ to a certain extent, Michel Foucault's post-structuralism would be a harsh critic of Pannenberg's viewpoint, as Pannenberg's argument heavily relies on a stable relationship between truth and history. By illustrating that Pannenberg has adopted H.G. Gadamer's concept of ＂fusion of horizons＂ in his construction of truth claim in universal history, the writer argues that it shows the root of the theoretical incommesurable and contradiction among Foucault and Pannenberg's stands, that is, the extreme divergence in their presumptions on the nature of history arid the possibilities of interpretation.
| Translated title of the contribution | Pannenberg on the question of truth: Hermeneutic perspective |
|---|---|
| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Pages (from-to) | 81-104 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | 建道學刊 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 1999 |