Intention

Roger Lundin comments on the ironies of evangelical support for ED Hirsch and its frequent suspicion, if not outright condemnation, of Gadamer: “There are manifold ironies to the conservative embrace of Hirsch and spurning of Gadamer. At their heart is the fact that Hirsch’s theory of intention has its roots in the same theological system that produced the Christological heresies these Protestants deplore. To counter subjectivism, that is, many Protestant critics have adopted an understanding of language and consciousness that originated in the very heresies these critics oppose. In the specific case of Hirsch, conservative critics have appropriated a theory of intentionality directly connected to Friedrich Schleiermacher’s heterodox views of Christ, while Gadamer’s understanding of interpretation issues in good part from Lutheran theology and trinitarian reflection. To complete the irony, it is Gadamer, the object of conservative suspicion, who offers a more satisfying theological model of interpretation than does Hirsch, the putative ally of the orthodox.”