Implicit Epistemology in the Letters of Paul

Implicit Epistemology in the Letters of Paul Synopsis

Ian W. Scott explores the way of knowing which is assumed by Paul's argumentation in his letters. Paul presumes that a kind of hermeneutical reason plays a central role in religious knowing, once it has been freed from the moral corruption endemic to human beings. His theological knowledge is structured as a story, and ethical reasoning involves emplotting human beings within that story. Paul never tries to justify the narrative itself, but his argument in Galatians suggests that this story remains open to change in light of new experiences. Novel events such as the crucifixion or the Galatians' reception of the Spirit, since they are part of the unfolding story, may force a reinterpretation of the prior theological narrative. Paul's narrative reasoning is thus responsive to the world, even though it is not justified in a foundationalist fashion. His implicit epistemology also suggests a model of theological and ethical inquiry in which change and development can be an organic outgrowth of tradition.