Divine Discourse

'Long regarded in the United States as a leading philosopher of religion, Nicholas Wolterstorff now has a growing reputation world-wide. He is cross-disciplinary in his approach, drawing freely from literary and critical theory, and is sensitive to the need to place religious claims in a larger context. Divine discourse addresses the traditional theme of divine revelation in a disarmingly direct way, by reflecting philosophically on the meaning of recurring biblical phrases, such as 'Thus sayeth the Lord' and of liturgical utterances, such as 'This is the word of the Lord'. This book will be a major contribution to a philosophical (and religious) understanding of what it means for God to speak.' John Clayton, Lancaster University

• Preface; 1. Locating our topic; 2. Speaking is not revealing; 3. The many modes of discourse; 4. Divine discourse in the hands of theologians; 5. What it is to speak; 6. Could God have and acquire the rights and duties of a speaker?; 7. Can God cause the events generative of discourse?; 8. In defense of authorial-discourse interpretation: contra Ricoeur; 9. In defense of authorial-discourse interpretation: contra Derrida; 10. Performance interpretation; 11. Interpreting the mediating human discourse: the first hermeneutic; 12. Interpreting for the mediated divine discourse: the second hermeneutic; 13. Has Scripture become a wax nose?; 14. The illocutionary stance of Biblical narrative; 15. Are we entitled?; 16. Historical and theological afterword; Endnotes; Index.