Itineraries of meaning : Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic of the idea of the sacred

Abstract

Paul Ricoeur presents his hermeneutic of the idea of the "sacred" [1] by tracing "itineraries of meaning" [2] both within Biblical discourse and between Biblical discourse and self. I have arrived at this thesis after studying the greater part of Ricoeur's work, (written since 1960), that is either devoted to Biblical discourse or has implications for this discourse . Scattere d in time and place, this work is gathered here to form a comprehen sive picture. The picture is mine, however, and not Ricoeur's . To delineate the picture, I have listened to his work, selected some parts of it as relevant to my topic and omitted others, criticized it, brought some parts into interaction with others, and mediated My between the parts. In all this I have " appropriated" his work. My thesis is an exercise in hermeneutics, for in order to interpret certain Ricoeurian texts I have used Ricoeur's own hermeneutical method. Since the pattern of my thesis parallel s the pattern in Ricoeur's own work, his hermeneutic is displayed here in miniature.