A prophetic voice without foundations? A critical examination of Michael Walzer, Stanley Hauerwas, and Cornel West in light of the biblical witness.

摘要

This dissertation is concerned with the contemporary possibilities for upholding an understanding of the prophetic voice that comports in essential ways with the biblical expression of that voice. When one speaks or seeks to speak prophetically, it is generally understood that, even if one does not literally speak the words of God, one does mean to speak on behalf of God or in defense of values expressive of or resonant with the covenant or Kingdom values expressed in the Bible. One, in short, means to uphold or defend God's truth. But how can one witness to the truth in this manner if, as is broadly agreed to be the case today, there can be no unmediated access to truth, when all of our claims reflect particular social contexts, locations, and historical influences? In a world without foundations, how can we continue prophetically to uphold or defend God's truth? After providing an account of the prophetic voice as it finds expression in the biblical witness, I examine three contemporary exponents of the prophetic voice: Michael Walzer, Stanley Hauerwas, and Cornel West. Each views the prophets as providing exemplary expressions of moral and political insight and recognizes and affirms the turn to community that comes with the acceptance of non-foundationalism. However, none offers a sufficient contemporary expression of the prophetic voice, as they all succumb, each in their own particular ways, to the pitfall of conflating the medium through which the prophetic voice finds expression with the message itself. In this, they not only distort the prophetic voice's resolve to uphold truth, but also its core normative commitments. In the concluding chapter, I suggest that by prioritizing truth and by building upon the distinction between alethiology (truth's meaning) and epistemology (truth's justification), it is possible to uphold a non-foundationalist affirmation of theological realism. This account highlights the aspirational and unfolding, yet fallible character of truth claims. Such an account, I argue, leads naturally to an emphasis both on ecclesiology and on the normative commitments to justice and peace that lie at the heart of the biblical expression of the prophetic voice.