Kevin Vanhoozer Explained

Kevin Jon Vanhoozer
Birth Date:March 10, 1957
Birth Place:California, USA
Period:Contemporary
Occupation:Biblical academic
Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Spouse:Sylvie
Discipline:Christian Theology
Education:Westminster Theological Seminary
Alma Mater:Cambridge University (Ph.D.)
Thesis Title:Biblical Narrative in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur: A Study in Hermeneutics and Theology
Doctoral Advisor:Nicholas Lash
Main Interests:Hermeneutics and theological interpretation of Scripture, Christian doctrine, Reformed theology, theology of culture
Workplaces:University of Edinburgh
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Kevin Jon Vanhoozer (born March 10, 1957) is an American theologian and current research professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois. Much of Vanhoozer's work focuses on systematic theology, hermeneutics, and postmodernism.

Biography

Vanhoozer received his M. Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where he studied under Nicholas Lash. His interdisciplinary dissertation was titled Biblical Narrative in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur: A Study in Hermeneutics and Theology, published in 1990 (reprint 2007) by Cambridge University Press .

He joined the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1986, but during two periods since has taught elsewhere. From 1990 to 1998, he was Senior Lecturer at New College, University of Edinburgh; from 2009 to 2012, he was Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.[1] [2] He returned to TEDS in 2012.

Vanhoozer is the Senior Theological Mentor for the St. Augustine Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians and Senior Fellow in Systematic Theology for the C. S. Lewis Institute. He and his wife Sylvie have two daughters. He maintains a web page, "The Theophilus Project", at www.kevinjvanhoozer.com.[3]

Douglas Sweeney and Daniel Treier edited a Festschrift in his honor, Hearing and Doing the Word: The Drama of Evangelical Hermeneutics, published in 2021 by T&T Clark and consisting of essays by his former teachers and students and present colleagues.

Academic contributions

Vanhoozer has written several books, including The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology,[1] which won the Christianity Today 2006 Book Award for best book in theology, and Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine,[1] which won the Christianity Today 2015 Book Award for best book in theology. He has edited several others, including the Gold Medallion Book Award winner Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible,[4] The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology, and, with Charles A. Anderson and Michael J. Sleasman, Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends.

In his work Is There a Meaning in this Text?, Vanhoozer gives an in-depth response to the challenges of Deconstructionism to biblical hermeneutics. Primarily, he engages the thinking of Jacques Derrida, but Stanley Fish and Richard Rorty also receive attention. Vanhoozer develops a theory of communicative action that relies strongly on the speech-act theory of J. L. Austin, in which a biblical text is seen as a communicative act involving "locutions" (the text itself), "illocutions" (the stance of the author to the locution, e.g. questioning, asserting, promising, etc.), and "perlocutions" (the goals that the author hopes to accomplish through the text).

Among the conclusions that Vanhoozer draws from viewing a text as a communicative act are the involvement of the author, text, and reader in the process of interpretation. The intended meaning of the author can be discerned to a certain degree from the text. The text (langue and parole) is not an arbitrary "playground" but part of a covenantal relationship between all people. As a result, the intention of the author can be adequately decoded. Another consequence is that the reader/interpreter has a responsibility to honor the intentions of the author and try to interpret the text in a way which re-creates the author's intended meaning. This responsibility is coupled with a freedom to determine the significance in the context of the interpreter's community.

Works

Books

Edited works

Articles

Online writings

Audio

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Experience the Drama . Tiu.edu . 2013-07-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106145047/http://www.tiu.edu/divinity/people/vanhoozer . 2009-01-06 .
  2. Web site: Donato. Chris. Welcome Back, Vanhoozer. TEDS News & Events Page. Trinity International University. 28 November 2011. 13 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111113110655/http://news.tiu.edu/2011/11/09/welcome-back-vanhoozer/. dead.
  3. TEDS CC5060 Lecture, Deerfield, IL 09/12/2007
  4. http://www.ecpa.org/christianbookawards/cba2006.php 2006 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners - Bible Reference & Study category

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