The Hermeneutics of Participation

""This is the book for which I have been waiting! McKinzie explores why theological hermeneutics needs the discipline of missional hermeneutics lest theological interpretation fall short of its own goals. Readerly formation must include missional participation. Healthy theological interpretation is saturated and driven by the missio Dei or else it becomes merely an extra-ecclesial activity. This, in turn, misses the message and practices of the narrative itself. Both disciplines need each other. Missional hermeneutics recasts theological interpretation toward participating in the mission of God. McKinzie offers what is generally lacking in the literature. He defines missional participation through the lens of theological, missiological, and ecclesial formation. Participation in the missio Dei, the book cogently argues, forms better readers of Scripture. This is a primary virtue of missional hermeneutics."" --John Mark Hicks, retired Professor of Theology, Lipscomb University ""Christians have long realized that ecclesial practices shape faithful readers of Scripture. But is mission one of these practices? In The Hermeneutics of Participation, Greg McKinzie responds with a resounding 'yes.' Substantive, deeply researched, and engaging, this book offers the most thorough argument available that participation in God's mission is hermeneutically foundational for the church. McKinzie's case is convincing: mission constitutes the eyes of faith necessary to read Scripture well. The arguments this book offers, if taken seriously, will strengthen the church's hermeneutical imagination."" --Derek W. Taylor, Director, Emmaus Program, Whitworth University ""Greg McKinzie has provided an invaluable contribution to the urgent need for the church to be at heart a missional church participating in the trinitarian mission of God to the world. From his own missional experience and theological immersion, he has woven together an impressive number of sometimes disparate threads, especially missional theology, the theological interpretation of Scripture, and the philosophical hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur. All readers will be more properly formed through his work."" --Dan Stiver, President, Fletcher Seminary, Texas ""In this sophisticated and significant book, Greg McKinzie argues for a missional hermeneutic of transformative, cruciform, embodied participation in the life and mission of the Triune God--or 'works seeking understanding.' Building on, but also challenging, previous work in missional hermeneutics and in theological interpretation, McKinzie reconfigures the landscape of both as he creatively brings them together. A landmark volume."" --Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, St. Mary's Seminary's University, Baltimore