Beyond the Impasse:
The Promise of a Process Hermeneutic

Beyond the Impasse: The Promise of a Process Hermeneutic emerged from my two-decade “quest for a satisfying hermeneutic.” Even before I knew the word hermeneutics (definition-in-a-nutshell: the study of how we create meaning), I was deeply concerned to find a satisfactory methodology for reading texts. After studying a vast range of interpretative strategies in graduate school, I discovered the object of my quest in process philosophy’s understanding of perception and language.

In Part One of Beyond the Impasse, I describe the current impasse in hermeneutical studies in general, and biblical interpretation in particular. In Part Two, I demonstrate how the understanding of perception and language found in process philosophy can move us beyond this hermeneutical impasse. In Part Three, I illustrate the process hermeneutic I develop in Part Two by using this methodology to interpret some of the most difficult texts of the New Testament.

From the back cover:
Contemporary biblical scholarship has reached an impasse. The various programs for bridging the gap between ancient texts and their contemporary theological and ethical appropriation are often unsatisfactory at best and at worst even suspect in their results. We need an effective way to cross that bridge . . . or a new bridge. Ronald Farmer suggests that a “process hermeneutic” holds promise of moving biblical interpretation beyond the current impasse.

This is the first comprehensive introduction to a process hermeneutic. It is not, however, merely theoretical discussion, but moves from the side of biblical scholarship to develop a solid methodology for bridging the gap between text and life. Farmer applies his process hermeneutic to a difficult text—Revelation 4-5—and demonstrates this promising method in a piece of solid, responsible, and instructive interpretation.

“Ronald L. Farmer brings together a broad and discerning competence in the field of hermeneutics and a thorough grasp of the ‘constructive postmodern’ perspective of process philosophy. [The result] is a rich book which provides a thorough and perceptive introduction to hermeneutics from a process perspective.” — William A. Beardslee, Emory University, Emeritus