Is There an Author in This Text?. Peter A. Sutcliffe

The interpretation of any written discourse is problematic, which is the concern of this book. The relevant hermeneutical questions are: Do authors communicate their intention so that understanding of their intent is possible? Can a person other than an author speak through an author's text? Can individual meaning, which is personal, ever be regarded as equivalent to that of the author? Any assertion of God speaking in and through the biblical text must first deal with these hermeneutical questions. Questions of the existence and speaking of God are matters of belief. However, questions asking can a God who exists speak so that I understand His intention, and can my meaning be relative to His, these are matters of hermeneutics. The answer in contemporary philosophical approaches to texts has been to declare a resounding no, creating confusion for someone seeking to deal with God's intention for their lives in understanding biblical text. This must be addressed and not treated dismissively. When this is done a resounding yes is disclosed as valid hermeneutically, opening new horizons not only in dealing with biblical text but with any author's text. This is not Christianized hermeneutics but an answer for the Christian hermeneut.