Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- The Second Vatican Council and the Call for a Hermeneutical Openness to Context, Human Experience, and Difference -- Methodology -- Part I What Are they Saying about the Church as a Hermeneutical Community and Embodied Faith -- Chapter One The Church as Hermeneutical Community and the Place of Embodied Faith in Contemporary Theological Literature -- 1.0. Introduction -- 1.1. A Shift in Hermeneutical Focus: From the "Word" to "Embodied Word" -- 1.2. A Shift to the Genre of Contextuality, Narrative and Praxis in Theology -- 1.3. Hermeneutics and Ecumenical Ecclesiology -- 1.4. Post-Modernity and Embodiment -- 1.5. Symbolic and Hidden Dimensions of Embodied Faith in its Particularity -- 1.6. Bottom-up Ecclesiologies, Congregational Studies and the Turn to Ethnography -- 1.7. Participatory Dimensions to the Church as Hermeneutical Community -- 1.8. Conclusion -- Chapter Two Tracing a Background to the Understanding of the Church as a Hermeneutical Community: Biblical, Philosophical and Theological Perspectives -- 2.0. Introduction -- 2.1. Hermeneutics in Antiquity: The "Outer" and "Inner" Word -- 2.2. The Enlightenment Period and the Interpretation of Scriptural Texts -- 2.3. Developments in Modern Philosophical Hermeneutics: Schleiermacher, Dilthey and Ricoeur -- 2.4. The Turn to Historicity and Existentiality: Heidegger, Interpreting Being-in-the-World -- 2.4.1. Heidegger's Influence on Modern Theology -- 2.5. Acknowledging Tradition and Intersubjectivity in Interpretation: Gadamer -- 2.6. The Interpretation of "Life as Text": Ricoeur -- 2.7. Postmodern Hermeneutics, Phronesis and the Social Construction of Unity -- 2.8. From Theological Hermeneutics to Ecclesial Hermeneutics -- 2.9. Conclusion.

Part II Lewis S. Mudge and Joseph Ratzinger on the Church as a Hermeneutical Community and the Place of Embodied Faith -- Chapter Three Lewis S. Mudge on the Church as Hermeneutical Community -- 3.0. Introduction -- 3.1. Lewis Mudge: Life and Theological Background -- 3.2. Theological Influences on Mudge's Ecclesiology: Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Eric Troeltsch -- 3.3. Reading Faith as Embodied Redemptive Existence -- 3.4. Mudge on the Church as a Hermeneutical Community -- 3.4.1. Constituted through the Hermeneutic of "Christ the Servant" -- 3.4.2. Constituted by Living Word and Faith -- 3.4.3. Eschatological and Universal Sacrament of Salvation -- 3.4.4. "Catholicity" and "Contextuality" -- 3.4.5. Ecclesiogenesis -- 3.4.6. Moral Community: Context and Virtue -- 3.5. Tradition and the Hermeneutical Community -- 3.6. Authority and the Hermeneutical Community -- 3.7. Conclusion -- Chapter Four Lewis S. Mudge on Embodied Faith -- 4.0. Introduction -- 4.1. Attuning to the Culture of Postmodernity -- 4.2. Understanding Christian Faith in Social Contexts -- 4.2.1. Reading the "Life World" -- 4.2.2. Semiotics and the Reasoning Process of Local Congregations -- 4.3. Building a Catholic Hermeneutic that Incoporates Contextuality -- 4.4. Learning from the Texts and Communities of Abrahamic Faiths -- 4.5. Conclusion -- Chapter Five Joseph Ratzinger on the Church as a Hermeneutical Community -- 5.0. Introduction -- 5.1. Ratzinger's Biographical and Theological Background -- 5.1.1. The Early Years -- 5.1.2. Ratzinger as Theologian -- 5.1.2.1. Ratzinger on Augustine's Ecclesiology -- 5.1.2.2. Ratzinger on Faith and Revelation in Bonaventure -- 5.1.2.3. Metaphysics and History in Ratzinger's Theology -- 5.2. Ratzinger on the Church -- 5.2.1. The Church as Sacrament, Catholic and Trinitarian -- 5.2.2. Theandric and Embodied Communion.

5.2.3. Communion between the Universal Church and Local churches -- 5.2.4. Communion Ecclesiology, Anthropology and Subjectivity -- 5.3. The Church as Hermeneutical Community -- 5.3.1. The Place of Faith and Reason -- 5.3.2. Faith, Wisdom and Self-surrender -- 5.3.3. Ecclesial Faith: Entry into Christ's being -- 5.3.4. Ecclesial Faith: Intersubjective Communion -- 5.3.5. Synchronic and Diachronic Dimensions to the Interpretation of Revelation -- 5.3.6. Office and Charism Interpreting Revelation -- 5.4. Conclusion -- Chapter Six Joseph Ratzinger on Embodied Faith -- 6.0. Introduction -- 6.1. A Hermeneutics of Continuity -- 6.2. Embodied Faith as Existential Experience -- 6.3. Embodied Faith, Plurality and Unity -- 6.3.1. Embodied Faith and Multiplicity, Expressed in Different Levels of Identification with the Church and through Charisms -- 6.3.2. Embodied Faith, Unity and Logos -- 6.3.3. Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Dialogue -- 6.4. Embodied Faith as the Living Exegesis of the Word -- 6.4.1. The "World beyond the Text" -- 6.4.2. Embodied Faith as Orthopraxis -- 6.4.3. Embodied Faith and the Role of the Spirit -- 6.4.4. Liturgical and Marian Embodied Faith and the Testimony of the Saints -- 6.4.5. Embodied Faith as "Communal" -- 6.4.5.1. New Ecclesial Movements -- 6.5. Faith and Culture -- 6.6. Faith and Doctrine -- 6.7. Conclusion -- Part III The Church as a Hermeneutical Community and the Place of Embodied Faith: From Necrophilia to Sacramentality -- Chapter Seven The Church as a Hermeneutical Community and the Place of Embodied Faith: Joseph Ratzinger and Lewis S. Mudge in Dialogue -- 7.0. Introduction -- 7.1. Modernity, Rationality and the Church as the Hermeneutical Context for the Interpretation of Revelation -- 7.2. Embodied Faith: Empirical or Sacramental Signs? -- 7.3. Parables and Metaphors.

7.4. Reading existential faith through sociology -- 7.5. Contextuality as Plurality in Unity -- 7.6. Living Christian Praxis in the Community of Grace -- 7.7. The Church as Moral Community -- 7.8. Culture and the Resonances of the Spirit -- 7.9. Authority in the Church as Hermeneutical Community -- 7.10. Embodied Faith and Tradition -- 7.11. Conclusion -- Chapter Eight Embodied Faith and the Church as a Hermeneutical Community Interpreting Revelation: Sacramental and Existential Signs of Faith in Context -- 8.0. Introduction -- 8.1. Embodied Faith revealing Christ: The Saints -- 8.1.1. Embodied Testimonies for Others -- 8.1.2. Who Are the Saints? -- 8.1.3. Embodied Charisms -- 8.1.4. The Saints: Microcosms of the Church as Sacrament of Christ through Bodiliness -- 8.1.5. Embodied Pathos and the Case of Martyrdom -- 8.1.6. Embodied Testimonies to a Passionate Church -- 8.1.7. Embodied Theology -- 8.1.8. Embodied Continuity and Newness -- 8.2. Embodied Faith as Intersubjective: Christian Communities Exegeting the Church as Communion -- 8.2.1. Christian Communities Exegete the Church as Communion -- 8.2.2. Parish Communities: Exegeses of Agapé as "Intimacy" -- 8.2.3. Embodied Faith of a Priestly-People: Ortho-praxis as Ortho-doxy -- 8.2.4. The Sensus Fidei, Consensus Fidei and the Interpretation of Revelation -- 8.2.5. Christian Communities and Co-responsibility -- 8.3. Embodied Faith and "the Other": Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue -- 8.3.1. Revelation, Logos, the "Hierarchy of Truths" and Receptive Ecumenism -- 8.3.2. Embodied Faith and Inter-Religious Contexts -- 8.3.3. Embodied Faith, Existentiality and Praxis -- 8.4. Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Authored, Edited Books and Chapters in Edited Volumes by Lewis S. Mudge -- Articles by Lewis S. Mudge -- Books by Joseph Ratzinger.

Articles, Addresses, and Essays in Edited Books by Joseph Ratzinger -- Church Documents -- Pre-Second Vatican Council -- 1960s -- 1970s -- 1980s -- 1990s -- 2000s -- Documents from Ecumenical Commissions and Dialogues -- Papers and Presentations from Conferences -- General Bibliography -- Index.