A Hermeneutic Response to Apologists and Atheists

In this paper, I argue that, following from the work of Bultmann and Ricoeur, traditional apologetic approaches to the Bible fail as they neglect the existential nature of the text and, thus, fail to recognize the decision of the non-believer as legitimate. By the same token, however, the "refutational atheist" responses to believers fail to recognize the legitimacy of the “yes” answer to existentiell decision the Bible poses. Though it is a difficult position to stake out in current religious discourse, I conclude by offering a sketch of what it would mean to approach the Bible with the openness that allows for accepting the legitimacy of either answer to the existentiell decision of the Bible