Paul Ricoeur’s biblical hermeneutics is one of the richest parts of his philosophy. While Ricoeur was not a systematic theologian, he treated the Bible as a privileged site where the practice of interpretation reveals its full depth. His approach combined critical philosophy with openness to faith, showing how texts of scripture can be read both rigorously and receptively. For Ricoeur, the Bible is not a relic of the past but a living text that projects a world for readers to inhabit.
The Symbol Gives Rise to Thought
At the heart of Ricoeur’s biblical hermeneutics is his conviction that symbols and myths are productive of thought. In works like The Symbolism of Evil , he argued that biblical language—images of sin, purity, promise, and redemption—cannot be reduced to literal or historical description. Instead, these symbols provoke reflection, shaping human consciousness of guilt, responsibility, and hope.
The Bible’s symbolic language does not close meaning; it opens it. This surplus of meaning is what gives scripture its enduring power across time and cultures.
Distanciation and Appropriation in Scripture
Ricoeur applied his concepts of distanciation and appropriation to biblical texts. Distanciation means that scripture, once written, becomes independent of its original context and authorial intent. This autonomy allows for ongoing interpretation, free from a rigid historical literalism.
Appropriation, in turn, describes how readers make the “world of the text” their own. For Ricoeur, the Bible creates worlds of meaning—stories of covenant, exodus, exile, and resurrection—that can be inhabited by readers today. In this sense, biblical hermeneutics is not about reconstructing the past but about refiguring life in the present.
Between Suspicion and Restoration
Ricoeur insisted that biblical interpretation must navigate between the hermeneutics of suspicion and the hermeneutics of faith. On the one hand, the Bible must be read critically, with awareness of ideology, myth, and historical context. On the other hand, interpretation should not reduce scripture to illusion; it must also be open to the possibility that the text speaks truth in symbolic and transformative ways.
This balance avoids both naïve fundamentalism and destructive cynicism. It prepares the ground for what Ricoeur calls a second naïveté—a mature, reflective faith that embraces biblical language critically yet receptively.
Narrative Identity and the Bible
In Time and Narrative and Oneself as Another, Ricoeur’s theory of narrative identity finds fertile ground in biblical texts. The stories of Israel and the Church provide communities with collective identity, shaping memory and hope. Similarly, the parables of Jesus project new possibilities of life, inviting readers to reconfigure their personal and communal identities.
For Ricoeur, the Bible is not just a record of beliefs but a narrative reservoir that sustains identity through storytelling.
The Bible, Ethics, and Justice
Ricoeur’s biblical hermeneutics also carries ethical weight. Scripture, he argued, discloses visions of the good life, responsibility, and justice. Its narratives and commandments form part of his “little ethics”—the pursuit of “the good life with and for others, in just institutions.”
The prophetic tradition in particular embodies this ethical dimension, calling communities to justice, solidarity, and renewal. Biblical hermeneutics, then, is not confined to understanding texts; it shapes how communities act in history.
A Hermeneutics of Faith and Critique
Ricoeur’s biblical hermeneutics exemplifies his broader philosophical project: the integration of critique and restoration, suspicion and trust, explanation and understanding. By treating the Bible as a symbolic and narrative text, he made it possible to engage scripture seriously in a modern, post-critical world.
For Ricoeur, biblical hermeneutics is not about clinging to old certainties or discarding tradition altogether. It is about learning to read scripture in such a way that it continues to give rise to thought, to open horizons of meaning, and to guide communities toward justice and hope.
