Robert Funk in Jesus as Precursor quotes a phrase from John Updike in The Centaur and uses the following to characterize the drift in Western culture:
Priest, teacher, artist.
The western world left the priest (tradition) some time ago, during the enlightenment.
For the priest reality is revealed, for the teacher reality is rational.
Now we are entering the era of the artist, an era marked by ambiguity, mystery, and aesthetic appeal.
This characterization fits pretty well with the general move in hermeneutics over the centuries.
First it was tradition, then reason, and now we are taking the literary turn. Just look at Gospels scholarship.
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