that theological interpretations [sic—surely he means “interpreters”] must see themselves as non-privileged participants in an open-ended, pluralistic conversation. Such a hermeneutic assumes that these texts are like any other “classic” texts: self-contained artifacts, handed down to us through the somewhat haphazard processes of tradition, bearing with them a cultural authority that has now lost much of its normative force, yet challenging the interpreter to help ensure that they will at least