This work presents an engaging interdisciplinary study of the nature and scope of interpretation, one of the most important areas of inquiry in today's postmodern context. Representing a complete revision of The Responsibility of Hermeneutics (1985), this substantially expanded volume sets forth an important new perspective that shifts the interpretive focus from the past to the promise of the future. Making use of the best insights from current theories about language, interpretation, and the nature of the self, the authors demonstrate how an encounter with contemporary interpretive theory can deepen the church's own hermeneutical practices