ABSTRACT
Clearly, hermeneutics today dwells in a desacralized world of interpretation. One symptom of our situation as interpreters is the fact that we do not possess a clear criterion for distinguishing between sacred and profane texts or experiences. Nonetheless, the divine still impinges on us. We acknowledge that certain texts and certain experiences humble us, fill us with awe, and inform us that we are not yet finished with the religious past of our secularized tradition. Our situation calls for a thoughtful response: What does it mean that the difference between the sacred and the profane has become questionable for us? How can we think the difference anew, such that we might possess a principled distinction between sacred and profane texts and activities of interpretation?
