Getting to my Guess

Ricouer's interpretation theory consists of three stages (1) The Guess, (2) Validation, and (3) Comprehension and Appropriation. Right now I' m thinking about the Guess. This is the phase where one elucidates one's preliminary understandings of the text. Here one allows the text speak and takes its discourse at face value. In phenomenological terms, one observes as the text reveals itself through the appearance of various horizons. One then makes a preliminary guess concerning the meaning of these horizons apart from exegetical inquiry.

Horizons are similar to themes. However, horizons are unlimited and they are never static. For example, when I gaze into the sunset on the horizon, the way the horizon appears to me changes because I change my physical proximity to it, the descent of the sun, the movement of the clouds, or the appearance or disappearance of people or objects on the horizon that I had not anticipated. Likewise, horizons that appear in lived experience or in text become visible and recede or change as new aspects previously hidden to me come into my view.

So, how will I get to my Guess regarding John's Apocalypse? Because I am approaching John's Apocalypse not as prophetic literature but as narrative, I am beginning with David Barr's analysis of this text as three interrelated stories about Jesus. Barr structures the text around three scrolls: (a) the Letter Scroll (1:1-3:22), (b) the Worship Scroll (4:1-11:18), (c) the War Scroll (11:19-22:21).

In order to develop my Guess I plan to write 3 articles of around 1200 words each, one article for each Scroll. In these articles, I will simply observe and document the horizons that appear to me and describe their relationship to my research question which is: What does organizational leadership mean in a chaotic, nihilistic, and apocalyptic era?