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Furthermore, as we each live in some socially, linguistically constructed world, it likely
will take on the semblance of objective existence, "for it seems to be external to our personal
consciousness" (271). Nevertheless, in one of their clearest statements of their own position,
they confidently assert that just "as the demise of naïve realism has led scholars from a variety of
disciplines to conclude, we do not live in a universe that is simply a given, external reality"
(271). So it seems clear that despite their qualifications that tradition and our cultural contexts
do influence theologizing, they hold to a strong, close relationship of language and the world.
But does this mean that they give up on objectivity altogether? Not in the least; there are
two senses in which they argue that we can speak of an objectivity of the world. The first sense
is that construction of the world cannot extend to all of creation. Quite wisely, they admit that it
is hard to deny that there is "a certain undeniable givenness to the universe apart from the human
linguistic-constructive task" (53), especially since the universe predates the existence of human
beings. But while they have given up on the idea that we can know the world-in-itself,
nonetheless they firmly believe that Christians can know the world in a second, eschatological
sense - as God wills it to be in the future. This is what they mean by eschatological realism,
which is the biblical narrative's vision of what kind of world (and new community) God is
creating, which will be realized in the future. It is from this perspective, they claim, that the
world gains its most fundamental sense of actuality, or objectivity.
This world-building enterprise is not, however, just the work of Christians by their
language use. For Christians, that which governs proper linguistic use is scripture, and it is
through this medium that the Holy Spirit speaks today to Christian communities and thereby
builds the new community, the church. So while Christians are on the inside of language, God