The Limits of Theological Representation

Borges’s Tale and the Paradigm of Interpretive Cartography

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29327/2401156.19.2-12

Keywords:

Theological Epistemology, Theology and Language, Interpretive Cartography, Jorge Luis Borges, Itinerant Fidelity

Abstract

This article investigates the problem of representation in theological discourse, critiquing the epistemological illusion that the language of faith might reflect the divine with absolute transparency (the “mirror” paradigm). Drawing upon Jorge Luis Borges’s literary provocation concerning the perfect map — whose absolute coincidence with the empire renders it useless — this article proposes “interpretive cartography” as a theory of mediation. Under this paradigm, doctrine is reconfigured as a historical map, tradition as a diachronic atlas, and hermeneutics as an exercise in navigation. This analytical key enables the diagnosis and overcoming of two opposing epistemological pathologies: the idolatrous absolutization of the map (fundamentalism) and its skeptical rejection (relativism). Finally, by recognizing that the ultimate referent of theology is not a static territory but an irruptive Event that continually destabilizes representations, the study proposes a redefinition of theological truth. Static adequacy gives way to “itinerant fidelity,” an epistemological virtue that embraces the finitude of language not as an obstacle, but as a necessary condition for keeping theological thought in motion.

Author Biography

Abdruschin Schaeffer Rocha, Faculdade Unida de Vitória

He holds undergraduate degrees in Theology from the Baptist Theological Seminary of Brazil (Espírito Santo, Brazil) and in Philosophy from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil). He earned a Master’s degree in Theology from the Evangelical School of Theology (EST, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and a Ph.D. in Theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio, Brazil). He is currently a Professor in the undergraduate Theology program and in the Graduate Program in Religious Studies (M.A. and Ph.D.) at Faculdade Unida de Vitória, Brazil.

Lattes CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9784869378559613

E-mail: abdo@fuv.edu.br

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Published

2026-06-30 — Updated on 2026-07-22

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How to Cite

Schaeffer Rocha, A. (2026). The Limits of Theological Representation: Borges’s Tale and the Paradigm of Interpretive Cartography. Davar Polissêmica, 19(2), 590–614. https://doi.org/10.29327/2401156.19.2-12 (Original work published June 30, 2026)

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Artigos/Articles: Temática Livre/Free subject

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