Beyond the Bible, Beyond the West is a research in ontological hermeneutics: it is critical of ?textual positivism? ? which makes the univocity and clarity of a text the main goal of its task ? and also of ?cultural positivism? ? a cultural matrix that elevates univocity and clarity as the ultimate goal of contemporary systems. This essay indirectly sketches a cultural critique and not only a theological one. Means, medium and guarantor of this ontological indelible reserve are ambivalence and paradox. We will try to follow the trace of these throughout the hermeneutic arc ? and not only at its beginning.