How can we theologically reflect on universality in a world that increasingly focuses on particularities and differences? Marijn de Jong argues that the question of universality calls for a reconceptualized form of metaphysical theology, which he finds in the work of Karl Rahner and Edward Schillebeeckx. Casting a new light on these theologians, de Jong demonstrates that their methods contain a dialectical interrelation of hermeneutics and metaphysics – an interrelation which seemingly has been lost in more recent hermeneutical theology. Rahner and Schillebeeckx carefully balance particularity and universality without falling prey to relativist or absolutist ways of reasoning. By analyzing fundamental themes such as experience and interpretation, nature and grace, faith and reason, and intelligibility and mystery, de Jong reveals the modest theological metaphysics that lies at the heart of their methods. This critical retrieval demonstrates the enduring relevance of these thinkers and opens up new avenues of thought for theologians that do not want to shy away from the difficult question of the universality of God.

"This is my major thesis. Mystery is inherent in both the nature of things and the nature of rationality. I will sustain this thesis by a review of some of the central issues of philosophy to elucidate their mysterious qualities. More important, however, I will develop in detail an explanation of mystery and trace some of its important ramifications." "I will argue that an ordinal metaphysics, with its associated theory of query, provides an account of mystery that no other theory can provide. "While the theory presented here is a theory of philosophical mystery, it has fundamental implications for all branches of knowledge, including the physical and social sciences. "In short, I speak against a simplistic view of the world and of experience based on a simplistic and narrow conception of understanding and rationality. Mystery calls not for veneration and awe, but for a full and complex activity of mind, broaching all established conditions in its pursuit of answers....Reason is fulfilled as completely in mysteries which persevere throughout our efforts to resolve them as in mysteries which are resolved and dissipated, passing into new questions to which we must find new answers, in an unterminating process of rational interrogation." — From the Preface by Stephen David Ross

Metaphysics and Mystery: The Why Question East and West is a critical analysis, comparison, and evaluation of philosophical answers, Western and Asian, to the question “Why is there something rather than nothing?” The question, first posed by the seventeenth-century philosopher Leibniz, was reintroduced in the twentieth century by Heidegger. Volume 1 begins with an introduction that lays out the issues raised by the why question. It then analyzes contemporary Western philosophers who provide either cosmological-metaphysical or existential-ontological answers to the question. It also considers transitional answers that bridge the two. Volume 2 examines Asian philosophers, classical and contemporary, who, though rejecting the assumptions behind the question, put forward nondualist answers that have a direct bearing on it. It concludes with an argument for a revised understanding of the why question that draws on the strengths and weaknesses of these Western and Asian philosophies and explores implications for ethics and religious thought.

The Christian mysteries may too easily seem a well traveled terrain. Yet, through the eyes of an inspired metaphysician, it proves to be still largely uncharted. Today we are fortunate that Jean Borella has charted this landscape through a series of books. His work, however, is not well known to Anglophone readers, which this book aims to remedy.

Have you ever asked yourself these questions; What is the meaning of life? Why does the universe exist? What is mind or consciousness? The author of "Mystery Of Metaphysics & Existence", combined many years of experience in the field of metaphysics, allowing him to present the information with clarity and insight. Just as science uses mathematics to describe physical reality, metaphysics uses language to explain reality beyond the physical.

"This study argues that contemporary theology needs a reconceptualised form of metaphysical theology to readdress this question of universality. In order to develop such a new metaphysical theology, de Jong turns to the work of Karl Rahner and Edward Schillebeeckx. Presenting a new perspective on their theological methods, he demonstrates that these theologians employ a dialectical interplay of hermeneutical and metaphysical arguments yielding a modest theological metaphysics. Crucially, these thinkers recognise that acknowledging hermeneutical conditions does not need to end in particularism. Instead, Rahner and Schillebeeckx argue that the infinite variety of particular human experiences can act as potential encounters with the universally self-revealing God. Retrieving these modest forms of theological metaphysics reminds contemporary theology that it is possible to think about universality from within particularity. Balancing the intelligible and mysterious nature of God, Rahner and Schillebeeckx show how a modest theological metaphysics contains its own self-critical hermeneutical disciplining. This renewed understanding about the earlier use of metaphysics opens up new avenues of thought for fundamental theologians that do not want to shy away from the difficult question of the universality of God"--