This introductory 2003 guide offers examples of different types of contemporary theology and Christian doctrine in relationship to postmodernity.

An introduction and evaluation of contemporary approaches to theology, 'Postmodern Theologies' sets out to discern movements shaping the postmodern study of religion in a unique collaborative venture born of a postgraduate seminar at Florida State University. While some might say that theology after the death of God is like biology after the end of life - a discipline without a subject - 'Postmodern Theologies' identifies four general patterns of postmodernisms in theology today: constructive theologies (with Helmut Peukert, David Ray Griffin, and David Tracy cited as examples); postmodernisms of dissolution (Thomas J. J. Altizer, Mark C. Taylor, and Edith Wyschogrod); postliberal theologies (George Lindbeck); and communal praxis (exemplified by Gustavo Gutierrez and other Latin American theologians, and James Wm. McClendon and Sharon Welch among North Americans). These theologies eschew debates on traditional religious foundations to define true religion as the result of - rather than the impetus to - living one's beliefs. As these disparate approaches to theology are not directly comparable, the final chapter of 'Postmodern Theologies' instead analyzes how each one accounts for the plurality of religions. Exploring the postmodern strategies for coping with one of the most difficult questions in any theological age offers a fascinating way to assess their inherent strengths and weaknesses.

This book sorts out the confusion created by the use of the term “postmodern” in relation to widely divergent theological positions. Four different types of postmodern theology are distinguished in the preface: constructive, deconstructive, liberationist, and conservative. Two forms of each type are discussed in the book. Writing from a constructive, postmodern perspective, the authors enter into dialogue with the deconstructive postmodernism of Mark C. Taylor and Jean-François Lyotard, with the liberationist postmodernism of Harvey Cox and Cornel West, and with the conservative postmodernism of George William Rutler and John Paul II.

This Companion provides a definitive collection of essays on postmodern theology, drawing on the work of those individuals who have made a distinctive contribution to the field, and whose work will be significant for the theologies written in the new millennium. The definitive collection of essays on postmodern theology, drawing on the work of those individuals who have made a distinctive contribution to the field. Each essay is introduced with a short account of the writer's previous work, enabling the reader to view it in context. Discusses the following desciplines: Aesthetics, Ethics, Gender, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Heideggerians, and Derrideans. Edited by Graham Ward, one of the most outstanding and original theologians working in the field today.

The author of What Would Jesus Deconstruct? makes “a bold attempt to reconfigure the terms of debate around the topic of divine omnipotence” (Choice). Applying an ever more radical hermeneutics—including Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, Derridian deconstruction, and feminism—John D. Caputo breaks down the name of God in this irrepressible book. Instead of looking at God as merely a name, Caputo views it as an event, or what the name conjures or promises in the future. For Caputo, the event exposes God as weak, unstable, and barely functional. While this view of God flies in the face of most religions and philosophies, it also puts up a serious challenge to fundamental tenets of theology and ontology. Along the way, Caputo’s readings of the New Testament, especially of Paul’s view of the Kingdom of God, help to support the “weak force” theory. This penetrating work cuts to the core of issues and questions—What is the nature of God? What is the nature of being? What is the relationship between God and being? What is the meaning of forgiveness, faith, piety, or transcendence?—that define the terrain of contemporary philosophy of religion. “Caputo comes out of the closet as a theologian in this work.” —Catherine Keller, Drew University “Caputo has a gift for explaining Continental philosophy’s jargon succinctly and accurately, and despite technical and foreign terms, this book will engage upper-level undergraduates. Includes scriptural and general indexes . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

This book sorts out the confusion created by the use of the term "postmodern" in relation to widely divergent theological positions. Four different types of postmodern theology are distinguished in the preface: constructive, deconstructive, liberationist, and conservative. Two forms of each type are discussed in the book. Writing from a constructive, postmodern perspective, the authors enter into dialogue with the deconstructive postmodernism of Mark C. Taylor and Jean-François Lyotard, with the liberationist postmodernism of Harvey Cox and Cornel West, and with the conservative postmodernism of George William Rutler and John Paul II.

This book is a reconsideration of Paul Tillich's (1886-1965) project of a theology of culture and art. Concentrating on Tillich's widely neglected pre-emigration writings (1910-1933), Re Manning reconstructs and defends Tillich's proposals for theology of culture as a philosophically sophisticated programme of theological engagement with culture and art. 'On the boundary' between the extremes of liberal Christian humanism and neo-orthodox isolationism, Tillich's project is shown to be a powerful continuation of the mediatory intentions of the 'Schleiermacher-Troeltsch line' of modern Protestant theology to overcome the 'intolerable gap' between religion and culture. Drawing heavily on Tillich's incorporation of Schelling's positive philosophy into the deep structure of this theology, Re Manning argues that Tillich's 'Idealistic/Romantic theology of mediation' provides a way through the entrenched oppositions of the 'divided mind' of twentieth century theology to a constructive theology of cultural engagement. Further, this book offers an assessment of the continued relevance of Tillich's project in the situation of contemporary philosophical theology. Beyond the dominant antithetical types of postmodern theology - Mark C. Taylor's a/theology and the 'radical orthodoxy' of John Milbank - Re Manning argues for the possibility of a 'Tillichian postmodern theology of culture' able to engage with the spiritual situation 'at the end of culture.'