Criticism Of Theological Reason

In the ongoing quest for Christian unity, theological controversies and confessional divisions continue to bar the way. In this work, Fernando Canale attempts to overcome Christianity's theological disagreements by placing theological reason-which unwittingly drives these contentions-under critical investigation. In A Criticism of Theological Reason Canale proposes that theology should undertake this investigation independently from previous philosophical interpretations of reason. Thus, a Criticism of Theological Reason requires a careful examination of (1) the phenomenological structure of reason, (2) its presuppositional conditions, and (3) the interpretation of Being as either time or timelessness, within the philosophical, theological, and biblical contexts. The philosophical context clarifies the function of reason in the construction of meaning and the role of the interpretations of Being in the functioning of reason. The theological context illustrates the way in which the classical and modern philosophical interpretations of reason have shaped the constitution of theological meanings (exegesis, creeds, and dogmatics). Finally, through an epistemological analysis of Exodus 3:14, Canale shows that the biblical interpretation of Being provides the necessary ground to free Christian theology from the philosophically originated Onto-theo-logical interpretations of reason replacing it with a biblically originated Theo-onto-logical interpretation of theological reason. Canale hopes that a clearer understanding of reason's workings in theological discourse-particularly the biblical interpretation of Being and reason-will help Christians surmount current theological controversies and foment the ultimate ecumenical goal of Christian unity.

In this investigation of reason in its involvement in and relationships to both religion and theology, Canale analyzes the possibility of a theological criticism of theological reason as it pertains to the field of systematic theology.

A New York Times bestseller people can believe in—by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek). Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.

Far from merely reinvigorating relativism, postmodernism has detected and expressed in our time a powerful nihilating process of which truth and reality itself are the final casualties; and with these morality and religion. Beginning from the theological reaches of philosophy, this book argues that gods played a crucial part in modern philosophy, even when it was most critical of them; that the dominant nihilism of Derrida is really an excessive and misleading outcome of a contemporary philosophy which could otherwise resonate with all that is best in our evolutionary image of the universe; that moralists who turn to art in order to overcome the fact–value version of this deadly dualism do not thereby rule out religion; and that a Christian theology which recognises the evolutionary and historical conditions of faith and revelation is once again producing a theology that builds upon the best of contemporary philosophy and science.

In this essay Peter Stuhlmacher immerses himself and the reader in the crucial issue of the relation between theological understanding and the historical investigation of the Scriptures. What are the limits of the historical-critical method as it has developed? The author's position--presented for the first time in English--allows the claims of the texts to be heard even as critical evaluation continues. This statement takes on extreme importance at a time when so many biblical students and scholars are attempting to discern the future of critical scholarship.

Herman Philipse puts forward a powerful new critique of belief in God. He examines the strategies that have been used for the philosophical defence of religious belief, and by careful reasoning casts doubt on the legitimacy of relying on faith instead of evidence, and on probabilistic arguments for the existence of God.