Engaging Deconstructive Theology

Engaging Deconstructive Theology presents an evangelical approach for theological conversation with postmodern thinkers. Themes are considered from Derrida, Foucault, Mark C. Taylor, Rorty, and Cupitt, developing dialogue from an open-minded evangelical perspective. Ron Michener draws upon insights from radical postmodern thought and seeks to advance an apologetic approach to the Christian faith that acknowledges a mosaic of human sources including experience, literature, and the imagination.

Engaging Deconstructive Theology presents an evangelical approach for theological conversation with postmodern thinkers. Themes are considered from Derrida, Foucault, Mark C. Taylor, Rorty, and Cupitt, developing dialogue from an open-minded evangelical perspective. Ron Michener draws upon insights from radical postmodern thought and seeks to advance an apologetic approach to the Christian faith that acknowledges a mosaic of human sources including experience, literature, and the imagination.

“Derrida’s most lasting legacy might well be his writings on religion . . . If the perplexed seek a guide, they can do no better than this excellent volume.” —Warren Breckman, University of Pennsylvania Jacques Derrida’s writings on the question of religion have played a crucial role in the transformation of scholarly debate across the globe. The Trace of God provides a compact introduction to this debate. It considers Derrida’s fraught relationship to Judaism and his Jewish identity, broaches the question of Derrida’s relation to the Western Christian tradition, and examines both the points of contact and the silences in Derrida’s treatment of Islam. “An astonishingly fresh and vivid set of essays that not only cast new light on the work of the greatest philosophical provocateur of the late twentieth century but also provide food for reflecting today on the relations among violence, modernity, secularity, and religion.”?Allan Megill, University of Virginia

This provocative addition to The Church and Postmodern Culture series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon's In His Steps as a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.

This book presents the main teachings of Edward Schillebeeckx, widely considered one of the most important Catholic thinkers of the twentieth century. Schillebeeckx is known for his radical departure from traditional theology, which he saw as no longer relevant to the modern world. Because today's world has been shaped by a process of secularization heavily based on reason and progress in science, technology, economics, urbanism, etc., modern people seek relevant answers to their deep existential questions that can be explained rationally. In his quest to foster relevant and meaningful answers for today's world, Schillebeeckx changed the traditional metaphysical content of Christian theology into explanations that radically reinterpret traditional Christian doctrines. Primarily, the supernatural essence of Christianity is given up as irrelevant and is replaced by a natural perspective on the world. In Schillebeeckx's thoroughly historical and truly immanent theology, God is man's terrestrial future; Christ the symbol of universal human values; and the Church is identified with the world as those communities which share these universal human values. Schillebeeckx is convinced that these explanations--emptied of metaphysical content--can help today's people understand their existence in a new, relevant, and meaningful way.

Postliberal theology is a movement in contemporary theology that rejects both the Enlightenment appeal to a 'universal rationality' and the liberal assumption of an immediate religious experience common to all humanity. The movement initially began in the 1980's with its association to Yale Divinity School. Theologians such as Hans Frei, Paul Holmer, David Kelsey, and George Lindbeck were influential and were significantly influenced by theologians such as Karl Barth, Clifford Geertz, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Postliberalism uses a narrative approach to theology, such as developed by Hans Frei, and argues that all thought and experience is historically and socially mediated. Michener provide the reader with an accessible introductory overview of the origins, current thought, potential problems, and future possibilities of postliberal theology. The basic philosphical and theological background are be briefly discussed, along with the seminal and predominant theologians identified with the movement. Michener shows how postliberalism emerges from the context of the postmodern critique of Enlightenment rationalism and empiricism. Postliberal theology is extremely critical of classical liberal theology, rather than an advancement of its agenda.

Blending material from social work with religious and spiritual sources, this book makes explicit that engaging with spirituality in its broadest sense is an essential aspect of socially just social work practice. Gardner connects shared understandings of spiritual/religious traditions, critically reflective social work, First Nations relational world views, green and relational approaches. Through multiple unique case studies, Embedding Spirituality and Religion in Social Work Practice: A Socially Just Approach outlines the theoretical framework of critical spirituality, which is explored as a way of workers’ understanding their own and others’ sense of meaning, whether it is spiritual and/or religious, and to encourage workers to be mindful, open, humble and energised as workers. Combining the theoretical and practical, this book outlines strategies and processes to ensure social workers embed spirituality in their practice constructively and inclusively across all areas of practice. This book will be of interest to those engaged in the wider field of social work, from direct service to policy development.