After a detailed analysis of just what radical theology means, as a concept and in its relationship to traditional theology, this volume offers a selection of essays written for both academic and wider audiences which show aim at catching radical theology in action, in the church and in the culture at large.

"Radical theology" and "political theology" are terms that have gained a lot of currency among philosophers of religion today. In this visionary new book, Jeffrey W. Robbins explores the contemporary direction of these movements as he charts a course for their future. Robbins claims that radical theology is no longer bound by earlier thinking about God and that it must be conceived of as postsecular and postliberal. As he engages with themes of liberation, gender, and (...) race, Robbins moves beyond the usual canon of death-of-God thinkers, thinking "against" them as much as "with" them. He presents revolutionary thinking in the face of changing theological concepts, from reformation to transformation, transcendence to immanence, messianism to metamorphosis, and from the proclamation of the death of God to the notion of God’s plasticity. (shrink)

This book explores Caputo's proposal for a radical theology of our time. Philosophers and theologians from within Europe respond to Caputo's attempt to configure a less rigid, less dogmatic form of religion. These scholars, in turn, receive responses by Caputo, thereby strengthening the development of radical theology in Europe and abroad.

The advent of modern science brought deep challenges to traditional religion. Miracles, prophecy, immortal souls, absolute morality - all of these fundamental notions were challenged by the increasingly analytical and skeptical approach of modern scientists. One philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, proposed a new theology, rooted in a close analysis of the Bible, which could fit this new science and provide a sound basis for a social order. "Spinoza's Radical Theology" explains the mechanics and meaning of Spinoza's ideas and (...) how they can inform the questions with which we still struggle today. (shrink)

This review article critically examines the anthology Resurrecting the Death of God: The Origins, Influence, and Return of Radical Theology, edited by Daniel Peterson and G. Michael Zbaraschuk (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2014). After making brief but largely appreciative summary comments on a number of essays, the article focuses attention on contributions by John Cobb on the theology of Altizer, John Roth on Levinas, and J. W. Robbins on the politics of de Tocqueville's concept (...) of God. Suggestions are provided for inclusion of a wider swath of theologies that might be considered. (shrink)

_Secular Theology_ brings together new writings by some of America's most influential theological and religious thinkers on the viability of secular theology. Critically assessing Radical Orthodoxy and putting American radical theology in context, it provides new resources for philosophical theology. Themes covered include postmodern theology, ethics, psychoanalysis, the death of God and medieval theology.

What to Believe? is an engaging introduction to radical theology for spiritual seekers, "Nones," and others outside the academy as well as students in philosophy, religion, and theology departments who are curious about what religion can mean today, 60 years after the revolutionary "death of God" movement. Radical theology is post-theism--atheism about theism. Rather than a personal God, we personify God--we give a name to sense of meaning that we cannot name as an act of (...) imagination, a reflection of an idea that is not supernatural but resonant within human consciousness and the world at large and available through works of art or scientific encounters. It negates typical binaries like religious and secular, theist and atheist, faithful and rational. For Caputo, God is not a question about the existence of a being but rather a question about the worth of the world. (shrink)

RADICAL THEOLOGIANS RIGHTLY SEE THAT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS NOT AN EMPIRICAL THESIS, BUT THEIR RESULTANT REINTERPRETATION OF MIRACLES IS UNRECOGNIZABLE TO ORTHODOX THEOLOGY. IS THIS A SYMPTOM OF A MORE PROFOUND PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFICULTY? JOHN WISDOM HAS SHOWN THAT QUESTIONS OF FACT MAY NOT NEED FURTHER EMPIRICAL ENQUIRY BUT STILL NEED SOLUTION AND STILL BE ABLE TO BE RATIONALLY PURSUED. IS THEN THE LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM RADICAL THEORIES OF THE MIRACULOUS THAT MIRACLES CAN BE (...) EVIDENCE IN PATTERNS? I ARGUE NOT EVEN THIS IS POSSIBLE. FAITH, RELIGIOUS OR SECULAR, IS REQUIRED ALSO TO SEE A MIRACLE IN A PATTERN OR TO SEE NONE. THE BELIEVER AND NON-BELIEVER ARE PLAYING CHECKERS WITH THEIR PIECES ON DIFFERENT COLORED SQUARES. (shrink)

In my Contemporary Critiques of Religion and in my Scepticism , I argue that non-anthropomorphic conceptions of God do not make sense. By this I mean that we do not have sound grounds for believing that the central truth-claims of Christianity are genuine truth-claims and that we do not have a religiously viable concept of God. I argue that this is so principally because of three interrelated features about God-talk. While purporting to be factual assertions, central bits of God-talk, e.g. (...) ‘God exists’ and ‘God loves man-kind’, are not even in principle verifiable in such a way that we can say what experienceable states of affairs would count for these putative assertions and against their denials, such that we could say what it would be like to have evidence which would make either their assertion or their denial more or less probably true. Personal predicates, e.g. ‘loves’, ‘creates’, are at least seemingly essential in the use of God-talk, yet they suffer from such an attenuation of meaning in their employment in religious linguistic environments that it at least appears to be the case that we have in such environments unwittingly emptied these predicates of all intelligible meaning so that we do not understand what we are asserting or denying when we utter ‘God loves mankind’ or ‘God created the heavens and the earth’ and the like. When we make well-formed assertions, it appears at least to be the case that a necessary condition for such wellformedness is that we should be able successfully to identify the subject of that putative statement so that we can understand what it is that we are talking about and thus understand that a genuine statement has actually been made. But, where God is conceived non-anthropomorphically, we have no even tolerably clear idea about how God, an infinite individual, occupying no particular place or existing at no particular time, and being utterly transcendent to the world, can be identified. Indeed we have no coherent idea of what it would be like to identify him and this means we have no coherent idea of what it would be like for God even to be a person or an it. He cannot be picked out and identified in the way persons and things can. (shrink)

This article offers a critical reflection on the mutually resonant recent works of Clayton Crockett and Jeffrey Robbins, both of whom expose “radical theology” as insufficiently political, “political theology” as insufficiently radical, and “radical politics” as insufficiently attuned to theology. In light of these shortcomings, they offer a radical political theology as a “necessary supplement” to the project of radical democracy—which is to say a politics of, by, and for “the multitude.” (...) This article tracks the shifting and occasionally conflicting contours of this radically democratic theology. (shrink)

This work is a collection of contributions by different European authors discussing the work of US-American philosopher-theologian John D. Caputo. Though Caputo is by now a well-known figure in the USA, reception of his work in European academic contexts varies widely from place to place. This volume thus brings together fourteen theologians and philosophers in or from Europe to “gather Catholic and Protestant voices around Caputo’s work to evaluate the match with the European context” and, in so doing, “add to (...) the European reception of Caputo’s radical theology” (1–2). Some might wonder if Caputo, though clearly a leading contemporary thinker, quite lends himself to this kind of reading as a “primary”. (shrink)

Since the work of the late Jacques Derrida often found a more positive reception in the United States than in Europe, it is perhaps fitting that the Derrida-influenced writings of John Caputo have...

Radical Orthodoxy is a new wave of theological thinking that seeks to re-inject the modern world with theology. The group of theologians associated with Radical Orthodoxy are dissatisfied with conteporary theolgical responses to both modernity and postmodernity Radical Orthodoxy is a collection that aims to reclaim the world by situating its concerns and activities within a theological framework. By mapping the new theology against a range of areas where modernity has failed, these essays offer us (...) way out of the impasses that postmodernity represents. (shrink)

This article offers a critical reflection on the mutually resonant recent works of Clayton Crockett and Jeffrey Robbins, both of whom expose “radical theology” as insufficiently political, “political theology” as insufficiently radical, and “radical politics” as insufficiently attuned to theology. In light of these shortcomings, they offer a radical political theology as a “necessary supplement” to the project of radical democracy—which is to say a politics of, by, and for “the multitude.” (...) This article tracks the shifting and occasionally conflicting contours of this radically democratic theology. (shrink)

Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote that "the people reign over the American political world like God over the universe," unwittingly casting democracy as the political instantiation of the death of God. According to Jeffrey W. Robbins, Tocqueville's assessment remains an apt observation of modern democratic power, which does not rest with a sovereign authority but operates as a diffuse social force. By linking radical democratic theory to a contemporary fascination with political theology, Robbins envisions the modern experience of (...) democracy as a social, cultural, and political force transforming the nature of sovereign power and political authority. Robbins joins his work with Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's radical conception of "network power," as well as Sheldon Wolin's notion of "fugitive democracy," to fashion a political theology that captures modern democracy's social and cultural torment. This approach has profound implications not only for the nature of contemporary religious belief and practice but also for the reconceptualization of the proper relationship between religion and politics. Challenging the modern, liberal, and secular assumption of a neutral public space, Robbins conceives of a postsecular politics for contemporary society that inextricably links religion to the political. While effectively recasting the tradition of radical theology as a political theology, this book also develops a comprehensive critique of the political theology bequeathed by Carl Schmitt. It marks an original and visionary achievement by the scholar the _Journal of the American Academy of Religion_ hailed "one of the best commentators on religion and postmodernism.". (shrink)

While effectively recasting the tradition of radical theology as a political theology, this book also develops a comprehensive critique of the political theology bequeathed by Carl Schmitt.

Theology and religious beliefs, including issues dealing with theism, deism, creedal statements, dogma, and spiritualism are considered to be constructed reality. They are herein identified as first order truth. First order truth is personal truth and, as such, it becomes part of the reality of the believer. Constructed theological and religious belief is considered to be a legitimate part of radical constructivism irrespective of the validity and viability of the constructed reality. Second order truth, truth that is beyond (...) the limits of human verification, is herein introduced as the term for ultimate ontological and metaphysical reality. As such, reality is neither denied nor is it attributed to a solipsistic mind. Ultimate and so-called metaphysical reality is unknowable in the epistemological sense of having the capability of being known in any empirical and verifiable manner. To the degree that ultimate and metaphysical reality is known, it is known only via the constructs of the human mind. Perceptions of reality that arise from rigorous empirical research, including experimental and observational data, are certainly to be considered valid, reliable, and viable, but never irreplaceable. In the practice of science and the scientific method there is always the possibility of new hypotheses and theories based on new experimentation and new data, and thus, a case may be made that all knowledge, even scientific and empirical knowledge, is tentative. (shrink)

Radical Orthodoxy is the most radical and influential theological development in a generation. Many have been bewildered by the range and intensity of the writings which constitute Radical Orthodoxy. This book spans the range of the history of thought discussed by Radical Orthodoxy, tackling the accuracy of the historical narratives on which their position depends. The distinguished contributors examine the history of thought as presented by the movement, presenting a series of critiques of individual Radical (...) Orthodox 'readings' of key thinkers. Contributors include: Eli Diamond, Wayne Hankey, Todd Breyfogle, John Marenbon, Richard Cross, Neil Robertson, Douglas Hedley, David Peddle, Steven Shakespeare, Hugh Rayment-Pickard, and George Pattison. (shrink)

In the 1960s, the strict opposition between the religious and the secular began to break down, blurring the distinction between political philosophy and political theology. This collapse contributed to the decline of modern liberalism, which supported a neutral, value-free space for capitalism. It also deeply unsettled political, religious, and philosophical realms, forced to confront the conceptual stakes of a return to religion. Gamely intervening in a contest that defies simple resolutions, Clayton Crockett conceives of the postmodern convergence of the (...) secular and the religious as a basis for emancipatory political thought. Engaging themes of sovereignty, democracy, potentiality, law, and event from a religious and political point of view, Crockett articulates a theological vision that responds to our contemporary world and its theo-political realities. Specifically, he claims we should think about God and the state in terms of potentiality rather than sovereign power. Deploying new concepts, such as Slavoj Žižek's idea of parallax and Catherine Malabou's notion of plasticity, his argument engages with debates over the nature and status of religion, ideology, and messianism. Tangling with the work of Derrida, Deleuze, Spinoza, Antonio Negri, Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, John D. Caputo, and Catherine Keller, Crockett concludes with a reconsideration of democracy as a form of political thought and religious practice, underscoring its ties to modern liberal capitalism while also envisioning a more authentic democracy unconstrained by those ties. (shrink)

Tangling with the work of Derrida, Deleuze, Spinoza, Antonio Negri, Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, John D. Caputo, and Catherine Keller, Crockett concludes with a reconsideration of democracy as a form of political thought and religious ...

Issues of race, gender, nationality and religion have been the breeding ground of conflict and oppression throughout history. This book provides an engaging assessment of the dangers of defining the self against the other.

Jonathan I. Israel claims that Christian ‘controversialists’ endeavoured first to obscure or efface Spinozism, materialism, and non-authoritarian free thought, and then, in the early eighteenth century, to fight these openly, and desperately. Israel appears to have adopted the view of enlightenment as a battle against what Voltaire has called ‘l’infâme’, and David Hume has labelled ‘stupidity, Christianity, and ignorance’. These authors’ barbs were launched later in the century, however, in the period of the high Enlightenment, following polarizing controversies of mid-century. (...) This chapter argues that many Enlightenment figures, including Hume and Voltaire, were far more involved within a culture in the second quarter of the century that was less divided against Christian interlocutors, less rigid, and more complex than these two wished to suggest, in retrospect, after mid-century. A Christian literary and scientific circle was productive and prominent in French Enlightenment culture, particularly in the personages of François Prévost, Pierre Desfontaines, Samuel Formey and Noël Pluche, and in the pages of ubiquitous journals and occasional publications. Many of the Catholics among these lumières held the education and retained the status of ‘abbé’, a title with prophylactic properties that legitimated expansive inquiry – into topics such as libertinism and atheism – and facilitated in-print exchanges with Voltaire and other less orthodox figures. This wing of the Enlightenment developed a culture that reflected, and sometimes promoted, Christian theology – especially in the tradition of natural theology – and displayed broadly Christian and politically conservative values. The latter aspect served in part to motivate concerted efforts toward their marginalization by others, but the French Enlightenment of the eighteenth century’s second quarter was actually very mixed, and not so very radical; rather, it became polarized at mid-century, and in retrospect, the Christians of this wing were written out of the history by the likes of Voltaire and Hume. (shrink)