A New Temporality of Religion

Contemporary Pragmatism, 2020

In his insightful essay »Prophetic Religion and the Future of Capitalist Civilization« Cornel West fervently addressed a question of our abilities to imagine a more empa-thetic, more compassionate, and also more hospitable world, in which we could foresee , or perhaps already lay ground for a future community where the word religion would simply mean that we live our lives in the consciousness of our finitude and thus in an existential and cognitive humility. This kind of religion (not far from Dewey's or Rorty's ideals) would enable us to see beyond the margins of any narrow-minded religious ideology or any violent incarnation of religion. Based on these initial thoughts, we first wish to discuss two basic concepts of contemporary political theology-community and vulnerability. We shall argue that we need to offer in contemporary political theology a basic ethico-democratic response, infused with our imaginative capacity for remembrance (Benjamin, Metz) and future hope (West, Dewey, Unger). We will argue with Unger (The Religion of the Future) that we need to live through accepting an enhanced vulnerability, being shared in our democratic (and) religious communities. From this view any loss of human life and its potentials is a sign of a grave injustice, and a catastrophe from an ethical point of view. Finally, we will propose the so called reverse thesis on religion-namely that today, perhaps, we should first look at religion in its radicalized ethico-political form which only later enables us to think about its various variations and incarnations within different traditions and cultures. We will argue that it is within this newly acquired tem-porality of religion and its inherent ontologico-political paradox, that it is possible to imagine a future place where recurrent hope for a life is reborn and nurtured within future pluralistic / inclusivistic / democratic / post-Christian communities, based on compassion and shared vulnerability, and not any more on power, or any other form of violence.

2008

he religion of politics," wrote the Mexican poet and essayist Octavio Paz, "was born from the ruins of Christianity." The political, "or more precisely, Revolution-co-opted the other function of religion: changing human beings and society." It "was the construction of a universal church." 1 From the standpoint of both world and Western history, the present day secular liberal dogma in the West of the necessary dissociativity of the religious from the political is the most curious of eccentricities. The principle derives, as does the American doctrine of the "separation of church and state," from a radicalization over time of Enlightenment anti-clericism and the deep suspicion among eighteenth century philosophes about the overreach of political sovereigns, whether democratic or autocratic, especially whenever the power of God might be invoked to abridge the free exercise of human reason and the freedom of the citizenry. The radicalization gathered momentum only in the twentieth century-in America the "non-establishment of religion" did not morph into "strict separationism" until an infamous 1948 Supreme Court decision-as positivist science threw religion as a whole on a broad cultural defensive and the secular utopianisms of socialism, communism, fascism, and Deweyan "democratism" routed all otherworldly hopes as legitimate expressions of collective human longing. Militant secularism can, if we pursue Paz's dictum, be regarded as the "universal church" of right reason and techno-scientific hegemony. Just about a generation ago this universal church seemed as secure for the long term as the Roman Catholic Church during the high middle ages. But the world has changed drastically in the last forty years. In the same way as unexpected and untoward historical events-the Black Death, the Great Schism, devastating dynastic wars over two centuries, and finally the printing press-brought down the Medieval Church and its once unquestionable dominion, the great cultural upheavals of

2019

International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 2018

Religious Studies Review, 2009

Reviews in Religion & Theology, 2012

The content of Christian theology is nothing if not complex and nuanced. Faith, in essence, may be something relatively simple; an orientation of the heart, an intention of the will, a determination of religious identity. But as soon as the person of faith takes up the Anselmian challenge to seek understanding of that faith, problems of where to start and how to proceed quickly become acute. Many easy solutions are offered, of course, and most of those are of dubious intellectual quality, short-changing both the integrity of the faith and the veracity of its supposed cognition. They result most often in misinformed fundamentalism or other variants of stifling naïveté. But for many Christian believers seeking to deepen their knowledge and understanding by becoming students of theology there are many worthy guides. This second edition of Anderson's Journey is one of particularly good value. It purports, in its preface, to offer a 'trusty companionship for the journey' as well as to present 'a hearty invitation' to undertake the journey in the first place (p. ix). And in an attempt to make the journey as relaxed and enjoyable as possible the intellectual demands along the way are lightened by the insertion of cartoon comment that can, at times, provide critical insight and reinforcement of a main idea by way of providing a shaft of humorous light. For some, however, they may be more of a sideline distraction, and there are times when it seems that without a deeper knowledge the point of a cartoon may in fact be lost. Still, the overall impression is of a book that deals with complex and heavy topics in a most appealing manner, and succeeding in that on the whole. One very interesting feature is that, although the book has been written and structured in a historically developmental fashion, the preface presents an alternate format whereby the book could be read thematically. By a judicious selection of provided readings, nine discrete theological topics-Faith and Reason, the doctrines of God,

Religion, 2013

Telos-Paul Piccone Institute Conference (New York, 15-17 February 2019)

Doctoral Dissertation, 2017

This dissertation intervenes in political theology to offer a constructive and wide-ranging theological proposal for Christian cultural engagement and peacemaking in the context of the globalization, perpetual violence, widespread economic inequity, and religious pluralism that characterize geopolitics in the twenty-first century. Drawing upon the biblical concept of shalom, it argues that the church’s peacemaking vocation involves not only mediating conflict, but also pursuing human flourishing at the local, national, and international levels. The dissertation engages with influential classic and contemporary texts of Christian theology as well as the work of leading secular cultural theorists in order to reassess the meaning of three major concepts—evil, justice, and love—that are central for any coherent vision of Christian political praxis. Building upon this analysis, it advocates for the spiritual disciplines of lament and “prophetic imagination,” whereby the church learns to name the world’s evils while also cultivating new visions of human flourishing that can guide and sustain social action. In order to flesh out the principles and tactics of the church’s peacemaking mission, the dissertation also analyzes the thought and action of exemplary modern peace activists, notably Martin Luther King Jr., John M. Perkins, Desmond Tutu, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The central argument is that the church is called to resist evil and cultivate shalom in the present world order through counter-cultural love, which is expressed by (1) radical practices of reconciliation across demographic barriers, (2) assets-based development strategies aimed at promoting comprehensive flourishing in under-resourced communities, and (3) nonviolent direct action that challenges injustice at the structural level while promoting a biblically-rooted vision of human solidarity.

Theology in dialogue. The impact of the Arts, …, 2002