Radical Theology and Emerging Christianity Deconstruction, Materialism and Religious Practices Intensities: Contemporary Continental Philosophy of Religion Series

The ?theological turn? in continental philosophy and the ?turn to Paul? in political philosophy have occasioned a return to radical theology, a tradition whose philosophical heritage can be traced to the death of God announced in the work of Nietzsche and Hegel. John D. Caputo?s deconstructive theology and Slavoj Zizek?s materialist theology are two radical theologies that explore what it might mean to pass through the death of God and to abandon this experience as specifically Christian. Radical Theology and Emerging Christianity demonstrates how these theologies are transforming everyday religious practices through an examination of the work of Peter Rollins and Kester Brewin, two figures at the radical margins of a contemporary expression of Western religiosity called emerging Christianity. The author uses her analysis of all four figures to argue that deconstructive practices can enable religious communities to become part of a wider materialist collective in which the death of God continues to resonate. Pushing the methodological boundaries of philosophy of religion by examining religious practices as the site of philosophical signification, the book challenges scholars and practitioners alike to a new and more demanding dialogue between theory and practice.

Contents: Introduction; Part I An Emerging A/Theistic Imaginary: Religion and the critique of ideology; A theology of the God who dies; The excess of events over names; The matter of life; A theology of the (hyper-)real; A/Theism. Part II An Emerging IR/Religious Practice: ’Religion’ with/out religion; A faith/less fighting collective; Faithful betrayal;Transformance art; Suspended space; The Church emerging after God. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Katharine Sarah Moody (PhD, Lancaster University, UK) works at the intersection of European philosophy of religion and the empirical study of contemporary Christianity. She has published in philosophical and political theology.