Postmodern Theology: A Biopic (Cascade Companions)

by Carl Raschke

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2017

Overview

Postmodern Theology consists in a sharp-edged retrospective and reflection on the forty-year history of the most important movement in contemporary religious thought that is only now passing from the scene. The author, Dr. Carl Raschke, is generally credited with having sparked the movement, even if he did not always happen to be its leading spokesperson. Not only has a comprehensive survey of postmodern theology in all its different phases and complexity not been published prior to the appearance of this book, but it is even more remarkable for someone who both “launched” it and had a central role in shepherding it along to offer what may be termed a “movement memoir.” Postmodern Theology surveys and summarizes the major figures and trends that have given currency to such familiar expressions as “deconstruction,” “deconstructive theology,” “radical theology,” “a/theology,” “God is dead,” and of course, “postmodernism” itself. Dr. Raschke also contextualizes the emergence of these catchy phrases from a frothy soup of new intellectual theories and philosophical innovations, which were international in scope but customized for both academic and popular religious writers--mainly in Britain and America--from the late 1960s onward.

Key Features

• Details expositions of philosophical and theological figures.
• Provides context for today’s ‘post-post-modern’ theological concerns.
• Shapes the course of contemporary theological and political discourse.

Praise for the Print Edition

Widely recognized as an inaugural voice in postmodern theology, Carl A. Raschke offers herein a sophisticated, and decidedly personal, account of the contours of the movement. Recounting the influence, and assessing the arguments, of such thinkers as Altizer, Derrida, Levinas, and Caputo, this book is as compellingly biographical as it is substantively rigorous. Raschke is necessary reading for all who are curious not only about the history of postmodern theology, but also invested in shaping its future.

—J. Aaron Simmons, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Furman University

...carefully charts the history of postmodernism’s profound epistemological, metaphysical, and ethico-political influence on contemporary theology. The detailed expositions of philosophical and theological figures and movements relevant to the rise and dominance of poststructuralist methodologies beginning in the 1960s provides a much-needed critical context for today’s ‘post-post-modern’ theological concerns.

—Victor E. Taylor, author of Religion after Postmodernism: Retheorizing Myth and Literature

...an extremely readable introduction to ‘Postmodern Theology.’ Raschke critically, generously, and humorously presents the most important antecedents, developments, and consequences of this influential theological movement. It directly confronts thinkers like Caputo, Altizer, and Mark Taylor. Parallel to this Raschke offers a clear and in-depth introduction to Derrida and Deleuze’s philosophies, which not only made postmodern theology possible, but have also shaped the course of contemporary theological and political discourse.

—Kurt Appel, Professor for Fundamental Theology, University of Vienna

Product Details

• Title: Postmodern Theology: A Biopic
• Author: Carl Raschke
• Series: Cascade Companions
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 220
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• ISBNs: 9781498203876, 1498203876
• Resource ID: LLS:PSTMDRNTHBPC
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-11-30T22:23:16Z

About Carl Raschke

Carl A. Raschke (PhD, Harvard University) is professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, specializing in continental philosophy, the philosophy of religion and the theory of religion. He is an internationally known writer and academic who has authored numerous books and hundreds of articles on topics ranging from postmodernism to popular religion and culture to technology and society. Raschke is the author or coauthor of books such as The Revolution in Religious Theory: Toward a Semiotics of the Event, GloboChrist, The Next Reformation, Faith and Reason: Three Views, Painted Black, The Interruption of Eternity, The Digital Revolution and the Coming of the Postmodern University, Fire and Roses: Postmodernity and the Thought of the Body and The Engendering God. He is co-founder and senior editor of The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and he is a regular blogger and current affairs editor with Political Theology Today. A well-known expert on religion and higher education, Raschke has been interviewed at least nine hundred times over two decades. During the late 1980s and early 1990s he advised the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC, on matters involving core curriculum, serving for several years as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Core Curriculum. He has also served on the board of directors and various national committees of the American Academy of Religion. Raschke is a permanent adjunct faculty member at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology as well as the Global Center for Advanced Studies, and has been a visiting scholar and lecturer at the University of Vienna. He is co-proprietor of Wingsoar, a lecturing, writing and seminar company, and he is co-founder of the Global Art Ideas Nexus. He and his wife Sunny live in Denver, Colorado.