Postmodern Theology: A Biopic: 37 (Cascade Companions)

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. 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 postmodernisms 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 todays 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 Deleuzes 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 . . . a concise scintillatingly incisive and richly informative introduction to the genealogy present status and future prospects of what insiders prefer to call Radical Theology but outsiders mistakenly call Postmodern Theology by one of its early pioneers and most sustained and innovative proponents written with the flair wit honesty and scholarly shorthand Carl Raschke is so much appreciated for. The title is already a play on this irony. It is a pocket-sized reliable compass well-suited for a journey which can easily go astray and end up in muddy waters of confusion and misapprehension. What the project of a Radical Theology is all about is explained in vivid clarity. So also in what sense it is postmodern and in what sense it is a critique of shallow postmodernism. --WL van der Merwe chair in Philosophy of Religion Vrije Universiteit Carl Raschke is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Denver. He is an internationally renowned philosopher and theolo