Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology

The Revd Dr Graham Ward is Professor of Contextual Theology in the department for Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester and one of the Directors of the Centre for Religion and Political Culture based there. His books available from Blackwell include The Postmodern God (1997), The Certeau Reader (1999), True Religion (2002), and Christ and Culture (forthcoming).

"If you think you know what postmodern theology is, or think you don't know, either way these remarkable essays will change your mind: written by Jews, Christians and atheists; indebted to Plato, the Bible and Augustine; haunted by Heidegger, Levinas, Foucault and Derrida; dealing with jazz, the Shoah, the ecological crisis, the American prison system and many other topics; some long and patient, others short and cryptic, all asking to be read more than once. You may still not know at the end but you will certainly have seen the variety and vitality of what theologians are doing, in these postmodern times, and the zest with which they do it." Fergus Kerr, Blackfriars "Connecting theology to a variety of disciplines and intellectual traditions, this companion provides an exciting sample of the current work of postmodern theologians. Many of the essays are ground-breaking, as the fields of theology and religious thought move forward into the next century. The polyphony of the volume provides surprising moments of harmony (and discord). This is a valuable sequel to Ward's THEPOSTMODERN GOD, and will be useful in the classroom." Robert Gibbs, University of Toronto "The essays provide a lofty introduction to contemporary theology. The introductory essay by Ward is as good as it gets on this topic." Choice "Among the delights of this collection are the essays that dare to reconsider some of the 'bad guys' in the official postmodern story: thus Catherine Pickstock endeavours to rescue Plato from his Nietzschean decriers, by re-reading the Republic through the Laws to offer an account of Plato's politics as liturgical rather than totalitarian; while Jean-Luc Marion even seeks to learn from the much-despised Descartes." Literature & Theology "a...useful and exciting volume, bringing together the work of religious scholars and theologians across a wide spectrum, creating space for their current work independently from a given theme, showing them sometimes in agreement, sometimes in heated argument with each other." Anglican Theological Review "A book good libraries should have." Theological Studies

• List of Contributors. Introduction: "Where We Stand".Part I: Aesthetics:.1. Postmodern Theology as Cultural Analysis: Mieke Bal.2. The Man Who Fell to Earth: Gerard Loughlin (University of Newcastle upon Tyne).3. Communion and Conversation: Regina Schwartz (Northwestern University).4. The Ends of Man and the Future of God: Janet Martin Soskice (University of Cambridge).5. "Lush Life": Foucault's Analytics of Power and a Jazz Aesthetic: Sharon D. Welch (University of Missouri).Part II: Ethics:.6. The Midwinter Sacrifice: John Milbank (University of Virginia).7. Postmodernity and Religious Plurality: Is a Common Global Ethic Possible or Desirable?: Gavin D'Costa (University of Bristol).8. The Christian Difference, or Surviving Postmodernism: Stanley Hauerwas (Duke University).9. Justice and Prudence: Principles of Order in the Platonic City: Catherine Pickstock (University of Cambridge).10. Visiting Prisoners: William C. Placher (Wabash College, India).11. Suffering and Incarnation: Graham Ward (University of Manchester).12. Earth God: Cultivating the Spirit in an Ecocidal Culture: Mark I. Wallace (Swarthmore College).Part III: Gender:.13. An Ethics of Memory: Promising, Forgiving, Yearning: Pamela Sue Anderson (Regent's Park College, Oxford).14. Is Macrina a Woman? Gregory of Nyssa's Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection: Virginia Burrus (Drew University).15. "They Will Know We are Christians by Our Regulated Improvisation": Ecclesial Hybridity and the Unity of the Church: Mary McClintock Fulkerson (Duke University).16. On Changing the Imaginary: Grace M. Jantzen (University of Manchester).17. Companionable Wisdoms: What Insights Might Feminist Theorists Gather from Feminist Theologians?: Serene Jones (Yale Divinity School).Part IV: Hermeneutics:.18. Shattering the Logos: Hermeneutics Between a Hammer and a Hard Place: Daniel Boyarin (University of California at Berkeley).19. The Renewal of Jewish Theology Today: Under the Sign of Three: Peter Ochs (University of Virginia).20. Intending Transcendence: Desiring God: Edith Wyschogrod (Rice University).Part V: Phenomenology:.21. Transfiguring God: Richard Kearney (University College).22. Presence and Parousia: Jean-Yves Lacoste.23. The Formal Reason for the Infinite: Jean-Luc Marion (University of Paris, Sorbonne).24. Religions as Conventions: Joseph S. O'Leary (Sophia University, Japan).Part VI: Heideggerians:.25. The Self-Saving of God: Thomas J. J. Altizer (State University of New York).26. The Subject of Prayer: Unwilling Words in the Postmodern Access to God: Laurence PaulHemming (University of London).27. The Christian Message and the Dissolution of Metaphysics: Gianni Vattimo (University of Turin).Part VII: Derrideans:.28. The Poetics of the Impossible and the Kingdom of God: John D. Caputo (Villanova University).29. Anti-Discrimination: Don Cupitt (Emmanuel College, Cambridge).30. Is There a Postmodern Gospel?: Walter Lowe (Emory University).31. Indian Territory: Postmodernism Under the Sign of the Body: Carl Raschke (University of Denver).Index.