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 xIntroduction: "Where We Stand" xiiPart I: Aesthetics 1Part II: Ethics 105Part III: Gender 229Part IV: Hermeneutics 309Part V: Phenomenology 367Part VI: Heideggerians 425Part VII: Derrideans 467Index 517