Hoping against hope
Subtitle: confessions of a postmodern pilgrim
By: John D. Caputo ; foreword by Peter Rollins
Series: Theology for the people
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 214
ISBN-13: 9781451499155
Subjects: Postmodern theology; Doctrinal Theology; Death of God theology; Postmodernism; Christianity
Description: John D. Caputo has a long career as one of the preeminent postmodern philosophers in America. The author of such books as Radical Hermeneutics, The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida, and The Weakness of God, Caputo now reflects on his spiritual journey from a Catholic altar boy in 1950s Philadelphia to a philosopher after the death of God. Part spiritual autobiography, part homily on what he calls the "nihilism of grace," Hoping Against Hope calls believers and nonbelievers alike to participate in the "praxis of the kingdom of God," which Caputo says we must pursue "without why." Caputo's conversation partners in this volume include Lyotard, Derrida, and Hegel, but also earlier versions of himself: Jackie, a young altar boy, and Brother Paul, a novice in a religious order. Caputo traces his own journey from faith through skepticism to hope, after the "death of God." In the end, Caputo doesn't want to do away with religion; he wants to redeem religion and to reinvent religion for a postmodern time.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Nihilism and the smile on the face of matter; title: A taste for the mystics; title: How not to give a gift; title: Goodbye heaven : the religion of Marguerite and the big church; title: Hello, Jesus : the religion of Martha and the working church; title: Adieu to God : praying God to rid us of God; title: Interlude. A short nocturnal seminar; title: Guarding the way to the tree of life : from angelology to technology; title: Do we all die? Everyone? Life before death; title: A short catechism on the nihilism of grace; title: Conclusion. Dreaming, praying, hoping, smiling.