Varieties of Postmodern Theology

by David Ray Griffin, William A. Beardslee, Joe Holland

This book sorts out the confusion created by the use of the term "postmodern" in relation to widely divergent theological positions. Four different types of postmodern theology are distinguished in the constructive, deconstructive, liberationist, and conservative. Two forms of each type are discussed in the book.

Writing from a constructive, postmodern perspective, the authors enter into dialogue with the deconstructive postmodernism of Mark C. Taylor and Jean-Francois Lyotard, with the liberationist postmodernism of Harvey Cox and Cornel West, and with the conservative postmodernism of George William Rutler and John Paul II.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy

Paperback

First published July 1, 1989

About the author

Dr. Griffin, a retired emeritus professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at the Claremont School of Theology, has published over 30 books and 150 articles. His 9/11 books have been endorsed by Robert Baer, William Christison, William Sloane Coffin Jr., Richard Falke, Ray McGovern, Paul Craig Roberts and Howard Zinn.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

ESSAYS FROM THREE AUTHORS OUTLINING DIFFERING “POSTMODERN” APPROACHES

Coauthor David Ray Griffin (who has written/cowritten other books such as Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition; Primordial Truth and Postmodern Theology; Two Great Truths: A New Synthesis of Scientific Naturalism and Christian Faith; Reenchantment without Supernaturalism, God and Religion in the Postmodern World, etc.) wrote in his Introduction to this 1989 book, “This book deals with eight types of postmodern theology---or, one could equally say, four basic types, with each type having two versions. To call of them types of ‘postmodern’ theology is to imply that they all have something in common. To speak of ‘varieties’ is to indicate that significant differences exist among them. Indeed, the phrase ‘postmodern theology’ is suddenly being used for a very diverse set of programs. The differences among them are probably more obvious than their similarities.” (Pg. 1)

He continues, “In speaking of ‘postmodern’ theology… the various theologies using this self-designation share both a common view of the nature of modern theology and a common conviction that its era is over. Beyond these formal agreements, great variety is to be found among the postmodern theologies. The four basic types discussed in this volume can be called (1) constructive [or revisionary], (2) deconstructive [or eliminative], (3) liberationist, and (4) restorationist [or conservative].” (Pg. 3)

Coauthor Joe Holland (author of books such as [[ASIN:0692503226 Postmodern Ecological Spirituality]], [[ASIN:0809142252 Modern Catholic Social Teaching]], etc.) states in his first essay, “A general postmodern praxis might be argued from the two great Catholic challenges to modern ideologies, one against the capitalist form in the Third World, the other against the communist form in Eastern Europe… Both these challenges share a common postmodern HISTORICAL consciousness---the creative communion of subversive memory and prophetic imagination… In both cases, the new historical consciousness is more progressive than that of modernists and more rooted than that of traditionalists… The GOVERNING IDEAL of postmodern Catholicism is not authoritarian or individualistic or massified; rather, it is communitarian. The focal energies of the Christian counterculture are not on the individual or the state, but on the community. But community is not set against personal dignity in a massified collectivism, nor against institutional embodiment in individualist erosion.” (Pg. 22)

In another essay, Griffin states, “The major difference between this God and that of premodern and early modern theology is the difference between naturalistic and supernaturalistic… theism… In supernaturalism, all creative power belongs essentially to God alone… In naturalistic theism, creative power inherently belongs to the realm of finite existents as well as to God… What exists is not God alone, but God-and-a-world… Although it would be illegitimate to appeal to God to patch up an incoherence in our metaphysical principles or to interrupt the basic causal processes of our world (say, to prevent a holocaust), it is not illegitimate to appeal to God to explain certain features of our experience or of the world in general, as long as this explanation does not violate the general principles applying to all other interactions between actualities.” (Pg. 48-49)

In his first essay, coauthor William Beardslee explains, “My topic in this essay is how to speak of Christ in the postmodern age. To ask this question assumes that the word we hear from Christ is not a timeless one, but that our hearing and the word of Christ are both blocked and empowered by the concrete and changing circumstances in which we live. If this is so, it is of great importance to assess the limitations and the possibilities of our world, so as to see what new ways of understanding and expressing our faith can arise from the dialogue between faith and the world.” (Pg. 65) Later, he adds, “I am choosing a third response. In this response, we see ourselves as deeply shaped by the postmodern world, and try to enter imaginatively into the interpretation of it offered by such writers as [Jean Francois] Lyotard. Yet we affirm ourselves as finding our identity conferred by the history of our faith. A conversation arising from this kind of tension, I believe, promises the most creative possibilities for faith.” (Pg. 68)

In another essay, Griffin suggests that postmodern theology is a “liberation theology,’ and observes, “Postmodern theology as liberation theology must, therefore, always have two dimensions: the general and the particular, the universal and the local, the abstract and the concrete. Although some forms of liberation theology have… virtually eliminated the universal dimension, postmodern theology needs to avoid replacing one type of one-sidedness with another… We cannot intelligibly say that ‘God wants US to work to liberate THESE people from THIS oppression’ unless we can say that ‘God exists,’ that ‘God is for the liberation of the oppressed always and everywhere,’ and that ‘God does not effect this liberation unilaterally but only through the responsive co-operation of the creatures.’” (Pg. 82)

In his second essay (on Pope John Paul II), Holland notes, “In my opinion, John Paul is fundamentally correct in his analysis of the destructive course of modern culture… in his prediction of the potential birth of a postmodern culture; in his criticism of modernity’s tendency to repress the female symbol and to approach everything in terms of the masculine symbol; and in his interpretation of the outcome of this reductionism, namely the loss of spiritual energy, the erosion of family and community, the degradation of work, and the fundamental threat to the biosphere. John Paul therefore brings many themes for dialogue to liberal American postmodernists.” (Pg. 121)

This book will be of keen interest to those studying Postmodern Theology, or other contemporary/progressive theological movements.