God Interrupts History: Theology in a Time of Upheaval Book

Preface     ix
Introduction     1
Point of Departure: Recontextualization and the Question of Method     2
Dialogue Partners     4
Between Bridge and Rupture     6
The Study in Outline     8
Theology in a Post-Secular Context: About Recontextualization and Interruption
The European Religious Situation: A "Post-Secular" and "Post-Christian" Context     13
A Post-Secular Europe?     13
The Detraditionalization of Europe     16
The Pluralization of Religion in Europe     24
The Analysis of the Contemporary Religious Situation of Europe     26
Conclusions and Theological Questions     28
A New Method: Recontextualization Leads to Interruption     30
The Modern Correlation Method No Longer Functions     31
From Continuity to Discontinuity?     35
Consequences for Theological Method: From Correlation to Recontextualization     37
Method between Continuity and Discontinuity: Interruption     41
Conclusion     49
An Adjusted Dialogue with the Context: Distinguishing between an Inner and an Outer Perspective     50
The Outer Perspective: The Ad Extra Dimension of the Communication between Christian Faith and the Context     51
The InnerPerspective: The Ad Intra Dimension of Our Communication with Culture and Society     53
Problems with This Methodological Distinction     53
Where Is the Boundary between the Inner and the Outer Perspective?     55
Between Bridge and Rupture: Religious Experience, Rituals, and the Dialogue with Science
Theology and the Interruption of Experience     59
Lessons from a Modern Debate: Experience in Modern Correlation Theologies     61
From the Interruption of Experience to the Experience of Interruption     74
To Conclude: Christian Experience of God in a Highly Experiential Culture     88
The Sacramental Interruption of the Rites of Passage     92
Schillebeeckx and the Problem of Continuity and Discontinuity in the Relationship between Rites of Passage and Sacraments     94
A Closer Look at the Problem     96
Secularity (the "Generally Human") in a Perspective of Plurality     99
Reassessing Theological Method     101
Sacramental Interruption of Rites of Passage     102
Conclusion     106
Narratives of Creation and Flood: A Contest between Science and Christian Faith?     111
Creation or Evolution?     112
Christian Faith and Science: Three Models     116
Taking Stock     125
Back to the Question: Creation and/or Evolution?     127
Creation and Flood Narratives     131
God Interrupts History Narratives on God, Incarnation, and Time
"I believe that there is 'something more'!" Religious Revival and Negative Theology     139
Detraditionalization and the Longing for "Something More"     141
Pluralization and the Relativization of Christian Particularity     146
Ambiguities and Opportunities     149
The Rediscovery of Christian Negative Theology in the Heart of Radical Theological Hermeneutics     153
Particularity, Negative Theology, and the Language of Faith     157
Conclusion     158
Jesus Both God and Human: Incarnation as Stumbling Block or Cornerstone for Interreligious Dialogue?     160
The Revelation of God in Jesus Christ: A Continuing Challenge for Theology     162
The Pitfalls of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism     166
Truth and Incarnation     172
Conclusion     178
God Interrupts Time: Apocalypticism as an Indispensable Theological Conceptual Strategy     180
Apocalypse Now: Symptom of a Culture Adrift?     181
Christian Theology and Apocalypticism: A Stirring Tradition     188
Apocalypticism Today: God as the Boundary of Time     194
Conclusion: God Interrupts Time      201
Conclusion: "The Shortest Definition of Religion: Interruption"     203
Acknowledgments     207
Index     209