{"id":22929,"date":"2014-04-11T08:18:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T12:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=22929"},"modified":"2014-04-11T08:18:36","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T12:18:36","slug":"the-future-of-liberal-theology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/the-future-of-liberal-theology.html","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Liberal Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A recent post on the blog an und f\u00fcr sich<\/a> offers both an insightful retrospective on the nature of liberal theology (including noting the irony of the classic language of \u201chusk vs. kernel\u201d which ends up looking a lot like the \u201cletter vs. spirit\u201d dichotomy of supercessionist theologies), and a vision for the future. Here is a long excerpt from that second section:<\/p>\n

I take \u2018liberal\u2019 theology, in its most positive form, to be a dynamic set of interventions and possibilities, not a fixed position. As such, I believe two things are called for.<\/p>\n

First, a theology without essence, or a pluralistic theology. By this, I do not mean the idea that \u2018many religions lead to one reality\/God\u2019, still less that \u2018anything goes\u2019 and we can pick and choose the truth we want. I mean that theology should be experimental: a production of possibilities which fights against the myth that reality is simply given, that a preconceived idea of \u2018Nature\u2019 dictates what can and can\u2019t be done, that there is one Orthodoxy or Providence to which all must submit.<\/p>\n

Theology\u2019s temptation is to set out a world structure or essence and then determine where we fit into that structure. The problem is that this obscures the fact that such structures are produced, and that they serve particular interests. The most radical insight of liberal theology is that what God is can\u2019t be dictated in advance. On my account, this is not an excuse for relativism, but an affirmation that theology is anti-imperial, anti-supremacist, anti-capitalist, since it resists the domination of reality by a single principle of value. More positively, this means that God \u2018is\u2019 the reality which engenders multiple expressions of militant solidarity, the flourishing difference which is the common wealth of all creatures. God is possible, not in the weak sense of \u2018may or may not be real\u2019, but in the strong sense of a real possibility of expressing and living solidarity, curiosity, love or forgiveness in uncountable and unforeseeable ways.<\/p>\n

The second thing I think is needed is a theology which is partial. Liberal theologies have found that concerns over method and truth have led them into political commitments: taking sides over issues of power, resources, recognition and visibility. These are profoundly material concerns, to do with race, gender and class. A theology which is not merely an echo of a pre-existing hierarchy cannot avoid these political, worldly entanglements. More than that: it should not avoid them, since they are its lifeblood. If theology does not serve the liberation of flesh and blood human beings, it is part of the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click through<\/a> to read the rest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent post on the blog an und f\u00fcr sich offers both an insightful retrospective on the nature of liberal theology (including noting the irony of the classic language of \u201chusk vs. kernel\u201d which ends up looking a lot like the \u201cletter vs. spirit\u201d dichotomy of supercessionist theologies), and a vision for the future. Here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":20671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,101],"tags":[6527,7598,12508],"class_list":["post-22929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-progressive-christianity-religion","category-theology","tag-liberal","tag-modernism","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future of Liberal Theology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent post on the blog an und f\u00fcr sich offers both an insightful retrospective on the nature of liberal theology (including noting the irony of the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/the-future-of-liberal-theology.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Future of Liberal Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent post on the blog an und f\u00fcr sich offers both an insightful retrospective on the nature of liberal theology (including noting the irony of the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/04\/the-future-of-liberal-theology.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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