Erring : a postmodern a/theology

234 Pages·1987·18.16 MB·English

by  Taylor, Mark C

Barry Moser. Untitled lithograph. Reproduced by permission of Barry Moser.
Mark C. Taylor
A
Postmodern
A/theology
The University of
Chicago Press
Chicago & London
The poem "The Red Wheelbarrow," by William Carlos Wil
liams, is from Collected Earlier Poems of William Carlos Williams.
Copyright © 1938 by New Directions Publishing Corporation.
It is reprinted here by permission of New Directions. Excerpts
from Wallace Stevens' poems "An Ordinary Evening in New
Haven" and "Six Significant Landscapes" are reproduced by
permission from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, copyright
© 1981 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1984 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1984
Paperback edition 1987
Printed in the United States of America
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 6 7 8 9 10
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Taylor, Mark C, 1945-
Erring: a postmodern at theology.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Theology. 2. Deconstruction. 3. Death of God
theology. I. Title.
BT83.8.T39 1984 230'.044 84.88
ISBN 0-226-79142-4 (paper)
8
The paper used in tbis publication meets the minimum
requirements of tbe American National Standard for
Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
To
AARON STEARNS TAYLOR
and
KIRSTEN JENNIE TAYLOR
For teaching me the errors of my way
and the ways of their erring

Contents
List of Figures Vlli
Acknowledgments Xl
PAR TON E . "DECONS fRUCTING THEOLOGY"
. Prelude 3
I. Death of God 19
Mirror Play: Psychology of Mastery 19
Utility and Consumption: Economy of Domination 25
Narcissism and Nihilism 29
2. Disappearance of the Self 34
Image, Identity, Imitation 34
Naming: Propriety, Property, Possession 40
Uncanniness of Presence: Representation and
Repetition 46
3. End of History 52
Shadows of Logocentrism: Types and Tropes 52
Ariadne's Thread: Poetics of History 6 I
Saving Presence 68
4· Closure of the Book 74
Authorship: Mimesis and Poiesis 74
Authority: Masterpieces and Tradition 87
Heterography 90
Vl11 CONTENTS
PAR T TWO DECONSTRUCTIVE A/THEOLOGY
5. Writing of God 97
Hieroglyphics 97
Divine Milieu: A Middle Way I 12
Dissemination I 18
6. Markings 12 I
Dispossession, Impropriety, Expropriation 122
Anonymity: Spending and Sacrifice 140
Death, Desire, Delight 145
7. Mazing Grace 149
Erring: Serpentine Wandering 149
Aberrance: Carnival and Comedy 158
Superficiality: Carnality 168
8. Erring Scripture 170
Duplicity: Shiftiness and Undecidability 170
Spinning: Tissue of Texts 177
Wordplay: Pens and Needles 180
Interlude.
Notes
Biblio Graphy
199
Index 211
List of Figures
Barry Moser, Untitled lithograph Frontispiece
Robert Morris, Groundplan of the Philadelphia Labyrinth 60
Hans Holbein the Younger, The Bust o/Terminus, made for Erasmus 102
The Parable 0/ the LastJ udgment, a mosaic in Sant' Apollinare,
Ravenna 124
Jan van Eyck, The Madonna 0/ Chancellor Rolin and
The Goldsmith Jan de Leeuw 125
CONTENTS lX
Diego Vehizquez, The Maids of Honor 126
Pablo Picasso, Armchair Woman, No.2 127
Barnett Newman, L'Errance 128