The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction

724 Pages·2013·4.551 MB·English

by  Roger E. Olson

Journey
The
Modern
of
Theology
FroM reconsTrucTion
To deconsTrucTion
roger e. olson
InterVarsity Press
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©2013 by Roger E. Olson
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Revised portions of Twentieth-Century Theology, ©1992 by Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, are incorporated
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ISBN 978-0-8308-6484-3 (digital)
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Dedicated to Rick

Table of ConTenTs
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
An Important Note for All Readers but Especially
for Professors and Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Introduction: The Cultural Context of Modern Theology . . . . . . . . 17
1. Modernity Challenges Traditional Theology . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Context of Early Modern Theology
1.a. Science Revises the Heavens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.b. Philosophers Lay New Foundations for Knowledge . . . . . 44
1.c. Deists Create a New Natural Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
1.d. Critical Philosophers Limit Religion to Reason . . . . . . . . 72
1.e. Realists, Romanticists and Existentialists Respond . . . . . . 98
2. Liberal Theologies Reconstruct Christianity
in Light of Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
2.a. Friedrich Schleiermacher Launches
a Copernican Revolution in Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
2.b. Albrecht Ritschl and His Disciples Accommodate
to Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
2.c. Ernst Troeltsch Relativizes Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
2.d. Catholic Modernists Attempt to
Bring Rome up to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
3. Conservative Protestant Theology Defends Orthodoxy
in a Modern Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4. Mediating Theologies Build Bridges Between
Orthodoxy and Liberalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
4.a. Isaak August Dorner Bridges the Gap Between
Liberal and Orthodox Theologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
4.b. Horace Bushnell Searches for a Progressive Orthodoxy . . . 267
5. Neo-Orthodox/Dialectical/Kerygmatic Theologies Revive
the Reformation in the Modern Context . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
5.a. Karl Barth Drops a Bombshell on the
Theologians’ Playground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
5.b. Rudolf Bultmann Existentializes and
Demythologizes Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
5.c. Reinhold Niebuhr Rediscovers Original Sin
and Develops Christian Realism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
6. Chastened Liberal Theologies Renew and Revise the
Dialogue with Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
6.a. Paul Tillich Describes God as the Ground of Being,
a “God Above God” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
6.b. Process Theology Brings God Down to Earth . . . . . . . . . 398
7. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Radical Theologians Envision
a Religionless Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
8. Theologians Look to the Future with Hope . . . . . . . . . . . 449
8.a. Jürgen Moltmann Renews Confidence in the
Final Triumph of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
8.b. Wolfhart Pannenberg Revitalizes Rational Faith
in History’s God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
9. Liberation Theologies Protest Injustice and Oppression . . . 503
10. Catholic Theologians Engage with Modernity . . . . . . . . . 547
10.a. Karl Rahner Finds God in Human Experience . . . . . . . 549
10.b. Hans Küng Advocates a New Paradigm
of Catholic Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
10.c. Hans Urs von Balthasar Bases Christian
Truth on Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
11. Evangelical Theology Comes of Age and Wrestles
with Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
12. Postmodern Theologians Rebel Against Modernity . . . . . . 649
12.a. Postliberal Theologians and Stanley Hauerwas
Develop a Third Way in Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
12.b. John Caputo Deconstructs Religion with
the Kingdom of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721
More Titles from InterVarsity Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722