Theology against Religion: Constructive Dialogues with Bonhoeffer and Barth

Description

This book asks the question 'what is religion?' from a theological perspective. In an age in which religion has reasserted itself on national and international stages, Theology against Religion argues that we should take seriously the critique of religion, and engage with that critique theologically. The book argues that theologizing the critique of religion was central to the theological purposes of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and that Barth and Bonhoeffer should be seen as traveling along the same trajectory in terms of their theological approaches to religion. It is this trajectory that this book seeks to explore in thinking with and beyond Bonhoeffer, and by identifying a series of themes around which construction engagements can take place. The result is an exciting series of discussions which take seriously the interplay of the religious, the secular, pluralism and the concept of God, with chapters on salvation, the church, the public square and other faiths.

Tom Greggs is Professor of Historical and Doctrinal Theology at King's College, Aberdeen University, UK.

Greggs offers a close, careful survey of the primary source material's treatment of religion as a category and construct ... Given that theologians like Sarah Coakley and Eugene Rogers have recently called our attention to the absence of pneumatological reflection in modern and contemporary theology and the potentialities in it, Greggs' turn to the Spirit as an ecclesiological resource struck me as particularly insightful. -- Brandy Daniels * Center for Barth Studies * 'Focussing on Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Tom Greggs provides both constructive and formative insights into the manifold dimensions of theological critique of religion, particularly in terms of implications for thinking about religion in relation to other faith traditions practised by living communities of people.' - Ralf K. Wustenberg, Chair for Systematic and Historic Theology, Flensburg University, Germany. -- Ralf K. Wustenberg 'This is a profound, daring and practical book. It is more than a powerful recovery of two of the great Christian theologians, Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in their prophetic relevance today. Prof Greggs also moves beyond them in his constructive response to our complexly multi-faith and secular world. He offers a burning vision of Christianity for the twenty-first century: inspired by the Holy Spirit, following Jesus Christ along new ways, Biblical, thoughtful, building up a 'church for others', political, and involved in 'multiple intensities' springing from love of God and neighbour. The two chapters on how Christians can understand and practice inter-faith engagement are a superb culmination.' - David F. Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity and Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme, University of Cambridge, UK. -- David F. Ford