The following is the first part in a two-part installment. Biblical hermeneutics, studied reflection upon interpretation of scriptural passages, has not remained static in method or approach over the centuries. It has manifestly evolved in response to evolving cultural forces generally, as the needs and opportunities of Christian communities have changed and changed again over […]
Author: editors_religioustheory
Thinking About God In A Pluralistic World – The Challenge of Modern Theology, Lecture 1 (Johannes Zachhuber)
The following is the first lecture in an eight lecture series. A couple of days ago, I read a column in a national newspaper whose title had a strange attraction on me. It read, “Only theologians really understand religion.” Deep within me this must have struck a chord, though at the same time I was […]
Lutheran Theology and Postmodern Philosophy, Part II (Olli-Pekka Vaino)
The following is the second part in a two-part installment. The first part can be found here. On Epistemology Postmodern thinking is generally suspicious against post-Enlightenment epistemological projects, which aim to achieve objective knowledge. Postmoderns typically deny the possibility of having neutral “God’s point of view” or “a view from nowhere” to things. Instead, our […]
Lutheran Theology And Postmodern Philosophy, Part I (Olli-Pekka Vaino)
The following is the first installment of a two-part series. Recently, Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformation has received heavy criticism in various theological and philosophical circles. In many scholarly treatments of the history of western philosophy and culture, Reformation has been treated as one step on a trajectory from nominalist revolution to liberal Protestantism, […]
Secularism And Its Discontents – On Charting Pathways With A Phenomenology Of Religion, Part 1 (Ludger Hagerdorn and Michael Staudigl)
The following is the introductory article for the Spring 2018 issue (Vol. 17, No. 2) of the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. It is published in two installments. The whole .pdf version can be found here. The article was conceived and written with the generous support of two research grants from the Austrian Science Fund […]
Admitting A Certain Fear of Zizek’s Theology – A Modest Plea For A Deleuzian Reading Of The Death Of God (Elijah Prewitt-Davis)
I am told by Zizek—as well as Hegelian friends—that any attempt to argue or disagree with Hegel fits nicely within his dialectical scheme. “Oh, you disagree with Hegel,” they say, “so you agree with him?” As Zizek warns, even Gilles Deleuze’s “generalized anti-Hegelianism” “…is much more ambiguous than it may appear: the elevation of Hegel […]
The Vertical Form – The Iconological Dimension in 20th Century Russian Religious Aesthetics and Literary Criticism, Part II (Oleg Komkov)
The following is the second part in a two-part installment. The first part can be found here. II. “Absolute Symbolism” of Christian Worldview: The Aesthetic Dimension The term “absolute symbolism” was introduced into Russian religious philosophy by Alexei Losev to describe the overall quality of Christian aesthetic consciousness. Losev distinguished between three major types of […]
The Vertical Form – The Iconological Dimension in 20th Century Russian Religious Aesthetics and Literary Criticism, Part I (Oleg Komkov)
The following is the first part in a two-part installment. This article is an attempt to highlight and reflect on several interrelated issues that seem to be very important in terms of working out a relevant theological approach to the wide variety of artistic expression, particularly as far as theoretical aesthetics is concerned. I shall […]
Announcing “The New Polis” – An E-Publication On Critical Theory, Cultural Analysis, And Political Thought
The directors of The Whitestone Foundation, the Colorado-based 501(c)3 non-profit corporation that has published The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory since 1999 and its e-supplement Religious Theory since 2016, announces a new companion publication entitled The New Polis. Following the style, format, and general editorial policy and protocols of the JCRT, The New Polis focuses […]
New Religions in Brazil – A Game Between Relativism and Fundamentalism (Silas Guerriero)
Speaking of new religious movements in Brazil implies, above all, in defining what we refer to when we speak of “new religions.” We have already had an opportunity to discuss the boundaries that limit this concept[1]. Now, it seems to be a matter of showing a larger audience some of the features that this phenomenon […]