Taking cues from recent figures working on the borders of theology and phenomenology, Koci pushes us toward the core of embodied religious existence without yet performing a phenomenological analysis, offering us a rich dialectical approach that seeks to appreciate both hermeneutical and phenomenological methods. Christianity is seen therefore as what it is, a way of life and not just a hermeneutical, or thought-based exercise.

Colby Dickinson, Professor of Theology, Loyola University Chicago, USA

This book gathers the European reception of John. D. Caputo’s proposal for What comes after the end of Christendom? Christianity has ceased to function as the dominant force in society and yet the Christian faith continues. How are we to understand Christianity in this ‘after’? Bringing into conversation seven unorthodox or ‘heretical’ continental philosophers, including Jan Patocka, Jean-Luc Nancy, Gianni Vattimo and John D. Caputo, Martin Koci re-centres the debates around philosophy’s so-called return to religion to address the current ‘not-Christian, but not yet non-Christian’ culture. In the modern context of increasing secularization and pluralization, Christianity after Christendom boldly proposes that Christians must embrace the demise of Christianity as a meta-narrative and see their faith as an existential mode of being-in-the-world. Whilst not denying the religion’s history, this ‘after’ of Christianity emancipates the discourse from the socio-historical focus on Christendom and introduces new perspectives on Christianity as an embodied religious tradition, as a way of being, even as a faithfulness to the world. In dialogue with a broad range of philosophical movements, including deconstruction, phenomenology, hermeneutics and postmodern critiques of religion, this is a timely examination of the present and future of post-Christendom Christianity.

Reviews of the book appeared in:

Academic debates, like bread, can quickly become stale if not infused with new ingredients. By resituating John D. Caputo’s work and legacy within a European context, this volume brings much needed vitality to postmodern philosophy of religion and envisions exciting directions for its future. Including disciples and critics of radical theology among its contributors, the volume demonstrates both the continuing relevance of Caputo’s questions for the field and also the productive implications of his proposals. This book is a game changer because it reminds us of why the game matters so much in the first place.–J. Aaron Simmons, Furman University

Kevin Hart, University of Virginia

This book gathers the European reception of John. D. Caputo’s proposal for a radical theology of our time. Philosophers and theologians from within Europe respond to Caputo’s attempt to configure a less rigid, less dogmatic form of religion. These scholars, in turn, receive responses by Caputo. This volume so aims to strengthen the development of radical theology in Europe and abroad.

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To be introduced to Emmanuel Falque, to be led into his thinking and his writing: this is an event that no student of phenomenology, especially in its theological frame, should miss. Here one finds Falque read, compared and engaged, and here one finds much to ponder about the current state of our thinking about philosophy, theology, and their mutual relations.

Kevin Hart, University of Virginia

Continental philosophers of religion have been engaging with theological issues, concepts and questions for several decades, blurring the borders between the domains of philosophy and theology. Yet when Emmanuel Falque proclaims that both theologians and philosophers need not be afraid of crossing the Rubicon – the point of no return – between these often artificially separated disciplines, he scandalised both camps. 

Despite the scholarly reservations, the theological turn in French phenomenology has decisively happened. The challenge is now to interpret what this given fact of creative encounters between philosophy and theology means for these disciplines.

In this collection, written by both theologians and philosophers, the question “Must we cross the Rubicon?” is central. However, rather than simply opposing or subscribing to Falque’s position, the individual chapters of this book interrogate and critically reflect on the relationship between theology and philosophy, offering novel perspectives and redrawing the outlines of their borderlands. 

Reviews of the book appeared in:

Phenomenological Reviews by Nikolaas Deketelaere

Philosophy in Review by Darren Dahl

Theological Book of the Years 2019-2020
by
The European Society for Catholic Theology

This book gives a new perspective on the work of Patočka—very interesting for Patočka scholars—as well as an original attribution to the discussion on the theological turn in continental philosophy—of interest to any scholar working in the eld of theology and philosophy. It also offers illuminating interpretations by relating Patočka’s work to contemporary discussions on the return of the religious.

Eddo Evink, University of Groningen

This book examines the work of Czech philosopher Jan Patočka from the largely neglected perspective of religion. Patočka is known primarily for his work in phenomenology and ancient Greek philosophy, and also as a civil rights activist and critic of modernity. In this book, Martin Koci shows Patočka also maintained a persistent and increasing interest in Christianity. Thinking Faith after Christianity examines the theological motifs in Patočka’s work and brings his thought into discussion with recent developments in phenomenology, making a case for Patočka as a forerunner to what has become known as the theological turn in continental philosophy. Koci systematically examines his thoughts on the relationship between theology and philosophy, and his perennial struggle with the idea of crisis. For Patočka, modernity, metaphysics, and Christianity were all in different kinds of crises, and Koci demonstrates how his work responded to those crises creatively, providing new insights on theology understood as the task of thinking and living transcendence in a problematic world. It perceives the un-thought element of Christianity—what Patočka identified as its greatest resource and potential—not as a weakness, but as a credible way to ponder Christian faith and the Christian mode of existence after the proclaimed death of God and the end of metaphysics.

Reviews of the book appeared in:

Phenomenological Reviews by Erin Plunkett