Martin Koci and Jason W. Alvis (eds.), Transforming the Theological Turn: Phenomenology with Emmanuel Falque. Rowman & Littlefield, 2020.

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

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