50 Key Concepts in Theology
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50 Key Concepts in Theology - Rayment-Pickard
Radical Orthodoxy
The view of orthodoxy as an ‘organic language of tradition’ which has been marginalised by secular modernity. The Radical Orthodoxy movement in theology began in the 1990s with a group of Cambridge academics inspired by the theologian John Milbank. His Theology and Social Theory (1990) was a landmark text, setting out what he saw as the fatal errors of modern Christian theology, along with his remedy: radical orthodoxy. In Milbank’s analysis, everything started to go wrong with theology in the thirteenth century – in particular, with the theology of Duns Scotus. From this time people started to think of the world as a secular space within which human beings could act as free creators, designing their own societies and planning their futures without reference to God. Before this time (according to Milbank’s thesis) there was an assumed theology of ‘participation’ which saw everything and everybody as part of God’s creation. So in pre-modern times, there was no ‘secular’ world and human life was regarded as part of God’s creative activity. According to Milbank, the consequences of secularisation have been devastating, turning human beings from creatures ‘made in God’s image’ into isolated individuals who act out their lives on a secular stage, imposing their will upon nature and other human beings. The divine pre-modern world, participating in the life of God, was replaced by a disenchanted human existence. Milbank describes secularism as ‘nihilistic’ because it is so disconnected from the real divine source of meaning and value. Instead of challenging this nihilistic secularism, liberal theologians have, says Milbank, colluded with them, effectively de-Christianising Christianity. For Milbank, post-modernism provides Western Christendom with a unique opportunity, because we are at last acknowledging the failure of modern secular ideologies. In this context it is possible to assert once more the pre-modern Christian world-view of divine participation. Milbank argues that Christianity must rediscover its orthodox identity by returning to the shared mythic narrative of Christianity: its rituals, stories and practices. This orthodoxy is ‘radical’ because it challenges and subverts the received wisdom and values of secular culture. One of the effects of secular thinking has been the dethroning of theology from its ancient status as ‘Queen of the Sciences’. Theology now has to jostle in an unseemly way with all kinds of secular thinking. Milbank argues that theology is not just another way of thinking, on a par with the natural or social sciences. If theological claims are truly theological – if theology is really talking about the divine foundation of all reality – then theological thinking must logically precede every other kind of discourse. Since the mid 1990s Radical Orthodoxy has become increasingly popular among young theologians. But it has also been subject to criticism. Milbank’s sweeping historical analysis of the rise of secularism has raised a few eyebrows. Others have argued that Radical Orthodoxy is really just an activity for a select band of academics and that (unlike, say, the nineteenth-century Oxford Movement) it has failed to inspire any notable examples of Christian practice. The long-term impact of Radical Orthodoxy remains to be seen. No one can doubt the stimulus that it has provided to contemporary theology. But it is doubtful whether there is sufficient vitality in the ideas to make any difference to the fate of Western Christendom. THINKERS John Milbank (1952– ): the leading thinker in Radical Orthodoxy. Catherine Pickstock (1970– ): one of the founding theologians of Radical Orthodoxy. She has argued for the importance of liturgy in understanding the concept of ‘participation’. Graham Ward (1955– ): one of the founding theologians of Radical Orthodoxy. IDEAS Mythos: a term used by Milbank to designate the narrative nature of the Christian tradition. Non-identical repetition: the idea that orthodoxy must perpetuate itself by repeating its historic rituals, stories and practices, but always in a new time and in new cultural circumstances. Download 0.85 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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