Description
Book SynopsisThe divide between liberal and postliberal theology is one of the most important and far-reaching methodological disputes in twentieth-century theology. This split in the understanding of religious language is widely acknowledged, but rigorous philosophical analysis and assessment of these divergent understandings is seldom seen. Liberalism versus Postliberalism provides such analyses, using the developments in analytic philosophy of language over the past forty years. The book provides an original analysis of the theology and falsification debates of the 1950s and 60s. The debates supply the philosophical lens that brings into focus the centrality of the issue of religious language in the methodological dispute between liberal and postliberal theologians in the latter part of the twentieth century. Knight argues that recent philosophical developments reveal serious problems with both positions. His philosophical work clears the ground for a more inclusive method that takes seriously t
Trade ReviewThere are few contemporary theological disputes more divisive and acrimonious than that referenced in Knights title, yet his book is a model of precision, analytical rigour and methodological clarity * Travis E. Ables, Theology *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Part One: Liberal Theology and the Falsification Challenge ; Chapter 1: Liberal Theology in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries ; Chapter 2: The Falsification Challenge ; Chapter 3: The Liberal Response ; Chapter 4: A Purified Liberal Theology ; Part Two: Postliberal Theology and Ordinary Language Philosophy ; Chapter 5: The Barthian Project in Postliberal Perspective ; Chapter 6: Allies for Barth's Heirs: Wittgenstein and Ordinary Language Philosophy ; Chapter 7: Earlier Postliberalism: Narrative Theology and Hans Frei's Synthesis of Wittgenstein and Barth ; Chapter 8: Postliberalism II: George Lindbeck and Frei's Later Work ; Part Three: Problems and Prospects ; Chapter 9: A Tale of Two Dead Ends: The Linguistic Problems of Liberal and Postliberal Theology ; Chapter 10: Conclusion: Navigating the Divide Between Liberal and Postliberal Theology ; Bibliography
