Practical anatheology: A kenotic and perichoretic navigation of binaries

Abstract

In contexts of harmful and increasing polarization, Richard Kearney’s anatheism constitutes a generative approach to hospitality across divisions. Kearney’s anatheism can foster critical hospitality in a deeply polarized social context. This article begins with an overview of Kearney’s anatheism and his anatheistic understanding of perichoresis, developed in dialogue with Anna Mercedes’s erotic feminist kenosis. The article then argues that anatheism proves generative for practical theology as a theological discipline attentive to the theory/practice binary and that an anatheistic practical theology can foster vital connections across polarities in US society through its “third way,” applying this argument specifically to the binary oppositions of fundamentalist/liberal and self/other. The concluding section notes opportunities for critical development in anatheology, namely through decentering the white male canon to prioritize marginal voices and attending to intersectional power dynamics.