Radical Christian Thought in Mid Postmodernity

Abstract

As a Protestant writing in the second half of the twentieth century in western Europe, Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005) could not ignore the recent legacy of theological liberalism despite his predominant philosophical interests. Although he did not share the “classical” liberal interest in Christology, Ricoeur was intensely concerned with the problematics of anthropology, hermeneutics, and hence biblical interpretation. These are all closely related to his notion of fallibility as the possibility of the existence of moral evil in the constitution of humanity, in close connection with some fundamental issues such as myth, symbolism, symbolism of evil, human reality, freedom, and transcendence. The significance of Ricoeur’s idea of fallibility is presented mainly in connection with contemporary radical Catholicism and especially with reference to the works of Edward Schillebeeckx. Ricoeur’s concept of fallibility and its satellite notions—myth, symbolism of evil, human reality, freedom, and transcendence—are analyzed in close relationship to Schillebeeckx’s anthropological idea of humble humanism. Then Ricoeur’s notion of fallibility is compared to Don Cupitt’s philosophical nonrealism, which posits the existence of God as merely a conceptual reality embedded in man’s consciousness.KeywordsCritical ThinkingOntological StatusChristian TheologyHuman RealityTraditional TheologyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.