Hoping Against Hope
Confessions of a Postmodern Pilgrim
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- USD 16.99
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- USD 16.99
Descripción editorial
John D. Caputo has a long career as one of the preeminent postmodern philosophers in America. The author of such books as Radical Hermeneutics, The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida, and The Weakness of God, Caputo now reflects on his spiritual journey from a Catholic altar boy in 1950s Philadelphia to a philosopher after the death of God. Part spiritual autobiography, part homily on what he calls the “nihilism of grace,” Hoping Against Hope calls believers and nonbelievers alike to participate in the “praxis of the kingdom of God,” which Caputo says we must pursue “without why.”
Caputo’s conversation partners in this volume include Lyotard, Derrida, and Hegel, but also earlier versions of himself: Jackie, a young altar boy, and Brother Paul, a novice in a religious order. Caputo traces his own journey from faith through skepticism to hope, after the “death of God.” In the end, Caputo doesn’t want to do away with religion; he wants to redeem religion and to reinvent religion for a postmodern time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philosopher Caputo (The Weakness of God) fulfills his duties as a self-appointed benevolent iconoclast by challenging believers about their images of God. Utilizing an interesting rhetorical device whereby he consults versions of his past life (known as Jackie and Brother Paul) Caputo attempts to save religion from itself by inviting the faithful to allow mystery to remain mysterious. Attempts to explain or anthropomorphize God have led some to a destructive theology whereby good deeds and avoiding sins are the only ways to achieve a relationship with the divine. Hospitality and love, he demands, are offered as pure gift; there is no why. These are not earned, nor are they dangled in front of us like a carrot for good behavior. The "nihilism of grace" is a phrase he uses to describe a postmodern sense of the utter gratuity of this gift. Caputo draws upon Christian mystics, such as Meister Eckhart, to aid his argument, and he does so convincingly, utilizing the wisdom of this spiritual tradition to forge new paths. For those not afraid to pause and take stock of their assumptions about religion and God's role in it, this work will greatly satisfy.
