Beyond Theism and Atheism: Heidegger’s Significance for Religious Thinking (Studies in Philosophy and Religion, 11)

My first year in graduate school marked by initial expo­ sure to Heidegger and some of his important early essays. At tha~ time, disenchanted with the state in which "religious thought" lay, I was quickly struck by the potential Heidegger presented for breaking new ground in a field that had seeming­ ly exhausted itself by reworking the same old issues and answers. That insight, along with the conviction that Heideg­ ger had been misused and misunderstood by theologians and religious thinkers ever since he burst upon the intellectual scene with the publ ication of Sein und Zei t, grew throughout my graduate career and resulted in a dissertation on Heidegger and religious thinking, of which the present text is a revised and updated version. This text reflects my belief that Heid­ egger, when "properly" understood on such matters as truth, God (and gods), and "faith", presents us with a unique voice and vision that cannot be co-opted into any sort of theology -- be it negative, existential, dialectical or Thomistic -­ and indeed seriously challenges the viability of any "theol­ ogy". My first year in graduate school marked by initial expoƯ sure to Heidegger and some of his important early essays. At thã time, disenchanted with the state in which "religious thought" lay, I was quickly struck by the potential Heidegger presented for breaking new ground in a field that had seemingƯ ly exhausted itself by reworking the same old issues and answers. That insight, along with the conviction that HeidegƯ ger had been misused and misunderstood by theologians and religious thinkers ever since he burst upon the intellectual scene with the publ ication of Sein und Zei t, grew throughout my graduate career and resulted in a dissertation on Heidegger and religious thinking, of which the present text is a revised and updated version. This text reflects my belief that HeidƯ egger, when "properly" understood on such matters as truth, God (and gods), and "faith", presents us with a unique voice and vision that cannot be co-opted into any sort of theology -- be it negative, existential, dialectical or Thomistic -Ư and indeed seriously challenges the viability of any "theolƯ ogy." Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-13 God is Dead: The Destruction of Onto-Theo-Logy....Pages 14-38 Religion as True: Disclosure of a World....Pages 39-73 Religion as Finding Man’s Place: Gods and the Fourfold....Pages 74-95 Religion as Response: The Call of Being....Pages 96-123 Waiting: The Future of Religion and the Task of Thanking....Pages 124-150 A Pause on the Way....Pages 151-158 Back Matter....Pages 159-174