This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-Nd 4.0 License.

The Trial of the Witnesses: The Rise and Decline of Postliberal Theology, Paul J. DeHart, Blackwells, 2006 (ISBN 1-4051-3296-5), xvi + 296 pp., pb $39.95/£25.99The author Mark Twain once famously quipped, when confronted with a premature obituary, that reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated. Proponents of postliberal theology -and the theologies which have grown out of it -may well have the same response when first picking up this volume, authored by Paul J. DeHart, who teaches theology at Vanderbilt University.DeHart has provided readers with the weightiest and most extensive treatment and critique of postliberal theology to date. After providing an historical overview of the development of the 'Yale school' in the first chapter, DeHart offers close readings of the work of George Lindbeck and Hans Frei, the two progenitors of this theology. Observing that the work of Frei has typically been seen through the lenses of Lindbeck's work, DeHart sets out to reexamine and reclaim Frei's insights on their own terms, and to assess and reevaluate Lindbeck's work apart from the rhetoric of postliberalism. Finally, DeHart offers a constructive suggestion of his own, suggesting a new synthesis for theology.DeHart expresses his intentions bluntly: 'This book is designed to dismantle the terms of the postliberal controversy and clear the ground of its cluttered remnants in order to enable a new appropriation of [Frei's and Lindbeck's] work' (p. xv). In the event, he means to recommend the former more than the latter, as Lindbeck's work is more incisively critiqued than Frei's. DeHart intends to 'bury' postliberalism (rather than praise it), (p. 54) for in fact, according to DeHart, due to the vagueness and ambiguity in its definition (beyond a broad characterization of a 'mood'), 'there is no such position' (p. 55). In this way DeHart begins his account with some of the same bracing rhetoric that characterized the earlier liberal-postliberal/Chicago-Yale exchanges in the wake of Lindbeck's The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age in 1984 (Westminster Press) -a rhetoric whose wisdom DeHart questions in other places. Happily, he does not remain content with rhetoric and goes on to support his claims through close readings and cogent argumentation.Having done graduate-level work in theology at both Yale and Chicago are among DeHart's qualifications for writing such a work: he has known these debates first-hand. Although not a personal remembrance, the book nevertheless shows a familiarity with the institutions and the two 'schools' of thought which goes beyond knowing the relevant literature (although his command of the literature is itself impressive). Although he is critical of the vagueness and problematic distinctions introduced by postliberalism, he concedes that it continues to hold some fascination for him despite his frustration with it. His ultimate intention, on the other side of his 'ground clearing' activities, is to engage the central question 'of how theology can creatively ret...

No abstract

No abstract

This paper examines the many ways interreligious dialogue and interreligious relationshipbuilding interact with and serve how we live outwith others-the moral core of the Christian faith, which is the love of God and neighbour. I take as an example the contemporary Poor People's Campaign in the United States. The campaign originated with the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and others involved in the civil rights movements of the early 1960s. While the Poor People's Campaign was initiated by and is led by Christians, it is intentionally inclusive of people of many different faiths and those with no particular faith, all of whom share the commitment to love and to serve the poor. Keywords human interconnectedness, common destiny, ethical action and responsibility, intrinsic worth, interreligious communities of dialogue The knowledge, practice, and experience that undergird interreligious dialogue are important for Christians in multiple ways. Also important are the ongoing relationships of friendship and solidarity between people from different religious communities that often organically result from such dialogue. This is especially true today as Christians seek to live out the moral teachings of Jesus in their daily lives and also as they work with others in civil society for social change through social action. According to scripture, Jesus taught his followers above all to love God and neighbour; all other moral teachings and obligations flow from this commandment. As depicted in the New Testament, Jesus, through his teachings and also through his actions, taught all CURRENT DIALOGUE Current Dialogue