<div>These sparkling essays from a seasoned scholar are &ldquo;a great breath of fresh air in our claustrophobic and catastrophic time&rdquo; (Cornel West). Capturing a career&rsquo;s worth of thought and erudition, this rich volume treats readers to creative thought, careful argumentation, and sophisticated analysis transmitted through the lucid, accessible prose that has earned the author a wide readership of academics and non-academics alike. In tackling &ldquo;radical theology,&rdquo; John D. Caputo has in mind the deeper stream that courses its way through various historical and confessional theologies, upon which these theologies draw even while it disturbs them from within. They are well served by this disturbance because it keeps them on their toes. When we read about professional theologians&rsquo; losing their jobs in confessional institutions, the chances are that, by earnestly digging into what is going on in their tradition, they have hit upon radical theological rock. Unlike modernist dismissals of religion, radical theology does not debunk but re-invents the theological tradition. Radical theology, Caputo says, is a double deconstruction&mdash;of supernatural theology on the one hand and of transcendental reason on the other, and therefore of the settled distinctions between the religious and the secular. Caputo also addresses the challenge for radical theology to earn a spot in the curriculum, given that the &ldquo;radical&rdquo; makes it suspect among the confessional seminaries while the &ldquo;theology&rdquo; renders it suspect among university seminars. Journeying from the academy to contemporary American culture, In Search of Radical Theology includes a captivating presentation of radical political theology for the time of Trump. This utterly unique volume not only brings readers on an enlightening tour of Caputo&rsquo;s thought but also invites us to accompany the author as he travels into intriguing new territories.</div>

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In Search of Radical Theology

<div>The renowned theologian &ldquo;brings Luther and cosmology into dialogue with radical theological movements that have their point of departure in deconstruction&rdquo; (George Pattison, author of Eternal God/Saving Time). John D. Caputo stretches his project as a radical theologian to new limits in this groundbreaking book. Mapping out his summative theological position, he identifies with Martin Luther to take on notions of the hidden god, the theology of the cross, confessional theology, and natural theology. Caputo also confronts the dark side of the cross with its correlation to lynching and racial and sexual discrimination. Caputo is clear that he is not writing as any kind of orthodox Lutheran but is instead engaging with a radical view of theology, cosmology, and poetics of the cross. Readers will recognize Caputo&rsquo;s signature themes&mdash;hermeneutics, deconstruction, weakness, and the call&mdash;as well as his unique voice as he writes about moral life and our strivings for joy against contemporary society and politics. &ldquo;This work will be eagerly awaited and immediately read by John D. Caputo&rsquo;s many followers. They will be looking for him to fill out the &lsquo;big picture&rsquo; which makes manifest for the first time all the parts and pieces he has contributed to the theological project he launched early in the previous decade.&rdquo; &mdash;Carl Raschke, author of Postmodern Theology &ldquo;Caputo is always distinctive.&rdquo; &mdash;George Pattison, author of Eternal God/Saving Time</div>

Cross and Cosmos

<div>The author of What Would Jesus Deconstruct? makes &ldquo;a bold attempt to reconfigure the terms of debate around the topic of divine omnipotence&rdquo; (Choice). Applying an ever more radical hermeneutics&mdash;including Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, Derridian deconstruction, and feminism&mdash;John D. Caputo breaks down the name of God in this irrepressible book. Instead of looking at God as merely a name, Caputo views it as an event, or what the name conjures or promises in the future. For Caputo, the event exposes God as weak, unstable, and barely functional. While this view of God flies in the face of most religions and philosophies, it also puts up a serious challenge to fundamental tenets of theology and ontology. Along the way, Caputo&rsquo;s readings of the New Testament, especially of Paul&rsquo;s view of the Kingdom of God, help to support the &ldquo;weak force&rdquo; theory. This penetrating work cuts to the core of issues and questions&mdash;What is the nature of God? What is the nature of being? What is the relationship between God and being? What is the meaning of forgiveness, faith, piety, or transcendence?&mdash;that define the terrain of contemporary philosophy of religion. &ldquo;Caputo comes out of the closet as a theologian in this work.&rdquo; &mdash;Catherine Keller, Drew University &ldquo;Caputo has a gift for explaining Continental philosophy&rsquo;s jargon succinctly and accurately, and despite technical and foreign terms, this book will engage upper-level undergraduates. Includes scriptural and general indexes . . . Highly recommended.&rdquo; &mdash;Choice</div>

The Weakness of God

<div>Jacques Derrida and other scholars explore postmodern thinking about God and consider the nature of forgiveness in relation to the paradoxes of the gift. In fifteen insightful essays, Jacques Derrida and an international group of scholars explore the implications of deconstruction for religion, focusing on two topics: God and forgiveness. Among the themes addressed by contributors are the possibilities of imagining God as unthinkable, imagining God as nonpatriarchal, imagining a return to Augustine, and imagining an age in which praise is far more important than narrative. Questioning God moves readers beyond the parameters of metaphysical reason and modernist rationality as it attempts to think the questions of God and forgiveness in a postmodernist context. Contributors include John D. Caputo, Jacques Derrida, Mark Dooley, Francis Sch&uuml;ssler Fiorenza, Robert Gibbs, Jean Greisch, Kevin Hart, Richard Kearney, Cleo McNelly Kearns, John Milbank, Regina M. Schwartz, Michael J. Scanlon, and Graham Ward. &ldquo;What sets this work apart from the majority of other publications on the subject of postmodern theology and prevents it from descending into a sanctimonious hagiography of Derrida&rsquo;s genius is the presence among the contributors of Graham Ward and John Milbank, two of the founding members of the movement known as radical orthodoxy. This present work is the first to document supporters of radical orthodoxy critically engaging with proponents of Derridean deconstruction.&rdquo; &mdash;Perspectives</div>

Questioning God

<div>&ldquo;A tour de force . . . provocative ideas expressed in Heideggerian, Derridean, and Deleuzian rhetoric . . . for a new wave of Christian theologians&rdquo; (Bibliographia). The Insistence of God presents the provocative idea that God does not exist&mdash;God insists. God&rsquo;s existence is a human responsibility, which may or may not happen. For John D. Caputo, God&rsquo;s existence is haunted by &ldquo;perhaps,&rdquo; which does not signify indecisiveness but an openness to risk, to the unforeseeable. Perhaps constitutes a theology of what is to come and what we cannot see coming. Responding to current critics of continental philosophy, Caputo explores the materiality of perhaps and the promise of the world. He shows how perhaps can become a new theology of the gaps God opens. &ldquo;John D. Caputo is at the top of his game, and he is not content to reiterate what he has already expressed, but continues to develop his own ideas further by way of a thorough engagement with the fields of theology, Continental philosophy, and religious thought.&rdquo; &mdash;Clayton Crockett, University of Central Arkansas &ldquo;For those allergic to theological certainty&#8213;whether of God&rsquo;s existence or of God&rsquo;s death&#8213;Caputo delivers storm-fresh relief: the theopoetics of God&rsquo;s insistence.&rdquo; &mdash;Catherine Keller, Drew University &ldquo;In my life I have read no more stimulating book of theology. Buckle your seatbelt!&rdquo; &mdash;Dialog &ldquo;An excellent text that opens the way into new forms of theological thinking. He puts forward an argument that must be wrestled with and brings to light new avenues for both religious and theological thought. Caputo is not for the faint of heart.&rdquo; &mdash;Reviews in Religion and Theology</div>

The Insistence of God

<div>A brilliant and witty postmodern critique of ethics, framed as a contemporary restaging of Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. John D. Caputo undertakes a passionate, poetic, and satiric search for the basis of an ethics in the postmodern situation. Restaging Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, Caputo defends the notion of obligation without ethics, of responsibility without the support of ethical foundations. Retelling the story of Abraham and Isaac, he strikes the pose of a postmodern-day Johannes de Silentio, accompanied by communications from such startling figures as Johanna de Silentio, Felix Sineculpa, and Magdalena de la Cruz. In dialogue with the thought of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Derrida, and Lyotard, Caputo forges a challenging, original account of what is possible and what is not possible for a continentalist ethics today. “Against Ethics is a bold work. . . . A counterethics whose multiple voices will be heard long after the trivializing arguments of many analytic ethicists have vanished and the arcane formulations of many postmoderns have been jettisoned.” —Edith Wyschogrod “Caputo provides a brilliant new analysis of the limits of ethics. . . . Essential reading for anyone concerned with the philosophical issues raised in postmodernity.” —Drucilla Cornell “One of the most important works on philosophical ethics written in recent years. . . . Caputo speaks with a passion and concern that are rare in academic philosophy.” —Mark C. Taylor “Against Ethics is beautifully written, clever, learned, thought-provoking, and even inspiring.” —Theological Studies “Writing in the form of his ideas, Caputo offers the reader a truly exquisite reading experience. . . . His iconic style mirrors a truly refreshing honesty that draws the reader in to play.” —Quarterly Journal of Speech</div>

Against Ethics

<div>"Caputo's book is riveting. . . . A singular achievement of stylistic brio and impeccable scholarship, it breaks new ground in making a powerful case for treating Derrida as homo religiosis. . . . There can be no mistaking the importance of Caputo's work." —Edith Wyschogrod"No one interested in Derrida, in Caputo, or in the larger question of postmodernism and religion can afford to ignore this pathbreaking study. Taking full advantage of the most recent and least discussed writings of Derrida, it offers a careful and comprehensive account of the religious dimension of Derrida's thought." —Merold Westphal</div>

John D. Caputo
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Books By John D. Caputo (7 Books)

In Search of Radical Theology

Cross and Cosmos

The Weakness of God

Questioning God

The Insistence of God

Against Ethics

The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida

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