Postmodern Theology and Modern Liberalism: Reconsidering the Relationship

Abstract

In recent forms of postmodern theology, especially in what has become known as “radical orthodoxy,” there has been a concerted effort deliberately to reject liberalism, both in its modern secular and in its theological manifestations. In the historical and theological genealogies they construct, liberalism is portrayed as the enemy of true theology, the Trojan horse through which theology secures its own demise. This essay questions these assumptions and argues that postmodern theology and modern liberalism are not as antithetical as has often been claimed; rather, the relationship between them should be seen as fluid, dynamic, and perhaps dialectical. Furthermore, postmodern theology has something positive to learn from modern liberalism.