The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

The Deposition of the Sign: Postmodernism and the Crisis of Religious Studies

The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory January 1, 2001

Raschke - The Deposition of the Sign - JCRT 3.1

Carl A. Raschke
University of Denver

At present theological and religious studies have reached a crisis of severe magnitude. While religious faith and praxis continue strong worldwide and a swelling population of ordinary believers, particularly in Third World nations, defies decades-old expectations of triumphal secularity, religion as a theoretical issue becomes ever elusive and murky. At the same time theological conversation has paled into political and ideological wrangles posing as substantive theory, academic research in the area has shattered into a muddle of socio-cultural methodologies with no common thread except a vague interest in res religiosa, or "matters religious."

Notes

Carl A. Raschke is professor of religious studies at the University of Denver and senior editor of the Journal for Religious and Cultural Theory. His major books include The End of Theology (The Davies Group, 2000), Fire and Roses: Postmodernity and the Thought of the Body (SUNY 1996), The Engendering God (Westminster Press, 1995), Painted Black (Harper Collins, 1990), Theological Thinking (Scholars Press, 1988). He is the author of over 200 popular and scholarly articles on subjects ranging from postmodern religious thought to computer-mediated education to new religious movements. He is formerly president of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Region of the American Academy of Religion and an editor of several series with the American Academy of Religion. He is also a well-known national media personality.

Discussion in the ATmosphere