Interpreting God and the Postmodern Self: On Meaning, Manipulation and Promise

by Anthony C. Thiselton

Professor Thiselton compares and assesses modern and postmodern interpretations of the self and society on their own terms and in relation to Christian theology. He explores especially claims that appeals to truth constitute no more than disguised bids for power and self-affirmation whether in society or in religion. / Postmodern interpretations perceive the self as trapped within a network of role-performances imposed on it by the power-interests of others. Professor Thiselton accepts the force of this, but argues for a deeper understanding of the self and its destiny. He draws on a Trinitarian theology of promise to trace how 'love without strings' can replace manipulation and reconstitute the self. But this hope is no mere illusory anodyne, like Marx's 'opium', Nietzsche's 'servile mediocrity', or Foucault's 'docility'. The author closely addresses anti-theist arguments from Nietzsche to Cupitt on their own ground, but offers a wider vision of reality and of God.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

Anthony Charles Thiselton is emeritus professor of Christian theology at the University of Nottingham and a fellow of the British Academy. His recent publications include Approaching Philosophy of Religion, Discovering Romans, Systematic Theology, The Holy Spirit, and The Last Things.

Reviews

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant study of selfhood in modernity into postmodernity and how theology has contributed, fallen short, and interacted critically with it in various ways!

I think the Thiselton summarizes well the deep conviction I’ve been feeling, which is that Christian theology is more equipped to operate in a postmodern society that expects less and listens more. I think that serious Christians will find more space to speak meaningfully, not less, even in a growingly hostile world. At its best, and at it’s most biblical, theology lacks the presumption of modernity, and lacks the despair of postmodernity in a way that will shine even brighter in the coming years! God willing!

[Hayden Lukas]

Section 3 is the most insane (non-polemical) academic takedown I've ever read.

[Jack Hayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good. But it feels clunky and a bit exploratory. By exploratory, it often ventures from its task of understanding the post-modern self. Something it does more implicitly than explicitly. The post-modern self for Thiselton is a complex person intertwined in its horizon to certain degrees, yet utterly alone…an individual who feels she has no future, ready to blame the structure of this world. A person who lacks optimism toward self, world, and text.

His treatment of post-modern’s villains(?) if enjoyable. You can sense when he feels a thinker is consistent and onto something, while he absolutely won’t tolerate hypocrisy and illogical thinking (see Cupitt).

One helpful takeaway is that the Bible and Marx each offer a worldview, but they also offer a way of living that worldview.

89% Letting Cupitt have it

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's good about this book is excellent: honest, searching, humble, and intelligent wrestling by an evangelical scholar with some of the great minds in hermeneutics.

What's not good is really disappointing: the wrestling does not always produce a decisive pin. Brother Thiselton sometimes seems overmatched, in fact, leaving the reader to wonder just what's going on and why.

Sometimes it's the exposition, sometimes it's the critical reflection, but the overall impression is of a commendably intrepid scholar just not quite able to match up with his interlocutors.

[Mayowa Adebiyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally agree with the only other review here.

Though this is a dense book, with Thiselton engaging with a myriad of voices with such ease, there is something of lack of overall structure or thesis. The only other Theologian I know who writes like this is Vanhoozer, who can also leave you bamboozled if unfamiliar with the works referred to. This is particularly true of the section written against the 'sea of faith'.

Still a good read overall.