Templeton Religion Trust
What if religions pursued new directions in philosophical theology? Could insights from continental philosophy help move us toward genuine discoveries about what it means to be human now and in the future?
Professor Judith Wolfe, along with her team at the School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, is making plans to launch field-defining collaborations in philosophical theology in the continental tradition as a complement to work already underway at The Logos Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology.
This planning grant lays the groundwork for ambitious work in philosophical theology, specifically in the continental tradition. According to Wolfe, “Analytic approaches are … particularly effective in the analysis of logical structures and abstract systems, while continental philosophy has made significant advances in the understanding of human experiences and relationships. Its distinctive methods – above all phenomenology and hermeneutics – have long been central to philosophical enquiries into human virtues such as humility, accountability, forgiveness, and love.”
During the course of its two-year term, this project is identifying theological centers and individual researchers who are constructively engaging continental philosophy for theological progress.
This planning phase will identify and gather top researchers who are currently incorporating continental philosophy as a resource for progress in theology, and evaluate the scope of current work being done in the field. The cohort will then collaborate on an agenda for future work aimed at empowering systematic theology and continental philosophy in their quest for discovery by opening up resources and communication; and integrating the methods and discoveries of systematic theology and continental philosophy within a wider, multi-disciplinary pursuit of knowledge.
The key outcome is to establish a shared understanding of the tasks and questions that should be prioritized during the next three to five years in the field of philosophical theology.
