Charred Root of Meaning: Continuity, Transgression, and the Other in Christian Tradition

by Philipp W. Rosemann, John Milbank (Foreword by)

Overview

Ecologists tell us that periodic wildfires, though devastating, are necessary to the rhythm of nature. The death of the old allows something new to grow, sometimes straight back from the charred roots. Christian tradition functions much the same way, says Philipp Rosemann. In this book he examines how transgression and destruction are crucial in the foundation and preservation of tradition.

Theories of tradition have emphasized the handing-down of identity rather than continuity through difference. Rosemann shows that divine revelation occurs as an irruption that challenges the existing order. The preservation of tradition, he argues, requires that this challenge be periodically repeated. Offering a historical, theological, and philosophical approach to Christian tradition, Charred Root of Meaning shows how transgression and reformation keep the Christian faith alive. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467450614
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	07/24/2018
Series:	Interventions (INT)
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Philipp W. Rosemann holds the Chair of Philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth; he previously taught philosophy at the University of Dallas. His other books include The Story of a Great Medieval Book: Peter Lombard's 'Sentences', which studies the tradition of Christianity's most influential theology textbook.
John Milbank is professor of religion, politics, and ethics atthe University of Nottingham, England, and director of theCentre of Theology and Philosophy at Nottingham. His otherbooks include Theology and Social Theory: BeyondSecular Reason and Beyond Secular Order: TheRepresentation of Being and the Representation of thePeople.

Table of Contents

Series Preface ix

Foreword John Milbank xi

Preface xix

Introduction: Break on through (to the Other Side) 1

The Other in the Christian Tradition 2

Transgression 4

Foucaults Nietzschean Roots 7

Foucault's Critique of Kant 14

Return to Transgression 23

1 The Irruption of the Divine 25

The Mount Sinai Narrative 26

Pseudo-Dionysius on the Mystical Ascent 33

The Pseudo-Peter of Poitiers Gloss 42

2 The Incarnate God as the New Moses 51

The New Moses 52

"I Am Not Come to Destroy…" 59

The Incident at Antioch 66

3 The Christian Tradition in the Pagan World 77

The Foolishness of the Cross 78

A New Socrates 83

The Spoils of Egypt 89

A First Summary 100

4 The Unfolding of the Christian Tradition 104

Another Dionysius 105

Reading Denys the Carthusian with Alasdair Maclntyre 113

From Pillaging to Translation 119

5 Folding Back the Tradition 133

The Lord of Song 136

Tradition between Memory and Forgetting 143

The Remedy for Forgetting: Destruction 145

From Destructio to Destruktion 153

6 A Genealogy of Transgression 165

The Genesis Narrative of the Ur-Transgression 166

Kant's Transvaluation of the Ur-Transgression 174

Transgressive Images, Medieval and Contemporary 186

Conclusion 198

Appendix: Excerpts from the Pseudo-Poitiers Gloss and from Denys the Carthusian's Sentences Commentary 201

Bibliography 205

Index of Subjects and Names 227

Index of Scripture 235