Christina M. Gschwandtner, Postmodern Apologetics?

Arguments for God in Contemporary

Philosophy. “Perspectives in Continental Philosophy” New York: Fordham University Press,
2013, 352pp.

Postmodern Apologetics? joins an already prolific and distinguished series of monographs from
Fordham University Press with which the series editor John Caputo has established a vibrant and
engaging space for dialogue that includes the international leaders in continental thought like
Karl Jaspers, Mark C. Taylor, Kevin Hart, and Jean-Luc Nancy as well as many unknown
scholars. While most of the scholars that participate in this expansive series represent interest in,
if not support for, the so-called ‘religious turn’ in postmodern philosophy, Gschwandtner’s
recent volume addresses the topic quite directly here. With a three-part progression, her book
seeks to summarise the key insights of those philosophers most engaged in revisiting the
question of God after the loss of confidence for Enlightenment rationality. She begins by
considering the three most pivotal players in this conversation: Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel
Lévinas, and Jacques Derrida. While these three lay the primary foundation for revisiting the
‘death of God,’ Gschwandtner also examines the important commentators that have built upon
their work, and these include figures like Paul Ricoeur, Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste,
and others. Lastly, she looks at three cases of appropriation that constitute a religious triad of
sorts with Merold Westphal’s postmodern faith, John Caputo’s postmodern hope, and Richard
Kearney’s postmodern charity. The author admits the absurdity of a title like Postmodern
Apologetics? by acknowledging that both the category ‘postmodern’ remains quite controversial
and also the fact that the traditional subject of ‘apologetics’ does not fit at all in postmodernity.
And yet for Gschwandtner and many others the apparent interest of so many continental
philosophers today with belief in God cannot be denied. In this way, Postmodern Apologetics?
asks seemingly impossible but undeniable questions for many influenced by these significant
thinkers as they revisit the topics of faith, religion, and the existence of God.

Taylor Worley, Ph.D.

Union University