Cross and Glory in Post-Metaphysical Perspective

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the recent book of John D. Caputo “Cross and the Cosmos: A Theology of Difficult Glory”. Caputo’s project is examined as one of the most representative explications of postmetaphysical discourse in contemporary theology. We consider the key concepts of Caputo’s theological hermeneutics – the impossible, the event, and the kingdom of God as a context for a radical theology of the cross. The paper emphases on the coming nature of the event that signals its openness to surprising possibilities that constitute even the possibility of the impossible. The author highlights the main features of the theology of the cross in Caputo’s early works, where the cross is conceptualized as a paradigmatic expression of the event of the kingdom. The analysis of the work “Cross and the Cosmos” outlines the ways of radicalization of theology of the cross and the strategy of reinterpretation of the concept of divine glory. The article highlights the problem of Caputo’s theopoetic method and considers its critique in analytical theology. We argue that a radical theology of the cross is hermeneutics of open-ended transformations in this world, a theology of the divine call embedded in temporality and mortality.