In the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, post-monotheism (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"one" and "

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

," with the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

prefix "post-" as in "after" or "beyond") is a term covering a range of different meanings that nonetheless share concern for the status of

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...

and

religious experience A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, or mystical experience) is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense ...

in the

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

post-modern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

era. There is no one originator for the term. Rather, it has independently appeared in the writings of several intellectuals on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and in print. Its most notable use has been in the

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

of Arab Israeli author Nidaa Khoury, and as a label for a "new sensibility" or theological approach proposed by the Islamic

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Christopher Schwartz.

Martin Heidegger

The

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

philosopher Herman Philipse, author of ''The Atheist Manifesto (Atheistisch manifest & De onredelijkheid van religie)'' (2004), uses the term "post-monotheism" to describe

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th ce ...

's position vis-a-vis traditional

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

as a "failing tradition" obscuring an "original revelation of being."Philipse, Herman; ''Heidegger's Philosophy of Being: A Critical Interpretation'' (1998) In Philipse's formulation, "post-monotheism" signifies "the attempt to replace the Christian religion by a different variety of religious discourse, the meaning of which is parasitic upon the monotheist Christian discourse that it intends to destroy."

D. H. Lawrence and Shinobu Orikuchi

Hiroaki Inami, a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

ger and professor of philosophy at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

, uses the term "post-monotheism" to describe the religious viewpoints of the writers

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

and

Shinobu Orikuchi , also known as , was a Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet. As a disciple of Kunio Yanagita, he established an original academic field named , which is a mixture of Japanese folklore, Japanese classics, and Shintō. ...

. Inami interprets Lawrence’s ''

The Escaped Cock ''The Escaped Cock'' is a short novel by D. H. Lawrence that he originally wrote in two parts and published in 1929. Lawrence wrote the first part in 1927 after visiting some Etruscan tombs with his friend Earl Brewster, a trip that encouraged ...

'' (1929) and Orikuchi’s ''The Book of the Dead'' (1997) as presenting "a vision and a possibility of a new universal religion, which is, in a sense, a fusion of polytheism and monotheism. But from the viewpoint of a theory of discrete difference, their new religions are post-polytheism and post-monotheism and can be called new polytheism (or super-polytheism)."

Christopher Schwartz

In Christopher Schwartz's formulation, "post-monotheism" is the belief in the existence of one deity, or in the

oneness of God Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single mo ...

, coupled with the belief in the failure (or inability) of existing theological categories in Christianity and Islam to accurately describe

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

nature. According to Schwartz, the paucity of theological language is most evident during human suffering and should thus be considered a major barrier for religious experience. Schwartz's concept of post-monotheism opposes the "

post-theism Post-theism is a variant of nontheism that proposes that the division of theism vs. atheism is obsolete, that God belongs to a stage of human development now past. Within nontheism, post-theism can be contrasted with antitheism. The term appears ...

" formulated by

Frank Hugh Foster Frank Hugh Foster, Ph. D., D.D. (June 19, 1851 – October 20, 1935) was an American clergyman of the Congregational church. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduated at Harvard in 1873. In his activities, he was assistant ...

and the notion "God is dead" from Heidegger and

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

. It has similarities to the " transtheistic" ideas of Paul Tillich and

Heinrich Zimmer Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization'' and ''Philosophies of India ...

,In the two scholars' published writings, the term appears in 1952 for Tillich and in 1953 for Zimmer. Since the two men were personally acquainted, it is impossible to say which of them coined the term. Note that the term ''transtheism'' is avoided by both. Cf. ''Writings on Religion'', Walter de Gruyter (1988), p. 145. as well as possibly open theism. However, its program is decidedly different from the

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

of the former and the evangelism of the latter. Rather, it appears to be an application to traditional

theodicy Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...

of pragmatist and

post-modernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

philosophy, as well as cognitive psychology and

transhumanist Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. Transhuma ...

futurology Futures studies, futures research, futurism or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will li ...

. In particular, Schwartz's post-monotheism appears to have its roots in

Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic ...

's ''

Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity ''Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity'' is a 1989 book by the American philosopher Richard Rorty, based on two sets of lectures he gave at University College, London, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. In contrast to his earlier work, '' Philosop ...

'' (1989), and has avowedly

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

aspirations. Schwartz uses the phrase in the essay, "The Historian's Theodicy".Schwartz, Christopher
Historian's Theodicy''
Thursday, July 10, 2008. In this essay he explores several problems of

and the study of religion, e.g., "None of us can know with certainty that atheists and nontheists aren’t experiencing God — or that we monotheists ''are''." From the deconstruction of traditional theodicy and

hierology Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

he derives eight "axioms": * ''History defies the absolutisms of moral theory.'' * ''History itself, as the theater of revelation, threatens the reliability of prophecy.'' * ''History challenges the very possibility of exegesis and theosophy.'' * ''History, both personal and of the species, challenges the very possibility of hierology.'' * ''Patterns notwithstanding, history teaches that there is no necessity (necessity is not necessary).'' * ''History creates its own ethical imperatives, and action requires only faith rather than certainty.'' * ''The future threatens the reliability of history.'' * ''History itself, though it is the theater of revelation, is insufficient to account for or against divine concern and action.'' Fundamental to this brand of post-monotheism is the author's assertion, "God is an enigma and power beyond the human yet is accessible ..Spiritual experience flies in the face of historical experience: whatever 'God' is, it is concerned for us — and it is reaching out to us." A central motif of Schwartz's post-monotheism is the analogy of God as a playwright or "storywriter," in essence the opposite of both the

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

watchmaker analogy The watchmaker analogy or watchmaker argument is a teleological argument which states, by way of an analogy, that a design implies a designer, especially intelligent design by an intelligent designer, i.e. a creator deity. The watchmaker analo ...

and what Schwartz describes as "ultra-transcendent, legalistic, and cruel visages" of religious

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguish ...

. According to the "storywriter" analogy, God and the

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

are "in partnership." Schwartz gives the example of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's fictional character

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, arguing that the character's dying words are

metafictional Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...

and thus fitting for what he believes to be the actual nature of humanity's relation to the Godhead.

Notes

External links

Philipse's faculty page at Utrecht University

by Hiroaki Inami * ttp://schwartztronica.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/the-historians-theodicy/''The Historian's Theodicy''by Christopher Schwartz
Nidaa Khoury's website
* Luchte, James, 2009
"Zarathustra and the Children of Abraham"
''Pli'', Volume 20, pp. 195–225 and ''The Agonist'', Volume 2, Number 2. {{Belief systems Monotheism God in Christianity Nontheism

Martin Heidegger

D. H. Lawrence and Shinobu Orikuchi

Christopher Schwartz

See also

Notes

External links