What role does, could or should theology play in current discussions about our political realities? Is there a place for theological worldviews in the public conversation about policy making? Should theology critically unmask the underlying theological and metaphysical sources of contemporary politics?
The contributors to this volume reflect on new questions in public and political theology, inspired by the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx. They discuss a variety of theological traditions and theories that could offer substantial contributions to current political challenges, and debate whether theology should contribute to the liberation of communities of poor and suffering people.
Martin G. Poulsom is Head of Theology in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Heythrop College, London, UK.
Dr Frederiek Depoortere is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) at the Faculty of Theology, K.U.Leuven (Belgium) and a member of the research group 'Theology in a Postmodern Context'.
Stephan van Erp is Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium
Lieven Boeve is Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. As of August 1, 2014, he has been appointed the Director-General of the general office of Catholic Education in Flanders (Fundamental Theology). His research concerns theological epistemology, philosophical theology, truth in faith and theology, tradition development and hermeneutics. From 2005 till 2009 he served as president of the European Society for Catholic Theology.
He is the author of Interrupting Tradition. An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (2003), God Interrupts History. Theology in a Time of Upheaval (2007), Lyotard and Theology (2014) and Theology at the Crossroads of University, Church and Society (2016). He has co-edited various volumes, of which the most recent are: Questioning the Human: Toward a Theological Anthropology for the Twenty-First Century (2014) and The Normativity of History. Theological Truth and Tradition in the Tension between Church History and Systematic Theology (2016).
On September 17, 2015, the European Society for Catholic Theology awarded him the biennial prize for the best theological book of the past two years, for his monograph Lyotard and Theology.