Memory of Suffering as Continual Social Criticism : The Political Theology of Johannes Baptist Metz in Relation to the Challenges of Modernity
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Due to current political and economical instabilities, critical inquires about theology’s relevance for contemporary men and women, constant interests in the praxis of the Christian faith, and growing yearning for social justice, political theology has become an increasingly important category for theological thinking and acting in the modern world. The purpose of this essay is to examine Johannes Baptist Metz, the leading representative of political theology in Germany, with special attention to his critical interpretation of modernity. In particular, after surveying Metz’s key concepts, this study will question whether and to what extent his idea of the memory of suffering can help us respond to multiculturalism and to the crisis of deliberative democracy. Metz has developed his theology through the perspective of political praxis. He reintroduces the term ‘political theology,’ which has a long history beginning with Stoic philosophy, into fundamental theology of the twentieth century. Fundamental theology first appeared as a response to the challenge of the European Enlightenment. However, in Metz’s eyes, fundamental theology cannot respond to crises caused by the Enlightenment unless it develops as political theology. His response to the crisis of modernity shapes his unique political theology. Under the influence of the Frankfurt School’s critical theory, especially, he critiques bourgeois religion,the privatization of religion, the dominance of instrumental rationality, and the notion of evolutionary time in the modern age. In light of the Judaeo-Christian understanding of eschatology, he attempts to overcome the modern doctrine of evolutionary time and the privatization of religion. Moreover, he reflects the catastrophe of Auschwitz and reinterprets its memory of suffering in relation to current political and theological issues. Despite his skepticism towards the instrumental rationality of the Enlightenment, however,he contends that the Enlightenment is still an unfinished project. Although it has caused many social, political, ethical and religious problems in the modern world, it has introduced the universal values of human rights, freedom and justice. They are still important and necessary, especially in the face of multiculturalism and of the crisis of deliberative democracy. Due to the instrumental rationality of the Enlightenment, nevertheless, we cannot simply accept the values created and developed through modernity. For Metz, the universal morality of the Enlightenment can prove its worth insofar as it is related to the biblical tradition of the memory of suffering. In conclusion, this study will illustrate that, despite Metz’s claim that modern democracy needs eschatological wisdom, his appeal to memory is unavoidably dependent upon philosophical discourses on justice and goodness, and upon the legal definition of cosmopolitan human rights. In addition, in contrast to Metz’s selective appeal to certain biblical themes, I will show that political praxis should be situated within a deeper and wider narrative background of biblical ethics on the one hand, and that the memory of suffering should be conditioned and reshaped by the memory of the Resurrection on the other.
Abstract
Due to current political and economical instabilities, critical inquires about theology’s relevance for contemporary men and women, constant interests in the praxis of the Christian faith, and growing yearning for social justice, political theology has become an increasingly important category for theological thinking and acting in the modern world. The purpose of this essay is to examine Johannes Baptist Metz, the leading representative of political theology in Germany, with special attention to his critical interpretation of modernity. In particular, after surveying Metz’s key concepts, this study will question whether and to what extent his idea of the memory of suffering can help us respond to multiculturalism and to the crisis of deliberative democracy. Metz has developed his theology through the perspective of political praxis. He reintroduces the term ‘political theology,’ which has a long history beginning with Stoic philosophy, into fundamental theology of the twentieth century. Fundamental theology first appeared as a response to the challenge of the European Enlightenment. However, in Metz’s eyes, fundamental theology cannot respond to crises caused by the Enlightenment unless it develops as political theology. His response to the crisis of modernity shapes his unique political theology. Under the influence of the Frankfurt School’s critical theory, especially, he critiques bourgeois religion,the privatization of religion, the dominance of instrumental rationality, and the notion of evolutionary time in the modern age. In light of the Judaeo-Christian understanding of eschatology, he attempts to overcome the modern doctrine of evolutionary time and the privatization of religion. Moreover, he reflects the catastrophe of Auschwitz and reinterprets its memory of suffering in relation to current political and theological issues. Despite his skepticism towards the instrumental rationality of the Enlightenment, however,he contends that the Enlightenment is still an unfinished project. Although it has caused many social, political, ethical and religious problems in the modern world, it has introduced the universal values of human rights, freedom and justice. They are still important and necessary, especially in the face of multiculturalism and of the crisis of deliberative democracy. Due to the instrumental rationality of the Enlightenment, nevertheless, we cannot simply accept the values created and developed through modernity. For Metz, the universal morality of the Enlightenment can prove its worth insofar as it is related to the biblical tradition of the memory of suffering. In conclusion, this study will illustrate that, despite Metz’s claim that modern democracy needs eschatological wisdom, his appeal to memory is unavoidably dependent upon philosophical discourses on justice and goodness, and upon the legal definition of cosmopolitan human rights. In addition, in contrast to Metz’s selective appeal to certain biblical themes, I will show that political praxis should be situated within a deeper and wider narrative background of biblical ethics on the one hand, and that the memory of suffering should be conditioned and reshaped by the memory of the Resurrection on the other.
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