God Interrupts History: Theology in a Time of Upheaval

The role of Christian faith in contemporary culture has changed dramatically. Both detraditionalization (the interruption of the handing on of faith from one generation to the next) and pluralization (Christianity is no longer the dominant player on the religious field) have caused a rupture between faith and its social context. Because of this, modern correlationist theologies, which presume a fundamental continuity between faith and its context, no longer succeed in explaining the relation between Christian faith and contemporary society. But theologies of discontinuity eventually fail as well, because they risk forgetting the intrinsic link between faith and history, society and culture. Christianity today demands a theology beyond theories of continuity and discontinuity. This book develops a theology of interruption. Boeve emphasizes the specificity of the Christian narrative about God, humanity, and their history together, and argues that this specificity urges Christians to be engaged in their context. Because God interrupts history. After an analysis of the contextual changes, the author sketches the fundamental aspects of a theology of interruption. This forms the basis for his further analysis of religious experience, rituals and sacraments, negative theology, religious plurality and incarnation, and apocalypticism.