Liberalism versus Postliberalism : The Great Divide in Twentieth-Century Theology

The book provides an original analysis of the central philosophical differences between liberal and postliberal theology. Knight argues that important developments in philosophy of language reveal serious problems with the central methodological commitments of liberalism and postliberalism and suggest ways in which the divide can be bridged.

The divide between liberal and postliberal theology is one of the most important and far-reaching methodological disputes in twentieth-century theology. This split in the understanding of religious language is widely acknowledged, but rigorous philosophical analysis and assessment of these divergent understandings is seldom seen. Liberalism versus Postliberalism provides such analyses, using the developments in analytic philosophy of language over the past forty years. The book provides an original analysis of the "theology and falsification" debates of the 1950s and 60s. The debates supply the philosophical lens that brings into focus the centrality of the issue of religious language in the methodological dispute between liberal and postliberal theologians in the latter part of the twentieth century. Knight argues that recent philosophical developments reveal serious problems with both positions. His philosophical work clears the ground for a more inclusive method that takes seriously the aspirations of both liberal and postliberal theologians; his book makes an important contribution to contemporary theological method, to the understanding of liberal and postliberal theologies, and to our understanding of the role of analytic philosophy in contemporary theology and religious studies.