Vision

You can also download the full text here: Widening Horizons in Philosophical Theology: A Vision.

Introduction

This paper presents the intellectual vision underlying Widening Horizons in Philosophical Theology, a five-year collaborative initiative to advance philosophical theology by mobilizing the resources of the continental tradition of philosophy. The initiative is generously funded by the Templeton Religion Trust. Its basic aim is to empower philosophical theology in the continental tradition to pursue constructive and field-building work in theology, and to expand its potential.

The initiative pursues this aim by funding twelve research projects at a range of institutions between 2021 and 2023, and putting the project teams in conversation with each other and with other scholars. Through its work, the initiative also aims to show that continental philosophy can illuminate and develop Sir John Templeton’s vision of theology as continuous discovery in unexpected but striking ways.

This paper proceeds in three parts:

Part 1 presents theology as an approach to the world that works with other disciplines to achieve intellectual progress, arguing that philosophy has been a particularly important partner discipline in this endeavour.

Part 2 acknowledges the split, dominating the twentieth century, of philosophy into analytic (Anglo-American) and continental (European) streams. It presents continental philosophy as an open, discovery-oriented discipline whose questions, approaches and methods make it an important partner for a theology that is open to continual revelation in Sir John Templeton’s unusual sense of the ongoing discovery of a world that is not self-enclosed, but communicates the divine.

Part 3 lays out a vision for a philosophical theology critically engaged with the continental tradition, and outlines strategic areas of attention. The initiative is funding twelve projects within these strategic areas of attention. The projects, which were chosen by international competition, are introduced on the projects page.

Contents

Part 1: Theology and Progress

Part 2: Why Continental Philosophy?

Part 3: Widening Horizons in Philosophical Theology