This past spring, I took a class reflecting on the religious turn in contemporary continental philosophy. The class explored philosophers such as Jean-Luc Marion, John Caputo, and Richard Kearney and how their philosophical writings incorporate religious insights. In his book The God Who May Be, Kearney reflects upon the resurrection accounts of Jesus. He says that the resurrection accounts go something like this: “If you are hungry and need bread and fish, ask for it and you shall have your fill. If you see a lost loved one standing on the shore and are filled with joy, throw decorum to the wind, jump into the waves, and swim to them. If someone gives you food, do not ask for identity papers or credentials (“Who are you?”); just sit and receive. If you are wanting in body or mind –crippled, despised, rejected, downcast, disabled, despondent – and your nets are still empty after many tries, do not despair; someone will come and tell you where to cast your net so that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Indeed the most transfiguring thing about this God of little things is that he gives with a gratuity that defines the limits of space and time. Now he’s gone, now he’s here, now he’s gone again. Now he’s dead, now he’s alive. Now he’s buried, now risen. Now the net is empty, now it’s full. And more surprising still, the fish is cooked for us even before we get ashore and unload our nets. ‘Come have breakfast,’ Christ says as the boat touches land.” (Kearney, 50-51)
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June 2011
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