Whilst Foucault's work has become a major strand of postmodern theology, the wider relevance of his work for theology still remains largely unexamined. Foucault both engages the Christian tradition and critically challenges its disciplinary regime. Michel Foucault and Theology brings together a selection of essays by leading Foucault scholars on a variety of themes within the history, thought and practice of theology. Revealing the diverse ways that the work of Michel Foucault (1926-1984) has been employed to rethink theology in terms of power, discourse, sexuality and the politics of knowledge, the authors examine power and sexuality in the church in late antiquity, (Castelli, Clark, Schuld), raise questions about the relationship between theology and politics (Bernauer, Leezenberg, Caputo), consider new challenges to the nature of theological knowledge in terms of Foucault's critical project (Flynn, Cutrofello, Beadoin, Pinto) and rethink theology in terms of Foucault's work on the history of sexuality (Carrette, Jordan, Mahon). This book demonstrates, for the first time, the influence and growing importance of Foucault's work for contemporary theology.

While much has been written about the Catholic Church and the Holocaust, little has been published about the hostile role of priests, in particular Jesuits, toward Jews and Judaism. Jesuit Kaddish is a long overdue study that examines Jesuit hostility toward Judaism before the Shoah and the development of a new understanding of the Catholic Church’s relation to Judaism that culminated with Vatican II’s landmark decree Nostra aetate. James Bernauer undertakes a self-examination as a member of the Jesuit order and writes this story in the hopes that it will contribute to interreligious reconciliation. Jesuit Kaddish demonstrates the way Jesuit hostility operated, examining Jesuit moral theology’s dualistic approach to sexuality and, in the case of Nazi Germany, the articulation of an unholy alliance between a sexualizing and a Judaizing of German culture. Bernauer then identifies an influential group of Jesuits whose thought and action contributed to the developments in Catholic teaching about Judaism that eventually led to the watershed moment of Nostra aetate. This book concludes with a proposed statement of repentance from the Jesuits and an appendix presenting the fifteen Jesuits who have been honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Center. Jesuit Kaddish offers a crucial contribution to the fields of Catholicism and Nazism, Catholic-Jewish relations, Jesuit history, and the history of anti-Semitism in Europe.

The Final Foucault is devoted to his last published (and some as yet unpublished) work and includes a translation of one of his last interviews, a comprehensive bibliography of his publications, and a biographical chronology. Michel Foucault left a rich legacy of ideas and approaches, many of which still await exposition and analysis. The Final Foucault is devoted to his last published (and some as yet unpublished) work and includes a translation of one of his last interviews, a comprehensive bibliography of his publications, and a biographical chronology. Foucault was still working on his history of sexuality when he died in 1984, but his main concern remained, as throughout his career, a deeper understanding of the nature of truth. His final set of lectures at the College de France, described here by Thomas Flynn, focused on the concept of truth-telling as a moral virtue in the ancient world. In the other essays, Karlis Racevskis examines the questions of identity at the core of Foucault's work; Garth Gillan takes up the problems inherent in any attempt to characterize Foucault's philosophy; James Bernauer explores the ethical basis of Foucault's work and offers a context for understanding his late interest in the Christian experience; and Diane Rubenstein offers a Lacanian interpretation of the last work. The Final Foucault is based on a special issue of the Journal Philosophy and Social Criticism, edited by David Rasmussen and published at Boston College.

In Jesuit Postmodern, Francis X. Clooney has gathered nine American Jesuit scholars teaching at universities to reflect on their scholarly work, why they engage in it, and how the work they do coheres with their self-understanding as Jesuits. In accounts that weave together scholarly lives and personal stories, the contributors to this volume explore the irreducible diversity of their experiences and criticize the dominant modern synthesis that shaped Jesuit institutions of higher education from the 1960s to the 1990s. While the contrapuntal display of voices enunciated in this collection will unsettle the conventional and still dominant ways of talking about Jesuits, scholarship, and religious intellectual inquiry, Jesuit Postmodern does not end the conversation, but pushes scholars to talk more critically and imaginatively.

In Jesuit Postmodern, Francis X. Clooney has gathered nine American Jesuit scholars teaching at universities to reflect on their scholarly work, why they engage in it, and how the work they do coheres with their self-understanding as Jesuits. In accounts that weave together scholarly lives and personal stories, the contributors to this volume explore the irreducible diversity of their experiences and criticize the dominant modern synthesis that shaped Jesuit institutions of higher education from the 1960s to the 1990s. While the contrapuntal display of voices enunciated in this collection will unsettle the conventional and still dominant ways of talking about Jesuits, scholarship, and religious intellectual inquiry, Jesuit Postmodern does not end the conversation, but pushes scholars to talk more critically and imaginatively.