Caputo - The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

Anybody read John Caputo's book The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event? In it he apparently discusses what he calls "sacred anarchy" by which he means that God's favor rests on those who are not in power. I have not read it, but I read a book review of it which peaked my interest.

[Rob A]

Not heard of it before, but I'm very interested. The Pauline quote "My power is made perfect in weakness" really strikes a chord with me.

[Josh Humphries]

Haven't read it yet...but plan to. I just have to secure the $$$ to buy a copy.

[njtom]

Sounds interesting.

Is the theme of the book similar to the Catholic Church's "preferential option for the poor?"

[Quinoa]

Since this post was a while ago perhaps some of you have been able to look into Caputo's Weak Theology. If so, I'd love to hear what you think. I'm currently reading Demythologizing Heidegger (1993) which is a powerful critique from a biblically shaped deconstructionist perspective (esp. chapter 3). Here's one quote that might be of interest: "Political philosophy does not ensure justice; it finds justice very elusive. That, I will argue here, is because justice is less an arche than an an-arche, so that when it concerns justice the philosophers are out of their element. If there were justice, if justice existed, we would not need an arche. if justice existed, the political philosophers and politicians would be unemployed or, since unemployment is unjust, employed otherwise. Polis and praxis would need no walls and statecraft would have withered away. We would be tempted to say that justice would be the only rule, except that justice is not a rule or a pattern. Justice is what rules want to have but which they do not possess necessarily, i.e. structurally." (p 189). I don't know what Caputo thinks of anarchism but this passage certainly discloses some affinities that entice me to read more of his work.

[davemellows]

I have recently read The Weakness of God. Here are a couple of quotes: "The event that takes place under the name of the kingdom of God is an anarchic field of reversals and displacements ..... my anarchic suggestion is to think of the name of God as the name of a disturbance or holy disarray. This is what I call 'sacred anarchy' ..... The kingdom of God is a place where weakness 'reigns', where speaking of a 'kingdom' is always an irony that mocks sheer strength ..... The kingdom is found whenever war and aggression are met with an offer of peace". I hope that gives a flavour of the book. Caputo I suspect would not consider himself an anarchist as such, but much of his theology is compatible with an anarchist approach, especially to the kingdom of God.