The Hidden God Luther, Philosophy, and Political Theology [Hardcover]

In this phenomenological reading of Luther, Marius Timmann Mjaaland shows that theological discourse is never philosophically neutral and always politically loaded. Raising questions concerning the conditions of modern philosophy, religion, and political ideas, Marius Timmann Mjaaland follows a dark thread of thought back to its origin in Martin Luther. Thorough analyses of the genealogy of secularization, the political role of the apocalypse, the topology of the self, and the destruction of metaphysics demonstrate the continuous relevance of this highly subtle thinker.rabbi

This is a bold work of philosophical theology.While at one level this book advances a fairly technical and focused argument about Luther, it is profound and wide-ranging in its insights and implications. It deserves to be carefully read by anyone with deep interests in theology, philosophy, and politics.Mjaaland reveals a radical Luther whose break with prior metaphysics sowed the seeds for deep cultural stuggles into the future in ways that came to frighten even Luther himself.

An important book on Luthers Hidden God and the nature of modernity. . . . [T]his work should be considered by Luther scholars of all stripes, especially those interested in Luthers theology and its relationship to modernity.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Topology of Texts and the Destruction of Metaphysics
2. Sola Scriptura
3. The Hidden God
4. Modernity in the Making
5. From Revelation to Revolution
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Challenging the mutual exclusivity of theology and philosophy, Mjaaland links Luther to Nietzsche, Marx, Heidegger, and Derrida, highlighting connections between destruction and deconstruction, and showing how philosophy, politics, and theology converge in Luthers radical critique of religion. Recommended.

Marius Timmann Mjaaland is Professor for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Oslo. He is author of Autopsia: Self, Death,l³&