Revenge of the Sacred:Phenomenology and ends of Christianity

1) Title: Revenge of the Sacred: Phenomenology and the Ends of Christianity 2) Content: From the supposed resurgence of religion and the rise of a post-secular society, to the occasional self-righteous and disavowed fanaticisms of a religionless occidental reason, western culture seems stuck somewhere in between its secular humanist impulses, and its trenchant theological heritage. Western societies perhaps are no longer Christian, yet not yet non-Christian. Leading phenomenological thinkers such as Patocka, Heidegger, and Derrida, understood that the scope of the western philosophical project holds religion to be of central importance, and works such as theirs lead us to ask the following questions: are we witnessing the resurgence of religion, and if not, then what, in fact, is surging that at least presents itself under the guise of religion? Have religion and faith become overly-subjectivized as hyper-personalized "options", and does this spawn a crisis of collective identity in such a no-longer- Christian-yet-not-yet-non-Christian context? Is a post-Christian community possible while the Christian heritage still is innervating secular institutions? Or instead, has secularism "won" so to speak to the point that religion today is subjected to the oversight of a secular rationality? 3) Hypotheses: Not only are we convinced that the present-day context is no-longer-Christian-yet-not-yet- non-Christian, but also that in this in-between phase, and in the incomplete transition from "Christian" to "Secular," certain unique "revenges of the sacred" are taking place (in part due to its rejections). The traditional theological understandings of the sacred (e.g. as prohibition, purity, ideal standard, or non- contingent) are now appearingaking revenge in newly "secularized," evolved, and metamorphosized forms, whether as "untouchable" beliefs, "unconditional" claims, or "prohibited" topics of debate. The sacred historically is understood as a harbinger of violent action to the benefit of humankind, and the "return of religion" often is discussed today as a benign occurrence. Thus, a development of the "revenge of the sacred" aims to address the active promises and dynamic perils of religion. Our investigations into such revenge(s) are limited to three essential research axes: Identity and Personhood, Sovereignty and Authority, and Embodiment and Incarnation - - I.P.S.E. 4) Methods: Means of addressing our hypothesis are five-fold: 1: to reassess contemporary phenomenologies of religion by applying them to confront and reflect upon the "return of religion" in a socio-political context; 2: to introduce a thicker philosophical dimension to contemporary, interdisciplinary approaches to the religion/secular debates beyond their blunt dichotomization; 3: to engage critically this still incomplete "secularization" process in regards to the inherent antinomies and "revenges" it has introduced; 4: to develop a broader understanding of the interrelations between philosophy and theology in order to confront some of today`s social challenges; and 5: to synthesize our more theoretical findings into an accessible framework so implications and challenges can be pursued further.

Europe seems to be in a transition from "Christian" to "Secular." Europe is no longer Christian, yet it is not-yet "non-Christian." In this context, our project juxtaposed this demographically observed European "decline of religion" with the world-wide "return of religion." These juxtapositions were investigated philosophically through the following five aims: 1: -to apply contemporary phenomenology of religion in reflecting upon the so-called "return of religion" and it a socio-political consequence. This aim was addressed in 4 conferences/workshops and 10 publications. Of specific note here is Kocis book Christianity after Christendomy (Bloomsbury, 2023), which insisted that the end of a Christian "metanarrative" is not the end of faith, but its beginning. 2: -to introduce a thicker philosophical dimension to contemporary, interdisciplinary research approaches to the religion/secular debates beyond their often overly-blunt dichotomization. To fulfill this aim, 3 conferences/workshops and 8 publications were established. Of note was our conference "Sovereignty: Sacred and Secular", in which we demonstrated especially political theology as an exemplary intersection. This led to an article by J.Alvis "Souveränität des Leids" in Religionsphilosophie heute - Stimmen - Schauplätze - Systeme (2023 Verlag Karl Alber). 3: -to reflect on this still incomplete "secularization" process in regards to the inherent antinomies and "revenges" it has introduced. In fulfilling this aim we held 3 conferences/workshops and 7 publications. In the covid-pandemic, we held the international (online) conference titled "Irrationality and Religiosity in Times of a Pandemic" (2020), publishing select papers in the Journal Open Theology. 4: -to develop a broader understanding of the interrelation between philosophy and theology in order to confront today's social challenges, namely, of the loss of the sacred as a source of meaning." 2 conferences/workshops and 8 publications. Of note is our (Koci & Alvis) co-edited book Transforming the Theological Turn: Phenomenology with Emmanuel Falque (2020, Rowman & Littlefield), which reframed some debates in phenomenological theology. Of note is our involvement in the Network in Philosophy of Religion; which includes leading scholars in this field, such as E.Falque, C.Gschwandtner, C.Canullo, K.Hart. 5: -to develop an understandable framework according to which implications and challenges can be accessed and further pursued. Our publications span seven languages: English, Turkish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, German, French, and Spanish. One highlight in these regards was having the honor to be interviewed by a Ukrainian philosopher from Kyiv on the topic of religion at the height of the war (Alvis, "We Make Religion?: An Interview with V.Yakusha", Ukrainian Journal of Philosophical Thought, 2023). Another highlight was holding a conference, "Saving God from Tyranny", recorded for the public on the most popular theology podcast on the internet ("Homebrewed Christianity"), with hundreds of worldwide listeners.