EXERCISES IN NEW CREATION FROM PAUL TO KIERKEGAARD

[THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS]

This book unfolds a vision for philosophical theology centered on the practices of the care of the self, the city, and creation. Rooted in Paul’s articulation of the wisdom of the cross, and in conversation with ecological, radical, and political theologies; continental philosophy; and political ecology, it addresses the challenge of injustice and ecological catastrophe. Part one reads 1 Corinthians as an exercise in reading and writing that shapes and changes relationships and capabilities. Part two follows this alternative path for theology through Derrida and Kierkegaard, and neglected trajectories in Origen, Augustine, and Luther. Along the way, reading and writing are explored as exercises that transform selves, communities, and even habitats. They are creaturely acts that can scandalize the dominant orders of consumption and competition for the ends of love and justice. This is a philosophical theology engaged with political ecology, exercises that help cultivate new creation.

““Care for self, city, earth—as the prophetic work of the new creation? Even in Paul, Augustine, and Kierkegaard, whose variously urbane genius has almost never been recognized as ecological? With his wondrously fresh readings, Dickinson lures philosophical theology into a practice of radical wisdom. He leads us where we might, really might, yet go, in a joyful, disarming dance of ecosocial justice.” ”
— Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University, USA
““Exercises in New Creation meditates Paul’s logos of the Cross as a call for the renewal of this world, where a cosmic Christ is the focal point of practices of care for the self, the soil and the city. Dickinson is a welcome new theological voice, astute and inspiring, calling for collective transformational practices, engaging head on the rising global peril and the neoliberal greed driving it.” ”
— John D. Caputo, Thomas J. Watson Professor Emeritus of Religion, Syracuse University, and David R. Cook Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Villanova University, USA
““Exercises in New Creation is … a worthy companion to all of the philosophical commentary on Pauline thought that has appeared over the past few decades, and one that very much gets to the heart of the theological importance of these otherwise philosophical endeavors.” (Colby Dickinson, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, May 21, 2019) “In this provocative book, Dickinson emerges as a fresh new voice in the field of philosophical theology. Exercises in New Creation recovers the heart of Paul’s practice of wisdom in Corinthians and follows this practice forward through Augustine, Luther, Kierkegaard, and Derrida. Here philosophical theology becomes political theology in its opposition to current injustice, and most importantly political ecology in its envisioning of a new ethic of care with and for the planet.” ”
— Clayton Crockett, University of Central Arkansas and Global Center for Advanced Studies, USA