ABSTRACT
In the introduction to the present work, I raised the question of how it is possible to do theology in the wake of the postmodern, or more specifically, in the wake of various critiques of metaphysics. It was with this question in mind that I referred to Jean-Luc Marion as a theologian whose work might suggest a way forward. Over the course of this volume, it has been observed that some of Marion’s initial optimism with regard to the possibilities offered by theology for overcoming metaphysics, has given way to a recognition that a theology that asserts itself as a kind of absolute knowledge-however that is configured-is doomed to repeat metaphysics in another register. While many theologians would contest that theology actually makes such absolute claims, it is apparent, even in the work of one so sensitive to the subtleties of metaphysics as Marion, that it is very hard to avoid them, at least by implication. When Marion shifts to a phenomenological approach to the overcoming of metaphysics, the energy of his work is directed towards the possibility of thinking alterity by way of the saturated phenomenon. To do phenomenology is clearly no longer to do theology, but by pursuing phenomenology’s capacity to open onto excess, he creates a space where the task of theology can begin.
