ABSTRACT
In general terms, contrastive, theistic anti-realism asserts that while the theories and discourses of other areas of human enquiry, such as science, can be taken to intend to refer to realities independent of human representations, theistic theories cannot. Reinterpretations of theistic symbols following the above pattern are capable of generating much heat in the philosophical and theological literature. This chapter is interested in those forms of theistic anti-realism which say that we cannot take seriously the intent of theistic symbols to refer to something transcendent. It notes arguments from Don Cupitt and feminist writers to the effect that, given certain contemporary and political ideas (orthodoxies), we moderns (or: postmoderns) cannot use theistic language to refer to anything like the God of traditional theism. It is claimed is that the revision is mandatory for all with a contemporary conscience.
