Theology, Phenomenology and the Retrieval of Experience : A Homage to Peter Kemp

Summary, in English

Inspired by the contemporary Danish philosopher Dorthe Jørgensen, this article engages in a re-reading of Peter Kemp’s 1973 dissertation Théorie de l’engagement with a view to exploring its persisting theological value. After briefly revisiting its main argument, I turn in the following section to a discussion of its way of relating phenomenology and theology in terms of short-comings as well as possibilities. In the concluding section, I bring together Kemp and Jørgensen and offer a reflection on what theology could and should be and why I believe that it still has a significant role to play in academia as well as in the wider culture. In particular, I argue that phenomenological theology—with its long tradition of reflecting on mythopoetic language—is particularly well-suited to provide a cultural hermeneutics of relevance not only for practicing religious people but also for a broader audience in a culture that is still to a high degree im-mersed in biblical imagery.

• Author: Jayne Svenungsson
• Department/s: Studies in Faith and World Views
• Publishing year: 2021-03-11
• Language: English
• Pages: 17-34
• Publication/Series: Eco-Ethica
• Volume: 9 (2020)
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/ecoethica20213830
• Document type: Journal article
• Topic: Religious Studies
• Keywords: Peter Kemp; Dorthe Jørgensen; phenomenology; poetic theology; secularization
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 2186-4802