The Death and Life of Speculative Theology: A Lonergan Idea

The Death and Life of Speculative Theology argues that speculative theology can be decoupled from classicism, transformed through modern science, philosophy, and culture, and made useful for addressing intellectual problems in this cosmopolitan age. Speculative theology can provoke, organize, regulate, and invigorate intellectual pluralism and thereby contribute to making the world a home for the human spirit. Drawing on the thought of Bernard Lonergan, Ryan Hemmer narrates the rise and fall of speculative theology, anticipates how it might be renewed, and repurposes some of its forgotten achievements to show that modern theology can be a modern science for a modern culture.