The Collected Works of Edward Schillebeeckx Volume 3 God the Future of Man

God, the Future of Man contains Schillebeeckx's systematic elaboration on a number of lectures given during a tour of the USA in 1967. By and large the focus is religion and secularisation, viewed from various vantage points: secularisation and God-talk; secularisation and the church's liturgy; secularisation and the church's new self-understanding; and, finally, secularisation and the future of humankind on earth in light of the eschaton (church and social politics). These thought-provoking reflections are presented against the backdrop of Schillebeeckx's hermeneutic premises. In the concluding chapter his reflections on secularisation culminate in a God concept that can function fruitfully in a modern culture that assigns the future pride of place: God as the future of humankind. Written in a period pregnant with cultural revolution and religious change, the book foregrounds the pivotal issue of secularisation in a thought-provoking way. With feverish urgency he reflects on various forms of religiosity in the modern world. His contribution to the debate could just as well have been written today.

Edward Schillebeeckx was an internationally known theologian and one of the leading progressives at the Second Vatican Council. He was the author of many books, including God is New Each Moment, published by Continuum. He died in 2010.

1. Towards a Catholic Use of Hermeneutics / 2. Secularization and Christian Belief in God / 3. Secular Worship and Church Liturgy / 4. The Church as the Sacrament of Dialogue / 5. Church, Magisterium and Politics / 6. The New Image of God, Secularization and Man's Future on Earth