Abstract

Philosophy of religion is a highly diversified field. An apt description of it is “zoo.” It conjures imagery of a species-wide cacophony of sights and sounds. While some bemoan what this description implies, Contributors to this volume appreciate it. There is no reason why a zoo should intimate a den of confusion rather than an important condition of emergence and novelty. “Polyphonic” is the catchall term to capture this sentiment. It signals a way of thinking that resists the desire to siphon insight into manageable packets of information in the Name of historicality and finitude. A polyphonic, then, is a variegated and discontinuous study that breaks with a tradition that desires continuity and unification, without being erratic. This volume is an exercise in polyphonic thinking. Each contributing scholar develops ideas in connection with his or her research interests. Despite the fluctuation of themes, symmetry exists as each piece sounds off a core melody of religion and the divine. The book contributes to the advancement of current research in contemporary Continental philosophy of religion. By juxtaposing articles by cultural theorists and philosophers of religion, religionists and theologians, the book emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary and polyphonic conversation to the development of matters of topical interest and issues related to method and ethics in religious studies, and theology.