Dancing with the Absence

Rethinking Theology with Michel de Certeau

The work of Michel de Certeau, French Jesuit and student of Cardinal Henri de Lubac, has often been characterized as the work of a traveler. He is famous in both the historical and cultural sciences. Similarly, Certeau profoundly interrogates common ways of doing theology, both in a direct way that characterizes the Christian tradition-when he speaks of God's absence-and with his writing style, which does not allow disciplinary classification. The explicit theological reception of his works has so far remained at a moderate level, although they offer a variety of challenges for theological reflection that have not been fully embraced.

Thus, Certeau's works not only provide perspectives for rethinking individual theological themes, but also stimulate a discussion of the options of theological reasoning in general as an understanding of everyday Christian life. This discussion is crucial for thinking about the truth of Christianity in the current contexts of the Western Church, marked by profound processes of "exculturation" of Christianity, which push us to reweave the relationship between theology and the humanities and that between theory and practice, that is, between theology and lived spirituality. Within the horizon of Certeau's various fields of research, the colloquium analyzes and shows the potential of Certeau's perspectives for a contemporary theology.