After Christianity

July 1, 2002
Vattimo says both Nietzsche's proclamation of God's death and Heidegger's of the end of metaphysics have contributed critically to the postmodern resurgence of religion. The death of God allows philosophy to engage religion in a pluralistic world by eliminating the need for philosophical atheism, with its paradoxical affirmation-by-denial of God. Indeed, God's death obviates the proclamation of any absolute (hence the end of metaphysics), and that is consistent with a Christianity centered on love, as in Augustine's injunction, "love, and do what you will." Such a Christianity "takes the shape of hospitality" and "must limit itself almost entirely to listening," thereby "giving voice to the guests." In a time when xenophobic conflicts proliferate, it is refreshing to see a politically engaged philosopher--Vattimo is a member of the European Parliament--articulate a philosophy that is realized in hospitality. If his proposal that the museum be taken as a "symbolic model of democracy" seems rather odd, it still prompts rethinking democracy as the substance of Christianity metamorphoses "from universality to hospitality."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)