Heidegger and Christianity: the Hensley Henson lectures, 1993-94

152 Pages·1994·4.633 MB·English

by  John Macquarrie

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Heidegger and Christianity
John Macquarrie
There is little doubt that in our time the
temporal and the historical have acquired a
new importance in human thinking. There is a
tendency to see everything as swept along in
the flux of becoming. Nothing remains static,
and even theologians have come to doubt
whether such notions as ‘immutability’ and
‘impassibility’ are essential characteristics of
God. The permanent framework has disappeared
and even metaphysical systems are regarded as
the products of history.
Is everything then plunged into a thorough
relativism, or even that nihilism which
Nietzsche foresaw? John Macquarrie considers
this question in a new exploration of the lEtf
thought of Martin Heidegger, the twentieth-
century philosopher who gave a central place in RIS
his thinking to the temporality and historicality
not only of human existence but of being
generally. He examines Heidegger’s career and
early writings, and then above all his magnum
opus Being and Time, going on to discuss such
issues as metaphysics and theology; thinghood,
technology and art; thinking, language and
poetry. By attending to these concepts, he
believes, we may learn something of the impact
on Christianity of the contemporary concern
with time.

Heidegger and Christianity

John Macquarrie
Heidegger and
Christianity
The Hensley Henson Lectures 1993—94
Continuum • New York
1994
The Continuum Publishing Company*
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Copyright© 1994 by John Macquarrie
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of The Continuum Publishing Company.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Macquarrie, John.
Heidegger and Christianity : Hensley Henson
lectures, 1993—1994 / John Macquarrie.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8264—0694—7
1. Heidegger, Martin, 1889—1976. 2. Heidegger,
Martin, 1889-1976—Influence. 3. Theology,
Doctrinal—History—20th century. 4. Philosophy
and religion—History—20th century. I. Title.
B3279.H79M257 1994
193—dc2o 94—20201
CIP
Printed in Great Britain
Contents
Preface vii
i Career and Early Writings 1
2 Being and Time (i) 16
3 Being and Time (2) 32
4 Metaphysics and Theology 48
5 Thinghood, Technology, Art 63
6 Thinking, Language, Poetry 77
7 ‘Only a God Can Save Us’ 94
8 Some Loose Ends 109
Notes 122
Bibliography 129
Index 133