01/07/2026 15:00 - 17:10

HALL: Pola - A106

Contact: Weiss M.

Chair: Weiss M.

Christian atheism designates a paradoxical constellation within the history of Western thought in which central Christian motifs - incarnation, kenosis, death, and resurrection - are reinterpreted without recourse to a transcendent, metaphysical God. The panel aims to explore the historical depth and philosophical transformations of this constellation. Its genealogy reaches back to early Christian sources: patristic reflections on divine kenosis (Phil 2), negative theology in authors such as Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius, as well as radical interpretations of the Deus absconditus. Medieval and early modern developments—ranging from Meister Eckhart to Luther's theology of the cross—further destabilize classical theism by emphasizing divine self-withdrawal, suffering, and finitude. In modern philosophy, these motifs are systematically reworked. Hegel's speculative theology interprets the death of God as an immanent moment of absolute spirit, thereby inaugurating a post-transcendent reading of Christianity. The early Left Hegelians radicalize this move by translating theological contents into anthropological and political categories. Alexandre Kojève's existential reading of Hegel foregrounds finitude, negativity, and historical finality, while contemporary thinkers such as Slavoj Žižek explicitly articulate an "atheistic Christianity" centered on incarnation without divine remainder, emphasizing loss, abandonment, and the ethical consequences of God's death. The open panel invites contributions from philosophy, theology, religious studies, and related disciplines that investigate these trajectories, tensions, and reinterpretations. By situating contemporary debates within a long historical arc, the panel seeks to clarify whether Christian atheism represents a culmination of theological self-critique, a transformation of religious meaning, or a distinctive mode of post-metaphysical thought.