John Milbank

John Milbank
Born	Alisdair John Milbank 1952 London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Professor, theologian, philosopher
Nationality	English
Genres	Religion, theology, postmodernism
Notable work(s)	Theology and Social Theory
Influenced Catherine Pickstock, David Blond

Alasdair John Milbank (born 1952, London) is a Christian theologian and the Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics at the University of Nottingham where he also directs the Centre of Theology and Philosophy. Milbank previously taught at the University of Virginia and before that at the University of Cambridge. He is also Chairman of the trustees of the ResPublica Trust.

Milbank was educated in Britain, studying at both Oxford University and Cambridge University (where he studied under Rowan Williams) before receiving his PhD degree from the University of Birmingham. His dissertation was on the work of Giambattista Vico under the supervision of Leon Pompa. He is married to Alison Milbank, also a lecturer at the University of Nottingham. They have two children.

Thought

A key part of the controversy surrounding Milbank concerns his view of the relationship between theology and the social sciences. He argues that the social sciences are a product of the modern ethos of secularism, which stems from an ontology of violence. Theology, therefore, should not seek to make constructive use of secular social theory, for theology itself offers a peaceable, comprehensive vision of all reality, extending to the social and political without the need for a social theory based on some level of violence. (As Contemporary Authors summarises his thought, "the Christian mythos alone 'is able to rescue virtue from deconstruction into violent, agonistic difference.'") Milbank is sometimes described as a metaphysical theologian in that he is concerned with establishing a Christian trinitarian ontology. He relies heavily on aspects of the thought of Plato and Augustine, in particular the former's modification by the Neoplatonist philosophers.

Together with Graham Ward and Catherine Pickstock he has helped forge a new trajectory in constructive theology known as "Radical Orthodoxy" — a predominantly Anglo-Catholic approach which is highly critical of modernity.

Bibliography

Books

• Theology and Social Theory, 1990 - (ISBN 0-631-18948-3)
• The Religious Dimension in the Thought of Giambattista Vico, 1668-1744, 2 vols., 1991-92 - (ISBN 0773496947 [pt. 1], ISBN 0773492151 [pt. 2])
• The Mercurial Wood: Sites, Tales, Qualities, 1997 - (ISBN 3705201131)
• The Word Made Strange, 1997 - (ISBN 0-631-20336-2)
• Truth in Aquinas, with Catherine Pickstock, 2000 - (ISBN 0-415-23335-6)
• Being Reconciled: Ontology and Pardon, 2003 - (ISBN 0-415-30525-X)
• The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate concerning the Supernatural, 2005 - (ISBN 0-8028-2899-X)
• The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic?, With Slavoj Žižek, 2009 - (ISBN 9780262012713)

Essays in edited volumes

• "Postmodern Critical Augustinianism: A Short Summa in Forty-two Responses to Unasked Questions", found in The Postmodern God: a Theological Reader, edited by Graham Ward, 1997 - (ISBN 0-631-20141-6)
• "The Last of the Last: Theology in the Church", found in Conflicting Allegiances: The Church-Based University in a Liberal Democratic Society, 2004 - (ISBN 1-58743-063-0)
• "Alternative Protestantism: Radical Orthodoxy and the Reformed Tradition", found in Radical Orthodoxy and the Reformed Tradition: Creation, Covenant, And Participation, 2005 - (ISBN 0-8010-2756-X)
• "Shari'a and the True Basis of Group Rights: Islam, the West, and Liberalism", found in Shari'a in the West, edited by Rex Ahdar and Nicholas Aroney, 2010 - (ISBN 978-0-19-958291-4)

External links

• Interview with John Milbank, 2005
• Interview with John Milbank, 2008
• The Ethics of Self-Sacrifice article in First Things (1999)
• "Christ the Exception" from the Center of Theological Inquiry
• University Profile at the University of Nottingham
• The Centre of Theology and Philosophy, of which Milbank is the director.
• "The Politics of Paradox" from the 2009 TELOS Conference
• [1] Larazus Style Comeback, Times Higher Education 16 April 2009