Book Description

This book is a translation of Overbeck's famous text, Ueber die Christlichkeit unserer heutigen Theologie (1873, second edition 1903), together with an introduction and notes. The complete original work is translated, including the Introduction and Epilogue, which incorporates some of Overbeck's late reflections on his friendship with Nietzsche and on theology. The unique feature of this book is that it is the first translation into English of any substantial publication by Overbeck. This is also the only work of a programmatic nature that Overbeck ever published on the vexed issue of theology's relationship to Christianity. It raises questions about Christianity in the modern world and the role of theology within religion that still need to be answered. As David Tracy has written, "Overbeck's friend Nietzsche used a hammer against theology; Overbeck himself used a scalpel. And Overbeck is finally the deeper challenge for theology."This translation will make Overbeck's classic work available to a wider public, and thus contribute to a better appreciation of his profound and still unanswered questions for contemporary Christianity.