Keller, Catherine 1953-

views updated

Keller, Catherine 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born March 30, 1953. Education: Undergraduate studies in Heidelberg, Germany; Eden Seminary, St. Louis, MO, M.Div., 1977; Claremont Graduate School, Ph.D., 1984.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Theologian, educator, and writer. Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, assistant professor, c. 1984-86; Drew University, Madison, NJ, professor of constructive theology, beginning 1986.

WRITINGS:

From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1986.

Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1996.

(Editor and contributor, with Anne Daniell) Process and Difference: Between Cosmological and Poststructuralist Postmodernisms, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), 2002.

Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, Routledge (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor, with Michael Nausner and Mayra Rivera) Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire, Chalice Press (St. Louis, MO), 2004.

God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

(Editor and contributor, with Virginia Burrus) Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of Discipline, Fordham University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

(Editor and contributor, with David R Griffin, John B. Cobb, Jr., and Richard A. Falk) The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: A Political, Economic, Religious Statement, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2006.

(Editor and contributor, with Laurel Kearns) Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth, Fordham University Press (New York, NY), 2007.

(Editor) On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2008.

Contributor to books, including Women's Conscience, Women's Consciousness: A Reader in Feminist Ethics, edited by Adolsen and Gudorf, Seabury, 1985; Postmodern Visions, Volume I, edited by David Griffin, SUNY Press, 1988; Spirit-Centered Wholeness, edited by Howard Clinebell, 1988; Process and Archetype, edited by David Griffin, Northwestern Press, 1989; Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, edited by Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein, Sierra Club Press, 1990; The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation, edited by John B. Cobb, Jr., and Christopher Ives, Orbis Books, 1990; Images of the End in Christian Theology, edited by Roger Williamson, Life & Peace Institute, 1991; On Community ("Boston University Studies Philosophy & Religion," Volume 12), edited by Leroy S. Rouner, University of Notre Dame Press, 1991; Ecofeminism and the Sacred, edited by Carol J. Adams, Continuum, 1993; Jesus and Faith: A Conversation on the Work of John Dominic Crossan, edited by J. Carlson and R. Ludwig, Orbis Books, 1994; Reconstructing Christian Theology, edited by Rebecca S. Chopp and Mark Lewis Taylor, Fortress Press, 1994; Ecotheology: Voices from South and North, edited by David Hallman, Orbis Books, 1994; Population, Consumption, and the Environment: Religious and Secular Responses, edited by Harold Coward, SUNY Press, 1995; Theology for Earth Community: A Field Guide, edited by Dieter T. Hessel, Orbis Books, 1996; The Year 2000: Essays in the End, edited by Charles B. Strozier, New York University Press, 1997; A Companion to Feminist Philosophy, edited by Alison M. Jaggar and Iris Marion Young, Blackwell Publishers, 1998; Introduction to Christian Theology, edited by Roger Badham, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998; Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans, Harvard Press, 2000; Postmodern Interpretations of the Bible: A Reader, edited by A.K.M. Adam, Chalice, 2001; Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics and the New War, edited by Jon L. Berquist, Chalice, 2002; World without End: Christian Eschatology from a Process Perspective, edited by Joseph Bracken, Eerdman, 2005; Derrida and Religion: Other Testaments, edited by Yvonne Sherwood and Kevin Hart, Routledge, 2005; Continental Philosophy, edited by John Panteleimon Manoussakis, Fordham, 2006; Interpreting the Postmodern: Responses to Radical Orthodoxy, edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether and Marion Grau, T&T Clark, 2006; and Theology That Matters: Economy, Ecology and God, edited by Darby Ray, Fortress, 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Soundings, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Christian Century, Eden Journal, Theology Today, Buddhist-Christian Studies, Process Studies, Dialog, Ecotheology, Creative Transformation, Quarterly Review, and the Journal of Chinese Philosophy. Also contributor of book reviews to periodicals and journals. From a Broken Web has been published in German.

SIDELIGHTS:

Catherine Keller teaches and writes across a wide range of contemporary theological and religious studies. She is the author and editor of numerous books, many of which pertain to systematic, or constructive, theology in its contemporary form. Her writings address topics in feminist and gender studies; metaphorical, biblical, and literary readings; process and poststructuralist philosophies; and practices of ecological and social justice. The author is also a practicing United Methodist minister who preaches and teaches in multicontextual, multireligious settings.

In her 1996 book Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World, the author explores the various ways that the Christian prophecy of the apocalypse has impacted Western thought and history. Using readings from the Bible, theology and philosophy, feminist and poststructuralist theory, fiction and poetry, as well as history and politics, the author investigates how the myth of the apocalypse has shaped the West's basic habits of text, time, place, community, and gender. In the process, Keller discusses how this myth has linked movements and events ranging from colonialism and urbanization to nineteenth-century American feminism and the modern environmental crisis.

Writing in the preface to Apocalypse Now and Then, the author notes that the book "does not … confine itself to any particular cultural movement or moment but offers a theological hermeneutic with which to read both the Apocalypse and its multifarious (only sometimes nefarious) effects." In her book, the author also constructs a counter-apocalypse view that includes the need for justice without surrendering to the doomsday dualisms of the end of times as described in the Bible. "This is a challenging, exhilarating, even daring book," Mary Grey wrote of Apocalypse Now and Then in Ecotheology: Journal of Religion, Nature & the Environment.

Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, published in 2003, presents an alternative representation of the cosmic creative process. "Face of the Deep is a gorgeously written book, sparkling on the surface with brilliant and sometimes unexpected interplays of biblical, rabbinic, literary, philosophical, astrophysical, and mystical citations," wrote Laurel C. Schneider in the Journal of Religion. Sallie McFague, writing in Interpretation, noted: "One needs to take a deep breath and to cross one's fingers when attempting to summarize the primary themes or argument of Keller's magnificent new book."

In Face of the Deep, Keller presents a work of postmodern feminist theology in which she deconstructs the Christian doctrine of creation, which claims that a transcendent God unilaterally created the universe out of nothing. In the process, the author draws on Hebrew myths of creation from chaos and the work of postmodern and feminist continental philosophers. Within her discussion, the author engages mystical, literary, scientific, sexual, and racial thought. "This is a very important book, which will shape the theological discussion on creation for some time to come," wrote Hilda P. Koster in the Anglican Theological Review.

Keller is also the editor, with Michael Nausner and Mayra Rivera, of Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire. The essays in this collection examine the relation of theology with postcolonial theory, that is, a set of theories that deal with the cultural legacy of colonial rule. Featuring a wide range of theological thinkers, the book includes both essays presented at a theological conference held by Drew University as well as new essays. "The major concern of this volume is how to break the intransigence or reluctance of systematic theologians to wrestle with the reality of colonialism and its implications for systematic theology," noted Michael N. Jagessar in Black Theology: An International Journal. Jagessar later commented in the same review that "this book is a good resource for scholars of religion and theology, religion and culture, as well as seminarians, theology students and ministers."

God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys, was called "vintage Keller," by Anglican Theological Review contributor Marion Grau, who added that "it never ceases to amaze, please, and challenge through its critically incisive and yet profoundly compassionate, healing theological vision." In the book, the author examines the use of American power and the advent of an "American empire" within religious issues of power, terror, territory, and love. Pondering what the author sees as a deeply troubled political unconscious, Keller explores the relationship between politics, power, and religion as well as the deeply fraught legacy of Christian apocalypticism. According to Keller, both political and religious factions of the right and left see the modern situation in apocalyptic terms but that they do not truly understand this complex legacy. Keller goes on to analyze the Book of Revelation and to propose a counter-apocalypse, anti-imperial political theology of love. According to Interpretation contributor Wendy Farley: "Keller is a formidable scholar, writing with unusually rich linguistic and philosophical sophistication."

Keller is the editor, with Virginia Burrus, of Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of Discipline. The book presents eighteen essays, including contributions by the coeditors, that examine what theology has to say about the place of eroticism in the lives of men and women, especially in terms of the eroticism's power to save and redeem. In exploring the largely uncharted territory of theological erotics, the book's contributors examine the far reaches of theory along with the day-to-day realities of politics and life. "None of these essays is vain posturing," noted Roderick T. Leupp in the Journal of Psychology and Theory. "In some sly ways these authors have it right. The erotic has too frequently been ignored as inconsequential, a cause for embarrassment or noble sublimation."

Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth, published in 2007, is a collection of essays examining the possibility of a shift in environmental thinking radical enough to permeate the ancient roots of human beings' sensibility and social practices. Edited by Keller and Laurel Kearns, the book explores everything from new language for imagining the earth as a living ground to current constructions of nature in theology, science, and philosophy. "This … hopeful book will help readers become more earthy, more spiritual, more reflective, and more active," commented Steve Young in a review in Library Journal.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Keller, Catherine, Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Anglican Theological Review, fall, 2006, Hilda P. Koster, review of Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, pp. 643-644, and Marion Grau, review of God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys, pp. 644-645.

Black Theology: An International Journal, July, 2005, Michael N. Jagessar, review of Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire, pp. 248-251.

Choice, June, 1993, review of From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self, p. 1585; June, 1997, review of Apocalypse Now and Then, p. 1680; October, 2003, S.H. Webb, review of Face of the Deep, p. 1094; December, 2005, D.A. Brown, review of God and Power, p. 677.

Ecotheology: Journal of Religion, Nature & the Environment, January, 1999, Mary Grey, review of Apocalypse Now and Then, p. 239.

Interpretation, January, 2005, Sallie McFague, review of Face of the Deep, p. 82; October, 2006, Wendy Farley, review of God and Power, p. 480; April, 2007, review of The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: A Political, Economic, Religious Statement, p. 239.

Journal of Psychology and Theology, summer, 2007, Roderick T. Leupp, review of Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of Discipline, p. 167.

Journal of Religion, July, 1988, Marie McCarthy, review of From a Broken Web, p. 481; October, 2004, Laurel C. Schneider, review of Face of the Deep, p. 639.

Journal of the American Academy of Religion, summer, 1998, Peter C. Hodgson, review of Apocalypse Now and Then, p. 441; September, 2007, Corey D.B. Walker, review of Face of the Deep, p. 733.

Library Journal, May 15, 2007, Steve Young, review of Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth, p. 96.

Modern Theology, October, 1998, Miroslav Volf, review of Apocalypse Now and Then, p. 563.

National Catholic Reporter, May 12, 1989, William C. Graham, review of From a Broken Web, p. 34.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2007, review of Ecospirit.

Theological Studies, December, 2005, Matthew Levering, review of Face of the Deep, p. 905.

Theology Today, July, 1997, Ted Peters, review of Apocalypse Now and Then, p. 243; October, 2004, B. Jill Carroll, review of Face of the Deep, p. 389.