A Disputation on Theological Universality: The Representation of Christianity by Slavoy Žižek and John Milbank

Abstract

The question this paper asks is whether theology can still claim universality. With the rise of multivalent postmodern theologies and of politically-correct mandates in public space, theology as a discipline ceases to make universal claims. However, a series of recent debates between two radically different thinkers brings a renewed philosophico-theological interest in the universal claim of Christianity. The paper focuses on the debate between Hegelian-Lacanian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and Anglican theologian John Milbank in their attempt to articulate the universal claim of Christianity vis-à-vis the domianant global political economy. The first section discusses the ontological and genealogical bases of their understanding of Christian universality. The fundamentally diverse ontologies of void (Žižek) and of peace (Milbank) are situated in the history of theology. The second section examines the role that the representation of Christ plays in Žižek and Milbank's claim of theological universality in relation to the concept of freedom.