A Critical Phenomenology of Christian Bodily Affect: Sin, Liturgy, and the Kingdom of God

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Rebekka Alexandra Klein, since 8/2023
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461453024

This project offers a contemporary theological-philosophical account of the body. It takes as its starting point the widely-held assumption that conceptions of the body in the West have often been ascribed an inferior and subordinate status. The corollary is all too evident, not only historically, but also today in the ‘age of pandemics’, where the (in)visibility of the body and forms of violence perpetuated against it have become common occurrences. Aligning with recent intellectual trends which have sought to overturn this dynamic, the primary aim of this project is to produce a description of the body that can aid theological reflection by re-interpreting some of its own – often problematic – doctrinal claims, and assessing what impact this might have for religious and political life. In order to achieve this, the project has set for itself three main objectives.First, it pursues a description of the body informed by the most recent work in the field of phenomenology. It then goes a step further, by incorporating insights from the emerging field of ‘affect theory’. Affect theory attempts to articulate ‘forces’ which are at play from 'within' and from 'without' the body, but which do not always rise-up to the level of consciousness. Operating pre-cognitively, these forces or affects, provide a powerful analytic resource for understanding ‘how bodies are moved’ in ways that are not always available to discursive or phenomenological forms of knowledge. The objective is thus to articulate a novel philosophical approach to bodily life, namely, a “critical phenomenology of bodily affect.” The second objective is methodological, i.e. how to bring into conversation this philosophical interpretation of the body with theology? The history of this relationship is fraught; should theology exclude philosophical insight, must philosophy usurp theology, or should both be kept separate? Engaging debates in the ‘continental turn to religion’, the study hopes to show not only that these disciplines are necessarily intertwined, but that it is only on such a basis that a genuine encounter between them can occur. Following from this methodological step, the third objective is to produce a ‘constructive’ engagement between this philosophical approach to bodily life and Christian theology. The primary doctrinal medium for this engagement will be the Christian dynamic of sin and grace. While the contemporary theological relevancy of sin is hotly debated, this study hopes to make its contribution by not only aiding theological reflection on sin, but also by determining what consequences this might have for religious and political life. A phenomenologically-affective body, gives to the theological notion of sin a renewed sense of importance, as well as itself becoming a part of the transformative movements of grace.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Calvin Ullrich, until 7/2023