Dominican Study Centre
for Theology and Society

Research projects

The first research project 1994-1998 was entitled,  ‘Ambiguities of (post)modernity. A search for a liberating theology in the context of Western Europe’. It refers to the transformation of our culture from modernity to postmodernity. Postmodernity is the realization that the processes of rationalization in the spirit of the Enlightenment did not bring about the desired goal of the emancipation of humankind. On the contrary, they contributed to the destruction of individuals and minorities.  The postmodern world is a world in which an open mind to difference is required, rather than a quest for unity. In this period of 1994-1998 the members of staff tried to reflect theologically on the challenge of a postmodern worldview.

The project resulted into four collections of essays: ‘Theological views of postmodernist reality and thought’ (1995), ‘Personal identity and faith in a world challenged by differences’ (1996), ‘Theological reflections on difference and connection’ (1997), ‘Day-to-day reality and God’s presence in theological perspective’ (1998).

The second research project 1999-2003 was entitled ‘The theological quest for salvation in a post-traditional context’.  The central question was which significance Christian concepts of salvation can still have in a fragmented postmodern society and culture that does not hand down any longer those concepts automatically. The promise of salvation that modern society with its deification of rational order and its expectation of a better future, build by sheer human power, dangled for people’s eyes has become unworthy of belief. People react to this by looking for salvation that transcends the present fragmentation, albeit for just a moment. What is the relationship between this search for salvation today and the ancient Christian concepts of salvation such as promise, tradition, and revelation?

The project resulted again into four collections of essays: ‘The open market of happiness: looking for salvation in our time’ (2000), ‘Handed over to the future: Christian tradition in a post-traditional time’ (2001), ‘Revelation takes place’ (2002) and ‘On the promise of the fullness of life’ (2003). After publication every book was presented and discussed at a symposium.

In spring 2004 a new research project will start. The project’s title is: ‘The transformation of Christian identity. Cultural and religious difference as a challenge to theology’.  In a postmodern society Christian identity is changing. Can one still speak of a Christian identity and if so, how should one conceive it? There are two lines of approach; on the one hand the Christian identity as challenged by the cultural and religious plurality today, and on the other the Christian identity as challenged by the paradoxical character of the social and cultural emancipatory goals of modernity. The two approaches link the quest for Christian identity with the question how to relate to those who are different from us, and with the question how to achieve ‘the good life for everyone’.