The Politics of Immortality in Rosenzweig, Barth and Goldberg: Theology and Resistance Between 1914-1945

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Highlighting the central importance of theological configurations of immortality and eternal life from 1914-1945, Mrten Bjrk explores the key writings of Franz Rosenzweig, Karl Barth and Oskar Goldberg to situate their ideas in relation to the political turmoil of the period, including the rise of social Darwinism, nationalism and fascism. The conversations happening among Christian and Jewish theologians and philosophers on the nature of immortality and eternal life during the period constitute what Bjrk calls a politics of immortality. The speculative question of eternal life became a way to address the meaning of a good life in a period when millions of lives were lost to war, camps and prisons. This book shows how theology was related to central political concepts and ideas of the era, revealing how the question of immortality pursued by Rosenzweig, Barth and Goldberg became a way to resist the reduction of life to race, blood and soil. By situating the exact political consequences of theological and metaphysical theories of immortality and eternal life, Bjrks discussion of Rosenzweig, Barth and Goldberg confronts the perennial question on the relation between life and death and exposes the important connections between political theology and philosophical posthumanism.

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This is the most thought-provoking and innovative book about contemporary theology and biopolitcs Ive read in recent years. An essential book not only for students and researchers but also for anyone interested in the perennial question of immortality from a brand-new perspective anchored in the 21st century dilemmas. * Fabin Luduea Romandini, Full Professor of Philosophy, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina *
What is the purpose of our biological lives Survival for the sake of the reproduction of more life Or the redemption of all life, past and future, from the grip of death Bjrk shows how the trauma of the First World War led three very different theologians in Weimar Germany to choose the seemingly impossible option. With clarity and passion, Bjrk explains why their audacious vision for life beyond death remains as necessary today as it was a century ago. * Bruce Rosenstock, Director of Graduate Studies, University of Illinois, USA *
The Politics of Immortality includes masterful presentations of the thought of Franz Rosenzweig, Karl Barth, and Oskar Goldberg; but its major innovation lies in its discovery of a constellation of counter-Darwinian forces that can be found in the configuration of the three thinkers, each of whom sees in life more than survival. * Peter Fenves, Joan and Sarepta Harrison Professor of Literature, Northwestern University, USA *

Author Bio

Mrten Bjrk is Associate Fellow at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, UK, and Researcher at Lund University, Sweden.