Linguistic Theology: Completing Postliberalism's Linguistic Task

The success of postliberal theology can be attributed to two conceptual advances: Barthian anti-foundationalism, on the one hand, and Thomistic analogical predication, on the other. The contribution of Barthian anti-foundationalism is to be found in the way it dissolves certain theoretical difficulties, while the contribution of Thomistic analogical predication resides in the way it legitimates theological judgment in light of these theoretical difficulties. Yet it must be acknowledged that both developments also benefit from the insights of a linguistic philosophy that dominated British philosophy in the mid-twentieth century. Facing down its own theoretical challenges, linguistic philosophy would come to maturation in an American context that emphasized selfexpression, moral perfection, and political life. The task that I have set for myself in the following essay is to reimagine postliberal theology within this context, developing its insights toward new conceptual advances: agreement and separateness, natural conventions, and human possibilities for language. My argument unfolds in five parts: first, I begin with a short exercise in exemplifying the moral work of language; second I restate the role of agreement; third, I contend with postliberalism’s detractors, showing why their objections are misplaced or otherwise unfounded; fourth, I highlight the significance of the body in the linguistic turn; and, finally, I show how this reimagining of postliberal theology renews mystery in theology. Let me begin, then, with an exercise that displays language’s moral work.