50 Key Concepts in Theology

Radical Orthodoxy
The view of orthodoxy as an ‘organic language of tradition’ which has been
marginalised by secular modernity.
The Radical Orthodoxy movement in theology began in the 1990s with a
group of Cambridge academics inspired by the theologian John Milbank. His
Theology and Social Theory (1990) was a landmark text, setting out what he
saw as the fatal errors of modern Christian theology, along with his remedy:
radical orthodoxy.
In Milbank’s analysis, everything started to go wrong with theology in
the thirteenth century – in particular, with the theology of Duns Scotus. From
this time people started to think of the world as a secular space within which
human beings could act as free creators, designing their own societies and
planning their futures without reference to God. Before this time (according
to Milbank’s thesis) there was an assumed theology of ‘participation’ which
saw everything and everybody as part of God’s creation. So in pre-modern
times, there was no ‘secular’ world and human life was regarded as part of
God’s creative activity.
According to Milbank, the consequences of secularisation have been
devastating, turning human beings from creatures ‘made in God’s image’ into
isolated individuals who act out their lives on a secular stage, imposing their
will upon nature and other human beings. The divine pre-modern world,
participating in the life of God, was replaced by a disenchanted human
existence. Milbank describes secularism as ‘nihilistic’ because it is so
disconnected from the real divine source of meaning and value. Instead of
challenging this nihilistic secularism, liberal theologians have, says Milbank,
colluded with them, effectively de-Christianising Christianity.
For Milbank, post-modernism provides Western Christendom with a
unique opportunity, because we are at last acknowledging the failure of
modern secular ideologies. In this context it is possible to assert once more
the pre-modern Christian world-view of divine participation. Milbank argues
that Christianity must rediscover its orthodox identity by returning to the
shared mythic narrative of Christianity: its rituals, stories and practices. This
orthodoxy is ‘radical’ because it challenges and subverts the received wisdom
and values of secular culture.
One of the effects of secular thinking has been the dethroning of theology
from its ancient status as ‘Queen of the Sciences’. Theology now has to jostle
in an unseemly way with all kinds of secular thinking. Milbank argues that

---

theology is not just another way of thinking, on a par with the natural or
social sciences. If theological claims are truly theological – if theology is
really talking about the divine foundation of all reality – then theological
thinking must logically precede every other kind of discourse.
Since the mid 1990s Radical Orthodoxy has become increasingly popular
among young theologians. But it has also been subject to criticism. Milbank’s
sweeping historical analysis of the rise of secularism has raised a few
eyebrows. Others have argued that Radical Orthodoxy is really just an activity
for a select band of academics and that (unlike, say, the nineteenth-century
Oxford Movement) it has failed to inspire any notable examples of Christian
practice.
The long-term impact of Radical Orthodoxy remains to be seen. No one
can doubt the stimulus that it has provided to contemporary theology. But it is
doubtful whether there is sufficient vitality in the ideas to make any difference
to the fate of Western Christendom.
THINKERS
John Milbank (1952– ): the leading thinker in Radical Orthodoxy.
Catherine Pickstock (1970– ): one of the founding theologians of Radical
Orthodoxy. She has argued for the importance of liturgy in understanding the
concept of ‘participation’.
Graham Ward (1955– ): one of the founding theologians of Radical
Orthodoxy.
IDEAS
Mythos: a term used by Milbank to designate the narrative nature of the
Christian tradition.
Non-identical repetition: the idea that orthodoxy must perpetuate itself by
repeating its historic rituals, stories and practices, but always in a new time
and in new cultural circumstances.