Abstract

Two competing interpretations of the place of theology in the development of modern western culture are considered in this dissertation. The one is known under the rubric of "secularization," the other as "reoccupation." In this debate the idea of secularization refers to a gradual process in which medieval Christian beliefs were transformed in the modern era into non-religious ways of thinking. An implication that follows from this is that theological beliefs have had an important, if also hidden, part in shaping modern western culture. This thesis was defended by Karl Lowith and Friedrich Gogarten in the fifties and was subsequently accepted by a broad range of scholarship in the sixties and seventies. ;Against the secularization thesis, Hans Blumenberg argues in The Leqitimacy of the Modern Age that the idea of "reoccupation" is the correct explanation of the place of theology in modern western culture. He contends that the medieval theological tradition was unable to answer the guiding questions of its era and that this failure resulted in the rejection of the medieval theological understanding of the world. The "legitimacy" of the modern age resides then in the necessary and successful reoccupation of the theological tradition by a rationality more beneficial to human life. ;In response to this debate this dissertation contends that the notion of secularization is a plausible description of some aspects of the modern age but its applicability is limited and it is difficult to verify historically. Secondly, it is argued that the idea of reoccupation does not offer a credible understanding of the development of western culture because of its dependency on an implausible interpretation of the medieval theological tradition. Finally, it is argued that neither the legitimacy of illegitimacy of the modern age is able to be established solely on the basis of the historical arguments offered by either side