Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- CHAPTER 1 Realism and Christian faith: towards an ontological approach -- INTRODUCTION -- TOWARDS AN ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH -- Some terminological clarifications -- The most real idol? -- TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENTS FOR REALISM -- Transcendental arguments from truth to God -- Outline of the argument of this book -- CHAPTER 2 'Limping with two different opinions'? -- ON BEING A REALIST ABOUT THE LIVING GOD -- What's in a name? -- The living God names himself -- Name and narrative -- 'Protocols against idolatry' -- THE FALSE ASSIMILATION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH TO THEISM -- Proposition A: One way of avoiding idolatry is to adopt a methodological distinction between the God of philosophical theism… -- Proposition B: Central elements of Christian faith resist explanation -- The Christ-event -- Explanation and suffering in Christian experience -- CHAPTER 3 Taking leave of theological realism -- EMPIRICISM AND REALISM IN THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE -- THE FALSE ASSIMILATION OF DOCTRINAL ACTIVITY TO SCIENTIFIC THEORIZING -- Data and epistemology in science and theology -- Prediction and progress in science and theology -- Spectatorial empiricism? -- IS THEOLOGICAL REALISM ANALOGOUS TO SCIENTIFIC REALISM? -- The problem of underdetermination -- The problem of pessimism -- THE FALSE ASSIMILATION OF THE BIBLICAL GOD TO THE STATUS OF A SCIENTIFICALLY UNOBSERVABLE ENTITY -- Scientific realism on (un)observability -- Towards a biblical view of the (un)observability of God -- CHAPTER 4 Realism and Christian faith after Wittgenstein -- THE GRAMMAR OF FAITH -- PHILLIPS, GRAMMAR, AND REALISM -- Phillips contra realism? -- Phillips pro realism? -- The Sea of Faith and the fallibility of practices -- Reductionism, autonomous practices, and the grammar of 'God' -- LINDBECK, GRAMMAR, AND REALISM.

The cultural-linguistic approach and realism -- Lindbeck on language and truth -- Some difficulties with Lindbeck's approach -- Intratextuality, extratextuality, and realism -- CHAPTER 5 The grammar of Christian faith and the relationship between philosophy and theology -- THE GRAMMAR OF FAITH REVISITED -- PRACTISING THE PRESENCE? -- THE GRAMMAR OF FAITH AND THE REALITY OF GOD -- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY -- Philosophy's gift to theology -- Philosophy in theological perspective -- Towards a 'dialectical fideism' -- CHAPTER 6 Representation, reconciliation, and the problem of meaning -- IDOLATRY AND THE CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION -- REPRESENTATION AND REVELATION -- Christ the representative -- Christ the revealer -- IDOLATRY, REPRESENTATION, AND RECONCILIATION -- RECONCILIATION AND THE PROBLEM OF MEANING -- A transcendental argument for meaning? -- Dialectical fideism and the problem of meaning -- Deconstruction and the meaningfulness of Christian language -- THE LANGUAGE OF SOTERIOLOGY AS A TEST CASE -- The Rahnerian alternative -- The failure of Rahner's approach -- TOWARDS A THEOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF MEANING -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 7 God, reality, and realism -- GOD AND HUMANITY -- GOD, COVENANT, ONTOLOGY, AND EPISTEMOLOGY -- The covenanting God -- The concepts of nature and history in the light of the covenant -- Ontology and epistemology in the light of the consummation of the covenant -- Ontology -- Objectivity and subjectivity in epistemology -- THE ROLE OF REALISM IN CHRISTIAN FAITH -- Some misconceptions -- Realism as a research programme -- Realism as a practical postulate -- Realism as an assumption of Christianity -- Realism as a necessary condition of rational faith -- Realism and Christian faith -- Realism expresses an ontological commitment to God's prevenience -- Realism is regulative -- CONCLUSION.

CHAPTER 8 Speaking the reality of God -- MARTYRDOM AND THE END OF CHRISTIAN LIFE -- SPEECH ACT THEORY -- SPEECH ACTS AND THE PROMISES OF GOD -- CALVARY AND THE TELEOLOGICAL SUSPENSION OF MEANING -- Jesus as hearer and fulfiller of the promise -- Derrida, the teleological suspension of meaning, and the fulfilment of God's promise -- CHAPTER 9 Realism: conformed to the conforming word -- CHRISTOCENTRIC REALISM AND REALITY UNDER A DESCRIPTION -- Against metaphysical realism -- A creaturely perspective on realism -- REALISM AND NARRATIVE -- CONFORMING THE WORD TO THE WORLD -- Where is the meaning of the Bible? -- Scripture and teleology -- The Bible as perlocutionary effect of God's speech acts -- CONFORMING THE WORLD TO THE WORD -- Teleology, story, worship -- The sending of the word -- References -- Index of scripture references -- Index of names and subjects.