Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction Reading Räisänen's Biblical Criticism in Context -- Chapter One From Riccoldo to Reimarus to Räisänen -- 1.1. The Significance of Fourteenth Century Quran-criticism -- 1.2. Reimarus, the Quran, and the Criterion of Dissimilarity -- 1.3. Quran-Criticism, Sachkritik, and the Birth of Liberal Theology -- 1.4. Räisänen's Use of Riccoldo's and Reimarus' Principles -- 1.5. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion I -- Chapter Two A Panorama of Natural Theology: The Chain of Interpretation -- 2.1. German Historicism and "Fair Play" in Historical Research -- 2.2. Laying the Foundation: On the Authority of the Bible -- 2.3. Quran-Criticism's Significance for the Chain of Interpretation -- 2.4. Natural Theology and the Problem of "Experience" -- 2.5. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion II -- Chapter Three In the Shadow of Weber: Religion as Culture-Culture as Religion -- 3.1. Weber on the Sociology of Religion -- 3.2. Berger and the Genesis of the Sociology of Knowledge -- 3.3. Sacred Canopy: Symbolic Universe as Superstructure -- 3.4. Core Experience: Solving the Problem of Historicism -- 3.5. On the Paradoxicality of Sociological Structuralism -- 3.6. A Case Study: A Psychosocial Reading of Paul -- 3.7. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion III -- Chapter Four It is All Signs: Reading Poststructuralism -- 4.1. Räisänen and the Linguistic Turn: Against Logocentricism -- 4.2. Paul de Man and the Problem of Metalanguage -- 4.3. From Deconstruction to Death-of-God Theology -- 4.4. Principles of an a/Theology -- 4.5. Questioning the System of Psychological Terrorism -- 4.6. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion IV -- Chapter Five Räisänen's Wolfenbüttelian turn: Dissolving the Old Systema -- 5.1. The Disillusionment of Eschatology -- 5.2. The Decline of Dogmatics: Anthropology, the Concept of Sin, and Judgment.

5.3. God, the Problem of Theodicy, and Predestination Theology -- 5.4. Reinterpreting the Principles of Religion: Christology, Atonement, and Salvation -- 5.5. Confessions as Poetry: On the Way to Universalism -- 5.6. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion V -- Chapter Six The Debate Over New Testament Theology -- 6.1. Reading Gabler -- 6.2. From Stendahl to Barr: What Does it "Mean?" -- 6.3. The Flow of Existentialist Theology -- 6.4. The Resuscitation of Biblical Theology -- 6.5. On Narrative Theology -- 6.6. History-of-Religion Approach: The Legacy of Wrede -- 6.7. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion VI -- Chapter Seven A Chain of Interpretation or a Semiotic Cathedral? -- 7.1. Encountering Theissen's Semiotic Theory -- 7.2. On Defining Semiotics -- 7.3. Consulting Geertz -- 7.4. Wittgenstein, Lindbeck, and Theissen -- 7.5. Between Semiotic Unity and Ecstatic Pluralism -- 7.6. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion VII -- Chapter Eight The Rise of Christian Beliefs -- 8.1. Choosing between Poststructuralism and Historicism -- 8.2. The Rise and Decline of Eschatology -- 8.3. On the Human Condition -- 8.4. Dissolving Christology -- 8.5. Against Doctrine -- 8.6. Contribution to Contemporary Discussion VIII -- Chapter Nine From Quran Criticism to Sociological Reductionism -- 9.1. Reinterpreting Reimarus: The Essence of Religion -- 9.2. Significance of the Weberian Metanarrative -- 9.3. Räisänen's Solution: Sacralized Culturalism -- 9.4. Colliding with the Postmodern -- 9.5. The Fall of Christian Belief -- Chapter Ten Conclusion: Chains of Interpretation -- Bibliography -- Index of Modern Authors -- Index of Subjects.