The Fractured Self and the Primacy of the Future: Edward Schillebeeckx and the Eschatological Horizon

In light of the problem of the postmodern ‘de-centered’ subject for Christianity, this paper will attempt to address the loss of a common expectation horizon of the eschatological future. Here, we will situate this loss in terms of the wider collapse of modern meta-narratives and the loss of the primacy and critical power of the future; this situation leads to an incomplete and even shattered process of identity formation for Christians in this context. By recovering elements of Edward Schillebeeckx’s eschatology, we will suggest a way forward by drawing on the wider Christian tradition and hope for salvation as an essential element for the ongoing process of identity formation, while using his thought to critique contemporary trends in culture, religion, and economics. Ultimately, the fractured postmodern ‘self’ is formed without a clear future horizon, but still retains an eschatological unity.DOI: 10.1017/hor.2016.5status: publishe