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Metz's Response to Secularization
From a Transcendental-Linear to a Utopic Theology of History
This chapter begins by examining Johann Baptist Metz’s early understanding of the modern process of secularization and his effort to present a positive interpretation of this process in light of Catholic theology. By tracing the manner in which Metz approached this task in his writing through 1966, we will see that it was through engaging the process of secularization that a distinctive eschatology emerged in his theological program. His transcendental-linear theology of history presented a productive apologetic resource, allowing him to affirm the ongoing validity of Christianity for those who experienced the process of secularization as a threat to their faith. The advantages of this tack, the legitimization of both Christianity and the secularization process, complement his early apologetic interests. As we will see, though, encounters with new interlocutors, particularly Ernst Bloch, repositioned his evaluation of the cultural situation and
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