Is There a Set of Problems That Theological Genealogies of Modernity Are Mostly Trying to Address?

One of modernity’s many attributes is its ingratitude towards the past. Both through forgetfulness of pre-modern thought and ways of being (whether intentional or accidental), and also by reconfiguring pre-modern narratives to make them palatable to modern minds, a rupture is created between past and present. But what if these reconfigured or “misremembered” discourses in fact embody thoughts and ideas long dead and forgotten?

This is one of many intriguing ideas presented by Cyril O’Regan, theologian at Notre Dame University. By revealing the ways that Hegel, Blake, and others have adapted and distorted Christian doctrine through Gnostic lenses, he works to unveil “doppleganger” forms of Christianity that leave modern minds too comfortable, forcing us to the intellectual honesty of confronting ourselves as sinners in a world created by a God who is benevolent, but far beyond our comprehension.

Using the metaphors of anatomy, haunting, and genealogical battles, Cyril and Ryan engage in a conversation ranging from poetry to ancestry to children’s literature, helping to illumine some of the places obscured by the shadow of abandoned heresies and forgetfulness.