The Death Of God And The Journey Of Self: An Interpretation Of Mark. C. Taylor's ERRING: A Postmodern A/Theology

In this paper, we will give a brief introduction about Mark. C. Taylor's works and his deconstruction A/theology firstly, then we will expound the historical journey of "the Death of God" according to ERRING: A Postmodern A/Theology that is Taylor's the most important works in his theology. In this historic deconstructing interpretation, Taylor rethinks and critiques Modernism based on the humanistic atheism and consciousness philosophy in terms of postmodern philosophical and theological position, furthermore gives and determines the significance of "the Death of God" at the end of retrospective significance generation that is the postmodernism.The realization of "the Death of God" had experienced four stages: (1) the murder of God. The humanistic atheism replaced "the name of father" instead of "the name of self. This shift results in the undialectical inversion of classical theology into modern anthropology. (2) Self regressed into narcissism. After liberated from the rule of the despotic and transcendent father who was the symbol of repression and liberation, self regressed into narcissism, in which the self began his great "causa Sui project" in the name of reason and humanity. The "causa Sui project" described as "the psychology of mastery" and "the economy of domination". In the level of philosophy, self's narcissism and its "self-deify" reached his peak in German classical philosophy. (3) The beginning of delayed mourn over God's death. The beginning of the condolences mechanism by which subject had tried to get rid of his narcissism, as well as the beginning of the critique and reflection for the "causa Sui project" caused the suppressed guilt of patricide. This condolences mechanism started at the end of the German classical philosophy, its mainly agents are Nietzsche,Freud and Marx. (4) The appearance of the new desire object. The purpose of the condolences mechanism is help subject get rid of his narcissism and establish a new desire object, self has conscious get rid of his narcissism gradually at the end of the condolences and in the postmodern critique and deconstruction, at the same time, the self and subject has gradual disappearance and the new desire object autrui that was the symbol of the absolute alterity and otherness has finally present.