The word impleri is the Latin passive infinitive of the verb impleo, implere, literally meaning ‘to be completed’. We, as people living on this earth, have yet to be finished. The goal of this site is to delineate a faith in progress that is situated between the many extremes theological thinking can take perhaps in a differently radical way. My main pursuit here is in the field of hermeneutics, specifically where it spans across both philosophy and theology, and the application of those to the public, ‘secular’ sphere (politics, economics, culture theory, etc). I consider this site to be semi-professional — that is, the notions I express here are often works in progress, thoughts, and notes. Constructive feedback is welcome and appreciated. However, tied to the semi-professional is also the semi-casual (or semi-personal), which will be found in posts completely unrelated to any kind of academic study (e.g. technology news, vacation ideas/tips, links to sites that will drain one’s free time, etc) as well as the caveat that even the more ‘academic’ bits are in progress, incomplete, and perhaps slightly skewed in all the wrong (or right) ways.
About Me
I recently completed my PhD thesis at the University of Glasgow within the School of Critical Studies (Theology and Religious Studies) under the supervision of Werner Jeanrond (now Master at St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford) and David Jasper. My primary area of study is contemporary continental philosophy and theology, with my focus divided between systematic and philosophical theology, especially ecumenism and ecclesiology roughly since WW1 and French continental thought after May 1968. My library page chronicles every book I have completely read since 1 September 2005 (when I began my MA program at the University of Denver); a number of those books have been read multiple times. I can be found on Academia quite easily.
My thesis argues for a reconfiguration of understanding the Christian identity in terms of orthodoxy and heterodoxy. I employ the philosophies of Gilles Deleuze and Paul Ricoeur in tandem to develop a theory of identity, following some recent and emerging trends (e.g. Declan Sheerin’s work). From this theory of identity, I analyse the notion of orthodoxy in terms of identity construction and argue that the central focus of orthodoxy movements has been that of power and authority rather than doctrinal ‘purity’ or ‘truth’. Finally, I argue that modern ecumenism and, subsequently, ecclesial understanding must move past the allure of power in order to create a space for actual dialogue. To this end, I weave together notions and concepts from various twentieth-century theologians (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, David Tracy, and Karl Rahner) to construct a notion of polydoxy, something which I argue can already be found in liberation theologies (particularly those in Latin America) as well as church documents across denominational boundaries.
Originally, I am from New Orleans, but I have also lived in Denver as well as Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to my PhD, I have received an MA degree in religious theory and critical studies from the University of Denver. I am married to a wonderful woman who puts up with all of my random thoughts, talk of philosophy and theology, and the eccentricities which make me me. We recently welcomed our first child into the world. Currently, I am employed at a small web design firm where I develop scripts using PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, and HTML for websites. In the brief fancies of ‘free time’, I also contribute to multiple Open Source PHP-based communitied (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc). I also snowboard, play guitar, cook (not just grill), and enjoy science fiction/fantasy novels (especially well-planned series).
Contact Me
Email: christopher@take@this_bit#ten.irelpminull@tuo. If I don’t respond in a timely manner, it may be because my aggressive spam filter caught the email or I may be overly busy and forget to reply. Please accept my apologies in advance, and sending it a second time might help.
Social Networking: Yes, I do exist on these sites. However, I try to keep those connections to people who I’ve met in real life. If I don’t accept your friend request, it is probably because I don’t recognize your name and/or face.