Radical Orthodoxy as a response to the challenges of postmodernism and Modernism

Abstract

The article examines the movement known as “Radical Orthodoxy” as a significant phenomenon of contemporary theological thought that emerged in the English-speaking academic context in the late 1990s. The aim of the study is to analyze the core tenets and program of Radical Orthodoxy, identify the reasons for its popularity, and assess its place within the broader post-secular shift. The methodology draws on primary sources (works by J. Milbank, C. Pickstock, G. Ward) and contemporary scholarship, including dissertations and overview articles, applying approaches from intellectual history and comparative analysis. The article outlines six key concepts of the movement (participation, rejection of secular dualism, being as gift, knowledge as anticipation, the social dimension of salvation, the analogy of being) and its socio-political agenda (critique of secularization, Christian socialism, social responsibility, the interrelation of theology and politics). It is shown that Radical Orthodoxy combines a polemic against both modernism and postmodernism with an attempt to propose a comprehensive theological worldview rooted in tradition. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the certain similarity between Radical Orthodoxy and Christian modernism as responses to the challenges of their respective eras, despite fundamentally different strategies. The author concludes that the popularity of Radical Orthodoxy reflects a broader cultural trend towards seeking integrated worldviews that unite faith, reason, and social practice.