Religious Truth is in contrast to True Religion (Caputo, 2001, p. 110).  According to Caputo, the idea that there is a singular Truth, a body of knowledge, that is universally and objectively accessible has been discounted.  Therefore, any creed and/or institutions which claims it has an exclusive claim on Truth is wrong.  Those who definitely declare, “This is always so.  It cannot be any other way,”  are actually irreligious.  They are not lovers.  They are no longer receptive to the impossible.  They do not accept that an impossible still exists.   Rather, they have boxed in reality, given it parameters into which it must stay.  They are not letting the possible come into contact with the impossible.   They are not acting in faith, as those who are unhinged. They are acting out of power and control, a desire for security.  They are firmly attached to a particular view of reality and refuse to be moved.  Their passion is not love, but a rage against the impossible.

FUNDAMENTALISM: HINGED PASSION

The pre-modern era was that time where religion was integrated in everyday experience and encouraged, but unfortunately so was the mistaken epistemic claim of objectivity.  The result was religious intolerance and violence.    Caputo claims that there are individuals today who harken back to pre-modern religious passion  For Caputo, Robert Duvall portrays such an individual, the apostle E.F., in The Apostle. (p. 95)  The apostle E.F. is a Fundamentalist, an individual who is convinced he has gained access to absolute knowledge, to something that everyone could access, but have failed.   Fundamentalism is built on the failed epistemological theories of objectivity, and fails to take into account the role of subjectivity in knowledge.    The result is that Fundamentalist are passionate but lack humility and open-mindedness.  They are not receptive to impossibilities which may yield new possibilities.  They are rigid, hinged so tight that there is no room to swing. They are faithless and not lovers.  They are convinced that they have access to knowledge that trumps.    They have a particular worldview and resist any challenge to it.  They are intolerant toward those who disagree.

THE CURSE OF THE RISE OF SCIENCE

According to Caputo, Fundamentalism is on the rise (p. 91).  The modern era demoted Faith, the unhinging where love is fully realized, in human experience.  Religion was trivialized.  Science  asserted itself as the best vehicle of passion.     Science was elevated as the tool of progress, best equipped to bridge the gap between the possible and impossible.   Science yielded knowledge one could count on, knowledge one could use to grasp the future.  Religion was considered a private endeavor, and really had very little to contribute to progress.  Indeed, religion was seen to discourage progress because it encouraged one to be content with not knowing.     Science was seen to bring predictability and security, power and control.   Unfortunately, during the  modern era Science classified religion as ultimately irrelevant to reality.   Religion therefore became privatized and highly individualistic.  It was seen as optional.  If one was not interested in religious truth, that was acceptable, even encouraged, for it was a waste of time.   If you were a religious devotee, you were expected to keep it to yourself.   You were not to let your opinions shaped by states of passion interfere with facts.  They were not compatible.

This rise of Science in the modern era, as the sole realm of true knowledge, practical knowledge, and the degradation of Religion, can be understood as just another twist on the failed epistemological theories of objectivity.  It contains a failure to recognize the subjective aspect of knowledge.  It assumes that there is a singular Solution that can be grasped, given the right tools.  It saw Religion is tool, but a radically inferior tool to the tool of Science.  In fact, it is so inferior, more often than not it detracts from progress.  It is this view that Caputo reacts strongly against.  That is a misapprehension of religious truth.   We should not confuse the creeds and institutions, which are historical formulations of religious truth, from actual religious truth, the earnestness and receptivity to the impossible.   For if we are to be honest, Science is useful for predicting the future, but it fails to be of an assistance when we have encountered what Caputo calls the “absolute future,” the limits of the possible (p. 8).  Science may have great sight, but it does not see all.  It eventually sees the horizon, and it is not equipped to respond to what lays just beyond.   Religious truth is that which allows us to be receptive to the absolute future.  Therefore, Science and Religion are not opposed.  They are not trying to get at the same objective knowledge, competing with each other in the act.  Rather they work in concert.

POST-MODERNITY: MAY THE FORCE BE WITH US

Caputo embraces the postmodern era as time when we have learned from pre-modern and modern era.  We recognize the subjectively of knowledge.  We should recognize that Science and Religion are not opposed.  Caputo holds up the Stars Wars mythology as an example of the right relationship between science and religion (p. 78).    In the Star Wars universe, Science and Religion are not distinct.  This dualism is resolved because it is “dissolved” (Caputo, 2001, p. 86).  Jedi passion, Jedi institutions and Jedi technology cannot be separated.  They are so tightly integrated that one cannot “use the Force” without coming into contact with, and embracing all.  Because Jedi are receptive, The Force flows through unadulterated, and they bridge the gap between the impossible and possible.   For Caputo, the postmodern era contains the hope that religious truth will be restored to its rightly place, as a good and necessary part of the human experience if we are to live life to its fullest.