EARLY CAREER SUBGRANTS
Funding emerging scholars researching theology, philosophy, and contemporary religious disaffiliation.
The questions below illustrate the kinds of theological and philosophical problems the project is interested in. Applicants do not need to address all of these questions. Proposals may focus on one or more questions, or develop a related question that advances the broader theme of autonomy.
Does Christian pessimism offer hope in matters of religious and existential crisis?
What does this mean?
This question asks whether a theological recognition of suffering, uncertainty, loss, and the limits of human understanding can itself become a resource for hope. Rather than treating pessimism simply as the rejection of hope, it invites consideration of whether Christian theology can acknowledge the realities of religious and existential crisis without requiring certainty or optimism.
Possible areas to explore
- Christian pessimism and theological hope
- Suffering, loss, and existential crisis
- The limits of human knowledge and understanding
- Hope amid uncertainty
- Eschatology and Christian expectation
- Disillusionment and religious faith
- Theological responses to suffering
- Pessimism, realism, and hope
What role does doubt play in a faithful account of Christianity as it is reflected in the Christian tradition?
What does this mean?
This question asks whether doubt should necessarily be understood as a failure of faith, or whether it can have a legitimate and even constructive role within Christian belief. It invites exploration of how Christian thinkers and traditions have understood doubt, uncertainty, questioning, and intellectual struggle, and what these experiences might contribute to a faithful account of Christian life.
Possible areas to explore
- Doubt and Christian faith
- Uncertainty and belief
- Questioning and theological inquiry
- Faith and intellectual struggle
- Historical Christian accounts of doubt
- Spiritual crisis and religious development
- Certainty and faithful belief
- Doubt, belonging, and religious disaffiliation
How can theological hope be sustained in the wake of institutional and personal religious disillusionment?
What does this mean?
This question asks how Christian hope might endure when individuals or communities experience the failure of religious institutions, the loss of trust, or profound personal disappointment with faith. It invites consideration of whether hope can be grounded in theological resources that do not depend upon institutional stability, certainty, or an idealized account of Christian community.
Possible areas to explore
- Religious disillusionment and loss of faith
- Institutional failure and theological hope
- Personal religious crisis
- Hope beyond institutional Christianity
- Eschatology and future-oriented hope
- Lament, suffering, and perseverance
- Rebuilding trust and religious belonging
- Theological resources for life after disillusionment