Church, Authority, and Foucault

Steven Ogden is Principal of St Francis College Brisbane and senior lecturer in the school of theology, Charles Sturt University. He was formerly Dean of St Peter's Cathedral Adelaide. In Adelaide, he also taught theology at Flinders University. He has participated in over 80 in-studio radio interviews, regionally and nationally (with interviews in the United States) on theological, ethical and social issues. He is the author of The Presence of God in the World: A Contribution to Postmodern Christology based on the Theologies of Paul Tillich and Karl Rahner (2007).

• 1 The Church and the problem of sovereign power2 Under Foucault’s gaze: the subject, freedom, and the power-knowledge concept3 The concept of authority: guardians, gossip, and the sovereign exception4 The spell of monarchy and the sacralization of obedience5 The Church as an open space of freedom6 New spaces and the imagination7 Bearing the lightning of possible storms: critique, space, imagination, wisdom

"This exceptionally engaging book explores the concept of the church—its identity and authority—as a public, open space, with Michel Foucault serving as the main interlocutor for the inquiry. The study is timely. And in the hands of Steven Ogden, a gifted academic and parish priest from Brisbane, we have a well-crafted study that offers a fresh edge to the growing field of contemporary ecclesiology." - Martyn Percy in Anglican Theological Review"The book is thoroughly researched and closely argued. It requires, but also rewards, a close reading. Some readers will find themselves pushed far outside their comfort zones, but this is a sign of a book worth struggling with. It is a struggle that may leave us as a Church limping, but also empower us to cross over with confidence into a place of renewal. This book shows Stephen Ogden to be one of our most exciting and provocative contemporary Australian theologians. All Australian Anglicans should read it." - Duncan Reid, The Melbourne Anglican"It is very often the ‘slim volumes’ that most daringly and effectively carry the charge of provocative new ideas. This new book… both promises and threatens to fill just this role. It is a serious and carefully thought out critique of the culture of the Anglican Church of Australia and its agencies." - Duncan Reid in Pacifica“Steven Ogden has contributed important scholarship that adeptly links French philosopher Michel Foucault’s work on power, knowledge, and subjectivity to what Ogden calls a ‘pre-ecclesiology.’ […] Ogden does the church a great service with this contribution, and his engagement with Foucault is generative. His work is timely, creative, and relevant to those interested in fostering liberative power dynamics within religious institutions.” - Matthew S. Beal in Reading ReligionFeatured in the The Christian Humanist's podcast, Christian Humanist Profiles 114