Carl Raschke

Carl Allen Raschke (born 1944) is an American philosopher and theologian. Raschke is a Past Chair and Professor of Religious Studies Department at the University of Denver, specializing in continental philosophy, the philosophy of religion and the theory of religion. Raschke is known in part for his research in philosophy of religion, postmodern theology, popular religion, philosophy of culture and philosophy of technology. He received his B.A. from Pomona College, his M.A. from The Graduate Theological Union, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. A major focus of Raschke's work has been postmodernism. In recent years he has written on the theory of religion and political theology.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Raschke published works on (and made media appearances regarding) Satanism, the occult, heavy metal music, and subjects such as Dungeons & Dragons. In addition, Raschke was an expert witness on some cases involving Satanism, regularly made comments and appearances for the media on related topics, and advised the American Family Foundation; Raschke's comments and work during this period, particularly his 1990 book Painted Black, have been overwhelmingly condemned by scholars as inaccurate and repeatedly cited as having assisted in fueling the Satanic ritual abuse moral panic during the period, and Raschke's status as an "expert" on these topics has been criticized.

Early life and education

Carl Allen Raschke was born in 1944. His father was Charles Raschke. He received his B.A. from Pomona College, his M.A. from The Graduate Theological Union, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He married in 1968.

Career

Raschke is a Past Chair and Professor of Religious Studies Department at the University of Denver, specializing in continental philosophy, the philosophy of religion and the theory of religion. He was given the university lecturer award for 2020-2021. He is also listed with the affiliated faculty of the Global Center for Advanced Studies.

Raschke is senior editor for The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and senior consulting editor for The New Polis. He is a regular contributor to Political Theology Today.

Philosophy and theology

A central focus of Raschke’s work has been on postmodern religious thought and postmodernism. Raschke has been credited with being "one of the first to register the importance of Derrida's work for postmodern philosophies of religion ." In recent years he has written on the theory of religion and political theology. Alan J. Richard in The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology writes: "Carl Raschke, who might be credited for being the first to introduce deconstructive theory to the study of religion, is a unique theologian who has written on many topics, including economics, world religions, and higher education."

Early work

According to the 2003 The Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, his “work has sought to expose a conceptual tangle in modernity’s approach to language, religion, and the body." Raschke launched this project in the 1970s with the publication of an article in The Harvard Theological Review entitled “Meaning and Saying in Religion: Beyond Language Games,” in which he “argues that the failure of Anglo-American philosophy to adequately account for religious language reveals a deeper failure to account for the process of meaning-formation at the heart of language itself.” His first major book, The Alchemy of the Word: Language and the End of Theology (1979), which was republished in 2000 as The End of Theology, lays out this agenda in detail with reliance in particular on the philosophy of the later Martin Heidegger. Fire and Roses: Postmodernity and the Thought of the Body (1996) explores these interconnections by seeking to “reconcile erotic and tragic discourses through the thought of the Word made flesh.” An earlier work, entitled Theological Thinking: An In-Quiry (1988), investigates the interconnections between the languages of religion and science.