John Milbank: A Guide for the Perplexed – Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture
I first met John Milbank, my doctoral supervisor, at a welcome event for new graduate students sponsored by the Divinity School of the University of Cambridge. During the meeting, each faculty member introduced him or herself and described an area of specialization. I don’t remember what anyone else said, but Milbank introduced himself as a theologian “interested in everything and in the God who is beyond everything.” That’s his specialty: Everything, and then some.
He wasn’t kidding. The scope of Milbank’s work is breathtaking, its depth intimidating, its difficulty notorious, his combativeness legendary. The density of his writing is partly an issue of syntax, which sometimes mimics that of postmodern theorists. More often, Milbank is tough sledding because his writing is a knotted fabric of reference. Milbank writes as if his readers will follow along as he tosses off sentences like:
