laszlo tengelyi1. God without Being
“Both theism and atheism are related to an idol” — Marion says in Dieu
sans l’être.^22 Therefore, the task he sets himself in this work does not
consist in attacking atheism in the name of theism, but rather in
finding a way from the idol that is common to theism and atheism to
what is called by Marion an icon. Marion opposes idol and icon to each
other in texts as early as L’idole et la distance, published in 1977. Whereas
an idol is held to be mirroring our glance, an icon is said to invert our
glance, by glancing at us in its turn. The task of finding a way to an
iconic theology requires a confrontation with the metaphysical
tradition. The metaphysical idea of God, in the sense of traditional
onto-theology, has to be overcome. Moreover, a debate with the
theological tradition is equally inevitable. As Marion puts it, “theo-
logy” has to be transformed into “theo-logy.”^23 Although the shift of the
accent from the second part of this Greek word to the first one seems
to be a minor alteration, in reality, it indicates a major change in
content. What is required of theology by this change is far from an
insignificant modification: theology has to “waive any claim to the
status of a ‘science’ based on a knowledge through concepts.”^24 It is
true, however, that nothing is lost by this renunciation, unless it is a
merely putative knowledge in the vein of old-fashioned metaphysics.
Marion recognizes in metaphysical onto-theology an extreme form of
idolatry. That is why he undertakes the attempt to grasp God without
Being, or even “to liberate ‘God’ from Being.”^25
He is entirely aware of attacking, thereby, a powerful tradition with-
in theology itself. This tradition is Neothomism, which was especially
strongly represented in France by Étienne Gilson, a prominent
historian of philosophy. Marion goes so far as to endorse Heidegger’s
opinion according to which “a God who must allow people to prove
His existence is ultimately a very ungodly God and proving His
- Jean-Luc Marion,. Jean-Luc Marion, Dieu sans l’être, Paris: Fayard, 1982, 87.
- Ibid., 197: “La théologie ne peut accéder. Ibid., 197: “La théologie ne peut accéder � son statut authentiquement � son statut authentiquement théolo-
gique, que si elle ne cesse de se défaire de toute théologie.” - Ibid., 121.. Ibid., 121.
- Ibid., 92: “libérer �Dieu‘ de l’�tre.”. Ibid., 92: “libérer �Dieu‘ de l’�tre.”