Rudolf J. Siebert

Rudolf J. Siebert (born 1927) is a German-born scholar of religion and critical theorist who is professor emeritus of comparative religion at Western Michigan University (WMU). He taught religion and society at WMU for 54 years, from 1965 until his retirement in 2019.

Siebert's scholarship centers on the critical theory of religion, an approach that he and his collaborators have also termed comparative dialectical religiology. The approach developed from the social theory of the Frankfurt School and applies critical theory to the study of religion, theology, secularization, politics and society. His work has been the subject of scholarly collections published in his honor in 1992 and 2020.

Early life and education

Siebert was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1927.

Major works

Siebert's 1985 book The Critical Theory of Religion: The Frankfurt School: From Universal Pragmatic to Political Theology presented an extensive account of the relationship between Frankfurt School social theory, religion and political theology. The book was later republished in a new edition.

In From Critical Theory to Critical Political Theology: Personal Autonomy and Universal Solidarity (1994), Siebert connected critical social theory to developments in political theology and communicative rationality, with particular attention to the problem of theodicy and the relationship between autonomy, reconciliation and solidarity.

A second scholarly collection devoted to Siebert's work, The Critique of Religion and Religion's Critique: On Dialectical Religiology, was edited by Dustin J. Byrd and published by Brill in 2020. The volume brought together essays examining the development and application of dialectical religiology and was explicitly dedicated to Siebert and his more than five-decade academic career.

Selected bibliography

Books

Articles