This book establishes the necessary integration of theological knowledge with theological ethics. It does this as a response to the postmodern critique of Christianity, as exemplified in Rorty and Lyotard. They argue that any claim to know God is necessarily tyrannical. Contemporary responses to such postmodern thinking often fail to address adequately the ethical critique that is made. This book redresses that balance by suggesting that our knowedge of God and love of the Other are so intimately connected that we cannot have one without the other. In the absence of love, then, we simply do not know God. Justin Thacker proposes that an effective theological response to postmodernity must address both knowledge and ethics in an integrated fashion as presented in this book.
This book establishes the necessary integration of theological knowledge with theological ethics. It does this as a response to the postmodern critique of Christianity, as exemplified in Rorty and Lyotard. They argue that any claim to know God is necessarily tyrannical. Contemporary responses to such postmodern thinking often fail to address adequately the ethical critique that is made. This book redresses that balance by suggesting that our knowedge of God and love of the Other are so intimately connected that we cannot have one without the other. In the absence of love, then, we simply do not know God. Justin Thacker proposes that an effective theological response to postmodernity must address both knowledge and ethics in an integrated fashion as presented in this book.
This book presents the first major critique of Pannenberg's use of science in his theology, exposing the science theology dialogue to the complex issues of postmodernity. Although Pannenberg's name is widely known to theologians in the English-speaking world, his theological writings have received little critical analysis to date. Stewart brings Wolfhart Pannenberg's work to a wider audience, summarizing his theological views and entering into critical dialogue with his writings, exploring their strengths and weaknesses.Setting Pannenberg's appropriation of the biological and human sciences against the background of Bauman's priority of the ethical in postmodernity, Gadamer's conversational mode of dialogic rationality, and Archer's analysis of knowledge in social theory, Stewart argues for a more thorough recognition of values and ethics in the construction of epistemologies in both science and theology. This book offers important insights for all those concerned with issues of science and religion, bringing the relation of science and theology into contact with the philosophy of hermeneutics and the ethical implications of current social theory.
A 2001 Christianity Today Award of Merit winner! The concept of truth as absolute, objective and universal has undergone serious deterioration in recent years. No longer is it a goal for all to pursue. Rather postmodernism sees truth as inseparable from culture, psychology, race and gender. Ultimately, truth is what we make it to be. What factors have accelarated this decay of truth? Why are people willing to embrace such a devalued concept? How does this new view compare and contrast with a Christian understanding? While postmodernism contains some truthful insights (despite its attempt to dethrone truth), Douglas Groothuis sees its basic tenets as intellectually flawed and hostile to Christian views. In this spirited presentation of a solid, biblical and logical perspective, Groothuis unveils how truth has come under attack and how it can be defended in the vital areas of theology, apologetics, ethics and the arts.
Simultaneously arising out of such diverse contexts as the black community in the United States, grassroots religious communities in Latin America, and feminist circles in North Atlantic countries, theologies of liberation have emerged as a resource and inspiration for people seeking social and political freedom. Over the last three decades, liberation theology has irrevocably altered religious thinking and practice throughout the Americas. Liberation Theologies, Postmodernity and the Americas provides a meaningful and spirited debate on vital interpretive issues in religion, philosophy, and ethics. The renowned group of scholars explore liberation theologies' uses of discourses of emancipation, revolution and utopia in contrast with postmodernism's suspicion of grand narratives, while assessing what the postmodernism/liberation debate means for strategies of social and political transformation. Guided by the experiences of those at the margins of social power, liberation theologies demystify the eurocentric myths of secularization and modernity, and calls for a re-appraisal of religion in contemporary societies. Contributors: Edmund Arens, David Batstone, Maria Clara Bingemer, Enrique Dussel, Gustavo Gutierrez, Jurgen Habermas, Franz Hinkelammert, Dwight Hopkins, Lois Ann Lorentzen, Eduardo Mendieta, Amos Nascimento, Elsa Tamez, Mark McLain Taylor, and Sharon Welch, Robert Allen Warrior
""Schweiker's reflections are strikingly original and they ought to be required reading for everyone in the field of theological ethics."" -Douglas F. Ottati, Professor of Theology and Ethics, Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education ""With this new work, Schweiker continues his vital exploration of hermeneutical realism, responsibility ethics, moral formation, and the lives we live in our complex late modern cultures. This is a bracing, complex text that richly rewards those who engage it with the care it requires."" -Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago, and author of Augustine and the Limits of Politics ""Schweiker has a comprehensive knowledge of contemporary moral thought--philosophical and theological, applied and theoretical. He brings a wealth of material together with a unifying theological perspective that sharpens our questions and renews our hope. This is an outstanding achievement."" -Robin W. Lovin, Dean and Professor of Ethics, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University William Schweiker is the Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago. Born in Des Moines, Iowa (1953) he holds degrees from Simpson College, Duke University and also the University of Chicago. Besides teaching at Chicago, he has also been guest professor at Uppsala University and the University of Heidelberg. Schweiker ́s writings engage theological and ethical questions attentive to global dynamics, comparative religious ethics, the history of ethics, and hermeneutical philosophy. Schweiker has published five books, numerous articles and award-winning essays, as well as edited and contributed to six volumes, including A Companion to Religious Ethics (2004), a comprehensive and innovative work in the field of comparative religious ethics. He is currently working on a volume, Religious Ethics: Meaning and Method. Ongoing research is for a book on theological ethics and the integrity of life.
From the academy to pop culture, our society is in the throes of change rivaling the birth of modernity out of the decay of the Middle Ages. We are now moving from the modern to the postmodern era. But what is postmodernism? How did it arise? What characterizes the postmodern ethos? What is the postmodern mind and how does it differ from the modern mind? Who are its leading advocates? Most important of all, what challenges does this cultural shift present to the church, which must proclaim the gospel to the emerging postmodern generation? Stanley Grenz here charts the postmodern landscape. He shows the threads that link art and architecture, philosophy and fiction, literary theory and television. He shows how the postmodern phenomenon has actually been in the making for a century and then introduces readers to the gurus of the postmodern mind-set. What he offers here is truly an indispensable guide for understanding today's culture.
The latest clarion call in the never-ending cavalcade of "what's new" in the evangelical world is the confident assertion from some quarters that the church needs to embrace "postmodernism" if it is going to engage postmoderns effectively. Pastors trying to break down the often indigestible subject matter of postmodernism into bite-size chunks in order to equip their people to engage it, and teachers who are aiming at giving their students a working knowledge of the way postmodernism is impacting the church will find a good deal of help from Smith. -J. Ligon Duncan III, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi Scott Smith and I agree on a lot. We share a deep commitment to Jesus Christ, a love of the Bible, and a passion for the church. We also agree that we're currently living in a liminal time, and it's those "boundary times" when people look most closely at the beliefs that underlie their practices. So, we've all got some things to figure out right now, including what we can really know and the certainty with which we can state our claims in a pluralistic society. I appreciate Scott's voice in this conversation. He is a careful reader of my work, and he writes with a gracious and generous tone. Interlocutors like Scott will be a helpful challenge to all of us in the "emerging church." I consider him a friendly critic and a brother in Christ. -Tony Jones, author of Postmodern Youth Ministry and National Director, Emergent Scott Smith is uniquely suited to enter the Emergent conversation with this helpful volume. Not only is he an analytic philosopher with a razor-sharp mind who has specialized in analyzing postmodernistic views on the relationship between language and the world, but he is also a man who cares for the lost, loves the church, and has an ability to communicate complex truths to people in the pew. -Justin Taylor, Executive Editor, Desiring God Every leader in the new Emergent Movement will want to read this fascinating book. They simply will not find a more engaging, knowledgeable, balanced, and kind treatment of their concerns, ideas, and practices. -Craig J. Hazen, Professor of Comparative Religion, Biola University Scott Smith's study challenges us to take seriously the truth claim of the gospel both in how we proclaim it in words and in how we manifest it in our personal and community lives. -Gary Inrig, Senior Pastor, Trinity Church, Redlands, California
