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Who's Afraid of Relativism?: Community, Contingency, and Creaturehood (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780801039737)
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James K. A. Smith
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Description
xFollowing his successful Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? leading Christian philosopher James K. A. Smith introduces the philosophical sources behind postliberal theology. Offering a provocative analysis of relativism, Smith provides an introduction to the key voices of pragmatism: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Richard Rorty, and Robert Brandom.
Many Christians view relativism as the antithesis of absolute truth and take it to be the antithesis of the gospel. Smith argues that this reaction is a symptom of a deeper theological problem: an inability to honor the contingency and dependence of our creaturehood. Appreciating our created finitude as the condition under which we know (and were made to know) should compel us to appreciate the contingency of our knowledge without sliding into arbitrariness. Saying "It depends" is not the equivalent of saying "It's not true" or "I don't know." It is simply to recognize the conditions of our knowledge as finite, created, social beings. Pragmatism, says Smith, helps us recover a fundamental Christian appreciation of the contingency of creaturehood.
This addition to an acclaimed series engages key thinkers in modern philosophy with a view to ministry and addresses the challenge of relativism in a creative, original way.
Author: James K. A. Smith
ISBN-10: 0801039738
ISBN-13: 9780801039737
Publisher: Baker Academic
Language: English
Published: 04/15/2014
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 8.47h x 5.54w x 0.51d
Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2014 pg. 466
Christian Century 03/04/2015 pg. 33
Many Christians view relativism as the antithesis of absolute truth and take it to be the antithesis of the gospel. Smith argues that this reaction is a symptom of a deeper theological problem: an inability to honor the contingency and dependence of our creaturehood. Appreciating our created finitude as the condition under which we know (and were made to know) should compel us to appreciate the contingency of our knowledge without sliding into arbitrariness. Saying "It depends" is not the equivalent of saying "It's not true" or "I don't know." It is simply to recognize the conditions of our knowledge as finite, created, social beings. Pragmatism, says Smith, helps us recover a fundamental Christian appreciation of the contingency of creaturehood.
This addition to an acclaimed series engages key thinkers in modern philosophy with a view to ministry and addresses the challenge of relativism in a creative, original way.
Author: James K. A. Smith
ISBN-10: 0801039738
ISBN-13: 9780801039737
Publisher: Baker Academic
Language: English
Published: 04/15/2014
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 8.47h x 5.54w x 0.51d
Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2014 pg. 466
Christian Century 03/04/2015 pg. 33
By James K. A. Smith
xJames K. A. Smith (PhD, Villanova University) is professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he also holds the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. He is the editor of Comment magazine. Smith has authored or edited many books, including Imagining the Kingdom and the Christianity Today Book Award winners Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? and Desiring the Kingdom. He is also editor of the well-received The Church and Postmodern Culture series (www.churchandpomo.org).
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