Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology

by James K. A. Smith

Publishers:

Baker Academic; Paternoster

, 2004

Overview

The news of modernity's death has been greatly exaggerated. The Enlightenment project lives on in the notion of “the secular”—a zone decontaminated of religious belief. But the postmodern critique of modernity also calls into question the very notion of the secular, presenting an opportunity for questions such as, If modernity is essentially linked to the secular, shouldn't Christians welcome the advent of postmodernity?

In Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, James K. A. Smith plays the role of a cartographer, mapping the landscape of contemporary theology and culture in order to introduce the distinctive voice of Radical Orthodoxy, which is associated with John Milbank, Graham Ward, Catherine Pickstock, and others. Radical Orthodoxy, he argues, has important things to say to both the academy and the church.

Radical Orthodoxy affirms that there is no “secular.” All is religious. If that is the case, Smith maintains, then the intellectual framework of all academic disciplines must be distinctively Christian. To deny this, he writes, is to fall victim to the modernist siren song of objective reason, which, in fact, is a pagan song in disguise. Radical Orthodoxy also challenges the church to a radical discipleship, resisting accommodation to a culture dominated by consumerism and violence.

Drawing on Augustine and Aquinas, engaged through the lenses of the Reformed thought of Calvin, Kuyper, and Dooyeweerd, Smith argues that Radical Orthodoxy is in an ideal position to articulate an old-but-new postmodern theology that resonates with the Reformed tradition.

Introducing Radical Orthodoxy will prove to be an invaluable guide, introducing an intellectual movement that challenges the church to consider the role of biblical revelation for all areas of life. It will find its place on the bookshelves of professors, students, and pastors.

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Key Features

• Maps the coordinates of recent developments in contemporary theology and philosophy to navigate a way forward for both practice and theory
• Seeks to contribute to a constructive vision for how the church should orient itself in a postmodern, post-secular world
• Considers parallels between the vision of Radical Orthodoxy and the Reformed tradition and signals the unique contributions to be made by distinctly Reformational thought in the postmodern context

Contents

Part 1 Orientation

• Inhabiting the Post-secular: Why Radical Orthodoxy? Why Now?
• Elements of a Manifesto: The Movements of Radical Orthodoxy
• Radical Orthodoxy’s “Story” of Philosophy: From Plato to Scotus and Back

Part 2 Navigation

• Postmodern Parodies: The Critique of Modernity and the Myth of the Secular
• Possibilities for the Post-secular: Faith, Reason, and Public Engagement
• Participation and Incarnation: Materiality, Liturgy, and Sacramentality
• Cities of God: Cultural Critique and Social Transformation
• Conclusion: Taking Radical Orthodoxy to Church

Product Details

• Title: Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology
• Author: James K. A. Smith
• Publishers: Baker Academic, Paternoster
• Print Publication Date: 2004
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 291
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Philosophical theology
• ISBNs: 9781441206114, 0801027357, 1842273507, 9780801027352, 9781842273500, 1441206116
• Resource ID: LLS:NTRDCNGRDRTHDXY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-16T18:03:57Z

About James K. A. Smith

James K.A. Smith (PhD, Villanova University) is the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was editor in chief of Comment magazine from 2013 to 2018 and is now editor in chief of Image journal. Smith is the author or editor of many books, including the Christianity Today Book Award winners Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? and Desiring the Kingdom, and is editor of the well-received Church and Postmodern Culture series, and has written for Christianity Today, First Things, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Washington Post.