the church and postmodern culture

Philosophy and Theology . . . “Analytic” or Not

J. Aaron Simmons — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:14:44 +0000

By J. Aaron Simmons (Furman University, Department of Philosophy) – aaron.simmons@furman.edu The following are thoughts inspired by the vigorous discussion that recently occurred on Roger E. Olson’s blog. Olson instigated the discussion by commenting that philosophy and theology are distinct disciplines due to the way in which “special revelation” is used by theology, but [...]

The exception rules, or why postmodern theology needs to think the impossible

carlraschke — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:23:53 +0000

A number of years ago when I was a department chair I asked a certain administrator at my institution why he had not followed the rules in granting certain privileges to a certain faculty member that seemed to go against the very rules he himself had laid down. The response was classic, and since the [...]

RESOURCE: Richard Kearney on Narrative Imagination and Catharsis

Chad Lakies — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:43:46 +0000

We haven’t done a RESOURCE post in quite some time. And since things have been dormant here for a bit now, it seems a good time to point readers to some worthy material for further pondering and perusal. The work of Richard Kearney does not get as much attention as it deserves (at least I [...]

WHY WE REVOLUTIONARY BELIEVERS LOVE EXISTENTIALISM

Geoffrey Holsclaw — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:48:47 +0000

(This is a guest post by Mark Manolopoulos on the current Existentialist revival in certain quarters of postmodern theory as a radical theology.) WHY WE REVOLUTIONARY BELIEVERS LOVE EXISTENTIALISM Mark Manolopoulos Monash University First of all, allow me to explain the ‘we’ in the title by way of a kind of hope or [...]

Teaser: The Postmodern Fashion of Provisional Views

Rachel K. Ward — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:15:19 +0000

Prada, teaser for Candy, by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola “Ethical, juridical, or political responsibility, if there is any, consists in deciding on the strategic orientation to give to this problematic…for which truth, no more than reality, is not an object given in advance that it would be a matter of simply reflecting adequately.” Jacques [...]

Reflections on “The Future of Evangelicalism”

Chad Lakies — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:18:05 +0000

Yesterday I enjoyed hearing both Rachel Held Evans and Roger Olson hold forth before a full house at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, weighing in with their thoughts on the future of evangelicalism. They add their voices to an ongoing conversation (e.g., see this oft-referenced article; see this challenging book), and one that might be of [...]

With My Apologies

brynelewis — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:21:28 +0000

If studying theology has taught me one thing, then it is always to be prepared with an apology. By apology here, I mean to invoke both its technical and colloquial meanings. When introducing myself as a student of theology, I often am required to offer a defense of theology as a discipline independent of religious [...]

Evangelicals and Capitalism: Cultural Despisers and Cultural Accommodators

jasonclark — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:55:38 +0000

Cultural Despisers William Connolly, in his 2008 work Capitalism and Christianity, American Style, sets out firstly to diagnose how the ‘capitalist project’ has been perverted and warped by its resonant relationship with conservative right-wing Christian religious beliefs.[1] The religious right within Evangelicalism in America in relation to capitalism has given rise to a variety of [...]

Postmodernism vs. Critical Realism

bradleyvermurlen — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Over the last couple years as a graduate student in sociology (not in philosophy, I should note), I’ve been thinking and reading about various philosophies of science, for both the natural and social sciences, and how those differing underlying philosophies actually relate to the ways that sociologists think about and conduct research. For those (especially [...]

Podcast with Daniel Bell on Capitalism and Desire

Chad Lakies — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:57:11 +0000

(Due to a scheduling error, this is just posting today, but it should have posted on Thursday. Our apologies.) Last November saw the release of the excellent and illuminating (and convicting) book by Daniel Bell Jr.,–the latest in the Church and Postmodern Culture Series–The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World. Bell’s [...]