An Examined Faith
The Grace of Self-Doubt
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An Examined Faith: The Grace of Self-Doubt
When both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden cite God as being on their side, it dramatically illustrates the public use and contemporary clash of religious languages. But even more common, says renowned ethicist James Gustafson, is the everyday dissonance between religious language and the many "secular" interpretations of the same events. How do Christians understand providence, divine action, and other religious realities in our complex, multivalent world?
In this important work, expanded from his Princeton Warfield Lectures, Gustafson strongly urges Christians to take a hard look at their religious discourse and its relationship to all the other discourses—scientific, secular, philosophical—that inform our worldview. Pastors, theologians, and laypeople alike, he argues, regularly and unthinkingly accommodate their religious views to these other realms, or allow their religious views to be manipulated for other purposes.
Gustafson sets out a helpful typology of relationships, from complete religious rejection of secular discourse to full accommodation. Citing contemporary thinkers and examples from a full range of fields, he challenges Christians to a greater self-consciousness and honesty about their religious commitments and doctrinal formulations.
As relevant to the pulpit as to the podium and the poli- tical stump, Gustafson's brief, thoughtful volume calls all Christians to face the hard intellectual work that is necessary to forge an honest and publicly relevant faith today.
In this important work, expanded from his Princeton Warfield Lectures, Gustafson strongly urges Christians to take a hard look at their religious discourse and its relationship to all the other discourses—scientific, secular, philosophical—that inform our worldview. Pastors, theologians, and laypeople alike, he argues, regularly and unthinkingly accommodate their religious views to these other realms, or allow their religious views to be manipulated for other purposes.
Gustafson sets out a helpful typology of relationships, from complete religious rejection of secular discourse to full accommodation. Citing contemporary thinkers and examples from a full range of fields, he challenges Christians to a greater self-consciousness and honesty about their religious commitments and doctrinal formulations.
As relevant to the pulpit as to the podium and the poli- tical stump, Gustafson's brief, thoughtful volume calls all Christians to face the hard intellectual work that is necessary to forge an honest and publicly relevant faith today.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9780800636289
- Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5
- Pages 136
- Publication Date November 18, 2003
Endorsements
"In this work, America's senior Protestant ethicist
continues his trenchant critique of feel-good religion, naive consolation,
self-serving piety, and tribalistic churches.
Taking a hard look at history, science, and the darker corners of human
experience, Gustafson challenges believers of every faith to resist platitudes
and confront the reality of divine sovereignty, as well as the contingency of
the human condition. The result is an
iconoclastic but faith-filled, moving testimony to Gustafson's pastoral honesty
and deeply theocentric convictions. No
religious believer can afford to ignore his questions."
— Lisa Sowle Cahill
J. Donald Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College
"Gustafson illustrates what is involved in a
self-critical use of religious and moral language given the manifold ways persons
and events are also interpreted by scientists, sociologists, anthropologists,
and economists.... Whatever one's theological persuasion, anyone who cares
about the integrity of religious and moral discourse in our time has much to
learn through a careful study of this latest gem from James Gustafson."<
— Paul E. Capetz
Associate Professor of Historical Theology, United Theological Seminary of the Twin
Cities
Table of Contents
-
Preface
- Introduction: The Issues and Their Importance
General Introduction and Agenda
The Importance of This Project
Strategies to Avoid the Issues
- The Human: An Intersection of Disciplines
Conversation about the Human
Confronting Disciplinary Dissonance
Conclusion
- Naturalistic and Theological Interpretations of the Human
Theologians on Science and the Human
- The Importance of Contents
Interences to Be Drawn
- Navigating the Intersections: The Light of Truth
Locating Differences in Interpretations: Description, Explanation, Evaluation, and Meaning
Mapping and Evaluating Differences in Outcomes: Rejection, Absorption, Accommodation
- "The Almight Has His Own Purposes": From Politics to Theology
"God Is Not Neutral": George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden
"God Prefers the Poor and the Oppressed"
"The Almighty Has His Own Purposes"
Notes