Synopses & Reviews
We hear a lot these days about the quest for alternative sources of energy. Has anyone considered Jamie Smith? This whirling dervish of public philosophy generates enough intellectual energy to supply a middle-size city all by himself. John Wilson / editor of Books & Culture / By now, Jamie Smith is not just a leading philosophical or postmodern or Reformed theologian: he is simply a leading theologian. This volume shows that he has not only ascended to that height but also descended to a depth that terrifies most academics journalism. He offers a theology as everyday as the neighborhood, the movies, partisan politics, the university, and the street corner and with a twinkle in his eye he shows us Jesus lordship in each place. I hope others will not just read Jamies book, but will go and do likewise. Jason Byassee / Center for Theology, Writing & Media, Duke Divinity School / A notable young voice in the academy, James K. A. Smith has consistently spoken to the church as the most important public for his intellectual work. Bringing together essays both thoughtful and entertaining, The Devil Reads Derrida displays some of Smiths most significant forays into the public arena. / In this engaging work Smith grapples with the Wild at Heart phenomenon and the challenges of secularization, deals with sex and consumerism, and comments on creative works from American Beauty and Harry Potter to A History of Violence and the poetry of Franz Wright. No matter what.
Synopsis
The Devil Reads Derrida brings together essays and articles written for a general audience by a notable young voice in the church and the academy. A specialist in French philosophy and postmodernism, James K. A. Smith has also consistently sought to speak to the church as the most important -public- for his work.
This book brings together some of Smith's most significant forays into the public arena, focusing especially on discipleship, the university, and politics and the church. It also provides a selection of his criticism, including essays on Harry Potter, A History of Violence, the poetry of Franz Wright, and much more.
Smith's work as a Christian public intellectual brings theological wisdom into the service of lived discipleship. Whether grappling with the Wild at Heart phenomenon or the challenges of secularization, dealing with sex or consumerism, or commenting on The Devil Wears Prada orAmerican Beauty, Smith tackles each issue with clarity and insight, with scholarly rigor -- but always with an eye to Christian discipleship and the life of the church.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The church, Christian scholars, and Little Miss Sunshine -- Faith on the ground : on discipleship -- Working at rest -- The secret lives of saints : reflections on doubt -- Are men really wild at heart? / with Mark Mulder -- Pope John Paul II : a Protestant's appreciation -- Teaching a Calvinist to dance : on being Reformed and Pentecostal -- The architecture of altruism : on loving our neighbor(hood)s -- Schools of faith : on the university -- Are students "consumers"? -- Why Cristianity is sexier than liberal democracy -- Between the university and the church : the precarious (and promising) site of campus ministry -- Schools of thought; or, why the state shouldn't fund MBAs -- A commencement, a wedding, and an alternative politics -- Lost in translation? : on the secularization of the fall -- Faith in America : on politics and the church -- Christian worship as public disturbance -- How to get your hands dirty -- God, the future, and the politics of freedom : reflections on "open theism" -- It only hurts when I laugh : why Harper's won't change America -- The economics of the emerging church -- The pendulum of Evangelicals and politics : on Greg Boyd's Myth of a Christian nation -- The God of Americanism : on Mitt Romney's "faith in America" -- Constantinianism of the left? : on Jim Wallis and Barack Obama -- Leftish Constantinianism revisited : an interview -- The last prophet of Leviathan : on Mark Lilla's The stillborn God -- Picturing faith : criticism -- Absence as a window : on the poetry of Franz Wright -- Dumbing down discernment? -- The devil reads Derrida : fashion, French philosophy, and postmodernism -- Our history of violence -- Harry Potter and the prophet of doom -- Passing on The passion -- Faith in the flesh in American beauty : Christian reflections on film -- A prayer.