Synopses & Reviews
In this book a leading contemporary theologian provides an account and a critique of contemporary thinking on the function of religion in society. The chief questions of the day are taken up, expounded with lucidity and clarity, and assessed for their contributions to social theory. The practical relevance of the theoretical analyses emerges especially in a critique of Michael Novak's attempt to make "democratic capitalism" an ideal, and in an original attempt to ground religious hope in communicative rationality.
Synopsis
In this book a leading contemporary theologian investigates the relation between religion and society. Davis begins with the thesis that society is a product of human agency; this raises immediately the questions of the meaning of modernity and the function of religion in that context. The linguistic and pragmatic orientation of modern philosophy and social theory lead to a discussion of religious language and of praxis.
Synopsis
A leading contemporary theologian provides an account and a critique of contemporary thinking on the function of religion in society. The chief questions of the day are taken up, expounded with lucidity and clarity, and assessed for their contributions to social theory.
Table of Contents
General editors' preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: from the secular to the supernatural; Part I. Society, Religion and Human Agency: 1. Society and the critique of modernity; 2. The present social function of religion; 3. From inwardness to social action: the transformation of the political; 4. The Christian question to radicalism; Part II. Praxis, Narrative and Religious