Who's Afraid of Relativism?

Community, Contingency, and Creaturehood.
Following his successful Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? leading Christian
philosopher James K. A. Smith introduces the philosophical sources behind
postliberal theology. Offering a provocative analysis of relativism, Smith
provides an introduction to the key voices of pragmatism: Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Richard Rorty, and Robert Brandom.
Many Christians view relativism as the antithesis of absolute truth and take it
to be the antithesis of the gospel. Smith argues that this reaction is a
symptom of a deeper theological problem: an inability to honor the contingency
and dependence of our creaturehood. Appreciating our created finitude as the
condition under which we know (and were made to know) should compel us to
appreciate the contingency of our knowledge without sliding into arbitrariness.
Saying It depends" is not the equivalent of saying "It's not true" or "I don't " know. It is simply to recognize the conditions of our knowledge as finite, " created, social beings. Pragmatism, says Smith, helps us recover a fundamental
Christian appreciation of the contingency of creaturehood.
This addition to an acclaimed series engages key thinkers in modern philosophy
with a view to ministry and addresses the challenge of relativism in a
creative, original way.
It is often observed that one of the most important and revealing " questions you can ask someone identified as a 'thinker' is 'What are you afraid
of?' Writing with clarity and great sympathy, Smith helps us see that Christian
theologians have betrayed their best insights by being afraid of relativism. He
helps us see that the challenge is not relativism itself but rather the
epistemological concerns that produced relativism. As is usually the case with
Smith's work, this book is both clear and constructive: he not only provides a
clear account of the work of Wittgenstein, Rorty, and Brandom but also develops
an account of why and how Christians should navigate the contingent character
of our lives. - Stanley Hauerwas"
Recommended € 19,90