The Devil Reads Derrida

by Smith, James K. A.

• ISBN13: 9780802864079
• ISBN10: 0802864074
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-04
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co

Summary

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 Smith's most significant forays into the public arena.

Author Biography

James K. A. Smith is associate professor of philosophy at Calvin College and the author of several books, including Introducing Radical Orthodoxy and Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? The latter received awards from Christianity Today, ForeWord magazine, and the Word Guild of Canada.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: The Church, Christian Scholars, and Little Miss Sunshine	p. xi
Faith on the Ground: On Discipleship	p. 1
Working at Rest	p. 3
The Secret Lives of Saints: Reflections on Doubt	p. 10
Are Men Really Wild at Heart? (with Mark Mulder)	p. 15
Pope John Paul II: A Protestant's Appreciation	p. 24
Teaching a Calvinist to Dance: On Being Reformed and Pentecostal	p. 26
The Architecture of Altruism: On Loving Our Neighbor(hood)s	p. 32
Schools of Faith: On the University	p. 37
Are Students "Consumers"?	p. 39
Why Christianity Is Sexier than Liberal Democracy	p. 46
Between the University and the Church: The Precarious (and Promising)Site of Campus Ministry	p. 50
Schools of Thought; or, Why the State Shouldn't Fund MBAs	p. 55
A Commencement, a Wedding, and an Alternative Politics	p. 58
Lost in Translation? On the Secularization of the Fall	p. 62
Faith in America: On Politics and the Church	p. 69
Christian Worship as Public Disturbance	p. 71
How to Get Your Hands Dirty	p. 78
God, the Future, and the Politics of Freedom: Reflections on "Open Theism"	p. 80
It Only Hurts When I Laugh: Why Harper's Won't Change America	p. 90
The Economics of the Emerging Church	p. 93
The Pendulum of Evangelicals and Politics: On Greg Boyd's Myth of a Christian Nation	p. 97
The God of Americanism: On Mitt Romney's "Faith in America"	p. 102
Constantinianism of the Left? On Jim Wallis and Barack Obama	p. 105
Leftish Constantinianism Revisted: An Interview	p. 110
The Last Prophet of Leviathan: On Mark Lilla's The Stillborn God	p. 113
Picturing Faith: Criticism	p. 119
Absence as a Window: On the Poetry of Franz Wright	p. 121
Dumbing Down Discernment?	p. 128
The Devil Reads Derrida: Fashion, French Philosophy, and Postmodernism	p. 134
Our History of Violence	p. 137
Harry Potter and the Prophet of Doom	p. 140
Passing on The Passion	p. 145
Faith in the Flesh in American Beauty: Christian Reflections on Film	p. 148
A Prayer	p. 158
Index of Names	p. 160
Index of Subjects	p. 162
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