Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. James K. A. Smith (Baker Publishing Group, 2009).
As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.
Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church
I read James K.A. Smith’s Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Press, 2006) with the “eyes of a child,†smiling cover to cover. As one who dabbled in postmodernism and continues to enjoy the incarnational, global lingua franca of film (24), I valued the opportunity to become more fully oriented to the world of postmodernism as a lay person, i.e., not attempting to be a philosopher. In addition, I prized the Schaefferian approach (27-28, 74) to equip me not only as a campus minister, but also as a parent of four children (105). Truly the church is an apologetic in which one is renewed and transformed by God as part of a people living in a disciplined, liturgical community (28-30, 25, 99) across particular times and places to interact with “the lens of an interpretive framework governed by ultimate beliefs†through the Scriptures by the sanctification of the Spirit (54-56).
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