"Biblical Critical Theory"

[bookslover]

Has anyone read Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture by Christopher Watkin (Zondervan, 2022). Zondervan says that the first printing sold out completely before it was even released, and even Zondervan, per its website, doesn't have any copies (hopefully, they're printing more). I haven't even seen a copy. Must be some book!

Judging from the sample on Zondervan's website, the book is, in a sense, a long meditation on Augustine's City of God.

 

[Chad Hutson]

I'm awaiting my copy. It's on backorder due to be delivered January 5.

 

[retroGRAD3]

Critical theory is generally not associated with good things. Hopefully this isn't more of that type of critical theory and this book isn't another way to bring marxism into the church.

 

[RamistThomist]

Critical Theory is an acid drip. Yes, it is fun to use it on the left and deconstruct things like democracy, human rights, and the IRS. In other words, right wing continental philosophy. The problem with acid drips, though, is that they do not care what they touch.

 

[Jack K]

I'm reading it now (in small chunks, as I have a lot of work these days). It's scholarly and good. I anticipate it being popular among the crowd on this board. It's long and quite deep. A few pages at a time is actually a good way for an untrained-in-philosophy reader like me to take it in.

Critical theory is generally not associated with good things. Hopefully this isn't more of that type of critical theory and this book isn't another way to bring marxism into the church.

The idea behind the title is that critical theories exist to critique everything else in life, society, and culture. So if you ascribe to critical race theory, for example, you will tend to see and critique everything else through the lens of race. This book attempts to show what we get when we see everything else in society through a biblical lens. Watkin interacts with the intellectuals who espouse those critical theories and gives a Christian response that's stated in some of their terms. It's nothing like Marxism.

I looked for the book a few weeks ago at Westminster Books and saw I would have a long wait. So I went to the Amazon account I share with my wife, saw it was available, and put it in the cart to buy it. Amazon immediately informed me I had already purchased the item six days earlier. I went to ask my wife if she bought it. Was it already in the house? Turns out she had gotten it for me for Christmas, and she pulled it out of a closet. I now have my present early, and am enjoying it.

 

[AOB]

Critical theory is generally not associated with good things. Hopefully this isn't more of that type of critical theory and this book isn't another way to bring marxism into the church.

I'm reading it now (in small chunks, as I have a lot of work these days). It's scholarly and good. I anticipate it being popular among the crowd on this board. It's long and quite deep. A few pages at a time is actually a good way for an untrained-in-philosophy reader like me to take it in.

View attachment 9844

The idea behind the title is that critical theories exist to critique everything else in life, society, and culture. So if you ascribe to critical race theory, for example, you will tend to see and critique everything else through the lens of race. This book attempts to show what we get when we see everything else in society through a biblical lens. Watkin interacts with the intellectuals who espouse those critical theories and gives a Christian response that's stated in some of their terms. It's nothing like Marxism.

I looked for the book a few weeks ago at Westminster Books and saw I would have a long wait. So I went to the Amazon account I share with my wife, saw it was available, and put it in the cart to buy it. Amazon immediately informed me I had already purchased the item six days earlier. I went to ask my wife if she bought it. Was it already in the house? Turns out she had gotten it for me for Christmas, and she pulled it out of a closet. I now have my present early, and am enjoying it.

Jack’s description based upon my own reading (at a similar pace to his) is accurate. An insightful and profitable read thus far.

 

[bookslover]

I'm reading it now (in small chunks, as I have a lot of work these days). It's scholarly and good. I anticipate it being popular among the crowd on this board. It's long and quite deep. A few pages at a time is actually a good way for an untrained-in-philosophy reader like me to take it in.

View attachment 9844

The idea behind the title is that critical theories exist to critique everything else in life, society, and culture. So if you ascribe to critical race theory, for example, you will tend to see and critique everything else through the lens of race. This book attempts to show what we get when we see everything else in society through a biblical lens. Watkin interacts with the intellectuals who espouse those critical theories and gives a Christian response that's stated in some of their terms. It's nothing like Marxism.

I looked for the book a few weeks ago at Westminster Books and saw I would have a long wait. So I went to the Amazon account I share with my wife, saw it was available, and put it in the cart to buy it. Amazon immediately informed me I had already purchased the item six days earlier. I went to ask my wife if she bought it. Was it already in the house? Turns out she had gotten it for me for Christmas, and she pulled it out of a closet. I now have my present early, and am enjoying it.

Thanks, Jack. That's helpful. For now, the book seems to be as rare as hens' teeth.

 

[Jack K]

For now, the book seems to be as rare as hens' teeth.

And we almost had two of them. I could have run an auction or something to unload the second one.

 

[davejonescue]

If someone doesnt want to wait for this to be available in physical. You can simply order it from Logos and read on the web or phone app without downloading the program. They have it for $32. Also just looked and Barnes & Noble has it for regular Ebook, I think for $29.

Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture

It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible. If we are to meet this challenge, two things are necessary: we must develop a deep grasp of the shape of the...

www.logos.com

Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture|eBook

*With a foreword from Tim Keller*A bold vision for Christians who want to engage the world in a way that is biblically faithful and culturally sensitive.In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the...

www.barnesandnoble.com

 

[AT]

Yes, it is fun to use it on the left and deconstruct things like democracy, human rights

Could you elaborate?

 

[RamistThomist]

Could you elaborate?

In all seriousness, critical theory critiques employ a philosophical technique known as "genealogy." It basically shows the situatedness of different positions.

EO and RCC like to say that nominalism gave birth to Protestantism (it didn't). Therefore, Protestant is nominalist. That's its genealogy.

The danger in such an approach is that it is very close to the genetic fallacy. It doesn't have to be that way, but it usually is.

In other words, positions aren't necessarily self-evidently true, but find their truth (or falsity) in their historical situation.

 

[Northern Crofter]

This sounds like a good read - thanks for the post (though the dust jacket mention of a Tim Keller forward does give me pause). Having had my high school and early university years dominated by teachers and professors hooked on postmodernism and French deconstructionists, I will admit I agree with those above that it is enjoyable turning the tables and applying critical theory against modern constructs such as darwinism and feminism, and this book sounds like it will provide insight/ammunition.

 

[AT]

In other words, positions aren't necessarily self-evidently true, but find their truth (or falsity) in their historical situation.

So, when you say you can use it against the left, you mean something like: "liberal individualism is not a universal value. The position is not self-evidently true. It has given rise to the sexual revolution, breakdown of the family, etc."?

 

[RamistThomist]

So, when you say you can use it against the left, you mean something like: "liberal individualism is not a universal value. The position is not self-evidently true. It has given rise to the sexual revolution, breakdown of the family, etc."?

Kind of. Modern liberalism, at least post-Nietzsche, has little reason to believe in things like human rights. What is a right, anyway? And why should I ultimately care? We only believe in that because of our unique position in human history.

All of the above is true. But that cannot function as a logical critique, and that's the danger of genealogical reasoning. Irenaeus was able to do it in "Against Heresies."

 

[AT]

Kind of. Modern liberalism, at least post-Nietzsche, has little reason to believe in things like human rights. What is a right, anyway? And why should I ultimately care? We only believe in that because of our unique position in human history.

All of the above is true. But that cannot function as a logical critique, and that's the danger of genealogical reasoning. Irenaeus was able to do it in "Against Heresies."

Okay, that's what you meant. I confused what you said with consequentialism, leading to my example.

Critical theory is indeed acid. It's consequences have been far-reaching. In India's case, it prevented a proper historical consideration of its past, first in the form of the post-colonial theory, articulated popularly by Edward Said. This was co-opted by the Indian academia post-independence, which at the time (and still is to some extent) was almost exclusively leftist. Peddling a myth of Hindu-Muslim pre-colonial paradise, and then a subsequent "colonial exploitation" of the unity, it inadvertently gave rise to Hindu nationalism, who's adherents saw the myth for what it was. Now the Hindu nationalists appropriate the decoloniality school (a notable proponent being Walter Mignolo), another critical theory to further their false myth of an indigenous paradise destroyed by subsequent Islamic and European "invasions". Hence the move to "decolonise" both the British and Islamic influences (the latter is very insignificant though), while the post-colonial school focused merely on the "white man". Decolonise also includes a return to the indigenous religions, since Christianity was an imposition of the "coloniser".

 

[Chad Hutson]

If someone doesnt want to wait for this to be available in physical. You can simply order it from Logos and read on the web or phone app without downloading the program. They have it for $32. Also just looked and Barnes & Noble has it for regular Ebook, I think for $29.

Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture

It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible. If we are to meet this challenge, two things are necessary: we must develop a deep grasp of the shape of the...

www.logos.com

Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture|eBook

*With a foreword from Tim Keller*A bold vision for Christians who want to engage the world in a way that is biblically faithful and culturally sensitive.In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the...

www.barnesandnoble.com

But I won't be able to impress anyone who comes into my office if it isn't on the shelf!

 

[RamistThomist]

Okay, that's what you meant. I confused what you said with consequentialism, leading to my example.

Critical theory is indeed acid. It's consequences have been far-reaching. In India's case, it prevented a proper historical consideration of its past, first in the form of the post-colonial theory, articulated popularly by Edward Said. This was co-opted by the Indian academia post-independence, which at the time (and still is to some extent) was almost exclusively leftist. Peddling a myth of Hindu-Muslim pre-colonial paradise, and then a subsequent "colonial exploitation" of the unity, it inadvertently gave rise to Hindu nationalism, who's adherents saw the myth for what it was. Now the Hindu nationalists appropriate the decoloniality school (a notable proponent being Walter Mignolo), another critical theory to further their false myth of an indigenous paradise destroyed by subsequent Islamic and European "invasions". Hence the move to "decolonise" both the British and Islamic influences (the latter is very insignificant though), while the post-colonial school focused merely on the "white man". Decolonise also includes a return to the indigenous religions, since Christianity was an imposition of the "coloniser".

That sounds right. This echoes the problem between analytic and continental philosophy. I found the following taxonomy helpful.

 

[davejonescue]

But I won't be able to impress anyone who comes into my office if it isn't on the shelf!

Thats funny. I joked around with someone they should make bookshelf wall paper for us digital book users, so we wont feel left out in our Youtube videos, or pictures, or when people come into our homes/offices. You can even have the wallpaper differ by denomination which books they will include.

 

[ZackF]

Thats funny. I joked around with someone they should make bookshelf wall paper for us digital book users, so we wont feel left out in our Youtube videos, or pictures, or when people come into our homes/offices. You can even have the wallpaper differ by denomination which books they will include.

Nothing is stopping you from hooking up a few projectors…

 

[davejonescue]

Nothing is stopping you from hooking up a few projectors…

Not worth the effort for me. I dont mind having 1,000's of books on something the size of a deck of cards, even if people judge me for not owning a single one. I enjoy more the idea, and I know not everyone will agree, of a little nook with a recliner, a cup of coffee, and a single e-reader with a 1,000 books on it. Saves me so much space. I had the 40 boxes of books before. Then I had to move. Told myself never again. For the most part I can only read a single book at a time; this means the rest just sit there and take us precious real estate in my little home.

 

[Jack K]

There's a software-development project in this for someone: Create an app that reads your online library, creates a background imitating the spines of those books on a bookshelf, and uses it as the background for your Zoom calls. The technology surely exists. And such an app would be a sure bet marketing-wise, as it appeals to the subtle showoff in each of us. What could go wrong?

 

[ZackF]

@Jack K please do a review. Jacob may be awhile before getting a copy.

 

[Polanus1561]

I will take this time to say that you can buy Logos books and return it within 30 days.

 

[Jack K]

@Jack K please do a review. Jacob may be awhile before getting a copy.

I'm not far enough into it to write a proper review, and by the way the rest of the month looks to me, I'm not sure when I'll have time to finish my reading. It's a waste, I know. That book ought to be in the hands of a more serious reader.

 

[AT]

Modern liberalism, at least post-Nietzsche, has little reason to believe in things like human rights. What is a right, anyway? And why should I ultimately care? We only believe in that because of our unique position in human history.

This seems to be Scruton's critique of rights: they are abstractions. If true, it is odd, given that Scruton identifies himself with the analytic school. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding his position. It would be anachronistic to bring in Burke too, though.

 

[RamistThomist]

This seems to be Scruton's critique of rights: they are abstractions. If true, it is odd, given that Scruton identifies himself with the analytic school. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding his position. It would be anachronistic to bring in Burke too, though.

I've mixed feelings on the "analytic school." Some of them are given to abstractions, but I don't think it is necessarily the case. Abstractions are not necessarily wrong, but as such I don't think they are self-evident. By itself, I think that is the main problem with "rights-talk."

 

[AT]

I've mixed feelings on the "analytic school." Some of them are given to abstractions, but I don't think it is necessarily the case. Abstractions are not necessarily wrong, but as such I don't think they are self-evident. By itself, I think that is the main problem with "rights-talk."

So you take issue with the Declaration of Independence?

 

[AT]

I've mixed feelings on the "analytic school." Some of them are given to abstractions, but I don't think it is necessarily the case. Abstractions are not necessarily wrong, but as such I don't think they are self-evident. By itself, I think that is the main problem with "rights-talk."

I meant to say his argument sounds like saying "what are rights? Where do they exist?"

I'm still trying to grasp his issue with rights talk...any help?

 

[RamistThomist]

I meant to say his argument sounds like saying "what are rights? Where do they exist?"

I'm still trying to grasp his issue with rights talk...any help?

What grounds a right?

 

[RamistThomist]

So you take issue with the Declaration of Independence?

It's okay. It did absolutely nothing to prevent the disaster today. I don't have a problem with its ideas, though.