Fortress Press

The Paradoxical Vision: A Public Theology for the Twenty-First Century

The Paradoxical Vision

A Public Theology for the Twenty-First Century

Robert Benne (Author)

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Robert Benne elaborates a basic theological-–ethical framework for engaging the Christian vision with its surrounding public environment—political, ethical, cultural, and intellectual. He assesses the nature and challenge of Christian public policy at the dawn of the twenty–first century, defines his paradoxical vision and its legacy in modern America, and then describes practical ways in which religious traditions do, in fact, engage the public environment.
  • Publisher Fortress Press
  • Format Paperback
  • ISBN 9780800627942
  • Dimensions 6 x 9
  • Pages 256
  • Publication Date February 1, 1995

Endorsements

"The Paradoxical Vision is an extraordinarily level-headed and useful book. It provides something that Christians today badly need -- a kind of navigational chart for Christian political thinking, with all of the rocks and shoals, so numerous in present -- day political waters, clearly marked."
--Glenn Tinder
University of Massachusetts, Boston


"This is a good book that had to be written and it is our great fortune that Robert Benne has written it with such scholarly care, engaging lucidity, and persuasive force. The tangled connections between ultimate truth and penultimate questions of the public order are here untangled with great skill and imagination. The Paradoxical Vision is both an admirable summary of 'religion and society' disputes of the last several decades and a bracing proposal for thinking more clearly and acting more intelligently in the years ahead."
--Richard John Neuhaus
Editor in Chief, First Things


"This important volume should be read by all interested in public theology. It includes a superb overview of the growing literature and a fresh account of the recent neoconservative surge that brought Catholics and Evangelicals to the center of public theological debates after decades of liberationist emphasis in the ecumenical churches and seminaries -- all in his clear and persuasive style."
--Max L. Stackhouse
Princeton Theological Seminary

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: American Public Theology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century

1. The Challenge of Public Theology
  • The Meaning of Public Theology
  • The Enlightenment Project and the Marginalization of Religion
  • The Deconstructing World
2. Current Options in American Public Theology
  • The Decline of Protestant Mainline Public Theology
  • The Rise of Catholic and Neoconservative Public Theology
  • The Future
Part II: The Paradoxical Vision

3. A Contemporary Interpretation
  • In Search of the Vision
  • The Paradoxical Vision
  • The Lutheran Difference
4. The Paradoxical Vision in Modern America: Official Lutheranism
  • American Lutheranism until 1960
  • The Lutheran Church in American (LCA)
  • The American Lutheran Church (ALC)
  • The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
  • The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
  • Assessment of Official Lutheranism
5. The Paradoxical Vision in Modern America: Individual Expressions
  • Reinhold Niebuhr: Christian Realist
  • Glenn Tinder: Hesitant Radical
  • Richard John Neuhaus: Neoconservative
Part III: Love Connections: How Theology Becomes Public

6. Indirect Connections
  • Shaping Heart and Mind: Indirect and Unintentional Influence
  • Applying and Embodying the Vision: Indirect and Intentional Influence
7. Direct Connections
  • Articulating Corporate Conscience: Direct and Intentional Influence
  • Exercising Power: Direct and Intentional Action
8. Conclusion

Bibliography
Index
2