Secret Faith in the Public Square
An Argument for the Concealment of Christian Identity
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- 399,00 Kč
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- 399,00 Kč
Publisher Description
In this groundbreaking and provocative book, Jonathan Malesic argues that the best way for Christians to be caretakers of their tradition and to love their neighbors selflessly is to conceal their religious identity in American public life. The alternative--insisting on Christianity's public visibility in politics, the marketplace, and the workplace--risks severely compromising the distinctiveness of Christian identity.
Delving deep into the Christian tradition, Malesic explains that keeping Christian identity secret means living fully in the world while maintaining Christian language, prayer, and liturgy in reserve. He shows how major thinkers--Cyril of Jerusalem, Søren Kierkegaard, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer--sought to protect Christian identity from being compromised by the public sphere. He then shows that Christians' dual responsibilities for the tradition and for the neighbor must be kept secret.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A professor of theology, Malesic offers a theological and philosophical treatise on the need for Christians to resist mass culture and its corrupting accommodation to worldly ideas by keeping their faith a secret. Malesic traces this idea to fourth-century St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who, in an effort to inspire awe in candidates for conversion, hid from them certain doctrines until after their baptism. The book then explores the thought of S ren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also argued for secrecy lest Christianity fall prey to consumerism, comfort or complacency. The book will be appreciated by theologians who worry that the evangelical zeal to make converts may inevitably conform more to American capitalism than to Christian creeds. But the book is more interested in a theological exploration of the concept of secrecy than in arguing for any modern-day solutions. Malesic's many repetitions and inelegant use of language make this book a hard read, though it rewards readers interested in the ideas of a trio of Christianity's most complex theologians.