To Change the World
The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
The call to make the world a better place is inherent in the Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive--and provocative--answers to these questions.
Hunter begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christian eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real-life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be.
Written with keen insight, deep faith, and profound historical grasp, To Change the World will forever change the way Christians view and talk about their role in the modern world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
To change hearts and minds has been the goal of modern Christians seeking to correct a culture deemed fallen and morally lax. Hunter (Culture Wars), a distinguished professor of religion, culture, and social theory at the University of Virginia, finds this approach pervasive among Christians of all stripes and in every case deeply flawed. It can even undermine the message of the very gospel they cherish and desire to advance. In three essays groups of chapters developing a concept Hunter charts the history of Christian assumptions and efforts, investigates the nature of power and politics in Christian life and thought, and then proposes a theologically sound alternative: what he calls the practice of faithful presence. This practice has benevolent consequences... precisely because it is not rooted in a desire to change the world... but rather it is an expression of a desire to honor the creator of all goodness, beauty, and truth. Well reasoned and thought provoking, Hunter s corrective argument for authentic Christian engagement with the world is refreshing, persuasive, and inspiring.
Customer Reviews
The most thought provoking book I’ve read
Some books affirm things you already believe. Better ones challenge them. However, unlike those, this book provided an entire new way of thinking that was completely new, yet I wonder how I couldn’t have seen it in hindsight. It is both affirming and challenging, but overall insightful and thought provoking - it does not settle for easy answers or simple platitudes.
I was introduced to Hunter’s work from a librarian friend of mine, and I enjoyed Culture Wars so much that I read all of his subsequent books, which are all fantastic (Before the Shooting Begins, The Death of Character, Science and the Good). This is Hunter’s best work yet, synthesizing perspectives from his previous work and providing positive advice rather than just diagnosing or describing the current state of the world. Many of the ideas present in Culture Wars, Before the Shooting Begins, and The Death of Character in particular are fully fleshed out and given the time and space to expand into a cohesive picture of what Hunter believes the problems and possible solutions are. Whereas I found part of the middle of The Death of Character to be a bit dry (not saying it was not important, but the painstaking history of character formation was probably longer than it needed to be), every section in this book was essential in my opinion. As a result this is, in my view, Hunter’s magnum opus, a culmination of his thought spanning three decades, and a deeply interdisciplinary work drawing from sociology, philosophy, theology, and history.
This is also Hunter’s most technical work, drawing from sociological and philosophical theory that I had never heard of before (luckily he defines his terms and writes clearly). However this is always done in the context of his argument - in particular his use of the Nietzschean “Will to Power” and “Ressentiment” allow him to draw parallels between the Christian Right and the Christian Left. It is not a difficult read but it does require serious attention and reflection while reading - it was not a book I could blaze through, and I did have to take breaks.
I’ll admit as an engineering student, I used to have a somewhat dim view of sociology as lacking rigor and being too politically motivated. This book helped me understand the value of sociological theory by demonstrating the how such theory can give us a way to discuss what we observe and help us make sense of the world. It is especially humbling when reading a passage that put a thought I had into words better than I probably could have done. It is one thing to make an argument - it is another to give a voice to the reader’s own thoughts, and then provide further analysis citing relevant studies or literature. Whatever this book lacks (and I am hard pressed to find anything negative to say about it), it is certainly not rigor or insight. It is not that this book changed my views - more fundamentally, it forced me to reconsider the way I thought about the world, and in particular Christianity’s place in it. It is one thing for a book to provide a compelling argument or offer an easy answer - it is another for it to offer a new way of conceptualizing issues by asking the right question, and let the reader come to their own conclusion with the clarity offered by wrestling with such a question.
This is one book whose ideas will stay with me for years to come. I certainly hope I do not forget the insights learned here.