Biblical Critical Theory
How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Zondervan Academic (Zondervan)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
*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 Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture. Critical theories exist to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. In doing so, they make visible the values and beliefs of a culture in order to scrutinize and change them. Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation, and asking urgent questions like: How does the Bible's storyline help us understand our society, our culture, and ourselves? How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day? How can we analyze and critique culture and its alternative critical theories through Scripture? Informed by the biblical-theological structure of Saint Augustine's magisterial work The City of God (and with extensive diagrams and practical tools), Biblical Critical Theory shows how the patterns of the Bible's storyline can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today's debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality. You'll learn the moves to make and the tools to use in analyzing and engaging with all sorts of cultural artifacts and events in a way that is both biblically faithful and culturally relevant. It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture or cultures in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible, revealing how the whole of the Bible sheds light on the whole of life. If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging, and dynamic voice in the marketplace of ideas today, we need to mine the unique treasures of the distinctive biblical storyline.
Endorsements (17)
“Watkin turns and overturns the tables of today’s culture-changers by examining various critical theories through biblical lenses rather than vice versa. Biblical Critical Theory is an important update of Augustine’s City of God, a proposal for making biblical sense of what is happening in contemporary culture. This is the ultimate how-to book for disciples looking to beat ideological swords and other weapons in the popular culture wars into gospel plowshares, tools for making sense of, and reconciling, the contradictions of our present moment.”
“and given us a scalpel; indeed, he’s given us a whole set of diagnostic and surgical tools. Biblical Critical Theory will become a seminal text for us: part manifesto, part Bible overview (the most maximal one imaginable), part blueprint for civilization. It’s a revelation about the implications and applications of God’s revelation and how Jesus Christ is the subversive fulfilment of all and every culture. In terms of Christian doctrine, Watkin admits that he is saying nothing new, but the arrangement of the material is menthol fresh, his interlocutors are the heavyweights, and his writing is a model of elegance, engagement, and empathy. From first steps in Christian discipleship, through catechesis and seminary, and to the highest level of academic research, Watkin’s work in Biblical Critical Theory will be a foundation and frame for years to come. Absolutely essential reading.”
“leaders wanting to think biblically about our deChristianising world. It is also a gift for those who aren’t sure what to make of the Christian faith. Here is a total defence and commendation of Christianity like no other. Buy it. Read it. Ponder it. Pass it on.”
“We not only read the Bible; the Bible reads us, challenging familiar assumptions about “the way things are.” A careful scholar of both “horizons,” Watkin guides us upstream from politics and culture wars. This isn’t just another survey or apologetic for a biblical worldview. Rather, Watkin provides a fascinating and bracing exploration of key points at which the biblical story calls into question fundamental preunderstandings we take for granted even before we “engage the culture.” Biblical Critical Theory doesn’t just give us answers; it helps us to come up with better questions. The components aren’t new, but the way he’s put it all together offers an innovative and immensely fruitful paradigm.”
“whole thing feel like a glorious adventure.”
“Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory reveals how the whole of Scripture presents a lens through which we can—and should—see all of reality. It is an exercise in understanding “the now and the not yet.” Incisive, accessible, and astonishing in scope, this book is sure to be an immensely valuable Christian resource.”
“Where was this book when I was floundering in a sea of humanities all those years ago? Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory equips Christians to walk confidently as they appropriate and advance the ideas of our cultural milieu. Watkin will capture your intellect and imagination. This book is a must-read for all serious thinkers.”
“This is a brilliant and unique book. Inspired by Augustine’s City of God, Watkin has written a tour de force, diagonalizing a biblical path through rival narratives and ideologies. Biblical Critical Theory combines rich biblical theology with penetrating philosophical reflection; the result is a wonderful example of how cultural engagement should be done. It is the most biblical, up-to-date, and comprehensive analysis of contemporary Western culture that I know of. And to top it all off, Watkin can turn a phrase.”
“and philosophy I've read in recent years. Christopher Watkin invites readers through a tour of the Bible’s philosophical depths and implications, while demonstrating persuasively that the Christian worldview subversively fulfills major philosophies, ancient and modern. Further, it applies the theology of neo-Calvinism for a contemporary audience. I can’t be more excited about Watkin’s work. Run, don’t walk, to get this book!”
“With astonishing breadth and depth, Biblical Critical Theory gives readers a fresh way of seeing the world, life, culture, and the Bible. Watkin’s scholarship is impressive, taking what is valuable and true wherever he finds it and making it accessible to the reader. I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of our time and culture.”
“readers to wrestle with the depth and develop their own applications of healthy criticism. The gospel is in this.”
“Biblical Critical Theory is an ambitious, comprehensive, and thrilling work of Christian apologetics. Written by a scholar of French thought who has built his career not in the seminary but in secular institutions, this book moves well beyond a run-of-the-mill account of the West’s seminal thinkers. Rather, the intellectual architects of modernity are expounded by someone with a subtle, first-hand grasp of their power. The result is a rich, sympathetic, and critical engagement with the gospel’s most powerful rivals. Refusing to abstract a “biblical worldview” from the actual phenomenon of Scripture, Watkin tethers his material to the storyline of the Bible, engaging with Scripture’s own language and thought-forms. Armed with this dual-attentiveness to Scripture and contemporary thought, the result is a vast and breathtaking work of Christian cultural engagement. The book’s structural coherence and biblical-narrative approach makes a cover-to-cover read a rich experience. But having read it, it ought to stay on a shelf with other often-used reference books, within reach for anyone who wants to understand the Bible, contemporary culture, or the relation between the two. It is probably, in my opinion, the most significant work of its kind to appear in a decade.”
“ideologies—power, conflict, domination, oppression, freedom, social change, civil society, political and social order, common good, inequality—come under searching critique, not least when they are on Watkin’s intimately familiar terrain of modern critical theory. A work of breathtaking scale, Biblical Critical Theory reveals the extraordinary singularity of the Bible as Watkin insistently expresses the magnificent radicalness of Christian thought. Refusing to be captured by simplifying dualities of contemporary discourse, this eloquently written work celebrates the symphony of biblical genres and the millennia of theological reflections that provide thoughtful Christians with a distinctive, powerful, and original critical armory that can reach all corners of our economic, political, legal, cultural, and social worlds. Inspired by the words of novelists and poets, ancient philosophy and literary critics, modern apologists and social observers, Watkin crafts a richly textured argument with dexterity and power. While no one will agree with everything, every careful reader will be rewarded from repeated immersions in this profound and potentially transformative work.”
“Christopher Watkin’s expert, timely compendium of Christian Scripture’s subversive engagement of dominating themes of our modern age brings welcome healing to our world. Now may we live it!”
“new things about both the Bible and the modern world in each of these twenty-eight fascinating chapters. I will be referencing this work (which is evangelist-speak for “ripping it off ”) for many years to come.”
“in all of life. This is truly the book I have long wanted to read, and I believe it deserves to become a standard text for all Christian leaders, teachers, evangelists, and any serious-minded believer who wishes to out-love and out-think secular culture.”
“Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory is an effervescently brilliant book, that rare volume that excels both in biblical and cultural exegesis. I was consistently challenged by Watkin’s arguments even—and especially—when I found myself disagreeing.”
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