Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason (Political Profiles) [Paperback]

John Milbank (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1405136847 | ISBN-13: 978-1405136846 | Edition: 2

This is a revised edition of John Milbank’s masterpiece, which sketches the outline of a specifically theological social theory.

• The Times Higher Education Supplement wrote of the first edition that it was “a tour de force of systematic theology. It would be churlish not to acknowledge its provocation and brilliance”.
  
• Brings this classic work up-to-date by reviewing the development of modern social thought.
  
• Features a substantial new introduction by Milbank, clarifying the theoretical basis for his work.
  
• Challenges the notion that sociological critiques of theology are ‘scientific’.
  
• Outlines a specifically theological social theory, and in doing so, engages with a wide range of thinkers from Plato to Deleuze.
  
• Written by one of the world’s most influential contemporary theologians and the author of numerous books.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the First edition

"Milbank's work is a tour de force of systematic theology. It would be churlish not to acknowledge its provocation and brilliance."
Times Higher Education Supplement

"The thesis is relatively simple, its orchestration is stunning in scope as well as in harmonies."
Modern Theology

"John Milbank’s sprawling, ambitious and intellectually demanding book is in a class of its own."
Studies in Christian Ethics

"John Milbank has written a masterful review of the development of modern social thought that at the same time offers a criticism of its dominant paradigms and suggests inherent limits on its accomplishments."
Journal of Religion

Praise for the Second Edition

“Theology and Social Theory has proven to be a bombshell… We are, therefore, extremely fortunate to have this second edition with Milbank’s dazzling new ‘Preface’. Re-reading this book is always a pleasure, because it is filled with surprises that force thought.”
Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University

"When the first edition was published the reaction was one of shock. Now, fifteen years on, the shock has worn off; more and more people are questioning the universal competency of secular reason. But this make all the more important the publication of this second edition. Milbank develops an alternative which has been steadily developing and enriching in the intervening years."
Charles Taylor, McGill University

"[Theology and Social Theory] remains a dense, challenging and elusive masterpiece of a book, which has lost none of its power to intrigue and repel in equal measure."
Times Literary Supplement, Sept 2006

"This second edition is a vital aid to any reader who wishes to understand more fully how Theology and Social Theory relates to Milbank's continued publications and radically orthodox sensibilities."
Theological Book Review

"An influential and important book … instructive for students in that it analyses and challenges contemporary assumptions about society and religion." Teaching Theology & Religion

From the Back Cover

In modern times, the social sciences have sought to explain religion from a neutral, secular vantage-point. In response, theology has tried to legitimate itself by building upon social scientific conclusions. In this acclaimed book, John Milbank suggests that both enterprises are compromised by the theological and anti-theological assumptions built into the social sciences themselves.

This new edition of Theology and Social Theory brings John Milbank’s classic work fully into line with his most recent views and is laid out in an easier-to-read format. It features a substantial new preface in which Milbank answers his critics by defending and further elaborating his metahistorical vision.

Provocative and well-argued, this updated classic from one of the world’s leading theologians offers a comprehensive treatment of the relation between theology and social theory, all the way from Plato to Deleuze.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 2 edition (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405136847
• ISBN-13: 978-1405136846
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #431,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A radical theological critique of "scientific" social theory, April 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Theology and Social Theory (Signposts in Theology) (Paperback)

Theology and Social Theory boldly argues that political economics, sociology and other forms of classical social theory are far from scientific. Many will not consider this news. Milbank's reasons are, however, novel. He persuasively contends that these social "sciences" are riddled through and through with theological premises and heretical ones at that! Milbank demonstrates that the social sciences provide theoretical groundwork for secular (read anti-Christian) praxis. Social scientific definitions of religion, for example, restrict religion to a purely private realm and thereby create autonomous space for unjust economic and social practices. Defanging Christianity by inventing "religion" makes room for secularity. Milbank's conclusion: theologians who take their cue from social theory fall captive to false theological claims and so sell their souls for a mess of pottage. Agree or not, Milbank must be read

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Milbank has your number, June 22, 2002

By 

David Chute (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Theology and Social Theory (Signposts in Theology) (Paperback)

Milbank appears to have struck a nerve. A glance at the user profile of the writer below will you give you a sense of where this guy is coming from. In effect this "review" is a fairly desperate attempt to circle the wagons around the dogmas of the left-academic establishment. The point that is missed here (and it's one of the keys to Milbank's argument) is that these folks do indeed have not just "assumptions" but dogmas, comprising in effect a secular, materialist religion, one that sees nothing at work in the world except amoral "power relations." (The only thing that matters in the end is who has the power.) That there are still people out there who can be moved to a spirited defense of this point of view, which has served as the ideological foundation of so many of the horrors of the 20th century, is more than a little depressing.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theological Unmasking of the Secular, June 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Theology and Social Theory (Signposts in Theology) (Paperback)

Milbank begins, "Once there was no secular..." and goes on to argue convincingly that the entire idea of a secular sphere is a creation of secular reason (social theory). The secular is a sphere of violence, present in antiquity, interupted by Christianity, and then through the Church's failure to imagine and practice peace, unleashed in a more pure form. Secular theory and practice are, ontologically violent and are born of the pagan stories of violent creation and stand in contrast to the Christian creation story of peaceful emanation.

The boldness of Milbank's thesis is matched by his thorough analysis of and engagment with secular social theorists from Machiavelli to Deleuze. Milbank dedicates most of the book to a re-narration of the history of secular social theory from the perspective of Christian theology. This serves to unmask the secular as one way of living in the world and not inevitably the way things are. Milbank calls for theology to stop deferring to secular social theory and to recognize itself as an alternative to the secular, as the social theory for "the other city," the city of God. An impressive and inspiring book.