Theology and Social Theory (Signposts in Theology) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

John Milbank (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631189483 | ISBN-13: 978-0631189480 | Publication Date: October 15, 1993

A comprehensive critique of modern social theory from a Christian point of view. Shows how an engagement with postmodern thought opens the way to a theology that offers a more specifically Christian account of history and society.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

"It is of a remarkable intensity and intellectual scope, it is a book of the highest importance for the ongoing debate between Christianity and modernity." Reinhard Hutter, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

From the Back Cover

In recent years, theology has tried to legitimate itself by absorbing the method and conclusions of the social sciences. However, theologians are too little aware of the theological and anti-theological assumptions built into these disciplines themselves.

In retracing the genesis of scientific discourses about society, John Milbank's highly acclaimed book (now available in paperback) brings these assumptions to light, and shows how their hidden presence compromises claims to scientific status. On this basis it calls into question the whole enterprise of sociology of religion, and argues that contemporary political theology has overrated Marxism and sociology in neglecting the importance of specifically Christian traditions of social thought. At the same time as developing a specific and controversial argument, the book provides the only existing comprehensive treatment of the relation between theology and social theory, all the way from Plato to Deleuze.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (October 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631189483
• ISBN-13: 978-0631189480
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,898 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.