Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy (Pentecostal Manifestos) [Paperback]

James K. A. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2010 | Series: Pentecostal Manifestos

The past several decades have seen a renaissance in Christian philos­ophy, led by the work of Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, William Alston, Eleonore Stump, and others. In the spirit of Plantinga’s famous manifesto, “Advice to Christian Philosophers,” James K. A. Smith here offers not only advice to Pentecostal philosophers but also some Pentecostal advice to Christian philosophers.

In this inaugural Pentecostal Manifestos volume Smith begins from the conviction that implicit in Pentecostal and charismatic spirituality is a tacit worldview or “social imaginary.” Thinking in Tongues unpacks and articulates the key elements of this Pentecostal worldview and then explores their implications for philosophical reflection on ontology, epistemology, aesthetics, language, science, and philosophy of religion. In each case, Smith demonstrates how the implicit wisdom of Pentecostal spirituality makes unique contributions to current conversations in Christian philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Thinking in Tongues provides both philosophical thinking about Pentecostalism and philosophical thought from a Pentecostal perspective. In both cases the thinking is vintage Jamie Smith: clear, original, and provocative. Non-Pentecostals can be grateful for this analysis of the philosophical importance of this increasingly important strand of Christian thought.”
— C. Stephen Evans
Baylor University

About the Author

James K. A. Smith is associate professor of philosophy at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and executive director of the Society of Christian Philosophers. His other books include Desiring the Kingdom, The Devil Reads Derrida, and Who’s Afraid of Post­modernism?

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802861849
• ISBN-13: 978-0802861849
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #597,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James K.A. Smith teaches philosophy and theology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, having previously taught at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He has been a visiting professor at Fuller Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and Regent College in Vancouver, BC. Originally trained in philosophical theology and contemporary French philosophy, Smith's work is focused on cultural criticism informed by the Christian theological tradition. His more popular writing has also appeared in magazines such as the Christian Century, Christianity Today, First Things, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and others.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Groundbreaking work! April 12, 2011

By Kurt Johnson

Format:Paperback

Thinking in Tongues will stretch your categories for what it means to be "pentecostal." Smith offers a wide vision of pentecostal spirituality as he 'mines out' of pentecostal practice the underlining philosophy at work within pentecostal practices; something that is rarely articulated by pentecostals themselves. I grew up a pentecostal and I found the elements of pentecostal spirituality that Smith draws out to be very insightful and ring true. Rather than a pentecostal spirituality that is built on particular doctrines on tongues or Spirit baptism, Smith identifies some core elements of pentecostal spirituality that are latent within pentecostal practices and are true across a wide range of pentecostal expressions and offers that up to the wider philosophical conversation in Christian philosophy. Brilliant, ground breaking work!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A neocalvinist assist to pentecostal theology June 11, 2011

By stevebishop

Format:Paperback

What has Azusa Street to do with Geneva or even Amsterdam? Is it possible to integrate pentecostal and Calvinist or even neocalvinist views? Smith maintains that it is and with this manifesto he tries to do just that.
Reformed charismatic is obviously not an oxymoron. However, most Reformed charismatics tend to be pietist in outlook. Smith writes from a neocalvinist perspective, a perspective that rejects pietism but embraces a transformational perspective on culture and society. Smith taking his cue from Alvin Plantinga's seminal paper 'Advice to Christian Philosophers' here issues advice to pentecostal philosophers; advice that comes with more than a neocalvinist assist. Smith makes no claim to being exhaustive or comprehensive but claims to be offering an outline, a manifesto.
I must confess that the Pentecostal/ charismatic perspective sketched by Smith here is one I don't fully recognise - I wish that it were. I left a charismatic house church two decades ago because it was dualistic and had a tendency towards neo-gnosticism; if Smith is correct things have changed over the years. Smith's program[me] for pentecostal philosophy strangely warmed my heart. He identifies five 'key aspects of a pentecostal worldview'; aspects which owe much to neocalvinism:

1. A position of radical openness to God
2. An 'enchanted' theology of creation and culture
3. A nondualistic affirmation of embodiment and materiality
4. Affective, narrative epistemology
5. An eschatological orientation to mission and justice.

To each of these I would shout a loud 'Amen, preach it!' If this is pentecostal philosophy, then give me pentecostal philosophy! Smith has ably shown that a charismatic neocalvinism is a viable option. Pentecostalism is often caricatured by an escapist world-denying mentality, one that stresses the heart over the head, emotions over the rational and is profoundly anti-intellectual. Smith has adequately demonstrated that it need not be.
In chapter 3, the longest in the book, he sketches a pentecostal epistemology, making a good case for understanding it as resonating with a "'postmodern' critique of autonomous reason" (p. 52). It is not antirational, but antirationalist (p. 53). His 'core claim is that 'pentecostal worship constitutes a kind of performative postmodernism, an enacted refusal of rationalism' (p. 59). I love the way he describes a Pentecostal epistemology as being 'more like dance than deduction' (p. 82).
Chapter 4, subtitled 'Science, Spirit, and a Pentecostal ontology', takes a look at a pentecostal contribution to metaphysics. Smith maintains that a pentecostal ontology is one of 'radical openness and thus resistant to closed, immanentist systems of the sort that emerge from reductionistic metaphysical naturalism' (p. 88). He describes it as an 'enchanted naturalism' and contrasts it with reductionalistic naturalism and naive supernaturalism. He views naturalism as a spectrum from the reductiuonistic naturalism of Dan Dennett to the interventionist supernaturalism of naďve pentecostalism, passing through non-reductionistic rationalism of Arthur Peacocke, and Philip Clayton and the enchanted or non-interventionaits supernaturalism advocated here by Smith. This is a rich typology and one that will bring clarity to the discussions on naturalism(s). Smith is arguing for a supernatural materialism that contests the natural/ supernatural distinction. Here he draws, perhaps predictably considering Smith's previous works, on radical orthodox's 'participatory' ontology (p. 100).
The philosophy of religion comes under scrutiny in chapter 4. The contemporary paradigm is that doctrine is prior to worship and that ideas trump practice (p. 111). Pentecostalism challenges this. Chapter 5 is perhaps the most explicitly pentecostal, it takes a look at glossolalia (speaking in tongues) and the challenge with which it confronts the philosophy of language. Smith side steps the theological issues and focuses on the philosophical. This chapter provides a model for how pentecostals can do philosophy.
The book concludes with a heart-felt plea for others to take up the baton and so see, as Smith has stated elsewhere First Things (April 2008), pentecostals at the academic table rather being on the table as a topic of study.
Al Wolters once wrote: 'I believe that neocalvinism, if it remains true to its radical original intuition, can truly embrace the riches of other traditions, even as it shares its own with others.' Smith has done just that with this book.

(Review originally published in Philosophia Reformata)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars connecting mind and heart May 16, 2011

By Joshua Hopping

Format:Paperback

God used James Smith's book, "Thinking in Tongues", to give me permission to connect my mind and my heart in a way that I have never done before. Both are to be trusted; both are to be respected and used for the Glory of God.