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

by John Milbank (Author) "Once, there was no 'secular'..." (more)
Key Phrases: antique materialist, ecclesial time, fait sociale, New York, Cambridge University Press, Max Weber (more...)

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<!--end-->

"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

Product Description
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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 2 edition (February 27, 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: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #332,984 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 65 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: Beyond Secular Reason (Signposts in Theology Ser.) (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

24 of 27 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: Beyond Secular Reason (Signposts in Theology Ser.) (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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars devastating, epic, brilliant, December 2, 2002

By	Wes J. Arblaster "doxadeus" (Tipp City, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason (Signposts in Theology Ser.) (Paperback)

Milbank's work is dense, frustrating, painfully difficult, and nothing less than brilliant. Not only does he persuasively demythologize modernity's own demythologization of Christianity, he levels the great icons of the post/modern age in the process! As the cover states, this book is a 'tour de force' of the highest degree, and truly epic in proportions. As one completes the final page (not a small feat indeed!) one is left with the sentiment that western history might just need to be rewritten.