Hardback : £88.35
This book aims to create a Christian theology of wisdom for the present day, in discussion with two sets of conversation-partners. The first are writers of the 'wisdom literature' in ancient Israel and the Jewish community in Alexandria. Here, special attention is given to the biblical books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The second conversation-partners are philosophers and thinkers of the late-modern age, among them Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Julia
Kristeva, Paul Ricoeur, and Hannah Arendt. In the late-modern period there has been a reaction against an inherited conception of the conscious and rational self as mastering and even subjugating the
world around, and there has been an attempt to overcome the consequent split between the subject and objects of observation. Paul S. Fiddes enters into dialogue with these late-modern concerns about the relation between the self and the world, proposing that the wisdom which is indicated by the ancient Hebraic concept of .hokmah integrates a 'practical wisdom' of handling daily experience with the kind of wisdom which is 'attunement' to the world and ultimately to
God as creator and sustainer of all. Fiddes brings detailed exegesis of texts from the ancient wisdom literature into interaction with an account of the subject in late-modern thought, in order to form a
theology in which seeing the world is knowing a God whose transcendent reality is always immanent in the signs and bodies of the world. He thus argues that participation in a triune, relational God shapes a wisdom that addresses problems of a dominating self, and opens the human person to others.
This book aims to create a Christian theology of wisdom for the present day, in discussion with two sets of conversation-partners. The first are writers of the 'wisdom literature' in ancient Israel and the Jewish community in Alexandria. Here, special attention is given to the biblical books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The second conversation-partners are philosophers and thinkers of the late-modern age, among them Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Julia
Kristeva, Paul Ricoeur, and Hannah Arendt. In the late-modern period there has been a reaction against an inherited conception of the conscious and rational self as mastering and even subjugating the
world around, and there has been an attempt to overcome the consequent split between the subject and objects of observation. Paul S. Fiddes enters into dialogue with these late-modern concerns about the relation between the self and the world, proposing that the wisdom which is indicated by the ancient Hebraic concept of .hokmah integrates a 'practical wisdom' of handling daily experience with the kind of wisdom which is 'attunement' to the world and ultimately to
God as creator and sustainer of all. Fiddes brings detailed exegesis of texts from the ancient wisdom literature into interaction with an account of the subject in late-modern thought, in order to form a
theology in which seeing the world is knowing a God whose transcendent reality is always immanent in the signs and bodies of the world. He thus argues that participation in a triune, relational God shapes a wisdom that addresses problems of a dominating self, and opens the human person to others.
I: Setting the Scene
1: The Cry for Wisdom
2: The Mood of the Late-Modern World
3: Where Were You? Self and Other
II: Wisdom as Observation and Participation
4: The Elusiveness of the World and the Limits of Wisdom
5: The Complexity of the World and the Extent of Wisdom
6: The Seeing Self and Wisdom as Observation
7: Hidden Wisdom: a Theology of Presence and Place
III: Wisdom in the World
8: Metaphor and Mystery in the Interpretation of Wisdom
9: Wisdom as a Search for the Sum of Things
10: The Text of the World and the Comprehensiveness of Wisdom
11: The Process of Learning and the Rejection of Wisdom
Coda
12: Attunement to Wisdom: from Observation to Participation
Paul S. Fiddes is Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Oxford and Director of Research, Regent's Park College, Oxford. His publications include Baptists and the Communion of Saints: A Theology of Covenanted Disciples (Baylor University Press, 2014) and The Promised End: Eschatology in Theology and Literature (Wiley Blackwell, 2000).
`Fidde's patient and fascinating exegesis of ancient texts shows
how Hebrew and Christian conceptions of wisdom cohere with these
concerns of modern Continental philosophy.'
Clare Carlisle, The Times Literary Supplement
`I must admit that have done almost no justice to the depth and
significance of biblical scholarship that Fidde's addresses in this
vast work, and I have only gestured toward the wonderful
connections that he makes between contemporary society, both its
faults and its hopeful possibilities, and the ancient writings of
wisdom that have been passed on to us as part of a determinate
religious tradition. Indeed, as I neared the end of the volume, I
had the
sneaking suspicion that I would be returning to the volume again
and again in order to find more use for the valuable insights which
his latest book presents us with. I have few doubts, moreover, that
this
impression will be anything less than accurate.'
Colby Dickinson, The Heythrop Journal
`Fiddes has attempted a complex interweaving of three distinct
strands in his interests, Christian doctrine, modern Continental
philosophy, and an early doctoral focus on Wisdom literature.
Fiddes produces his weave with such consummate skill that any
reader is bound to come away impressed ...'
David Brown, Journal of Theological Studies
`This is an important book that illuminates every topic it
discusses and it discusses a great deal.'
Paul Richardson, The Church of England Newspaper
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
