324 Pages
    by Routledge

    324 Pages
    by Routledge

    Cities of God traces urban culture of north America and Western Europe during the 1970s, to ask how theology can respond to the postmodern city. Since Harvey Cox published his famous theological response to urban living during the mid-1960s very little has been written to address this fundamental subject. Through analyses of contemporary film, architecture, literature, and traditional theological resources in Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, Graham Ward lays out a systematic theology which has the preparation and building of cities as its focus. This is vital reading for all those interested in theology and urban living.

    Preface Introduction: the signs of the times PART I Cultural atomism 1 Cities of eternal aspiration 2 Cities of endless desire PART II The analogical world-view 3 Transcorporeality: the ontological scandal 4 The displaced body of Jesus Christ 5 Communities of desire 6 The Church as the erotic community 7 The erotics of redemption PART III Theology and the practices of contemporary living 8 Cities of angels 9 Cities of the good: the redemption of cyberspace

    Biography

    Graham Ward is Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics at the University of Manchester and Executive Editor of The Journal of Literature and Theology. (OUP). He is the author of a number of books, including Critical Theory (Macmillan) and the editor of The Postmodern God (Macmillan) and The Certeau Reader (Blackwell). He is the co-editor, with John Millbank and Catherine Pickstock of Routledge's Radical Orthodoxy series.

    'The book is ... a truly major achievement, the most sustained constructive piece of work by an Anglican theologian for many years.' - Scottish Journal of Theology

    'There is a humility here which acknowledges that "our dogmatisms speak more about our fears than our aspirations." No liberal could have put it better.' - Revd Steven Shakespeare, Church Times

    'With Cities of God, which is a worthy postmodern sequel to Harvey Cox's The Secular City (1965), Graham Ward establishes himself as one of the most engaging and visionary theologians of his generation.' - Stephen H. Webb, Reviews in Religion and Theology