Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K A Smith, 238 pages
In this book, the first volume of his Cultural Liturgies series,
Smith argues that religion is not a matter of assenting to a certain
set of intellectual propositions, of choosing the correct doctrines.
Nor is it the possession of a set of underlying pre-rational beliefs and
presuppositions. Rather, life, and especially the religious life, is a
matter of what we value, that is, what we love. Because we are
embodied beings, this is not a matter of logic, but of practice, that
is, of liturgy. Lex orandi, lex credendi. Worship is itself a form of
education, of paideia.
There is nothing revolutionary in these
statements, indeed, this view has a long history stretching back to
Aristotle. Long neglected as a result of Enlightenment abstraction, in
the twentieth century it was rejuvenated by thinkers as diverse as
Martin Heidegger, Alisdair MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor. Smith
compellingly synthesizes the thought of these and other figures, not
only conveying their insights but also peppering his commentary with
approachable exemplars and interesting discussions (such as when he
ponders whether Moulin Rouge is more authentically Christian than "The 700 Club").
Smith
approaches his subject from within the Reformed tradition with an eye
to its application in the Christian college environment, but neither of
these factors makes the book less useful to members of other Christian
groups or those outside the academy. Entertaining and enlightening in
equal measure, this book is truly remarkable.
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