In "Rene Girard and Secular Modernity: Christ, Culture, and
Crisis," Scott Cowdell provides the first systematic interpretation
of Rene Girard's controversial approach to secular modernity.
Cowdell identifies the scope, development, and implications of
Girard's thought, the centrality of Christ in Girard's thinking,
and, in particular, Girard's distinctive take on the uniqueness and
finality of Christ in terms of his impact on Western culture. In
Girard's singular vision, according to Cowdell, secular modernity
has emerged thanks to the Bible's exposure of the cathartic
violence that is at the root of religious prohibitions, myths, and
rituals. In the literature, the psychology, and most recently the
military history of modernity, Girard discerns a consistent slide
into an apocalypse that challenges modern ideas of romanticism,
individualism, and progressivism.
In the first three chapters, Cowdell examines the three elements
of Girard's basic intellectual vision (mimesis, sacrifice, biblical
hermeneutics) and brings this vision to a constructive
interpretation of "secularization" and "modernity," as these terms
are understood in the broadest sense today. Chapter 4 focuses on
modern institutions, chiefly the nation state and the market, that
function to restrain the outbreak of violence. And finally, Cowdell
discusses the apocalyptic dimension of Girard's theory in relation
to modern warfare and terrorism. Here, Cowdell engages with the
most recent writings of Girard (particularly his "Battling to the
End") and applies them to further conversations in cultural
theology, political science, and philosophy. Cowdell takes up and
extends Girard's own warning concerning an alternative to a future
apocalypse: "What sort of conversion must humans undergo, before it
is too late?"
"Scott Cowdell's book is the first comprehensive study of
modernity and secularity in Rene Girard's thought. Cowdell brings
Girard's theory into a fruitful dialogue with leading approaches on
secularization like those of Max Weber, Hans Blumenberg, Peter
Berger, and Charles Taylor. Scholars and students of theology,
philosophy, and sociology will benefit from this wide-ranging
overview of the relationship between religion, modernity, and
secularization." --Wolfgang Palaver, Institute of Systematic
Theology, University of Innsbruck
"In a stunning analysis, Cowdell shows that Girard's sustained
intellectual pursuit, which began in the 1960s with his mimetic
analysis of modern realist fiction, has always been about the
(Durkheimian) religiosity of the modern and postmodern social
condition, even when it has dealt explicitly with the religious
origins of antique culture. Cowdell demonstrates the 'highly
explanatory and predictive' quality of Girard's cultural
anthropology, within which the 'secular' does not (and indeed
cannot) escape the 'religious.' This is a powerful book." --Ann W.
Astell, University of Notre Dame
"Scott Cowdell is one of the most interesting theological voices
of his generation. The themes in Cowdell's work are always cosmic
and vast in scope. This is a remarkable reading of our contemporary
situation through the lens of Rene Girard. Accurate, informed, and
illuminating, Cowdell has written a fabulous book. For the person
needing a way into Girard and for the person who is already using
Girard's work, Cowdell brings out the implications of Girard for
the moment in which we live. An absolutely essential addition to
your personal library." --The Very Rev Dr. Ian Markham, Virginia
Theological Seminary
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