Description: Is faith a necessary virtue in the contemporary world?
May it be, or must it be, detached from religious commitment? What
do genealogies of the secular tell us about faith? Does religion
need secular faith? Secular Faith brings together leading and
emerging scholars to reflect on the apparent paradox of ""secular
faith."" Ranging over anthropology, religious studies, political
science, history, and literature, from Muslims in China to
Pentecostals in South Africa to a prison chapel in Texas, this
collection of essays is as engaging and accessible as it is
penetrating and rigorous. Communism was once labeled ""the god that
failed."" Like Christianity, Communism involves faith in a
superhuman endeavor, conversion, myth, discipline, and
salvation--and, from the perspective of secular liberalism, both
are unjustified and false. In recent years, scholars have begun to
investigate whether secularism is itself based on faith in a god
that failed, or is failing. Nevertheless, many still embrace such a
faith, finding in the spirit of democracy an ethos of eternal
renewal. Secular Faith enters and broadens this conversation,
interrogating secular faith in a global context, tapping new
theoretical resources, and grappling provocatively with the
tragedies and opportunities of today's profane pantheon of beliefs.
Endorsements: ""Secular Faith is a quietly provocative work of
intellectual intervention, calling upon scholars of religion,
anthropology, literature, and history to engage with the secular
not as a diagnosis, but as a set of critical engagements. The
editors have assembled a cohort of essays guided by serious
theoretical questions and written with disarming poignancy.""
--Kathryn Lofton, Yale University ""Secular Faith is an important
book. The essays demonstrate, quite clearly, the complexities and
nuances of faith talk--secular or otherwise. Lloyd and Ratzman
should be commended. They have not only deepened our current
conversation about secularism and faith; they have pushed us into
new territory. A rare accomplishment indeed."" --Eddie S. Glaude
Jr., Princeton University ""Brimming with historical insight and
learned provocation, these original essays represent what criticism
might look like after questioning the assumptions of the
secularization thesis and its anxious critics. Secular Faith is a
wide-ranging and engaging collection that disrupts familiar
distinctions and guild divisions without succumbing to abstraction
or triumphalism. Scholars of literature, anthropology, political
theory, history, theology, and religious studies should take
notice."" --Eric Gregory, Princeton University About the
Contributor(s): Vincent Lloyd is Assistant Professor of Religious
Studies at Georgia State University. He is the author if Law and
Transcendence (2009). Elliot A. Ratzman is Visiting Assistant
Professor of Religion at Temple University.
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