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Truth considered and applied : examining postmodernism, history, and Christian faith / Stewart E. Kelly.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Nashville, Tenn. : B & H Academic, c2011.Description: vii, 376 p. ; 23 cmISBN:
  • 9780805449587
  • 0805449582
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • BT 50 .K42 2011
Online resources:
Contents:
Introduction. Concerning point of view ; Pilate and the question of truth -- pt. 1. Friend or foe? : the challenge of postmodernism. A. Modernism. Descartes and the premodern -- Critique of modernism -- B. Postmodernism. Eight preliminary considerations -- Characteristics of postmodernism -- pt. 2. Truth and history. The rise of history in the U.S. : 1880-1910 -- The new history and intimations of relativism : 1910-1945 -- Things go swimmingly : consensus in the post war years, 1945-1965 -- Things go bump in the night : the turbulent sixties -- The rise of postmodern historiography and historical epistemology -- White's assault on the default position -- Novick and doubts about objectivity -- White, metahistory, and prefiguration -- Novick and doubts about objectivity -- Jenkins and the ideological assault on objectivity -- Making the case for a modest historical realism -- Defending the default position : a modest proposal -- The Holocaust considered : historical reality, narratival construction, or pure invention? -- pt. 3. Truth considered. Does truth matter? -- Common sense and the default position -- The coherence theory of truth -- Pragmatism and truth -- Deflationary theories of truth -- Horwich's minimalist theory -- The disquotational theory of truth -- The correspondence theory of truth -- Conclusion.
Summary: For beginning philosophy and theology students as well as ministers and educated lay people alike, Truth considered and applied examines the leading theories of truth in relation to postmodernism, history, and Christian faith. Author Stewart E. Kelly defends thoughtful Christianity in the face of postmodernist challenges that would label such religious faith as merely a version of truth among many in a pluralistic world. Likewise in looking at Christianity as a historical faith, Kelly supports the need for Christians to develop a method of interpretation that does justice to the biblical texts and our informed understanding of the past in general; because if a genuine past cannot be recovered in some meaningful sense, the claims of Jesus being incarnate and risen from the dead are seriously jeopardized. Many today believe that the quest for truth is the establishment of power, that objectivity is merely an Enlightenment myth, that all reality is discursively constructed, and that the notion of genuine knowledge should be left to a bygone era. In this perceptive and provocative book, Stewart E. Kelly challenges these postmodern positions. While avoiding a sledgehammer apologetic, he persuasively contends for a modest objectivity, a view of truth that transcends construction and culture.
Item type: Books
Holdings
Current library Collection Call number Vol info Status Date due Barcode
Judith Thomas Library General Stacks BKS BT 50 .K42 2011 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) AUA012511 Available AUA012511

Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-359) and indexes.

Introduction. Concerning point of view ; Pilate and the question of truth -- pt. 1. Friend or foe? : the challenge of postmodernism. A. Modernism. Descartes and the premodern -- Critique of modernism -- B. Postmodernism. Eight preliminary considerations -- Characteristics of postmodernism -- pt. 2. Truth and history. The rise of history in the U.S. : 1880-1910 -- The new history and intimations of relativism : 1910-1945 -- Things go swimmingly : consensus in the post war years, 1945-1965 -- Things go bump in the night : the turbulent sixties -- The rise of postmodern historiography and historical epistemology -- White's assault on the default position -- Novick and doubts about objectivity -- White, metahistory, and prefiguration -- Novick and doubts about objectivity -- Jenkins and the ideological assault on objectivity -- Making the case for a modest historical realism -- Defending the default position : a modest proposal -- The Holocaust considered : historical reality, narratival construction, or pure invention? -- pt. 3. Truth considered. Does truth matter? -- Common sense and the default position -- The coherence theory of truth -- Pragmatism and truth -- Deflationary theories of truth -- Horwich's minimalist theory -- The disquotational theory of truth -- The correspondence theory of truth -- Conclusion.

For beginning philosophy and theology students as well as ministers and educated lay people alike, Truth considered and applied examines the leading theories of truth in relation to postmodernism, history, and Christian faith. Author Stewart E. Kelly defends thoughtful Christianity in the face of postmodernist challenges that would label such religious faith as merely a version of truth among many in a pluralistic world. Likewise in looking at Christianity as a historical faith, Kelly supports the need for Christians to develop a method of interpretation that does justice to the biblical texts and our informed understanding of the past in general; because if a genuine past cannot be recovered in some meaningful sense, the claims of Jesus being incarnate and risen from the dead are seriously jeopardized. Many today believe that the quest for truth is the establishment of power, that objectivity is merely an Enlightenment myth, that all reality is discursively constructed, and that the notion of genuine knowledge should be left to a bygone era. In this perceptive and provocative book, Stewart E. Kelly challenges these postmodern positions. While avoiding a sledgehammer apologetic, he persuasively contends for a modest objectivity, a view of truth that transcends construction and culture.