The NEW RELIGIOUS HUMANISTS

Free Press, December 1997. Hardcover. New. Incarnation lies at the heart of this collection of essays; incarnation is the key to Wolfe's very definition of ''religious humanist'': the sort of thinker / writer / artist whose vocation is to embody divine or transcendent truth in the midst of very concrete impasses. Like the Incarnate One, the religious humanist is often a stumbling Block to the ''religious,'' foolish to the ''humanists'' of this age. In this sense, the intelligent and discerning pieces in this anthology will puzzle some readers, disappoint others, but richly reward those who are looking for fresh insights into some of the dilemmas imposed by modernity: What does religious faith look like in the modern world? (Annie Dillard, Richard Rodriguez, Gerald Early, Kathleen Norris). What can tradition contribute to historical scholarship? (Robert Wilken, Leon Kass). Do Christians have any common ground with such as Freud, Nietzsche, Derrida? (Robert Royal, Robert Coles). Does faith have a place in the public square, an impact on the nature of citizenship? (Glenn Tinder, Robert Jenson, Os Guinness). How can the religious imagination begin to heal and transform the fragmentation and deadness of the culture, both within and without academia? (Greg Wolfe, Jon Levenson, Wilfrid McClay, Wendell Berry, Vigen Guroian). <i>The New Religious Humanists</i> presents no easy answers, but the offerings are unrelentingly honest, intellectually nourishing, occasionally edifying.