文章基本信息

标题：Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture for the Church in the World.
作者：Mattes, Mark
期刊名称：Currents in Theology and Mission
印刷版ISSN：0098-2113
出版年度：2013
期号：August
语种：English
出版社：Lutheran School of Theology and Mission
摘要：This book is a response to the debilitating effects of secularism which increasingly cannot defend the value of reason, freedom, and human dignity apart from belief in God. Zimmermann claims that our response to such skepticism should be to remind the world that science, technology, and the above democratic ideals are rooted in Christian faith (26). It was early Christianity's "incarnational humanism," the view that God became human so that humanity can participate in God, which grounds life-affirming ideals (13, 53). Ultimately, then, these concepts are inferences about human nature as grounded ultimately in Cappacdocian trinitarianism. In contrast, nihilism stems from the opposition between thinking and being assumed by Kant. Zimmermann retrieves a Christian Platonism in which deifying participation in God reconceives mind and being as harmonious.
关键词：Books

Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture for the Church in the World.

Mattes, Mark

Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture for the Church in the World. By Jens Zimmermann. Downer's Grove, Illinois: 1 VP Academic, 2012. ISBN:978-0-8308-3903-2. 356 pages. Paper. $30.00.

This book is a response to the debilitating effects of secularism which increasingly cannot defend the value of reason, freedom, and human dignity apart from belief in God. Zimmermann claims that our response to such skepticism should be to remind the world that science, technology, and the above democratic ideals are rooted in Christian faith (26). It was early Christianity's "incarnational humanism," the view that God became human so that humanity can participate in God, which grounds life-affirming ideals (13, 53). Ultimately, then, these concepts are inferences about human nature as grounded ultimately in Cappacdocian trinitarianism. In contrast, nihilism stems from the opposition between thinking and being assumed by Kant. Zimmermann retrieves a Christian Platonism in which deifying participation in God reconceives mind and being as harmonious.

Zimmermann notes that contemporary society is not only post-Christian but also post-secular (41). Hence, affirmation of transcendence is more plausible today than several decades ago. At stake is the need to reaffirm a theological anthropology which is marked by the goal of deification--oneness with the triune life (83, 163). Such a goal brings coherence to various contingencies of human life within a meaningful framework, the triune life. After discussing the development of theological anthropology prior to the Enlightenment, Zimmermann documents its demise among the legacy of Kant, including Nietzsche. Even Christian apologists like Gianni Vattimo and John Caputo capitulate to such Kantianism by postulating God as incarnate in the "event" which however lacks an ongoing "real presence" (261).

The upshot is that the incarnation entails that our full humanity is manifest through cruciform service to others (304). This book merits the attention of thoughtful pastors and teachers seeking a Christian response to secularism.