This morning, we have new two reviews of Max Stackhouse's God and Globalization, Vol. 4: Globalization and Grace for you. As if you need any more convincing, anyway...
Max Stackhouse of Princeton Theological Seminary has been working for years on the theme of "God and Globalization." Globalization and Grace (Continuum) is the fourth and final volume in a series on that theme. Combining theology, sociology, social theory, and ethics, Stackhouse's "public theology" offers a very judicious, and generally favorable, evaluation of globalization understood not only in economic or geopolitical terms but with particular attention to cultural dynamics that are moving toward something like a cosmopolitan future. He spends a great deal of time responding, patiently and respectfully, to the many enemies of globalization, both Christian and other. The fierce antiglobalization passions of a few years ago that generated raucous protests at international meetings seem to be on the wane. Like it or not, globalization is happening, and Max Stackhouse makes a persuasive argument that the Christian response to it may turn out to be one of the great turning points in Christian and world history . Globalization and Grace is not light reading, but it is the kind of book that, fifty or one hundred years from now, may be celebrated for its prescience. - First Things, May 2008.
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This is the fourth and final volume in a series addressing globalization and Christianity, sponsored by the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ. It includes an introduction by Justo Gonzales, plus five chapters and a conclusion by Stackhouse, director of the study. Stackhouse (emer., Princeton Theological Seminary) rejects the view that globalization is another "fall," and views globalization as "providential grace." That grace is based on the Christian doctrines of creation, providence, and salvation. He concludes that "political democracy, human rights, an open economy, a nurturing family system, a vibrant culture, and deeply committed professionalism" grow out of Christian theology, and while they do "not mean that the New Jerusalem is at hand ... if they are ordered in a subsidiary or covenantal way, they are likely to give a grace filled life in a way that points toward salvation." Elements of Christian theology that will generate the globalization of ethics include a good Messiah, recognition of human moral failure, and a transforming grace. Stackhouse's attempt to show the indebtedness of globalization to Christianity is insightful, and supports his contention that Christianity can help guide it. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. -- P. L. Redditt, Georgetown College, CHOICE, July 2008.
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