Cities of God - Paperback

by Graham Ward (Author)

Cities of God traces urban culture of north America and Western Europe during the 1970s, to ask how theology can respond to the postmodern city. Since Harvey Cox published his famous theological response to urban living during the mid-1960s very little has been written to address this fundamental subject. Through analyses of contemporary film, architecture, literature, and traditional theological resources in Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, Graham Ward lays out a systematic theology which has the preparation and building of cities as its focus. This is vital reading for all those interested in theology and urban living.

Back Jacket

Beginning with an account of how Christian theology is called upon to read the signs of the time, Cities of God traces the shift in urban culture in North America and Western Europe that took place in the 1970s. The modern sites of eternal aspiration and hope became the postmodern cities of eternal desires. The old, modern theological responses to the city become unbelievable and inadequate, necessitating a new theological approach to urban living. Such an approach would have to engage with and respond to the insurgent social atomism and the celebration of virtual realities evident in late-capitalist, postmodern civic living. The book seeks to develop that approach, emphasizing the analogical relations which exist between physical, ecclesial, sacramental, social and political bodies. It argues for a profound participation of all these bodies in the Body of Christ. Working through analyses of contemporary film, architecture and literature, and drawing upon traditional theological resources in Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, the book lays out a systematic theology which has the preparation and building of cities of God as its focus.

Author Biography

Graham Ward is Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics at the University of Manchester and Executive Editor of The Journal of Literature and Theology. (OUP). He is the author of a number of books, including Critical Theory (Macmillan) and the editor of The Postmodern God (Macmillan) and The Certeau Reader (Blackwell). He is the co-editor, with John Millbank and Catherine Pickstock of Routledge's Radical Orthodoxy series.