Deep Symbols: Their Postmodern Effacement and Reclamation - Tapa blanda

"This book will help preachers and other leaders in the religious community (and beyond) diagnose fundamental shifts that are taking place in our ethos. All seminary students known to me would profit from reading Farley's discussion of law." Ronald J. Allen, Christian Theological Seminary, writing in ENCOUNTER, Summer 1997--Sanford Lakoff "Encounter "

"Edward Farley...applies his phenomenological expertise to several of what he terms deep symbols. His strength is uncovering this persistent presence, at least the residues, of deep symbols... the chapter on reality is especially strong, where Farley deftly analyzes reasons for the loss of a sense of reality in secular and religious life and yet shows the way in which reference to the real is manifested in a postmodern context... This is a concise work, full of insight and wisdom, that communicates to a broad audience. The argument appeals to contemporary experience and is not laced with jargon." Dan R.--Sanford Lakoff "Anglican Theological Review "

"[Deep Symbols is] very learned and scholarly...calmly and clearly written. Because [it is] very rich, [it does] not invite speedy reading, but each sentence, paragraph, and chapter is laid out with perfect clarity...the enduring value...lies in the deep, passionate compassion that imbues each page." Wendy Farley, Emory University, reviewing for Religious Studies Review, April 1998--Sanford Lakoff "Religious Studies Review "

"Farley takes central symbols (tradition, obligation, reality, law, and hope) and demonstrates their present atrophy and the prospect of their recovery. His approach is realistic and yet hopeful. A provocative theological/cultural analysis written in a style that is both absorbing and accessible."--Sanford Lakoff "Religious Studies Review "

."..an engaging critique of the demise of deep symbols...This book offers stimulating reading for all who consider such a task a central imperative of our time." Lexington Theological Quarterly--Sanford Lakoff "Lexington Theological Quarterly "

"None...who read this book with understanding will ever step into a pulpit, or offer pastoral counsel, or teach a Sunday School class with the same perspective again. There will be new attentiveness to god-words born of the theological vision and understanding that is offered here. This book is and will be a challenge to the church." Ronald Olson, Luther Seminary, reviewing for Word and World--Sanford Lakoff "Word and World "

."..thought-provoking book...Used in course preparation and seminar discussions, Farley's book can invite instructors and students to reflect self-critically on the words they use." Gilbert Ostdiek, O.F.M.--Sanford Lakoff "Teaching Theology and Religion "

"Here is an absorbing and exceptionally perceptive account of how deep symbols or words of power (which tend to be a culture's normaltive language) have undergone diminishment in a contemporary postmodern society. Edward Farley explains that such diminishment does not necessarily imply their demise since traces of these symbols remain and invite their rethinking. Two introductory chapters spell out the character and prospect of deep symbols in postmodern society. Then follow five chapters, each of which considers a particular deep symbol: tradition, obligation (duty), reality, law, and hope. A concluding chapter shows the structural entanglement of these symbols with each other and their relation to the sared and the interhuman. From the opening chapter- "Words of power, that is, deep and enduring symbols that shape the values of a society and guide the life of faith, morality, and action are subject to powerful forces of discreditation and even disenchantment. If this is so, we must find ways to recover their power or live without them." Edward Farley is Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt University and the author of many books, including Good and Evil: Interpreting a Human Condition."