Many in the church who are wrestling with ministry in a postmodern era view deconstruction as a negative aspect of the postmodern movement. But John Caputo, one of the leading philosophers of religion in America and a leading voice on religion and postmodernism, sees it differently. In this lively and provocative analysis, he argues that in his own way Jesus himself was a deconstructionist and that applying deconstruction to the church can be a positive move toward renewal.  
  
"Caputo brilliantly manages to bring thought to life and life to thought. He wears his learning and scholarship so lightly that one has the impression of returning to a flesh-and-blood world where Jesus deconstructs and reconstructs our lives. Challenging, compassionate, witty, and wise. This book is compulsory reading for anyone concerned about the future of Christianity."  
\--__Richard Kearney__, Charles Seelig Professor in Philosophy, Boston College  
  
"Let this book settle the debate once and for all: postmodern philosophy does not preclude true Christian faith. In fact, taken rightly, postmodernism leads not to nihilistic relativism but to a robust faith in the Savior, who himself was bent on deconstruction. Caputo is a sheep in wolf's clothing."  
\--__Tony Jones__, national coordinator of Emergent Village, author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier "This is a marvelous little book. It enables readers to understand deconstruction as the hermeneutics of the kingdom of God and provides a glimpse of what this concept might look like in the hands of Jesus as applied to the church. This will be difficult therapy, and many of us will be inclined to resist. However, let us remember that while discipline is painful in the moment, it produces a harvest of peace and righteousness in the long run. May the church learn from the wisdom found in these pages."  
\--__John R. Franke__, professor of missional theology, Yellowstone Theological Institute

__John D. Caputo__ (PhD, Bryn Mawr College) is Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Humanities and professor of philosophy at Syracuse University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Weakness of God (winner of the 2007 AAR Award for Excellence in Constructive-Reflective Study of Religion), On Religion, The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida, and Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida.

This provocative addition to The Church and Postmodern Culture series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon's In His Steps as a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.

Uses the postmodern theme of deconstruction to suggest a constructive and provocative way forward for the church.

1\. In His Steps-A Postmodern Edition  
2\. Spiritual Journeys, Postmodern Paths  
3\. A Prayer for the Impossible: A Catechumen's Guide to Deconstruction  
4\. Jesus, the Theo-Poetics of the Kingdom, and Praxis  
5\. What Would Jesus Deconstruct? Or, Whatever Happened to the Sermon on the Mount?  
6\. The Working Church: Notes on the Future

Caputo, John D.

Cover

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Series Preface

Foreword Brian McLaren

Acknowledgments

Introduction James K. A. Smith

1. In His Steps—A Postmodern Edition

2. Spiritual Journeys, Postmodern Paths

3. A Prayer for the Impossible: A Catechumen’s Guide to Deconstruction

4. Jesus, the Theo-Poetics of the Kingdom, and Praxis

5. What Would Jesus Deconstruct? Or, Whatever Happened to the Sermon on the Mount?

6. The Working Church: Notes on the Future

Notes

Back Cover

This provocative addition to The Church and Postmodern Culture series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon'sIn His Stepsas a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.

Introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching.

This provocative addition to "The Church and Postmodern Culture" series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon's "In His Steps" as a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.

John D. Caputo (PhD, Bryn Mawr College) is Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Humanities and professor of philosophy at Syracuse University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Weakness of God (winner of the 2007 AAR Award for Excellence in Constructive-Reflective Study of Religion), On Religion, The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida, and Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida.

The Good Book Stall

This was a fascinating and enjoyable book. John D Caputo's writing style was always engaging and the book was very easy to read for a philosophy book on a fairly complex subject. He looks at Charles Sheldon's book In His Steps, published in 1896, alongside works by Jacques Derrida on deconstruction, weaving these two together to get a handle on how Jesus might deconstruct the church – not demolishing it in a negative way but drawing out peace and righteousness and the kingdom of God from two millennia of post-Jesus church building. Caputo writes very much from his personal opinion and I enjoyed many of his amusing asides. He talks incisively about many of the failings of the religious Right, although also has things to say about the weakness and ineptness of the Left. I felt that the book was rather weighed down by its series preface/foreword/acknowledgements/introduction before it began, and that the real meat of the content didn't appear until fairly late on in the short book at chapter 5. That chapter was a brilliant read, however, deconstructing the church through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount, and was worth the price of the book alone. This is an excellent read for those interested in a different angle in the Postmodern debate and explains enough that those unfamiliar with deconstruction should understand it.

What Would Jesus Deconstruct?

What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (The Church and Postmodern Culture) [eBook]

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What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (The Church and Postmodern Culture) [eBook]

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