Secularism and the Pursuit of Transcendence, Volume II: (18 McMaster General Studies)

We live in a secular age, or so we have been told. Nevertheless, the Christian church strongly believes that we still experience--and in fact are surrounded by--acts of transcendence, encounters with God that often defy imagination and explanation. And yet we do try to explain such phenomena, whether theologically, experientially, biblically, historically, philosophically, literarily, or even (or especially) artistically. These two volumes are more than just papers from a major conference on secularism and the pursuit of transcendence held at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. They contain genuine attempts by people deeply engaged with their secular surroundings to explain what we mean by transcendence. Transcendence has been a longstanding topic among the best thinkers of this and previous ages, and the same is true for these volumes, which include contributions by Charles Taylor, Robert Wuthnow, Merold Westphal, and Christina Gschwandtner--but also by a wide range of others who address the question from divergent vantage points. The responses vary as much as the orientations of those involved, in the pursuit of defining not only what it means to live in our secular age but to be involved in the pursuit of transcendence--or even to perceive the Transcendent's pursuit of us.

About the Author :
Stanley E. Porter is president, dean, and professor of New Testament, as well as holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Besides research and writing in Greek language and linguistics, he is a keen advocate for deeper intellectual and artistic life within the Christian church. In particular, he is interested in how literature can help to enlighten and elevate Christian faith. His latest book is Hermeneutics, Linguistics, and the Bible: The Importance of Context (2024). Wendy J. Porter is professor of music and worship at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where she teaches ministry studies and leads MDC Chapels. Porter has written numerous worship songs and recorded three highly acclaimed albums. She has authored New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments (with Stanley E. Porter) (2008), Early English Composers and the Credo (2022), and Music, Worship, and Interpretation (Wipf & Stock, 2024), and co-edited The Arts and the Bible (Wipf & Stock, 2024).

Review :
"Over recent decades McMaster University's General Studies Series has provided us with significant works on the role of religion in the human experience, and with these two volumes the gifts continue. Stan and Wendy Porter have edited a collection of essays that brings together top rate scholars who give us much wisdom about the continuing quest for transcendence in what is allegedly our pervasively secularistic culture. And Wendy's wise essay tells us much about the world of music--a key area where transcendence continues to break into our lives. It would be illuminating to read both volumes together!" --Richard J. Mouw, president emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary "This is a colossal work, whose glory lies in its wide range of pickings on a supremely interesting conjunction of concerns. There are chapters by some of the heaviest hitters in respect to the volume's topic (chapters by Taylor, Westphal, and others), which fans will surely want to read, but equally, there are several chapters whose wisdom and novelty (such as those by Bush, Storbakken, Steinmetz, and Wood) will reward the generally curious reader." --Adam Barkman, professor of philosophy, Redeemer University