Yancey, Andrew Paul (2019). The theme of transformation in contemporary American evangelical theological perceptions of enterprise: a postsecular critique in practical theology. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Yancey2019PhD.pdf
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Abstract
Contemporary American evangelical theology's quest to integrate Christian faith and capitalistic enterprise through the theme of transformation is being challenged by postsecularism. Consumer capitalism's rapid growth has, first, weakened the influence of evangelicalism in American public life as institutionalized forms of Protestant Christianity have declined. Second, it has intensified individualist-materialist conceptions of spirituality that ground human relationships in self-interested market exchange. This contrasts with a prominent ethical thread in the Christian Scriptures that
grounds human relationality in the triangulating force of God's intrinsic love, which checks the human tendency to instrumentalize for individual and material gain. To articulate a vision of capitalistic enterprise as a vehicle for moral and spiritual transformation, the theme of transformation needs a postsecular revision. The research question is: How can contemporary American evangelical theology reconstruct the theme of transformation for a postsecular context that counters the individualistmaterialist excesses of consumerist spirituality? Working from the field of practical theology, I will argue that a postsecular renewal demands a reflexive spirituality that regularly interrogates its own practice. My two-part proposition is: Contemporary American evangelical theology can strengthen its reflexivity against the excesses of postsecular consumerist spirituality by critically: {la) Engaging stakeholder theory to establish the limits of capitalistic enterprise's contributions to human flourishing; and (1 b) Appropriating the Anabaptist tradition of gelassenheit to reconstruct the theme of transformation around a relational ethic of triangular love.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | ||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | ||||||
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | ||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Arts & Law | ||||||
| School or Department: | School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Department of Theology and Religion | ||||||
| Funders: | None/not applicable | ||||||
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity | ||||||
| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/9313 |
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