Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1996 Books of the Year! The carnivalesque, pluralistic culture in hich we live can be seen as a consequence of the breakdown of modernity (which touted itself as the "greatest show on earth"), combined with a recognition of the socially constructed character of reality. Since the old construction has been discredited and is in a process of decomposition, the season is open on the construction of new realities which are produced with the speed and ease of temporary circus tents being raised. Far from witnessing the erosion or even eclipse of religious belief that the Enlightenment so confidently predicted, the eclipse of the Enlightenment has resulted in a veritable smorgasbord of religions and worldviews for our consumption. So Richard Middleton and Brian Walsh colorfully describe our postmodern setting. In this book they survey postmodern culture and philosophy, offering lucid explanations of such difficult theories as deconstruction. They are sympathetic to the postmodern critique, yet believe that a gospel stripped of its modernist trappings speaks a radical word of hope and transformation to our chaotic culture. The book for those who wonder what postmodernism is and how biblical Christians might best respond.

". . . Middleton and Walsh lead us into the postmodern crisis with skill and sensitivity, and with the mobilization of a comprehensive reading proram. But this is not simply one more review. The book makes a suggestive theological response to the crisis, exploring the claims of biblical faith in a shrewd way. It will be a most helpful resource for those who care about our common future and who are willing to think honestly, informed by faith. I anticipate the book will be widely used, to our common benefit."

Walter Brueggemann, author of Texts Under Negotiation: The Bible and Postmodern Imagination

J. Richard Middleton (PhD, Free University of Amsterdam) is professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, in Rochester, NY, and serves as adjunct professor of Old Testament at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, in Kingston, Jamaica. He is the author of The Liberating Image (Brazos, 2005) and coauthor with Brian Walsh of The Transforming Vision (IVP Academic, 1984).

Brian J. Walsh (PhD, McGill University) serves as the Christian Reformed Church chaplain to the University of Toronto and as adjunct professor of theology of culture at Wycliffe College. He is the coauthor with J. Richard Middleton of The Transforming Vision (IVP Academic, 1984), with Sylvia Keesmaat of Colossians Remixed (IVP Academic, 2004) and with Steven Bouma-Prediger of Beyond Homelessness (Eerdmans, 2008). He is also the author of Langdon Gilkey (University Press of America, 1992) and Subversive Christianity (Alta Vista College Press, 1994).