Transforming Faith

In the face of apparently rampant individualism, there has been a steady call for a return to community and tradition, particularly in religious communities and in recent Christian theology and ethics. The form of contemporary life upheld by modern ideals like freedom and universalism, the story goes, turns out to divide people from each other and from the communal sources of our traditionally moral values. But the call to community too often confuses individualism with individuality, assuming that any appeal to individuality as a value or ideal is a rejection of communal goods, rather than a mode of promoting those goods. What's necessary now is a recovery of the individual that understands individuality to serve community, even in resistance to it. In Transforming Faith, Joshua Daniel offers a fresh reading of H. Richard Niebuhr's theological ethics that provides an account of individuality and individual creativity as both the fruits and reformers of community. What is theologically at stake in Daniel's reconstructive interpretation is the human's existentially resonant relation with God and the christological revitalization of our symbolic and virtuous activity. ""For the past decades, various theologians have insisted that socialization of persons into the church is basic to the moral life. Granting the importance of community, Daniel contends that moral formation must be directed towards individual development. This is a bold and daring book that will engage anyone interested in theological and ethical reflection."" --William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, The University of Chicago ""In an era focused on the Christian community, its traditions, and its practices, Daniel uses Niebuhr to show that 'radical creativity' must 'disrupt' the Christian community, along with its symbols and norms, for the sake of Christian faithfulness."" --Timothy A. Verhey, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, St. Andrews University, author of Robust Liberalism: H. Richard Niebuhr and the Ethics of American Public Life ""Daniel calls for renewed attention to individuality and individual creativity in moral formation, but not at the expense of community. . . . Thanks to Daniel, we now know a lot more about how Niebuhr engaged G. H. Mead and Josiah Royce, and why that conversation still matters."" --Kristine A. Culp, Associate Professor of Theology, The University of Chicago, editor of The Responsibility of the Church for Society and Other Essays by H. Richard Niebuhr Joshua Daniel completed his PhD at the University of Chicago and is current assistant adjunct professor of ethics at North Central College. He also teaches religion and philosophy at Elmhurst College and Saint Xavier University.