Identity / Vernon White.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

White, Vernon.

Series:

Society and church

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Identity (Philosophical concept).

Identity (Philosophical concept)--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Christianity.

Physical Description:

x, 176 pages ; 20 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : SCM, 2002.

Summary:

Vernon White's refreshing and philosophically nuanced treatment of identity focuses on the notion of change as being fundamental to human life. Our contemporary context forces this issue on us with a particular intensity. Change is rampant. There are major, rapid and interconnected changes in information technology, globalization, work and employment practices, consumerism, and family, all of which affect human beings deeply, ambivalently, and at every level. How best can we live through this process of change, which often seems to have no sense of direction?

In trying to answer this question, White asks two others: does Christian faith propose a way of living with change, and if so, can it have beneficial effects on personal identity? In responding affirmatively to these questions, the author develops the notion of faithfulness, which -- while itself embracing change -- equally encapsulates an enduring insight that will always, and in every situation, have fresh light to shed. For the author, faithfulness, in its various forms, has been neglected along with theology itself, and needs to be re-formed and rediscovered as a means of sustaining true identity. The discussion ranges widely and in fascinating ways through social philosophy and recent theology; and in skilfully negotiating his way between past and present, local and general, and abstract and concrete, the author enables theology to address issues of contemporary life with considerable power and persuasiveness.

Contents:

Introduction: Identity, change and faithfulness: a theological task 1

1 Faithfulness and loyalty: some recent compass points 8

2 Divine identity 17

3 Divine faithfulness 25

4 Human identity 44

5 The call to human faithfulness 58

6 A contemporary context: change, identity and the problem of time 71

7 Limits and possibilities 87

8 Practices in personal relationships 106

9 Practices of work 130

Conclusion: Time, change, identity: the call to faithfulness 149.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0334028906

OCLC:

50582444