Author Profile: Christopher Watkin

Q A

What led you to write your book? How does this book connect with your own life story?

I’ve tried to write the book that I was desperate to read but just couldn’t fi nd when I was a Christian undergraduate studying liberal arts at a secular university twenty years ago. I was frantically reading about all the big “theories”: Marxism and feminism, eco-theory, and queer theory, and writing essays about meaning, power, and identity. As a young Christian I was convinced that the Bible had some fresh, insightful things to say on these issues and some powerful critiques to make, but I couldn’t fi nd the language to say it. This book bridges that gap, showing how the Bible’s storyline from Genesis to Revelation helps us build a full-orbed Christian theory.

Q

Tell us about your academic work. You are a lecturer in intriguingly named “French studies” in Australia and your website lists “philosophy, religion, atheism, humanity, and freedom” within your sphere of academic engagement. What is it that you do?

A

I guess “French studies” does sound a bit odd, doesn’t it! Basically, I research recent French philosophy, mainly philosophers who are still alive. I’ve written books on French philosophical atheism and what philosophers today think human beings are, and I’m currently in the middle of an academic project on the idea of the social contract. On my website I sum it all up by saying that I try to make sense of how people make sense of the world, and that’s a big part of what I’m doing in Biblical Critical Theory: explaining why people see the world in the way they do.

Q

A

Your book is intriguingly titled Biblical Critical Theory. What is “critical theory,” what does it do, and why should Christians have a biblical one?

Nice easy question there! Okay, here’s the short version. A critical theory is a way of living in the world. It makes some things in the world viable (they make sense to you), some things visible (they stand out to you), and some things valuable (they attract you). And that’s what the Bible does too, as I try to show in the book. If the Bible doesn’t shape these things for you, something else will. You wouldn’t let some random person you’d never met furnish your house and manage your money, so why let some random ideas you’ve never scrutinized shape your outlook? If you want an example of what a biblical critical theory looks like in practice, read Augustine’s City of God. It’s a huge inspiration for what I’ve tried to do in Biblical Critical Theory.

Q A

What do you hope readers will take away from reading your book?

My prayer is that Christians come away equipped and emboldened to show how the Bible speaks with an engaging, insightful, and often surprisingly fresh voice into the great social and cultural issues of our day. I’d love people to be energised not only to explain the Bible to the culture, but also to explain the culture through the Bible.

Biblical Critical Theory

How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture Christopher Watkin

“A book that I have been eagerly anticipating for years….” —TIMOTHY KELLER, is founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church “An important update of Augustine’s City of God, a proposal for making biblical sense of what is happening in contemporary culture.” —KEVIN J. VANHOOZER, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School “An innovative and immensely fruitful paradigm.” —MICHAEL HORTON, Westminster Seminary California “Incisive, accessible, and astonishing in scope...” —DOLORES G. MORRIS, University of South Florida “This book is a must-read for all serious thinkers.” —SAM CHAN, City Bible Forum “A brilliant and unique book…. It is the most biblical, up-to-date, and comprehensive analysis of contemporary Western culture that I know of.” —JOSHUA CHATRAW, Center for Public Christianity “The best yet most accessible exploration of the intersection between Christianity, culture, and philosophy I’ve read in recent years….” —NATHANIEL GRAY, Reformed Theological Seminary, Washington D.C.

In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture. Biblical Critical Theory exists to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. Thus, critical theory seeks to make visible the deep structures of a culture in order to expose and change them. Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation. With extensive diagrams and practical tools, Biblical Critical Theory shows how the patterns of the Bible’s storyline can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today’s debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality, showing Christians the moves to make and the tools to use in analyzing and engaging with all sorts of cultural artifacts and events, in a way that is both biblically faithful and culturally relevant. It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible. If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging, and dynamic voice in the marketplace of ideas today, we need to mine the unique treasures of the distinctive biblical storyline.

NEW RELEASE

NOVEMBER 2022

$39.99 | $23.99 ISBN 9780310128724 Hardcover - 672 pages

Request a FREE exam copy at zondervanacademic.com/BCT ...no strings attached

CHRISTOPHER WATKIN (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior lecturer in French studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He a scholar with an international reputation in the area of modern and contemporary European thought, atheism, and the relationship between the Bible and philosophy. His published work runs the spectrum from academic monographs on contemporary philosophy to books written for general readers, both Christian and secular, and include Diffi cult Atheism, From Plato to Postmodernism, Great Thinkers: Jacques Derrida, and others.

NEW RELEASE

MARCH 2023

$18.99 | $11.39 ISBN 9780310135449 Softcover - 240 pages

Jesus v. Evangelicals

A Biblical Critique of a Wayward Movement Constantine R. Campbell

American evangelicalism is at a crisis point.

The naked grasping at political power at the expense of moral credibility has revealed a movement in disarray. Evangelicals are now faced with a quandary: will they double-down and continue along this perilous path, or will they stop, reflect, and change course? And while support of Donald Trump has produced the tipping point of the evangelical crisis, it is not by any means its only problem.

Evangelicals claim the Bible as the supreme authority in matters of faith. But in reality, it is particular readings of the Bible that govern evangelical faith. Some evangelical readings of the Bible can be highly selective. They distort the Bible’s teaching in crucial ways and often lead evangelicals to misguided attempts to relate to the world around them. Many Christians who once self-professed as “evangelicals” can no longer use the term of themselves because of what it has come to represent—power-mongering, divisiveness, judgementalism, hypocrisy, pride, greed. Some leave not just evangelicalism but Christianity for good.

Jesus v. Evangelicals is an insider’s critique of the evangelical movement according to its own rules. Since evangelicals regard themselves governed by the Bible, biblical scholar Constantine Campbell engages the Bible to critique evangelicals and to call out the problems within the contemporary evangelical movement. By revealing evangelical distortions of the Bible, this book seeks to restore the dignity of the Christian faith and to renew public interest in Jesus, while calling evangelicals back to his teaching. Constantine Campbell appeals to evangelicals to break free from the grid that has distorted their understanding of the Bible and to restore public respect for Christianity in spite of its misrepresentations by the evangelical church.

CONSTANTINE R. CAMPBELL (PhD, Macquarie University) is a New Testament scholar, author, musician, and documentary host, and lives in Canberra, Australia. He was formerly professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is the author of several books, including Paul and Union with Christ, Advances in the Study of Greek, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek, Keep Your Greek, Outreach and the Artist, and 1, 2 & 3 John in The Story of God Bible Commentary series.

Talking about Race

Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations Issac Adams

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NOW AVAILABLE

$18.99 | $11.39 ISBN 9780310124429 Softcover - 240 pages

“This is one of the most insightful, wise-for-the-times books I have read. It is so deeply needed, and I will be recommending it widely. My only regret was that it didn’t come out sooner.” —MICHAEL O. EMERSON, professor of sociology, University of Illinois Chicago

“This is the book I have been praying for. It challenges all of us how to speak to each other as believers who are struggling to discuss these sensitive issues. Adams provides guidance to help us navigate the minefields that confront our racial conversations. This book is a critical missing piece for the development of real Christian racial reconciliation. If you want to gain practical insight into how to apply our Christian principles to our racial conversations, then pick up this book.” —GEORGE YANCEY, professor, the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University

In this honest and hopeful book, pastor Isaac Adams doesn’t just show you how to have the race conversation, he begins it for you. In Talking about Race, Adams introduces you to a cast of diverse characters in a fictional, racially charged tragedy. As you meet each person in the unfolding narrative, you’ll learn how to better understand varying perspectives and responses to racism.

Adams brings us back to God’s Word to find the wisdom we need to speak gracefully and truthfully about racism for the glory of God, the good of our neighbors, and the building up of our churches. Talking about Race is a pastoral invitation to faithfully combat the racism so many of us say we hate while maintaining the unity so many of us say we want.

ISAAC ADAMS (MDiv, Southern Seminary) serves as a lead pastor at Iron City Church in Birmingham, AL, where he lives with his wife and three children. Previously, he pastored at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He is the founder of United? We Pray, a ministry dedicated to prayer for racial strife—especially between Christians.

Rembrandt Is in the Wind

Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith Russ Ramsey

NEW RELEASE

NOW AVAILABLE

$24.99 | $14.99 ISBN 9780310129721 Hardcover - 272 pages

Did you know Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee was stolen in 1990 and has never been recovered?

Did you know Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime?

Did you know Caravaggio murdered several people while he was painting some of the most glorious paintings the world has ever known?

Rembrandt Is in the Wind, by Russ Ramsey, is an invitation to discover some of the world’s most celebrated artists and works, through which we can witness the gospel of Christ in a way that speaks to the struggles and longings common to the human experience.

The book is part art history, part biblical study, part philosophy, and part analysis of the human experience—but it’s all story. The lives of the artists in this book illustrate the struggle of living in this world and point to the beauty of the redemption available to us in Christ. Each story is different. Some conclude with resounding triumph while others end in struggle. But all of them raise important questions about humanity’s hunger and capacity for glory, and all of them teach us to see and love beauty.

RUSS RAMSEY is a pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and four children. He grew up in the fields of Indiana and studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM).