Clashing Symbols: An Introduction to Faith and Culture » (Revised Edition)

Understanding the interaction between faith and culture has become an issue of increasing importance in recent years. In this book, Michael Paul Gallagher brings together a wide area of reflection on the relationship between faith and the cultural contexts influencing believers today. Gallagher begins his treatment with a look at how "culture" has been defined by theorists and how those meanings have shifted over time. The author then moves to specifically religious responses to culture, focusing on Vatican II and reflections from the World Council of Churches. Next, themes concerning modernity and postmodernity are explored in detail. The positive side of postmodernity - its sense of openness and possibility, its stress on community and connectedness - opens up new vistas for faith and culture, and in this light, the author discusses more pastoral issues such as inculturation, evangelization, youth ministry and spirituality. While Gallagher draws on the work of leading thinkers in the field, Clashing Symbols is not just for the academic or specialist.