James K. A. Smith

James K. A. Smith (born 1970) is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College and a notable figure in radical orthodoxy, a postmodern Christian movement.

Life

Smith was born in Embro, Ontario and currently resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Education

He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo and Emmaus Bible College. He earned an M.Phil. in philosophical theology at the Institute for Christian Studies where he studied under James Olthuis. Smith went on to receive a Ph.D. from Villanova University where he worked with noted deconstructionist John D. Caputo. After teaching for a short time at Loyola Marymount University, Smith accepted his current position at Calvin College. He currently resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Work

Smith is a leading proponent of radical orthodoxy. Smith's popular-level work largely aims at educating evangelicals regarding postmodernism and radical orthodoxy. Within Evangelicalism, he is generally associated with emergent church circles and is a leading academic in such circles.

Given his training in continental philosophy and in the theology of the Reformed and Pentecostal traditions, his intellectual interests are a natural fit. Smith's research topics range from the continental philosophy of religion to urban altruism to the relationship between science and theology.

Bibliography

*(2000) "The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic"
*(2002) "Speech and Theology: Language and the Logic of Incarnation"
*(2004) "101 Key Terms in Philosophy and Their Importance for Theology", with Kelly James Clark & Richard Lints
*(2004) "Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology", foreword by John Milbank
*(2004) translation of "The Crossing of the Visible", by Jean-Luc Marion
*(2004) "The Hermeneutics of Charity: Interpretation, Selfhood, and Postmodern Faith" ("festschrift" for James Olthuis), editor with Henry Isaac Venema
*(2005) "Jacques Derrida: Live Theory"
*(2005) "Radical Orthodoxy and the Reformed Tradition: Creation, Covenant, and Participation", editor with James Olthuis
*(2006) "Hermeneutics at the Crossroads", editor with Bruce Ellis Benson & Kevin J. Vanhoozer
*(2006) "Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?: Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church"

ee also

*list of thinkers influenced by deconstruction
*postmodern Christianity
*radical orthodoxy
*weak theology

External links

Personal homepage

* [http://www.calvin.edu/~jks4/ James K. A. Smith's personal homepage]

Critical reviews

* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/22.0c.html Christianity Today: "What's so Radical about Orthodoxy?"] Review of "Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology", by Ashley Woodiwiss
* [http://www.e-n.org.uk/3481-Introducing-radical-orthodoxy.htm Evangelicals Now: "Introducing Radical Orthodoxy"] Response to a review of "Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology", by Paul Helm
* [http://erdman31.googlepages.com/Smith-LimitedIncarnation.pdf Review/Summary of "Limited Inc/arnation"] (PDF) Summary and review of Smith's essay in "Hermeneutics at the Crossroads".