The Secular City: Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective

by Harvey Cox

Overview

Since its initial publication in 1965, The Secular City has been hailed as a classic for its nuanced exploration of the relationships among the rise of urban civilization, the decline of hierarchical, institutional religion, and the place of the secular within society. Now, half a century later, this international best seller remains as relevant as when it first appeared. The book's arguments—that secularity has a positive effect on institutions, that the city can be a space where people of all faiths fulfill their potential, and that God is present in both the secular and formal religious realms—still resonate with readers of all backgrounds.




For this brand-new edition, Harvey Cox provides a substantial and updated introduction. He reflects on the book's initial stunning success in an age of political and religious upheaval and makes the case for its enduring relevance at a time when the debates that The Secular City helped ignite have caught fire once again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691158853
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	09/08/2013
Edition description:	With a New introduction by the author
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Harvey Cox is Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. He is the author of many books, including most recently The Future of Faith (HarperCollins). The Secular City, his first book, has sold nearly a million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the New Edition xi

The Secular City: Twenty-Five Years Later xli

Acknowledgments lix

Introduction: The Epoch of the Secular City 1




PART ONE: THE COMING OF THE SECULAR CITY 19

1 The Biblical Sources of Secularization 21

• Secularization vs. Secularism 22
• Dimensions of Secularization 26

• Creation as the Disenchantment of Nature 26
• The Exodus as the Desacralization of Politics 30
• The Sinai Covenant as the Deconsecration of Values 37

2 The Shape of the Secular City 46

• Anonymity 47

• The Man at the Giant Switchboard 49
• Anonymity as Deliverance from the Law 56

Mobility 60

• The Man in the Cloverleaf 62
• Yahweh and the Baalim 65

3 The Style of the Secular City 72

• John F. Kennedy and Pragmatism 74
• Albert Camus and Profanity 84
• Tillich, Barth, and the Secular Style 94

4 The Secular City in Cross-Cultural Perspective 102

• New Delhi and India 104
• Rome and Western Europe 107
• Prague and Eastern Europe 110
• Boston and the United States 114

PART TWO: THE CHURCH IN THE SECULAR CITY 123

5 Toward a Theology of Social Change 125

• The Kingdom of God and the Secular City 131
• Anatomy of a Revolutionary Theology 135

6 The Church as God's Avant-garde 148

• The Church's Kerygmatic Function: Broadcasting the Seizure of Power 151
• The Church's Diakonic Function: Healing the Urban Fractures 157
• The Church's Koinoniac Function: Making Visible the City of Man 171

7 The Church as Cultural Exorcist 177




PART THREE: EXCURSIONS IN URBAN EXORCISM 195

8 Work and Play in the Secular City 197

• The Separation of Places of Work and Residence 198
• The Bureaucratic Organization of Work 204
• The Emancipation of Work from Religion 214

9 Sex and Secularization 227

• The Residue of Tribalism 228
• Remnants of Town Virtues 242

10 The Church and the Secular University 257




PART FOUR: GOD AND THE SECULAR MAN 283

11 To Speak in a Secular Fashion of God 285

• Speaking of God as a Sociological Problem 288
• Speaking of God as a Political Issue 294
• Speaking of God as a Theological Question 304

Bibliography 321

Index 329

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The Secular City is one of the undoubted classics of the great upheaval in religious thinking that took place in the sixties—but the patterns of global religion and society have changed in all sorts of unpredictable ways. It is a real intellectual treat to see how Harvey Cox now reads his own groundbreaking work in the light of these changes, so that we realize not only what has altered but what issues remain. His acute analysis is both a stimulus for fresh reflection and an invitation to return to his earlier work and study it more carefully."—Dr. Rowan Williams, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge

Editorial Reviews

"[This book] has all the earmarks of a cause célèbre. . . . Cox's treatment of 'secularization' is unflinching."—-Daniel Callahan, Commonweal

"[Cox] has opened up a full-scale debate."—-Betty D. Mayo, Christian Science Monitor

"Offers some brilliant insights. . . . Fascinating and provocative."—-Ronald H. Wolf, Journal of Economic Issues

"I can think of few books in the past forty years that so thoroughly broke down so many walls between and among the sects, denominations, and churches that mark the religiously tangled American scene."—-Michael Novak, First Things

"Fresh, provocative, bold."—-Robert J. O'Connell, S.J., Sociological Analysis

"Poses significant questions and gives challenging answers."—-Fred H. Blum, Ethics

"With Pope Francis now in power, who seems more revolutionary than anyone before him, perhaps it is the perfect time for Cox's The Secular City to once again ignite our theological imaginations and continue the process of secularization and social change."—-Robert Beghetto, European Legacy

From the Publisher

Poses significant questions and gives challenging answers.

Ethics - Fred H. Blum

Fresh, provocative, bold.

Sociological Analysis - Robert J. O'Connell

I can think of few books in the past forty years that so thoroughly broke down so many walls between and among the sects, denominations, and churches that mark the religiously tangled American scene.

First Things - Michael Novak

Offers some brilliant insights. . . . Fascinating and provocative.

Journal of Economic Issues - Ronald H. Wolf

[Cox] has opened up a full-scale debate.

Christian Science Monitor - Betty D. Mayo

[This book] has all the earmarks of a cause célèbre. . . . Cox's treatment of 'secularization' is unflinching.

Commonweal - Daniel Callahan