Secularism and the Pursuit of Transcendence, Volume II - Hardcover

by Stanley E. Porter (Editor), Wendy J. Porter (Editor)

We live in a secular age, or so we have been told. Nevertheless, the Christian church strongly believes that we still experience--and in fact are surrounded by--acts of transcendence, encounters with God that often defy imagination and explanation. And yet we do try to explain such phenomena, whether theologically, experientially, biblically, historically, philosophically, literarily, or even (or especially) artistically. These two volumes are more than just papers from a major conference on secularism and the pursuit of transcendence held at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. They contain genuine attempts by people deeply engaged with their secular surroundings to explain what we mean by transcendence. Transcendence has been a longstanding topic among the best thinkers of this and previous ages, and the same is true for these volumes, which include contributions by Charles Taylor, Robert Wuthnow, Merold Westphal, and Christina Gschwandtner--but also by a wide range of others who address the question from divergent vantage points. The responses vary as much as the orientations of those involved, in the pursuit of defining not only what it means to live in our secular age but to be involved in the pursuit of transcendence--or even to perceive the Transcendent's pursuit of us.

Author Biography

Stanley E. Porter is president, dean, and professor of New Testament, as well as holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Besides research and writing in Greek language and linguistics, he is a keen advocate for deeper intellectual and artistic life within the Christian church. In particular, he is interested in how literature can help to enlighten and elevate Christian faith. His latest book is Hermeneutics, Linguistics, and the Bible: The Importance of Context (2024).



Wendy J. Porter is professor of music and worship at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where she teaches ministry studies and leads MDC Chapels. Porter has written numerous worship songs and recorded three highly acclaimed albums. She has authored New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments (with Stanley E. Porter) (2008), Early English Composers and the Credo (2022), and Music, Worship, and Interpretation (Wipf & Stock, 2024), and co-edited The Arts and the Bible (Wipf & Stock, 2024).