Cities of God

by Graham Ward

Cities of God traces urban culture of north America and Western Europe during the 1970s, to ask how theology can respond to the postmodern city. Since Harvey Cox published his famous theological response to urban living during the mid-1960s very little has been written to address this fundamental subject. Through analyses of contemporary film, architecture, literature, and traditional theological resources in Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, Graham Ward lays out a systematic theology which has the preparation and building of cities as its focus. This is vital reading for all those interested in theology and urban living.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2000

About the author

Graham Ward is an English theologian and Anglican priest who has been Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford since 2012. He is a priest of the Church of England and was formerly the Samuel Ferguson Professor of Philosophical Theology and Ethics and the Head of the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at the University of Manchester. Previous to that he was the Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics and Senior Fellow in Religion and Gender at the university.

Reviews

[Gregory Usselmann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange, like the lunar landscape.

[Micah Enns-Dyck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant engagement with ancient, modern, and postmodern conceptions of the city. Ward's overarching argument is compelling and well supported. Phenomenal book, and it is well worth the read for those who are already semi-familiar with key theological and philosophical themes and figures. If new to these topics, this book may be too much as it is densely packed with references to important ideas and thinkers.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

On some pages, this book shines, but for the most part it is like a list of names: Hegel, Derrida, Spinoza, de Certeau, Barth, Butler, etc. etc. without ever getting into the depth that I would like. This book is a typically postmodern one in that it feels like mostly rambling with very little direction or purpose, one page is about Las Vegas the next is about Wim Wenders films the next is about Hobbes on the state. I felt like I was flipping between channels on some 'philosophy/theology academic satellite' or else web browsing with tons of random pop-ups. Graham Ward would probably like such a 'virtual' reality and many readers will find this stimulating. It is a book made for those with ADD.

What would have made this book really good was to have stuck to one theme, for example architecture or the analogical world-view and to have explored that theme in the depth it deserves. Instead it becomes a smorgasbord of way too much stuff in my opinion. Nevertheless, the 'radical orthodoxy' voice still resonates throughout and for those with short attention spans, I recommend it highly.