Audiobook8 hours
Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation
Written by James K.A. Smith
Narrated by John Pruden
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Malls, stadiums, and universities are actually liturgical structures that influence and shape our thoughts and affections. Humans-as Augustine noted-are "desiring agents," full of longings and passions; in brief, we are what we love.
James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in Desiring the Kingdom, the first book in a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God. Ultimately, Smith seeks to re-vision education through the process and practice of worship. Students of philosophy, theology, worldview, and culture will welcome Desiring the Kingdom, as will those involved in ministry.
James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in Desiring the Kingdom, the first book in a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God. Ultimately, Smith seeks to re-vision education through the process and practice of worship. Students of philosophy, theology, worldview, and culture will welcome Desiring the Kingdom, as will those involved in ministry.
Author
James K.A. Smith
James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College where he holds the Gary & Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology & Worldview. The author of many books, including the award-winning Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? and Desiring the Kingdom, Smith is a Cardus senior fellow and serves as editor of Comment magazine.
More audiobooks from James K.A. Smith
On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Desiring the Kingdom
Related audiobooks
For the Life of the World: Theology That Makes a Difference Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reimagining Apologetics: The Beauty of Faith in a Secular Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faith Formation in a Secular Age: Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wisdom from Babylon: Leadership for the Church in a Secular Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Welcome Holy Spirit: A Theological and Experiential Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Practical Primer on Theological Method: Table Manners for Discussing God, His Works, and His Ways Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mere Apologetics: How To Help Seekers And Skeptics Find Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn't: The Beauty of Christian Theism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Baptized Body Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought; 3rd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Against Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Introduction to Christian Philosophical Theology: Faith Seeking Understanding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evangelical Theology: Audio Lectures: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Little Manual for Knowing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDisruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Christianity For You
Mere Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Divorce Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Grief Observed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cost of Discipleship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crazy Love, Revised and Updated: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weight of Glory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of the Gods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Book of Letting Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Desiring the Kingdom
Rating: 4.3284314901960785 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
102 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love how Jamie Smith reorients our understanding of formation through “social imaginaries” to lay a precognitive foundation for the humans we become. Ground-breaking stuff!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What is the Faith? What is Christianity? I almost forgot... OR I’ve never heard it before this clear! Thank you!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The premise of Desiring the Kingdom is that because we are “desiring beings” rather than “thinking beings”, the most effective education for Christians would be a combination of those activities which involve both our materiality and spirituality, our bodies and emotions as well as our intellects. Having stated that thesis, James Smith explores the ways we are “culturally” educated into secular society, and then looks at what we do in liturgy and worship as educative activities that forms us into Christians.In examining the “culture” education to which we are exposed, Smith suggests what we are being taught about being consumers, about national loyalty, about love as sexuality. He asks the reader to evaluate the virtues of persons of “culture” education with what is valued as virtues of Christian persons. He then begins a lengthy examination of how we are educated as Christians through liturgy and worship. He looks at various parts of liturgy and describes what might be being taught in each. His insights into the cultural re-education provided by individual aspects of worship/liturgy awakened in me an appreciation for the ideal of what liturgical activities could mean. This section was the most valuable, insightful, and enriching part of the book for me. If a reader didn’t have enough time or interest to study the full education argument of the book, the sections in Part 2, beginning with Chapter 4 describing liturgy and worship are worth reading and contemplating on their own. Smith has described worship/liturgy in ways that help us realize that what we do on Sundays really does/or can impact our activities and decisions for the whole week. He begins by asking why some people get up on Sundays, leave home and go to a church at a particular time. He answers by saying that some people are called, and respond to that call. What a privilege it is to have been called.I would recommend Desiring the Kingdom. James Smith helps us see, question, and reevaluate our usual activities.