Welcome to Christianbook.com! Sign in or create an account
Cart 0 items Checkout We now accept PayPalfor ALL orders
Current Promotions
Browse
Refine by
Advanced Search Links
7607EB

The End of Secularism - eBook

By: Hunter Baker
Crossway Books & Bibles / 2009 / ePub
4 out of 5 stars(1 Review)
$9.29 (CBD Price)
Retail: $13.99
Save: $4.70 (34%)

Availability: In Stock
CBD Stock No: WW7607EB
 
Buy Item Quantity: 1 34% Off Add To Cart

* This product is available for purchase worldwide.

Read this eBook on:


ChristianBook eBooks on the Sony Reader

  1. 1

    To read a Christianbook.com licensed eBook on your Sony device, you will need to use Adobe Digital Editions.

  2. 2

    Without using ADE, the Sony Reader will attempt to open eBooks with its own software, the Reader Library, and you may receive an error message.

  3. 3

    To bypass the Sony Reader Library, return to the eBook portion of 'My Account' on our site, and click to download the eBook again.

  4. 4

    When the Adobe Digital Editions installer comes up, click on 'Download Item.'

  5. 5

    If you are downloading a DRM Protected eBook, you will be prompted to open or save the URLLINK.acsm. Click 'Save'.

  6. 6

    Save the file to your Desktop for quick access later.

  7. 7

    Right-click on the URLLINK file, then select 'Open With' and choose Adobe Digital Editions.

  8. 8

    If Adobe Digital Editions is not in the list, click 'Choose Default Program' and then select Adobe Digital Editions from the list.

  9. 9

    Your eBook will open and display in ADE.

  10. 10

    Plug in your Sony Reader, which will now display its model number and not just as Sony Reader.

  11. 11

    Now just click, drag and drop your eBook onto the Sony Reader icon.

  12. 12

    You can now eject your Sony Reader, open up the Books library and your eBook is ready to read.




Have questions about eBooks? Check out our eBook FAQs.

Product Description

This is an innovative study on the social phenomena known as Secularism, and its impact on American culture. Initially tracing the historical events contributing to the rise of Secularism in America, Baker deems it a failed social policy and believes only an institutional separation--not an absolute separation--between church and state can preserve the ideals embedded in the U.S. Constitution and secure a sound and fair public policy.

Product Information

Format: DRM Free ePub
Vendor: Crossway Books & Bibles
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 9781433523236
ISBN-13: 9781433523236
Availability: In Stock

Publisher's Description

This ambitious work offers one of the most comprehensive attacks on secularism yet attempted. Hunter Baker argues that advocates of secularism misunderstand the borders between science, religion, and politics and cannot solve the problem of religious difference.

University scholars have spent decades subjecting religion to critical scrutiny. But what would happen if they turned their focus on secularism? Hunter Baker seeks the answer to that question by putting secularism under the microscope and carefully examining its origins, its context, its claims, and the viability of those claims.

The result of Baker's analysis is The End of Secularism. He reveals that secularism fails as an instrument designed to create superior social harmony and political rationality to that which is available with theistic alternatives. Baker also demonstrates that secularism is far from the best or only way to enjoy modernity's fruits of religious liberty, free speech, and democracy. The End of Secularism declares the demise of secularism as a useful social construct and upholds the value of a public square that welcomes all comers, religious and otherwise, into the discussion. The message of The End of Secularism is that the marketplace of ideas depends on open and honest discussion rather than on religious content or the lack thereof.

ChristianBookPreviews.com

We all know the old proverb, "There are two things you don't discuss at dinner—politics and religion." The idea being that both religion and politics are divisive subjects that lead to disagreements even among the closest of friends and family. Hunter Baker, in his work The End of Secularism attempts to take on both issues, and their relationship with one another. Baker attempts to argue against the attitude that religion and politics need to be separated, and in favor of a Christian worldview that believes that faith belongs as a powerful, outspoken force in the public square.

The End of Secularism is a thorough book. The Introduction is essential reading for understanding the text, as well as understanding the author. In it Baker gives a first-hand narrative of how he came to his thesis in his personal journey. The first third of the book covers the history of bringing one's personal faith into the public square. He discusses the ancient church and the Reformation, as well as the French Revolution. Baker spends the most time, however, discussing the way that faith and politics have related to one another in the public square in the United States of America.

Baker believes that as America has developed, we have acquired an ethos that relegates religion to private and personal space, and politics and science to the public sphere. Thus, religion is one’s "personal business" and part of one’s "personal life," but as a culture we find it difficult when people bring their faith in the public sphere, especially in matters of medicine, the academy, and public policy. This clear delineation Baker refers to as secularism—because our public lives need to be lived without deference and reference to our religious convictions and commitments. He says of secularists as he grew up, "Expressions of public faith offended them they way that pornography offended certain other people" (p. 11).

Baker is generous with the secularists. He believes that much of the way our culture deals with religion and politics has to do with somewhat good intentions. For the most part, after years of arguing about religion in public, secularist society has chosen to push faith to person’s personal lives out of a desire for peace. Also, secularism, in light of such arguments, pushed religion to the private sphere of living as a way of honoring its importance without making it a matter of public policy. This has not been entirely bad for religion either. Christian evangelicalism gained strength in this environment that focused on faith as a "personal decision for Christ."

The End of Secularism as a title is, of course, a double meaning. Baker believes that the end goal of secularism is to marginalize matters of faith, and the author believes in our current environment religious faith cannot be left out of the public discourse. Thus secularism is being exposed by the author as a poor idea, and an idea that is coming to an end. Do you agree? Read and find out! – Clint Walker, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com

Product Reviews



Product Q&A

Find Related Products

Author/Artist Review

Start A New Christianbook.com Search