The Politics of Discipleship

I find that Graham Ward is not an easy person to read. My knowledge of French philosophers is limited and he writes in a fairly dense way (like others associated with the radical orthodoxy movement). So I was pleasantly surprised by his latest book The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens (Baker, 2009). I've been able to understand (more or less) 75% of it! The book is a sequel to his earlier work Cities of God (Routledge, 2000) and Culture Transformation and Religious Practice (Cambridge, 2005), but also part of the J. K. A. Smith edited series The Church and Postmodern Culture, which is aimed a broad, nonspecialist audience - so why it is more readable than Ward's previous work.

The book is divided into 2 halves: 'world' and 'church'.  The 'world' section is brilliant. Three chapters on democracy and the shift to postdemocracy; globalization; and postsecularity and the new visibility of religion. A very helpful survey and description of what is taking place in the western world, engaging with a wide range of sources, including J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Brett Ellis, Amercian Psycho. The 'church' section I found more disappointing. There were some interesting bits, especially the reflections on the city and the struggle for its soul (if you're in a city centre church well worth reading), but where I wanted it to be more grounded and practical, it remained at what felt a fairly detached argument level.

This is a book definitely worth reading and I look forward to where the project goes next and it continuing to written for a broad audience.