
Returning to Reality
Christian Platonism for our Times
Paul Tyson(Author)
Lutterworth Press
Published on 26. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
228 pages
978-0-7188-9385-9 (ISBN)
Description
Could it be that we have lost touch with some basic human realities in our day of high-tech efficiency, frenetic competition, and ceaseless
consumption? Have we turned from the moral, the spiritual, and even the physical realities that make our lives meaningful? These are metaphysical
questions -questions about the nature of reality- but they are not abstract questions. These are very down to earth questions that concern power and
the collective frameworks of belief and action governing our daily lives. This book is an introduction to the history, theory, and application of Christian metaphysics. Yet this book is not just an introduction, it is also a passionately argued call for a profound change in the contemporary Christian mind. Paul Tyson argues that as Western culture's Christian Platonist understanding of reality was replaced by modern pragmatic realism, we turned not just from one outlook on reality to another, but away from reality itself. This book seeks to show that if we can recover this ancient Christian outlook on reality, reframed for our day, then we will be able to recover a way of life that is in harmony with human and divine truth.
consumption? Have we turned from the moral, the spiritual, and even the physical realities that make our lives meaningful? These are metaphysical
questions -questions about the nature of reality- but they are not abstract questions. These are very down to earth questions that concern power and
the collective frameworks of belief and action governing our daily lives. This book is an introduction to the history, theory, and application of Christian metaphysics. Yet this book is not just an introduction, it is also a passionately argued call for a profound change in the contemporary Christian mind. Paul Tyson argues that as Western culture's Christian Platonist understanding of reality was replaced by modern pragmatic realism, we turned not just from one outlook on reality to another, but away from reality itself. This book seeks to show that if we can recover this ancient Christian outlook on reality, reframed for our day, then we will be able to recover a way of life that is in harmony with human and divine truth.
Reviews / Votes
"The historical positions and basic metaphysical/theological stance will resonate with those sympathetic to John Milbank's Radical Orthodoxy project. Tyson intends his book to be accessible to a wide audience. He succeeds in terms of his clearly narrated historical arguments, and he makes an effort to define unfamiliar terms along the way. ... Undergraduate religion and theology majors would benefit from the book, as would graduate students in theology."- Andrew C. Stout, Theological Book Review, Vol. 27 No.1, 2016
"Tyson's impassioned call for a reinvigoration of Christian Platonism is thought provoking and a joy to read. Above all Returning to Reality succeeds as a masterful statement of the problem ... of a hollowed out Christianity divorced from its metaphysical roots in late modernity. ... There is much to appreciate in Tyson's book."
- Derek Michaud, Reviews in Religion and Theology, Volume 24, Issue 3, July 2017
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
James Clarke & Co Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Weight
344 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7188-9385-9 (9780718893859)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2015
Lutterworth Press
€21.49
Available for download
Person
Paul Tyson is an Honorary Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is author of 'Faith's Knowledge' (2013).
Content
Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I: Re-discovering a Christian Understanding of Reality
1. Two Views of Reality
2. The Christian Platonism of Lewis and Tolkien Bridge
PART II: Christian Platonism and the History of Western Ideas
3. The Mythos of Modernity
4. Platonist Ideas in the New Testament
5. How Christian is Christian Platonism?
6. So What Went Wrong?
7. Is Modern Truth, without Wisdom, Believable?
PART III: Applied Christian Metaphysics
8. Returning to Reality
Bibliography
Name Index
Introduction
PART I: Re-discovering a Christian Understanding of Reality
1. Two Views of Reality
2. The Christian Platonism of Lewis and Tolkien Bridge
PART II: Christian Platonism and the History of Western Ideas
3. The Mythos of Modernity
4. Platonist Ideas in the New Testament
5. How Christian is Christian Platonism?
6. So What Went Wrong?
7. Is Modern Truth, without Wisdom, Believable?
PART III: Applied Christian Metaphysics
8. Returning to Reality
Bibliography
Name Index