To Stake a Claim

Book excerpt: An original international collaboration, To Stake a Claim researches the relationship between what counted for “knowledge” in the West, how this knowledge has changed over the years, and how those changes related to the mission of the church as an evangelizer within Western culture. Examining four key areas of study, To Stake a Claim evaluates the dominant positions in contemporary philosophy regarding truth, rationality, and pluralism. It first analyzes consequences for humanity that holding these positions implies. Next, it looks at faith, religion, and revelation in the context of the dominant positions of contemporary philosophy discussed in the first part. The third part explores the dominant positions of contemporary theology. Finally, it summarizes the epistemological problems involved in the process of communicating the gospel within Western culture and evaluates the theological and missiological views of this communication.