January 2011 Update
Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology is forthcoming April 2011.
So many of you, for so long, have asked about when to expect the next book. Thanks for that encouragement. Finally I am able to report that Cascade Books has awarded a contract for Loving to Know. Cascade, along with its parent company, Wipf & Stock, is able to publish books without the usual gamble on the book’s saleability. They print quickly, on demand. The title never goes out of print. It seems a perfect match for a topic that often is a hard sell because you first have to convince the readership of the need. You have to do epistemological therapy before people see the need for epistemological therapy.
As soon as it is out, you can get your copy (copies) directly from the publisher, www.wipfandstock.com. I’ll have a link on my website.
Calling it Loving to Know, by the way, may be a really dumb idea, because you can mix it up with Longing to Know. Time will tell! But the title is just right for the book’s message. It also displays in what respect my philosophy has advanced since the earlier book. As far as abbreviations go: the first book I call LTK; the second book I’ll call L2K.
L2K is my full-fledged proposal that knowing works like an interpersonal relationship. It’s the more general work on epistemology, of which LTK is a focused application. But it also moves beyond LTK to emphasize the “interpersoned” in knowing. The most eye-opening implication of Loving to Know is that the Christian believer’s transformative relationship with Christ, as celebrated regularly in the Eucharist, is the central paradigm of what it is to know anything at all. Coming to know prototypes the gracious descent of God.
I sincerely hope that L2K will prove a valuable contribution to life and Christian practice, to scholarship and world care. I believe that it carries out the epistemological therapy that each of us and this Western culture desperately needs. Soon you can find the table of contents, the foreword, and a sample passage, here on the website.
Longing and Loving To-GO
Last April I presented a paper at Dordt College's "Calvinism for the 21st Centur" conference: "Covenant Epistemology for the 21st Century." I crafted the paper as an introduction to my proposals, locating it with respect to others in the reformational tradition. I hope to have this published in a theological journal soon.
Also in April, I gave the Robinson Lectures at Erskine Seminary. For these three talks, I also made an accompanying powerpoint that is effectively the picture-book version of covenant epistemology. When the book comes out, I will post this on this website, along with its text. In November, I gave a paper at the Evangelical Philosophical Society in Atlanta: "Michael Polanyi and Alvin Plantinga: Reinforcements from Beyond the Walls" As the great Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga retires, I tried to show how a Polanyian epistemology compares and contrasts with his important work.
Locally, I have had a couple chances to talk to high school students, thanks to teachers passionate to help their students probe deep questions about knowing. Mr. Pete Vitti invited me to his Theory of Knowledge class in the International Baccalaureate Program at Schenley High. Mr. Schmidtberger had me speak to his Apologetics class at Trinity Christian High School. I gave the talks for the First Pres. Beaver Church Women’s Retreat last February: "Grace, Beauty, and Courage." When you read L2K, you'll see how this connects profoundly.
In other writing...
Commongroundsonline
I continue to post on Commongroundsonline. You can find the links for these on my website, or by googling my name. I announce it on Facebook, too. Last year's posts included : "With," "Victory Parade," "Junctures," "Bandit," "Aliquippa," "Sweet Caroline," "Why I Go to Church," "White Lace and Promises and the Most Real Thing in the World," and "Conviviality: Why the Polanyi Society may be the best professional meeting to attend."
Contact With Reality
Alas, I haven’t yet been free to turn my attention to the revision of my old dissertation into a monograph for Paternoster. Since last year, however, my editor at Paternoster, the mercurial Robin Parry, moved to Cascade, where I now have the privilege to work with him on L2K.
Esther at Geneva College
I am in my seventh year at Geneva, and I love it more each semester. We can have great pedagogical relationships with our students here, living out covenant epistemology. L2K forms the primary text in my course, Christian Understanding of Life. I am blessed to watch genuine transformation occur in students like Julie, Megan, and Ben. A real highlight for Geneva’s philosophy program, is our annual Bitar Memorial Lectures. This past year, as a last-minute fill-in, R.J. Snell of Eastern University, returned. He had been the 2009 respondent to Calvin philosopher Jamie Smith. Snell gave the 2010 lectures, teaching a master class in Thomas Aquinas and addressing the faculty. It may have been the best Bitar yet. We anticipate Paul Moser of Loyola April 27-28, 2010, and Alvin Plantinga November of 2011. Wow.
Hearing from you
Thanks for continuing to tell me of your reading, living, and sharing LTK. I hopeFrom time to time I receive a letter from a new reader of LTK. Now I look forward to your response to L2K. Also let me know your ideas for promoting covenant epistemology.
Here's to semper transformanda and knowing for shalom. Blessings.