Smith, James K. A. How (not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Kindle Edition.
Charles Taylor’s 2007 work, A Secular Age, is a profound analysis of our current age. Taylor won the Templeton Prize for his intellectual achievements throughout his long-standing career, with A Secular Age as something of a cap-stone to his intellectual pursuits.
The purpose of James Smith’s book How (not) to Be Secular is to explain what Charles Taylor is getting at in A Secular Age and also to guide readers on how to not to be secular.
The value of Smith’s book is, in part, reliant on how much someone values the work of Taylor. For my part, I have not finished A Secular Age, not because I am uninterested in the book, but because it is taking so long to read. Every page is thoughtful, intelligent, and often gives me pause to reflect. In short, Taylor’s A Secular Age is one of the most brilliant works that I have ever (started to) read. [Read more…] about Review of How (not) to Be Secular by James K. A. Smith