Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach<\/em>, by Vern Sheridan Poythress.<\/p>\nProfessor Poythress has a collection of degrees in mathematics, linguistics, and theology, from the very best universities, and from his writing it\u2019s clear that he\u2019s really, really smart.\u00a0 In this book, he uses philosophy and theology to develop a biblical view of the importance of relationships.\u00a0 In doing so, he demonstrates that the Bible presents God as involved in relationships at every level.\u00a0 God, himself, is in relationship in the trinity.\u00a0 God makes covenants, a form of relationships, with humans.\u00a0 God rules humans.\u00a0 Humans react to God in a cultural context.\u00a0 God recognizes many differences in human beings.\u00a0 These are some of the many ways that Poythress elaborates the many roles of God in human relationships.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve come away from reading the book with a greater appreciation for the relational character of God, that he both embodies and embroils himself in human relationships at every level of society.<\/p>\n
If I were dissatisfied with this book, besides the fact that Poythress only has 6 degrees (come on, you call that an education), it\u2019s that I still have an itch to learn more about the integration between a God-centered world view and sociology.\u00a0 Poythress develops the former, but it remains relatively separate from the latter.\u00a0 There\u2019s actually very little sociology in the book, except for a couple of interesting appendices.<\/p>\n
For example, is sociology incompatible or complimentary with Christianity?\u00a0 Sociologists speak of taking a stained-glass window approach to religions, meaning that since we like to deal with what can be observed, we look at religions from the outside\u2014neither accepting nor rejecting the assumptions of any given religion, rather simply examining what we can see.\u00a0 Or, how about the reverse, is Christianity incompatible with sociology?<\/p>\n
Another way of framing the question is one of contribution.\u00a0 Are there aspects of sociology that can contribute to the understanding and advancement of Christianity?\u00a0 If so, what are they?\u00a0 Likewise, are there aspects of Christianity that can contribute to sociology? \u00a0Poythress doesn\u2019t develop the possible coming together of theology and sociology.\u00a0 Let me give you an example.<\/p>\n
Poythress cites an introductory sociology textbook (which appears to be his main reference for sociology) as describing sociology as a discipline that looks for general principles in specific situations.\u00a0 For example (quoting from the textbook quoted by Poythress):<\/p>\n
A sociological study \u201cfound that higher income women typically expected the men they married to be sensitive to others, to talk readily, and to share feelings and experiences.\u00a0 Lower-income women\u2026 had very different expectations and were looking for men who did not drink too much, were not violent, and held steady jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poythress counters that \u201csuch generalizations are not unique to modern sociology.\u00a0 The book of Proverbs is full of such generalizations, such as \u201cthe vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult (Proverbs 12:16).\u201d<\/p>\n
Does Poythress mean that given the Bible\u2019s generalization, there\u2019s no need for sociology or that sociology is wrong?\u00a0 Or, is he making the point that sociology is not the only thought system that generalizes?\u00a0 (Something that I think most sociologists would readily agree to).<\/p>\n
At various times, I wondered how familiar Poythress is with the study of sociology.\u00a0 For example, in his section on scientific sociology, he brings up the \u201cchallenge of spurious correlation.\u201d\u00a0 Here, he makes the point that a correlation between any two factors can indicate that changes in one might \u201ccause\u201d changes in the other.\u00a0 Or, they may simply reflect spurious correlation.\u00a0 He writes \u201cstatistical correlations may<\/em> suggest an underlying causal relationship.\u00a0 But it seems that they can never establish it.\u00a0 We cannot succeed in eliminating the possibility that other, deeper factors might be the actual causes.\u201d\u00a0 This idea, that correlation doesn\u2019t necessarily mean causation, is a basic principle of social research, one which we teach in the first few lectures of any undergraduate class on sociological methods.<\/p>\nAs such, this book is perhaps less about redeeming sociology than it is developing a systematic theology of God and social relationships.\u00a0 This makes sense, given Poythress being a New Testament scholar, but it leaves a sociologist wanting more.\u00a0 Given Poythress\u2019 obvious intelligence and learning, I would like to seat him in a good introductory sociology class for a semester, and at the end, ask him how should sociology be done differently in light of Christianity, and, how should Christianity be done differently in light of sociology?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and author of the award-winning Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites\u2026and Other Lies You\u2019ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media and his newest book, just released, Upside: Surprising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-23T16:02:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-23T20:46:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/07\/LibraryDublin-300x248.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/\",\"name\":\"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-23T16:02:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-23T20:46:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress","description":"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress","og_description":"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2011-07-23T16:02:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-07-23T20:46:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/07\/LibraryDublin-300x248.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/","name":"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-23T16:02:51+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-23T20:46:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"Review of Vern Sheridan Poythress, Redeeming Sociology: A God-Centered Approach, by Bradley Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/07\/23\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-vern-poythress\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Vern Poythress"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/40\/2011\/07\/LibraryDublin-300x248.jpg\" "\\"LibraryDublin\\"")
<\/a>When I was in graduate school, one of the faculty members had the coolest postcard on his door.\u00a0 It showed a 1950s-style young couple, in a convertible, stopped at a fork in the road.\u00a0 In front of them was a sign, and to right it pointed \u201cSociology\u201d and to the left it pointed \u201cGod\u201d.\u00a0 Next to the sign was Jesus, with his arm raised, guiding the couple to the left.<\/p>\n