Abstract
Murray A Rae, the editor of this volume, is Professor of Theology and ethics at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Critical Conversations is a collection of essays on Polanyi’s ideas of epistemology and the role of faith, authority, tradition, and community in the process of knowledge-making from a theological perspective by the authors. The first three essays deal with the epistemology of Polanyi. Tony Clark explains Polanyi’s argument about the relationship between the scientist and scientific knowledge to deconstruct the myth of objectivity in scientific knowledge. Then he goes on to draw a parallel between knowing in science and in religion. He asserts, ‘Polanyi shows that knowing in science, as well as humanities and religion, is facilitated by participation in what might be called “faith communities”’ (p. 31). Taking this further, Richard Allen presents Polanyi’s view on emotion in knowing or the passion to know in science as a base to argue that knowing is an expression of love and that would enable us to understand God’s nature. In the next essay, Lincoln Harvey shows how ‘detached objectivism’ undermines human potential and argues that knowledge is relational. He bases his premise on Polanyi’s principles of indwelling, integration, and personal participation and goes on to show that the relationship between the Son and the Father being mediated by the Spirit. He claims, ‘This knowing as acquaintance through the Spirit is also an event that happens in the flesh. . . . the fabric of the created order is one in which a person, through the Spirit, can be in a relational acquaintance with an other’ (p. 72). Alan Torrance, in the fourth chapter, reflects on social philosophy of Polanyi and explains Polanyi’s idea of ‘moral inversion’, a product of the Enlightenment, which led to a mechanistic understating of life and reality resulting in violence.
The next four chapters compare Polanyi with other key thinkers like Barth, Gadamer, Girard, and Newbigin. Peter Forster shows that having Polanyi as a back drop Barth could be understood in a better light and his theology could be taken further. Drawing insights from Polanyi, David Kettle addresses the issues of subjectivity and relativism in Gadamer’s philosophy and argues for ‘communion in truth’ as the ultimate horizon which directs towards God. Bruce Hamill points out the weakness in Polanyi’s idea of intellectual passion and brings in Rene Girard’s idea of ‘desire’ that reflects the fallen nature of humanity. Hamill claims only the redeemed community or new social order can desire for truth. The final chapter discusses the influence of Polanyi on the missiology of Newbigin. Paul Weston claims, ‘(I)n Polanyi, Newbigin found his most stimulating conversation partner, whose language and grammar were consistently conducive to his own particular theological and Missiological concerns’ (p. 177). Weston shows that Newbigin used Polanyi’s ideas of tacit knowledge, indwelling, heuristic passion, public truth, etc. in his writings to address the relevance of the Gospel to a post secular Western society.
The independent self created by the European Enlightenment died with the emergence of the community in the field of knowledge creation. In a post-secular and postmodern world, Polanyi’s deconstruction of scientific knowledge creation laid bare the myth of objectivity in science. Critical Conversations is a timely and valuable contribution to regain the ground theology lost due to the Enlightenment project. Polanyi laid the foundation by asserting that the source of all knowledge is belief, and knowledge created by both science and religion is a product of community and tradition. The authors of the volume skilfully interpreted Polanyi’s ideas from a theological perspective by extending his ideas, critiquing him wherever necessary, finding parallel with other thinkers, extending some of the thinkers’ theology further, and using theological themes to show the relevance to Christianity. Anyone who is interested in theology will find this volume insightful in understanding that knowledge creation in science and in theology share the same platform.