Seeking a City With Foundations

For the first time in human history, the majority of people around the world now live in cities - and urban culture and values, communicated by electronic means, profoundly influence the lives of everyone on earth.??In this stimulating and challenging volume, David Smith explores the history and nature of this development, identifying both its potential for good and the possibility that it might result in catastrophe. Drawing on a range of academic disciplines, he describes today's urban world, before offering an extended study of the theme of the city in the Bible, relating this to the challenges confronting cities in the twenty-first century.??Smith outlines key theological themes and enables Christians to understand the globalized, urban world within which their faith must be confessed. He argues that this context presents world Christianity with a unique opportunity to share its vision of an alternative human community. He appreciates the insights of urban specialists, who are invited into a conversation concerning the biblical, God-centred vision of the city - a vision which can provide fresh imagination and hope for the century that lies ahead.??????Commendations
?'Whether in the rapidly emerging cities of the global South or in the towns and cities of the Western world, this book will prove to be an excellent guide for students and practitioners alike who seek a deeper understanding of how the texts of the Bible can powerfully and prophetically speak afresh into our contemporary urban world.'

• Colin Smith, Urban Mission Training Centre, Kibera, Nairobi*?????????'Seeking a City with Foundations lays a foundation that all future urban theological works must reckon with if they are to be faithful to their task ... Smith both instructs and inspires in this very important book.'*
  ?????- Eldin Villafane, Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Boston, USA ?
  -Publisher.

Publisher Description

For the first time in human history, the majority of people around the world now live in cities aEURO" and urban culture and values, communicated by electronic means, profoundly influence the lives of everyone on earth. In this stimulating and challenging volume, David Smith explores the history and nature of this development, identifying both its potential for good and the possibility that it might result in catastrophe. Drawing on a range of academic disciplines, he describes today's urban world, before offering an extended study of the theme of the city in the Bible, relating this to the challenges confronting cities in the twenty-first century. Smith outlines key theological themes and enables Christians to understand the globalized, urban world within which their faith must be confessed. He argues that this context presents world Christianity with a unique opportunity to share its vision of an alternative human community. He appreciates the insights of urban specialists, who are invited into a conversation concerning the biblical, God-centred vision of the city aEURO" a vision which can provide fresh imagination and hope for the century that lies ahead.