Crystal Downing

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  Changing Signs Of Truth

  $34.99

  Part I: Signs Of This Book
  Preface –
  The Problem: Christianity Versus Culture Introduction
  The Solution: Exorcising And Exercising Signs
  Part II: Signs Of Christ And Culture
  1. Signs Of The Times: On The Edge Of Cultural Change
  2. Signs Of Gods Word: Following Jesus
  Part III: How Signs Work
  3. Identifying Signs: From Rhetoric To Semiology
  4. Under Signs: Structuralism
  5. Controlling Signs: Ideology And Cultural Studies
  Part IV: Signs Of Faith
  6. Signs Of Deconstruction: Maintaining The House Of Faith
  7. A Place For The Coin: Charles Sanders Peirce
  8. Placing The Coin On Edge: The Trinity
  Part V: Communication In A Pluralistic World
  9. Si(g)ns Of Communication: (In)tolerance Versus The Gift
  10. Antiseptic Bakhtin: Healing Communication
  11. Communicating On The Edge: A Conclusion

  Additional Info
  Do you send the wrong signals when you share the gospel? The importance of signs for communicating truth has been recognized throughout the ages. Crystal L. Downing traces this awareness from biblical texts, through figures from church history like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, to more recent writers Samuel Taylor Coleridge and C. S. Lewis. In the nineteenth century, this legacy of interest in the activity of signs brought about a new field of academic study. In this book, Downing puts the discipline of semiotics within reach for beginners through analysis of the movements key theorists, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Sanders Peirce, Mikhail Bakhtin and others. She then draws out the implications for effective communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ within our shifting cultural landscape. Her fundamental thesis is that “Failure to understand how signs work–as effects of the cultures we seek to affect–inevitably undermines not just our political and moral agendas but, worse, the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Writing with humor, clarity and flare, Downing lucidly explains the sophisticated thinking of leaders in semiotics for nonexperts. Of value to all those interested in communication in any context, this work will be of special interest to students majoring in communications or English or to students in evangelism and preaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level.

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• 

  How Postmodernism Serves My Faith

  $32.99

  Can Christians learn from postmodern thinkers and their critique of modernism? Crystal L. Downing introduces students (especially those in the arts) to postmoderism: where it came from, and how Christians can best understand, critique and benefit from its insights. She believes that the challenges, questions and insights of postmodernism can contribute to a deeper and clearer grasp of our faith. She thinks so because, beginning as a graduate student, she explored the best of postmodern thought and came out thankful for it. Through honest engagement, Downing seeks to guide students along a path that will ultimately strengthen their faith.

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