Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest ofGeneration X
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More About This Title Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest ofGeneration X
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TOM BEAUDOIN Raised on television and video games, Tom Beaudoin began to notice in the mid-80s that the popular culture so familiar to him was infused with religious iconography and meaning. He earned his Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University School of Divinity in 1996 and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Religion and Education at Boston College. A former altar boy and presently a bass player in a Boston area rock band, he survived Woodstock '94.
English
Part One: Why Religion Still Matters: GenX, Pop Culture, and the Search for God.
1. A GenX Journey: Living on the Boundary Between Religion and Culture.
2. Formed by Pop Culture: The Shared Immersion That Makes Us a Generation.
3. Being Virtually Religious: Appreciating GenX Irreverence.
Part Two: How Religion Still Matters: Four Central Themes in GenX Religiosity.
4. Institutions Are Suspect.
5. Experience Is Key.
6. Suffering Has a Religious Dimension.
7. Ambiguity Is Central to Faith.
Part Three: Being Religious Now: A New Understanding.
8. Making the Virtual Lead Somewhere: A Spiritual Challenge to Generation X.
9. Rediscovering Humility in Ministry: A Spiritual Challenge from Generation X.
Conclusion: Giving Irreverence Its Due.
1. A GenX Journey: Living on the Boundary Between Religion and Culture.
2. Formed by Pop Culture: The Shared Immersion That Makes Us a Generation.
3. Being Virtually Religious: Appreciating GenX Irreverence.
Part Two: How Religion Still Matters: Four Central Themes in GenX Religiosity.
4. Institutions Are Suspect.
5. Experience Is Key.
6. Suffering Has a Religious Dimension.
7. Ambiguity Is Central to Faith.
Part Three: Being Religious Now: A New Understanding.
8. Making the Virtual Lead Somewhere: A Spiritual Challenge to Generation X.
9. Rediscovering Humility in Ministry: A Spiritual Challenge from Generation X.
Conclusion: Giving Irreverence Its Due.
English
"His book is the most comprehensive and accessible reading on the religious nature of irreverence among members of the so-called "Generation X." This book is ground breaking and important simply because it makes a bold move: he aims two rays of light--God's and Madonna's-- straight at each other, and actually takes seriously the wild spectrum that results." --Amazon.com
"Has Tom Beaudoin caught a new wave of spirituality at its birthing? Maybe he has. In any case, he enables the reader to peer into a reality that is both religious and secular, both outrageous and touching, both post modern and, in its own odd way, very traditional. If he is wrong, he is fascinatingly and brilliantly wrong, and no reader will regret taking this trip through the various layers of our contemporary divine comedy with him as their Virgil."
"Tom Beaudoin takes us on a romping, eye-opening voyage through GenX culture--its music, its fashion, its imagery, its spiritual quest. There is nothing quite like this book in print: so honest a portrayal of GenX, and so passionate a plea for a creative engagement between this generation and religious institutions." --Wade Clark Roof, Author of A Generation of Seekers
"Can we (Boomers and beyond) belive it? That the Spirit is blowing, as ever where She will, even though the pop culture of Generation X. Anyone who would say so and then attempt `a theology by, for, and about GenX' is certainly irreverent. But Beaudoin is also courageous, creative, and confronting. This book will be a catalyst of a whole new theological conversation--one we have never heard before." --Thomas H. Groome, author of Educating for Life
"Virtual Faith reveals the deep and pervasive search for meaning that haunts Generation X and lays bare their spiritual hungers. This book is must reading for anyone who would understand the spirituality of young people at the turn of a new millennium." --Robert A. Ludwig, author of Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation
"Has Tom Beaudoin caught a new wave of spirituality at its birthing? Maybe he has. In any case, he enables the reader to peer into a reality that is both religious and secular, both outrageous and touching, both post modern and, in its own odd way, very traditional. If he is wrong, he is fascinatingly and brilliantly wrong, and no reader will regret taking this trip through the various layers of our contemporary divine comedy with him as their Virgil."
"Tom Beaudoin takes us on a romping, eye-opening voyage through GenX culture--its music, its fashion, its imagery, its spiritual quest. There is nothing quite like this book in print: so honest a portrayal of GenX, and so passionate a plea for a creative engagement between this generation and religious institutions." --Wade Clark Roof, Author of A Generation of Seekers
"Can we (Boomers and beyond) belive it? That the Spirit is blowing, as ever where She will, even though the pop culture of Generation X. Anyone who would say so and then attempt `a theology by, for, and about GenX' is certainly irreverent. But Beaudoin is also courageous, creative, and confronting. This book will be a catalyst of a whole new theological conversation--one we have never heard before." --Thomas H. Groome, author of Educating for Life
"Virtual Faith reveals the deep and pervasive search for meaning that haunts Generation X and lays bare their spiritual hungers. This book is must reading for anyone who would understand the spirituality of young people at the turn of a new millennium." --Robert A. Ludwig, author of Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation
