James K. A. Smith is a professor of philosophy at Calvin College, where he holds the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. Trained as a philosopher with a focus on contemporary French thought, Smith has expanded on that scholarly platform to become an engaged public intellectual and cultural critic. An award-winning author and widely-traveled speaker, he has emerged as a thought leader with a unique gift of translation, building bridges between the academy, society, and the church.
The author of many influential books, Smith also regularly writes for magazines and newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Slate, First Things, Christianity Today, Books & Culture, and The Hedgehog Review. He serves as editor-in-chief of Comment magazine.
Speaker's Bureau
James K. A. Smith has spoken with the Trinity Forum on such topics as public theology and spiritual habit formation, as well as cultural liturgies. Example speaking engagements include:
"Reforming Public Theology" available here: https://youtu.be/rCDbFhjLCLw
"The Vanishing American Adult" available here: https://youtu.be/exPKSworpa0
Publications and Scholarly Work
- 101 Key Terms in Philosophy and Their Importance for Theology (2004)
- After Modernity?: Secularity, Globalization, and the Reenchantment of the World (2012)
- All Things Hold Together in Christ (2018)
- Awaiting the Kingdom: Reforming Public Theology (2017)
- Cultural Liturgies Boxed Set (2017)
- Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (2009)
- The Devil Reads Derrida: And Other Essays on the University, the Church, Politics, and the Arts (2009)
- Discipleship in the Present Tense: Reflections on Faith and Culture (2013)
- Evolution and the Fall (2017)
- The Fall of Interpretation, 2nd Edition: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic (2012)
- Hermeneutics at the Crossroads (2006)
- How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor (2014)
- Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works (2013)
- Introducing Radical Orthodoxy Mapping a Post-secular Theology (2004)
- Jacques Derrida: Live Theory (2005)
- Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition (2010)
- Science and the Spirit: A Pentecostal Engagement with the Sciences (2010)
- Speech and Theology Language and the Logic of Incarnation (2002)
- Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning (2011)
- Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy (2010)
- Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?: Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church (2006)
- Who’s Afraid of Relativism?: Community, Contingency, and Creaturehood (2014)
- You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (2016)