Changing Signs of Truth A Christian Introduction to the Semiotics of Communication (Paperback)

Crystal L. Downing

ISBN 10: 0830839666 / ISBN 13: 9780830839667

Published by InterVarsity Press, Illinois, 2012

About this Item

Paperback. What signals are you sending 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 movement?s 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. Crystal Downing brings the postmodern theory of semiotics within reach for today's evangelists. Following the idea of the sign through Scripture, church history and the academy, Downing shows you how signs work and how sensitivity to their dynamics can make or break an attempt to communicate truth. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780830839667

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Changing Signs of Truth A Christian Introduction to the Semiotics of Communication (Paperback)
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press, Illinois
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0830839666
• ISBN 13: 9780830839667
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

<p>What signals are you sending 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 likeJohn 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 thediscipline of semiotics within reach for beginners through analysis of the movement?s 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.</p>

About the Author

<p>Crystal L. Downing (PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara), an award-winning author, has published five books, including <em>Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L. Sayers</em>, which received a <em>Publishers Weekly</em> starred review, and <em>Salvation from Cinema: The Medium Is the Message</em>.</p>