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(More customer reviews)Murphy's work is excellent.
And it's not because she makes any startling claims. The liberal/conservative divide in theology is obvious. It is no surprise that both are fundamentally different (in content and reasoning) but based on similar philosophical presuppositions. That these presuppositions are increasingly questionable in a "postmodern" era has been pointed out so many times nobody wants to hear it anymore.
What is great about this book is Murphy's clarity. Beyond the pedantry of liberals and the fearful diatribes of conservatives, Murphy speaks in a clean and hopeful manner. She uses "ideal types" to be sure, but with such gracefulness that they work beautifully and effectively.
Her constructive chapters, of course, will not settle everything definitively. But they don't really have to --- all Murphy has to do is prove that this is really a move beyond liberalism and fundamentalism. I think she does this effectively.
I recommend this book because it improves on some of the ambiguities of Lindbeck's The Nature of Doctrine. Like Lindbeck, it is concise and powerful. Unlike Lindbeck, however, Murphy clears up some of the ambiguity surrounding "experiential-expressivism" and "cognitive-propositionalism." Her positive proposal, unlike Lindbeck's "cultural-linguistic" approach, is sufficiently nuanced so as not to fall prey to the claims of "Barthianism" or "relativism."
Finally, since Murphy comes from Berkely/Pasadena, not from New Haven or Chicago, she is able to avoid the history of better established schools of theology.
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