Rees argues that the doctrinal narrative of creation, fall, and redemption provides resources to resolve the theological impasse of difference in contemporary feminist theology. The divine economy reveals a God who enters into history and destabilizes fixed binaries and oppressive categories. As created subjects, we are sustained, affirmed, and drawn back into the Triune life, patterns present in liturgy, prayer, and practices of contemplation. The grammar of Christian faith cannot ultimately be uncovered except in prayer, opened beyond itself to a source of life and giving.
Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit (Academic Theology) This introduction draws on the breadth of the Christian tradition to present a biblically grounded, globally informed, and conceptually precise account of the doctrine of the Trinity. It covers key themes and concepts, offering an alternative to introductory texts on the Trinity that are arranged historically/chronologically. The book incorporates majority world theology, engages important debates in contemporary biblical studies, and draws on neglected historical figures. It also contains a glossary of trinitarian terms and an annotated bibliography of major works on the doctrine of God.
Geoff Thompson addresses multiple questions concerning Christian doctrine in an engaging narrative, beginning with an in-depth discussion of the origins of doctrine in the various catechetical, polemical and apologetic pressures that the church encountered as it sought to articulate and teach its confession of faith in Jesus Christ. In providing an overview of some of the classic and historically influential doctrinal projects, Thompson employs ten case studies that illustrate the overlapping influences of tradition and contexts-both ecclesial and cultural-on doctrinal discourse. Thompson takes the reader from those historical and paradigmatic case studies into some of the great contemporary debates about doctrine, including those which have been shaped by the critique of doctrine associated with the European Enlightenment as well as the challenges and contributions of theologians of the majority world. He pays particular attention to the influence that these diverse cultural, ecclesial, and academic contexts have had upon the shape and content of particular doctrines. This leads into an engagement with George Lindbeck's seminal The Nature of Doctrine, as well as the more recent proposals of Kevin Vanhoozer and Christine Helmer. This guide concludes by developing the idea of a Christian social imaginary as the framework for holding together doctrine, practice, truth, diversity, and context.
Encyclopedic in scope, this book offers wide-ranging coverage of the foundational teachings and practices within the mainstream of the classical Christian tradition. It begins with their roots in the Scriptures, and also branches out into Eastern and Western Christianity, ancient, medieval, and modern, to the present-day. Part I provides an overview of some of these routes, then presents an historical survey of Christianity's major traditions. Part II unpacks some of the character of that revelation, focusing particularly on epistemological and procedural questions. Finally, Part III looks at Christian theology in a university setting: the possibility and shape of theology as a university discipline, its major subfields, and its relations with humanities and the sciences respectively. Fundamental Theology: A Protestant Perspective, 2nd edition, includes a wide range of pedagogical features: - each chapter begins with an outline thesis statement, highlighted in bold - charts and graphs - relevant headings and subheadings employed throughout the book - keywords - provides a survey of pertinent reference literature - questions for review and discussion - annotated suggestions for further reading
This anthology is a collection of readings on the Christian life. They were carefully selected from every era of history and from across the spectrum of Christian traditions. They include letters, sermons, treatises and disputations, poems, songs and hymns, confessions, biblical commentary, and even part of a novel. In each case, the subject is life with God, life in God, life for God—life infused and enlivened by God’s grace. The editors introduce each selection, highlighting relevant aspects of the author’s biography, spirituality, and historical context. Introductions are also provided for the major eras of the church which present theological, historical, and cultural perspectives to help the reader best engage the selections. For individuals and groups, classrooms and seminars, this collection will generate dialogue between past and present, and between traditions familiar and unfamiliar. It is not merely a book on the Christian life but for the Christian life, making yesterday’s witness to life with God a resource for the Church today.
"Michael Pasquarello has written a 'must read' book articulating a Trinitarian vision for preaching. His compelling argument is richly informed by traditional biblical hermeneutics, creedal history understood as storied attestation of the witness of Scripture, and liturgical theology and practice considered as embodied performance of the Bible's divine narrative. Here is a clear summons to the church to abandon all lesser homiletic aims and to prayerfully and faithfully proclaim the holy gospel to the glory of God." --Charles L. Bartow, Princeton Theological Seminary "Like all of Michael Pasquarello's work, his newest book not only upholds the classical Christian tradition but also breathes new vitality into it. In an era in which preaching is reduced to persuasive communication, Pasquarello reminds us that the Christian message has a content that originates in and gives expression to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." --Richard Lischer, Duke Divinity School "One of the refreshing things about this fine book by Michael Pasquarello is that, when he thinks about the ministry of preaching, he is not afraid to measure the breadth historically or plumb the depths theologically. Pasquarello has written this book like a good sermon--faithfully, thoughtfully, prayerfully, and with a profound word to speak. We are in his debt." --Thomas G. Long, Candler School of Theology "Boldly challenging homiletical accommodation to American culture, Pasquarello seeks to change the subject of preaching from method and 'marketing' to the Triune God, who is the source and goal of our speech. A welcome theological vision of preaching." --Charles L. Campbell, Columbia Theological Seminary "Christian Preaching brings together two disciplines that have sadly grown apart such that they almost developed irreconcilable differences--preaching and theology. Pasquarello offers a brilliant critique of theology as technique and draws on the theology and sermons of Irenaeus, Augustine, Luther, Wesley, and others, convincingly demonstrating that effective, pragmatic preaching requires substantive theological engagement (and vice versa). This book accomplishes its purpose so well that it should be used not only in preaching courses but also in basic theology courses. No preacher should be let loose on a congregation without passing through Pasquarello's Christian Preaching." --D. Stephen Long, Marquette University
Deep and wide study of 2,000 years of Christian thought on the human body Does Christianity scorn our bodies? Friedrich Nietzsche thought so, and many others since him have thought the same. Ola Sigurdson contends, to the contrary, that Christianity — understood properly — in fact affirms human embodiment. Presenting his constructive contributions to theology in relation to both historical and contemporary conceptions of the body, Sigurdson begins by investigating the anthropological implications of the doctrine of the incarnation. He then delves into the concept of the gaze and discusses a specifically Christian "gaze of faith" that focuses on God embodied in Jesus. Finally, he weaves these strands into a contemporary Christian theology of embodiment. Sigurdson's profound engagement with the whole history of Christian life and thought not only elucidates the spectrum of Christian perspectives on the body but also models a way of thinking historically and systematically that other theologians will find stimulating and challenging.
Isidore of Seville (circa 570-636) was the author of the Etymologiae, . the most celebrated and widely circulated encyclopaedia of the western Middle Ages. In addition, Isidore's Synonyma were very successful and became one of the classics of medieval spirituality. Indeed, it was the Synonyma that were to define the so-called 'Isidorian style, ' a rhymed, rhythmic prose that proved influential throughout the Middle Ages. Finding the Right Words is the first book-length study to deal with the transmission and reception of works by Isidore of Seville in Anglo-Saxon England, with a particular focus on the Synonyma. Beginning with a general survey of Isidore's life and activity as a bishop in early seventh-century Visigothic Spain, Claudia Di Sciacca offers a comprehensive introduction to the Synonyma, drawing special attention to their distinctive style. She goes on to discuss the transmission of the text to early medieval England and its 'vernacularisation, ' that is, its translations and adaptations in Old English prose and verse. The case for the particular receptiveness of the Synonyma in Anglo-Saxon England is strongly supported by both a close reading of primary sources and an extensive selection of secondary literature. This rigorous, well-documented volume demonstrates the significance of the Synonyma to our understanding of the literary pretensions and pedagogical practices of Anglo-Saxon England, and offers new insights into the interaction of Latin and vernacular within its literary culture.
Gathering together the various strands of Kierkegaard's thought - his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason, the relevance of historical knowledge to faith, the nature of religious conversion, the concept of truth, the limits of religious authority, and the dialectic of religious communication - Emmanuel creates a fresh and unified perspective on Kierkegaard's religious position. By revealing the inner connections between what are often perceived as fascinating but discrete aspects of Kierkegaard's complex authorship, this study provides the first comprehensive interpretation of Kierkegaard's view of Christian revelation and the central importance of that concept for understanding the development of his religious philosophy.
Theological dictionaries are foundational to any theological library. But until now there has been no Global Dictionary of Theology, a theological dictionary that presumes the contribution of the Western tradition but moves beyond it to embrace and explore a full range of global expressions of theology. The Global Dictionary of Theology is inspired by the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to the Global South. But it also reflects the increase in two-way traffic between these two sectors as well as the global awareness that has permeated popular culture to an unprecedented degree. The editorial perspective of the Global Dictionary of Theology is an ecumenical evangelicalism that is receptive to discovering new facets of truth through listening and conversation on a global scale. Thus a distinctive feature of the Global Dictionary of Theology is its conversational approach. Contributors have been called on to write in the spirit of engaging in a larger theological conversation in which alternative views are expected and invited. William A. Dyrness, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Juan F. Martinez and Simon Chan edit approximately 250 articles written by over 100 contributors representing the global spectrum of theological perspectives. Pastors, theological teachers, theological students and lay Christian leaders will all find the Global Dictionary of Theology to be a resource that unfolds new dimensions and reveals new panoramas of theological perspective and inquiry. Here is a new launching point for doing theology in today's global context.
