A Modern Introduction To Theology

Philip Kennedy, here, offers the first book that any student - with or without religious convictions - can profitably use to get quickly to grips with the essentials of the Christian religion: its history and its key thinkers, its successes and its failures. Most existing undergraduate textbooks of theology begin from essentially traditional positions on the Bible, doctrine, authority, interpretation, and God. What makes Philip Kennedy's book both singularly important and uniquely different is that it has a completely new starting-point. The author contends that traditional Christian theology must extensively overhaul many of its theses because of a multitude of modern social, historical and intellectual revolutions. Offering a grand historical sweep of the genesis of the modern age, and writing with panache and a magisterial grasp of the relevant debates, conflicts and controversies, "A Modern Introduction to Theology" moves a tired and increasingly incoherent discipline in genuinely fresh and exciting directions, and will be welcomed by students and readers of the subject.

This book offers a fresh and up-to-date introduction to modern Christian theology. The ‘long nineteenth century’ saw enormous transformations of theology, and of thought about religion, that shaped the way both Christianity and ‘religion’ are understood today. Muers and Higton provide a lucid guide to the development of theology since 1789, giving students a critical understanding of their own ‘modern’ assumptions, of the origins of the debates and the fields of study in which they are involved, and of major modern thinkers. Modern Theology: introduces the context and work of a selection of major nineteenth-century thinkers who decisively affected the shape of modern theology presents key debates and issues that have their roots in the nineteenth century but are also central to the study of twentieth- and twenty-first-century theology includes exercises and study materials that explicitly focus on the development of core academic skills. This valuable resource also contains a glossary, timeline, annotated bibliographies and illustrations.

One needs to be a lunatic to become a Christian, the 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once observed. Had he lived in the 20th century he might have discerned even more of an obstacle to faith. For during the last century the human condition changed more rapidly than during any previous era, taking that condition far away from the historical circumstances in which Christianity was born. In his new book, Philip Kennedy explores the ways Christian theologians of the 20th century tried to live a productive religious life in a world overtaken by massive upheaval and innovation.The book is distinctive in a number of respects. First, it differs from other surveys of theology by adopting a biographical method, examining the lives of its subjects in historical context. Second, it is more progressive than its competitors, covering many theologians other than white male professors - especially women - who have worked outside the academy or on the margins of the churches. Third, it is international, focusing on theologians in all the continents of the world rather than just Europe or North America. Fourth, it makes no assumptions that its readers are religious or that theology is uniquely credible. There is a need for a sensitive new textbook reassessing the subject in the light of modern concerns and scepticism about religion. This book meets that need.

Surveying important nineteenth- and early twentieth-century theologians, primarily in the German tradition, John Wilson provides a thorough introduction to modern theology and those whose work within it helped initiate a new era in Christian theology. Beginning with Immanuel Kant and moving into the present time, Wilson describes the formative theological work of a number of theologians such as Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, Karl Barth, and Emil Brunner. In doing so, he follows the trajectories of their thought to the present day, which have had profound influence on contemporary theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Karl Rahner.

A team of international scholars assesses the field of modern theology thematically, covering classic topics in Christian theology over the last 200 years.

Far from being solely an academic enterprise, the practice of theology can pique the interest of anyone who wonders about the meaning of life. This introduction to Christian theology – exploring its basic concepts, confessional content, and history – emphasizes the relevance of the key convictions of Christian faith to the challenges of today's world. Part I introduces the project of Christian theology and sketches the critical context that confronts Christian thought and practice today. Part II offers a survey of the key doctrinal themes of Christian theology, including revelation, the triune God, and the world as creation, identifying their biblical basis and the highlights of their historical development before giving a systematic evaluation of each theme. Part III provides an overview of Christian theology from the early church to the present. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of An Introduction to Christian Theology includes a range of new visual and pedagogical features, including images, diagrams, tables, and more than eighty text boxes, which call attention to special emphases, observations, and applications to help deepen student engagement.