Christ The Key

An innovative Christ-centered theology exploring the centrality of Christ for Christian thought and shedding fresh light on major theological issues.

Reading the Old Testament can seem like exploring an old, mysterious mansion, packed with of all sorts of strange rooms. The creation room, vast and sublime. The exodus room, with hardhearted pharaohs and dried-up seas. The war room, with bloody swords and crumbling walls. The tabernacle room, with smoking altars and dark inner sanctums. What does this odd and ancient world have to do with us, who are modern followers of Jesus? As it turns out, everything! Every chapter in the Old Testament, in a variety of ways, tells the story that culminates in Jesus the Messiah. What Christians today call the Old Testament is what Jesus and the earliest believers simply called the Scriptures. That was their Bible. From its pages, they taught about the Messiah's divine nature, his priestly work, his ministry of salvation. The Christ Key will reintroduce readers to these old books as ever-fresh, ever-new testimonies of Jesus. By the end, you will see even Leviticus as a book of grace and mercy, and you will hear in the Psalms the resounding voice of Christ.

This book sets out to interpret Henri de Lubac's theology of creation from a christological perspective. The challenge of this research has been the absence of a systematic christology in the writings of de Lubac. Yet it is possible to posit a Lubacian christology by sifting through the author's work on a myriad of subjects. The point of entry is the patristic distinction between 'image' and 'likeness', whereby 'image' is understood as an inamissible seal which bestows the divine prerogatives of reason, freedom, immortality and dominion over nature. 'Likeness' is a potential given at creation and realised in the course of the economy of salvation. De Lubac describes it variously as divinisation, divine union, the supernatural dignity of the human being, and participation in the internal movement of the Trinity. The originality of this book consists in the gradual emergence of the role of Christ in the process whereby image becomes likeness. De Lubac records his intention to publish a book on Jesus Christ, an ambition he never realised. The present book does not just illustrate the omnipresence of Christ in the writings of de Lubac but dares to delineate what a Lubacian christology would look like.

Christians are encouraged to heed the words of Jesus by embracing the practice of dying to self as the key to spiritual fruitfulness.

Are there any fair and viable alternatives to global capitalism? University of Chicago theologian Kathryn Tanner offers here a serious and creative proposal for evaluating economic theory and behavior through a theological lens.

In this wide-ranging book, Rowan Williams argues that what we say about Jesus Christ is key to understanding what Christian belief says about creator and creation overall. Through detailed discussion of texts from the earliest centuries to the present day, we are shown some of the various and subtle ways in which Christians have discovered in their reflections on Christ the possibility of a deeply affirmative approach to creation, and a set of radical insights in ethics and politics as well. Throughout his life, Rowan Williams has been deeply influenced by thinkers of the Eastern Christian tradition as well as Catholic and Anglican writers. This book draws on insights from Eastern Christianity, from the Western Middle Ages and from Reformed thinkers, from Calvin to Bonhoeffer – as well as considering theological insights sparked by philosophers like Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein. Christ the Heart of Creation concerns fundamental issues for Christian belief and Williams tackles them head-on: he writes with pellucid clarity and shows his gift for putting across what are inevitably complex ideas to a wide audience.

Expand and round out your collection of Colin Smith's popular series to understanding and unlocking the mysteries of the Bible with 10 Keys to Unlock theChristian Life. "Your Word have I hidden in my heart" says the psalmist. The Word in your heart allows you to discover who you are in Christ, what He has called you to do, and how He empowers you to live "the Christian life". Those of traditional belief, as well as those who are postmodern in thought and practice, will be encouraged and challenged.

What did God use to draw a radical, committed unbeliever to himself? Did God take her to an evangelistic rally? Or, since she had her doctorate in literature, did he use something in print? No, God used an invitation to dinner in a modest home, from a humble couple who lived out the gospel daily, simply, and authentically. With this story of her conversion as a backdrop, Rosaria Butterfield invites us into her home to show us how God can use this same "radical, ordinary hospitality" to bring the gospel to our lost friends and neighbors. Such hospitality sees our homes as not our own, but as God's tools for the furtherance of his kingdom as we welcome those who look, think, believe, and act differently from us into our everyday, sometimes messy lives—helping them see what true Christian faith really looks like.