Christian Theological Traditions

This text helps students acquire a basic theological literacy in key persons and events of the Bible and the Christian faith, and in Christianity's encounter with culture at large. Historically arranged, it also addresses five major themes of systematic theology: revelation, God, creation, Jesus, and church.

This text helps students acquire a basic theological literacy in key persons and events of the Bible and the Christian faith, and in Christianity's encounter with culture at large. Historically arranged, it also addresses five major themes of systematic theology: revelation, God, creation, Jesus, and church.

John Webster, one of the world's leading systematic theologians, published extensively on the nature and practice of Christian theology. This work marked a turning point in Webster's theological development and is his most substantial statement on the task of theology. It shows why theology matters and why its pursuit is a demanding but exhilarating venture. Previously unavailable in book form, this magisterial statement, now edited and critically introduced for the first time, presents Webster's legendary lectures to a wider readership. It contains an extensive introductory essay by Ivor Davidson.

This highly acclaimed and widely used volume now in its third edition, is a collaborative presentation of the chief Christian doctrines in light of their traditional theological formulations, their historical development, and contemporary challenges. Joined by David Tracy, Langdon Gilkey, Edward Farley, Sallie McFague, and many others, Hodgson and King explore the task of theology, method, scripture and traditions, God, revelation, creation, human being, sin and evil, Christ and salvation, church, sacraments, the Spirit and Christian life, the reign of God, other religions, and "the Christian paradigm."Each chapter sets forth the primary shape and substance of a doctrine, its historical development, "how that tradition has been challenged and transformed under the pressures of modern thought," and new and persistent issues that set the agenda for future theological work.Written with intelligence and verve, and newly updated, Christian Theology has proven a superlative introduction to Christianity's classical heritage and its future theological horizons. Companion volumes include Readings in Christian Theology and Reconstructing Christian Theology.

Christianity Today Book of the Year Award ECPA Gold Medallion Award History is made up of stories--narratives that recount the events, movements, ideas and lives that have shaped religions and nations. Theologian Roger Olson believes that the history of Christian theology should be told as such a story, one replete with thick plots, exciting twists, interesting people and fascinating ideas. In this panoramic work of historical theology Olson vividly recounts the deeds and words of the cultists and apostolic fathers of the second century, the clash between the theological schools of Alexandria and Antioch, the epochal division between East and West, the revolutionary advent of the Reformation and much more, right on up to the dazzling, sometimes dismaying fallout that has continued to shake Christians through the twentieth century. Through it all Olson detects and traces a common thread: a concern for salvation--God's redemptive activity in forgiving and transforming sinful human beings. Evenhanded, refreshingly readable, impressive in its breadth and depth, The Story of Christian Theology is poised to become a standard historical theology text.

In the two thousand years that have elapsed since the time of Christ, Christians have been as much divided by their faith as united, as much at odds as in communion. And the contents of Christian confession have developed with astonishing energy. How can believers claim a faith that has been passed down through the ages while recognizing the real historical contingencies that have shaped both their doctrines and their divisions? In this carefully argued essay, David Bentley Hart critiques the concept of "tradition" that has become dominant in Christian thought as fundamentally incoherent. He puts forth a convincing new explanation of Christian tradition, one that is obedient to the nature of Christianity not only as a "revealed" creed embodied in historical events but as the "apocalyptic" revelation of a history that is largely identical with the eternal truth it supposedly discloses. Hart shows that Christian tradition is sustained not simply by its preservation of the past, but more essentially by its anticipation of the future. He offers a compelling portrayal of a living tradition held together by apocalyptic expectation--the promised transformation of all things in God.

In this compelling work the evangelical theologian Matthew Michael sets out to reveal the unique nature of African Christianity and understand Christian theology in the context of the African worldview and traditions which have given African Christianityits unique religious stamp. Michael addresses the crucial obligation of Christianity to engage with African culture as a prerequisite to transforming African theology. He points out that a major flaw of Western missionary Christianisation was its failureto engage with African traditions, as a meaningful and vigorous Christianity cannot flourish within the African context without serious engagement with these traditions. Michael re-interprets traditional Christian doctrine, with careful consideration of Scripture, to best engage modern African understanding. His exploration of African Christianity goes beyond the classical Western experience and interpretations of Christian dogmas found in the works of Augustine, Aquinas, and Western missionaries, and reclaims the rich and ancient heritage of Christianity in Africa, a heritage so venerable and pervasive that it is as much African as Western. This thought-provoking work reveals Michael's maturing theological reflections upon the crucial subject of Christian Systematic Theology in the African context, and will be of great interest to any individual interested in the dynamic field of African theology.