Scm Studyguide Christian Doctrine

An accessible textbook for all engaging with Christian doctrine for the first time. A valuable resource and suitable for all clergy and all training for ministry.

The SCM Studyguide: Biblical Hermenuetics offers entry-level undergraduates a framework for interpreting the Bible. The book goes beyond offering guidance on how to do exegesis, and is intended as a practical tool to help readers develop good interpretative strategies for themselves. As such it features pedagogical tools such as Try-it-Out boxes to assist students to develop a tested and thought - through overall interpretative strategy of their own. This fully updated 2nd edition takes into account the changing church and world context, and the new challenges this context brings as students seek to read the Bible with attentiveness, integrity and faithfulness. Table of contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Where Do We Want to Go? 2. Past Experience and Present Expectations 3. Tools for Exegesis 4. Our Reality 5. Committed Readings 6. Enabling Dialogue with the Text 7. Our Goal: Life-Affirming Interpretations Summary of the Interpretative Process References and Further Reading Index of Biblical References Index of Names Index of Subjects

The SCM Studyguides are becoming increasingly well known, recognized and adopted as accessible textbooks for level 1 students who have no prior knowledge of the subject. "The SCM Studyguide Early Christian Doctrine and the Creeds" offers an accessible, stimulating and interactive guide-book to the emergence of Christian identity, with particular attention to the earliest form of the Christian thought and doctrine. The author analyses the crucial statements of the early Creeds and rules of faith. He explains the creedal statements on the nature of God, creation, incarnation, redemption, the Church and eschatology, and outlines the theological context which influenced their formulation and later modifications by other texts and authors. The Creeds are part of the heritage of all Christian tradition and therefore have to be studied by both theological students and in the context of 'education for discipleship' modules.

An introduction to the study of the ways the church has evolved in its corporate life since its birth in the first century. Special attention is given to studying its changing relationship and interaction with the surrounding societies in which it has existed. The intended readership will be those training for ministry in English speaking churches, so the studyguide will concentrate on those aspects of this subject of most relevance to this group. This means there will be greater attention to developments in the West than in the East, especially in later centuries, and to topics such as the nature of ministry, the sacraments, places of worship, authority in the church and mission. These will be examined at each period of church history, in each chapter, to provide reference points of comparison throughout the book. Each chapter will also contain a specific case study, presenting extracts of some key documents with notes, commentary and questions for discussion, to allow readers to develop skills in historical research. General discussion questions and reading lists will be provided at the end of each chapter. The final chapter will provide guidance for the study of the history of the student's own church and community.

Providing the level one student with all they will need to know to understand their course fully, the textbook covers the major areas of ethical theory and methodology that are key to the use of the Bible in Christian ethics, natural law, conscience, various philosophical approaches to ethics and the influence of liberation theologies.

The SCM Core Text: Christian Doctrine offers an up-to-date, accessible introduction to one of the core subjects of theology. Written for second and third-year university students, it shows that Christian Doctrine is not a series of impossible claims to be clung to with blind faith. Mike Higton argues that it is, rather, a set of claims that emerge in the midst of Christian life, as Christian communities try to make enough sense of their lives and of their world to allow them to carry on. Christian communities have made sense of their own life, and the life of the wider world in which they are set, as life created by God to share in God's own life. They have seen themselves and their world as laid hold of God's life in Jesus of Nazareth, and as having the Spirit of God's own life actively at work within them. This book explores these and other central Christian doctrines, and in each case, shows how the doctrine makes sense, and how it is woven into Christian life. It will help readers to see what sense it might make to say the things that Christian doctrine says, and how that doctrine might affect the way that one looks at everything: the natural world, gossip, culture, speaking in tongues, politics, dieting, human freedom, love, High Noon, justice, computers, racism, the novels of Jane Austin, parenthood, death and fashion.

The SCM Studyguide Pastoral Theology designed to support undergraduate courses for the training of clergy and lay pastoral workers at an accessible introductory level. The book aims to develop pastoral wisdom and integrity through a critical integration of theology and the human sciences. Introducing key themes in theological anthropology and pastoral practice, it shapes a creative pastoral vision which is deeply rooted in a Christian vision of what it means to be human and what it takes to care. Working with case studies, the book will introduce broad frameworks of understanding of issues such as growth, loss, and sexuality, together with critical perspectives on important aspects of practice such as language, power and boundaries. The book provides an accessible overview of key concepts in pastoral theology, offering key entry points for further discussion and study. Each chapter includes discussion questions and/or reflective exercises at the end of each chapter together with a short bibliography. Throughout the text, key summaries of learning will be indicated by boxed Practice Points.

Love Makes No Sense is an introduction to a faith that refuses the abstract, and sees no distinction between theology and practice. The aim of this book is not to satisfy the intellect, but to train its readers through approachable theological teaching to live the love that Christian theology proclaims. Suitable for people looking to explore Christian theology more deeply, be they life-long Christians who want a deeper understanding of their faith, new Christians, or those who are interested in the Christian faith and looking to find out more.