The Logic Of Theology

One of the most fascinating studies to appear from the German-speaking theological world in modern times.

God is infinite, but language finite; thus speech would seem to condemn Him to finitude. In speaking of God, would the theologian violate divine transcendence by reducing God to immanence, or choose, rather, to remain silent? At stake in this argument is a core problem of the conditions of divine revelation. How, in terms of language and the limitations of human understanding, can transcendence ever be made known? Does its very appearance not undermine its transcendence, its condition of unknowability? Speech and Theology posits that the paradigm for the encounter between the material and the divine, or the immanent and transcendent, is found in the Incarnation: God's voluntary self-immersion in the human world as an expression of His love for His creation. By this key act of grace, hinged upon Christs condescension to human finitude, philosophy acquires the means not simply to speak of perfection, which is to speak theologically, but to bridge the gap between word and thing in general sense.

This collection of essays - written by philosophers, logicians, and theologians - is devoted to the problem of the utilization of logic in theological discourse. Viewed from the perspective of logic, the issues covered include such topics as the logic of miracles, the problem of God's omniscience, the application of non-classical logics to theology, and the relationships between science and theology.

For the well-rounded Christian looking to improve their critical thinking skills, here is an accessible introduction to the study of logic (parts 1 & 2) as well as an in-depth treatment of the discipline (parts 3 & 4) from a professor with 6 academic degrees and over 30 years experience teaching. Questions for further reflection are included at the end of each chapter as well as helpful diagrams and charts that are appropriate for use in high school, home school, college, and graduate-level classrooms. Overall, Vern Poythress has undertaken a radical recasting of the study of logic in this revolutionary work from a Christian worldview.

At the heart of the Christian faith stands a man, Jesus of Nazareth. Few people seriously question whether Jesus existed in history. But many, influenced by the more skeptical scholars, doubt that the Christ of orthodox Christianity is the same as the Jesus of history. In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, historian Paul W. Barnett lays these doubts to rest. He uncovers the methodological weaknesses present in some forms of critical scholarship, demonstrating a failure to account for important early evidence about Jesus. Once the evidence is properly marshalled, a picture of Jesus emerges that fits well with orthodox belief in him. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

When this book was originally published in 1957 there had been lively debates on the air and in the press about the bearing of modern philosophy upon Christianity, but there had been relatively little sustained discussion of the subject. This book of essays was the product of a small group of Oxford philosophers and theologians, who had met and talked informally for some years before writing it. It is an attempt to discuss with care and candour some of the problems raised for Christian belief by contemporary analytical philosophy. In asking the questions raised, this book makes articulate the perplexities of many intelligent people, both believers and unbelievers. The contributors concentrate on the way such concepts as God, Revelation, the Soul, Grace are actually used rather than asserting or denying some very general theory of meaning.

This book is a philosophical examination of the logical problems associated with the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was one and the same person as God the Son, the Second Person of the divine Trinity. How can a being or person who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, etc., have become human given that humans are limited in knowledge and beset with weaknesses? Unless this belief in the incarnation is to be dismissed as pious sentimentality, a philosophical case must be made for at least the possible rationality of the idea. Tom Morris makes such an attempt in this book. Indeed, although it claims only to be arguing that the idea of God Incarnate is not impossible, The Logic of God Incarnate confronts the preponderance of modem philosophical argumentation against the incarnation and manages to put the traditional doctrine in a quite plausible light.