The Neo Orthodox Theology Of W W Bryden

Walter W. Bryden was Principal of Knox College, Toronto, after the Second World War, and one of the leading Presbyterian theologians of the period from the 1920s to the 1950s. In The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden, John Vissers makes an important contribution by analysing Bryden's thought, placing it in the context of contemporary European and American theology. Vissers emphasises in particular Bryden's role in introducing and popularising the ideas of Karl Barth in North America prior to the translation of Barth's Commentary on Romans into English, and his Neo-Orthodox theology owed much to Barthian ideas. In his most important work, The Christian's Knowledge of God, Bryden challenged the modernist emphasis on the rational, arguing for a Christocentric doctrine of Revelation. Vissers brings a wealth of scholarship and research to his subject, revealing Bryden's pivotal role in the development of neo-orthodoxy within the Protestant tradition in North America, a role that previous studies have often failed to explore.

The current debate on religious pluralism pits exclusivism against inclusivism, with "pluralism" an uncertain alternative. The thesis of this book is that a new theory is required to relate world religions positively, without reducing them to a lowest common denominator. Thus the question "what is comparable" needs to be re-examined. While a "theory of everything" is not possible for religious data, a "modal" approach allows each religion its own integrity. The traditional Christian claim of uniqueness is balanced by more open resources from within the tradition itself, such as Logos Christology. This has potential cosmic or properly "universal" (as distinct from global) presence. Dogma is examined through scientific and aesthetic models, resulting in a more open approach to world religions. Each may be regarded as a "mode of being" related to transcendence in non-adversarial terms. Joseph C. McLelland is J.W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion Emeritus at McGill University and Robert Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion Emeritus at The Presbyterian College, Montreal. From 1975 to 1985 he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on philosophical and historical theology, and is the founding editor of The Peter Martyr Library. Among his writings are "Prometheus Rebound: the irony of Atheism, The Clown and the Crocodile, " and most recently, "Understanding the Faith: Essays in Philosophical Theology." Dr. McLelland is a former President of The Canadian Theological Society and Editor-in-Chief of " Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses."

This book examines the past and present of the English parish system and proposes a new way of structuring the church in England rooted in the Anglo-Saxon world. The English parish is in a state of crisis. Ideally suited to the static, agricultural, hierarchical society in which it developed, it has become a severe impediment to the Church's work today. It needs to change. In this fascinating and insightful book, Nick Spencer explores the parish's past, present and future. He shows that rather than being synonymous with English Christianity, the parish was a comparatively late arrival on the scene, and one whose main roots were economic and social rather than ecclesiastical. He goes on to explain why the parish is now singularly inappropriate for modern ministry, before proposing a genuine alternative based on the system of Anglo-Saxon minster churches out of which parishes grew.