Transformative Theological Perspectives

How can Scripture and Lutheran theological understandings be reinterpreted in an increasingly interreligious and threatened world? How can theology be further developed in ways that are transformative of personal, social and global realities today? In this book, theologians from around the world engage challenges such as these by developing hermeneutical and theological perspectives on creation, soteriology, pneumatology, ecclesiology and eschatology, as well as drawing upon other disciplines. This final volume in the TLC series brings together some of the papers presented at the concluding 2009 consultation in Augsburg, Germany.

"Lausanne '74 inspired evangelicals around the world to take seriously the full implications of the Gospel for mission. This was especially true of a worldwide network of radical evangelical mission theologians and practitioners, whose post-Lausanne reflections found harbour in the notion of "Mission as Transformation". This missiology integrated evangelism and social concern like no other, and it lifted up theological voices coming from the Two Thirds World to places of prominence. This book documents the definitive gatherings, theological tensions, and social forces within and without evangelicalism that led up to Mission as Transformation. And it does so through a global-local grid that points the way toward greater holistic mission in the 21st century."--BOOK JACKET.

Exploring the hospitality of God, and its implications for human thought and action, this book examines the concepts of hospitality as cognitive tools for reframing our thinking about God, divine action, and human response in discipleship. Hospitality is imagined as an interactive symbol, changing perspectives and encouraging stable environments of compassionate construction in society. Human rights are of crucial importance to the wellbeing of the people of our planet. But there is a sense in which they will always be an emergency measure, a response to evils as they are happening. The authors argue that a hospitable comparative theology reaches out to bring Christian hospitality into the dialogue of world religions and cultures. It will respect the identity of particular groups and yet will strive for a cosmopolitan sharing of common values. It will respect tradition but also openness to reform and re-imagining. It will encourage convergence and development in a fluid stream of committed hospitalities.

Throughout the course of his theological career, Jürgen Moltmann has been interested in the ecclesial and societal consequences of systematic theology and what each doctrine means for our life in this world. The Transformative Church explores these concerns in Moltmann’s major texts and highlighting themes relevant for a transformative ecclesiology. Patrick Oden constructs a substantive transformative ecclesiology embedded in this world: we are to become in the church who we are to be in this world, whole in Christ so as to be a messianic people in any context.

The social and cultural challenges posed by the increasing threat to creation (climate change, destruction of biodiversity, etc.) are the starting point for new philosophical-ethical and theological reflections on the relationship between God, human beings and the world, as presented in this volume. God's creative impulse, which transforms anew, is at work in the actions of human beings and challenges us, in view of the threat to the "house of life" earth, to go new ways that make a common and good life possible. Creation and transformation are interrelated; an ecological theology of creation and practice of sustainability to be developed in the European context is to be embedded in the horizon of a global, liberating theology. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Margit Eckholt, professor of dogmatics and fundamental theology at the Institute of Catholic Theology / University of Osnabrück, president of the European Society for Catholic Theology

The Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity is the first attempt to map and analyze developments in theological education on a global scale. This volume, with contributions from 98 leaders in theological education from around the world, provides a comprehensive introduction to the major themes and contexts in the international discourse on theological education, surveys of the issues and challenges faced in different regions, and introductory essays on the developments in the major denominational families in World Christianity. The editors are Dietrich Werner, World Council of Churches, Geneva; David Esterline, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago; Namsoon Kang, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth; and Joshva Raja, Queen's Foundation, Birmingham.