Christian theology: an introduction [6 ed.] 9781118869567, 1118869567

Table of contents :
Christian Theology: An Introduction
Brief Contents
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
To the Student: How to Use This Book
To the Teacher: How to Use This Book
The Structure of the Book: The Fifth and Sixth Editions Compared
Video and Audio Resources
Part I: Landmarks: Periods, Themes, and Personalities of Christian Theology
Introduction
1: The Patristic Period, c.100–c.700
The Early Centers of Theological Activity
An Overview of the Patristic Period
A clarification of terms
The theological agenda of the period
Key Theologians
Justin Martyr (c.100–c.165)
Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130–c.202)
Tertullian (c.160–c.220)
Origen (c.185–c.254)
Cyprian of Carthage (died 258)
Athanasius (c.293–373)
The Cappadocian fathers
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Key Theological Debates and Developments
The extent of the New Testament canon
The role of tradition: the Gnostic controversies
The fixing of the ecumenical creeds
The two natures of Jesus Christ: the Arian controversy
The doctrine of the Trinity
The doctrine of the church: the Donatist controversy
The doctrine of grace: the Pelagian controversy
Key Names, Words, and Phrases
Questions for Chapter 1
2: The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, c.700–c.1500
On Defining the “Middle Ages”
Theological Landmarks in Western Europe
The rise of medieval schools of theology
The founding of the universities
A theological textbook: the Four Books of the Sentences
“Cathedrals of the Mind”: scholasticism
The Italian Renaissance and the rise of humanism
Byzantine Theology: Major Themes
Key Theologians
John of Damascus (c.676–749)
Simeon the New Theologian (949–1022)
Anselm of Canterbury (c.1033–1109)
Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–74)
Duns Scotus (c.1266–1308)
William of Ockham (c.1285–1347)
Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536)
Key Theological Debates and Developments
The consolidation of the patristic heritage
The exploration of the role of reason in theology
Scholasticism: the development of theological systems
The development of sacramental theology
The development of the theology of grace
The role of Mary in the scheme of salvation
The Renaissance: returning to the original sources of theology
Key Names, Words, and Phrases
Questions for Chapter 2
3: The Age of Reformation, c.1500–c.1750
The Main Movements of the Age of Reformation
The German Reformation: Lutheranism
The Swiss Reformation: the Reformed church
The radical Reformation: Anabaptism
The English Reformation: Anglicanism
The Catholic Reformation
The Second Reformation: confessionalization
Post-Reformation Movements
The consolidation of Catholicism
Puritanism
Pietism
The Copernican and Galilean Controversies
Key Theologians
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531)
John Calvin (1509–64)
Teresa of Avilà (1515–82)
Theodore Beza (1519–1605)
Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621)
Johann Gerhard (1582–1637)
Jonathan Edwards (1703–58)
Key Theological Debates and Developments
The sources of theology
The doctrine of grace
The doctrine of the sacraments
The doctrine of the church
Developments in Theological Literature
Catechisms
Confessions of faith
Works of systematic theology
Key Names, Words, and Phrases
Questions for Chapter 3
4: The Modern Period, c.1750 to the Present
Theology and Cultural Developments in the West
The wars of religion and disinterest in religion
The rise of the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment critique of Christian theology: some case studies
Marxism: an intellectual rival to Christianity
Darwinism: a new theory of human origins
The First World War: a theology of crisis
Postmodernism: beyond the modern theological agenda
Globalization: world Christianity and world religions
Key Theologians
F. D. E. Schleiermacher (1768–1834)
John Henry Newman (1801–90)
Karl Barth (1886–1968)
Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
Karl Rahner (1904–84)
Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–88)
Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926)
Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014)
Major Modern Theological Movements
Liberal Protestantism
Modernism
Neo-orthodoxy
Liberation theologies
Feminism
Black and “womanist” theology
Postliberalism
Radical orthodoxy
Key Names, Words, and Phrases
Questions for Chapter 4
Part II: Sources and Methods
5: Getting Started: Preliminaries
What Is Faith?
Defining Theology
A working definition of theology
The historical development of the idea of theology
The development of theology as an academic discipline
The Architecture of Theology
Biblical studies
Systematic theology
Philosophical theology
Historical theology
Practical, or pastoral, theology
Spirituality, or mystical theology
Apologetics
The Question of Prolegomena
Commitment and Neutrality in Theology
Orthodoxy and Heresy
Historical aspects
Theological aspects
The Theology of the Relationship Between Christianity and Secular Culture
Justin Martyr (c.100–c.165)
Tertullian (c.160–c.220)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
The twentieth century: H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962)
Questions for Chapter 5
6: The Sources of Theology
Scripture
The Old Testament
The New Testament
Other works: deutero-canonical and apocryphal writings
The relationship between the Old and New Testaments
The canon of Scripture: historical and theological issues
The Word of God
Narrative theology
Methods of interpretation of Scripture
Theories of the inspiration of Scripture
Tradition
A single-source theory of tradition
A dual-source theory of tradition
The total rejection of tradition
Theology and worship: the importance of liturgical tradition
Reason
Reason and revelation: three models
Enlightenment rationalism
Criticisms of Enlightenment rationalism
Religious Experience
Experience as the basis of Christian theology
Theology connects with human experience
Theology as the interpreter of human experience
God as a misinterpretation of human experience
Questions for Chapter 6
7: Knowledge of God: Natural and Revealed
The Idea of Revelation
Models of Revelation
Revelation as doctrine
Revelation as presence
Revelation as experience
Revelation as history
Natural Theology: Its Scope and Limits
Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–74) on natural theology
John Calvin (1509–64) on natural theology
The Renaissance: God’s two books
Eastern Orthodoxy on natural theology
The Barth–Brunner debate (1934)
Approaches to Discerning God in Nature
Human reason
The ordering of the world
The beauty of the world
The Natural Sciences and Christian Theology: Models of Interaction
Warfare: the “conflict” thesis
Isolation: the “non-overlapping” thesis
Enrichment: the complementarity thesis
Questions for Chapter 7
8: Philosophy and Theology: Dialogue and Debate
Philosophy and Theology: The Notion of the “Handmaid”
Can God’s Existence be Proved? Four Approaches
The ontological argument of Anselm of Canterbury (c.1033–1109)
The “Five Ways” of Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–74)
The kalam argument
A classic argument from design: William Paley (1743–1805)
The Nature of Theological Language
Does theological language refer to anything?
Apophatic and kataphatic approaches
Questions for Chapter 8
Part III: Christian Theology
9: The Doctrine of God
Is God Male?
A Personal God
Defining “person”
Dialogical personalism: Martin Buber (1878–1965)
Can God Suffer?
The classical view: the impassibility of God
The twentieth century: a paradigm shift?
A suffering God: Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926)
The death of God?
The Omnipotence of God
Defining omnipotence
The two powers of God
The notion of divine self-limitation
God’s Action in the World
“Special” and “general” divine action
Deism: God acts through the laws of nature
Thomism: God acts through secondary causes
Process theology: God acts through persuasion
God as Creator
Development of the doctrine of creation
Creation and the rejection of dualism
The doctrine of creation of Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
The doctrine of creation ex nihilo
Implications of the doctrine of creation
Models of God as creator
Creation and Christian approaches to ecology
Theodicies: The Problem of Evil
Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130–c.202)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Karl Barth (1886–1968)
Alvin Plantinga (born 1932)
Other recent contributions
Questions for Chapter 9
10: The Person of Jesus Christ
The Place of Jesus Christ in Christian Theology
Jesus Christ is the historical point of departure for Christianity
Jesus Christ reveals God
Jesus Christ is the bearer of salvation
Jesus Christ defines the shape of the redeemed life
New Testament Christological Titles
Messiah
Son of God
Son of Man
Lord
Savior
God
The Patristic Debate Over the Person of Christ
Early explorations: Ebionitism and Docetism
Justin Martyr (c.100–c.165): the Logos Christology
Arius (c.260–336): Jesus Christ as “supreme among the creatures”
Athanasius (c.293–373): Jesus Christ as God incarnate
The Alexandrian school: Apollinarianism and its critics
The Antiochene school: Theodore of Mopsuestia (c.350–428)
The “communication of attributes”
The Council of Chalcedon (451)
Medieval Christology: The Relationship Between the Incarnation and the Fall
The Relationship Between the Person and Work of Christ
Christological Models: Classical and Contemporary
The substantial presence of God in Christ
Christ as mediator between God and humanity
The revelational presence of God in Christ
Christ as a symbolic presence of God
Christ as the bearer of the Holy Spirit
Christ as the example of a godly life
Christ as a hero
Kenotic approaches to Christology
The Quest for the Historical Jesus
The original quest for the historical Jesus
The quest for the religious personality of Jesus
The critique of the quest, 1890–1910
The quest suspended: Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976)
The new quest for the historical Jesus
The third quest for the historical Jesus
The Resurrection of Christ: History and Interpretation
The Enlightenment: resurrection as nonevent
David Friedrich Strauss (1808–74): resurrection as myth
Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976): resurrection as an event in the experience of the disciples
Karl Barth (1886–1968): resurrection as an historical event beyond critical inquiry
Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014): resurrection as an historical event open to critical inquiry
Questions for Chapter 10
11: The Nature and Basis of Salvation
Christian Approaches to Salvation
Salvation is linked with Jesus Christ
Salvation is shaped by Jesus Christ
The eschatological dimension of salvation
The Foundations of Salvation: The Cross of Christ
The cross as a sacrifice
The cross as a victory
The cross and forgiveness
The cross as a demonstration of God’s love
Violence and the cross: the theory of René Girard (1923–2015)
“Can a Male Savior Save Women?” Feminists on Atonement
Models of Salvation in Christ: Classical and Contemporary
Some Pauline images of salvation
Deification: being made divine
Righteousness in the sight of God
Personal holiness
Authentic human existence
Political liberation
Spiritual freedom
The Appropriation of Salvation in Christ
The church as the means of salvation
Christ as a representative
Participation in Christ
Christ as a substitute
The Scope of Salvation in Christ
Universalism: all will be saved
Only believers will be saved
Particular redemption: only the elect will be saved
Questions for Chapter 11
12: The Holy Spirit
The Biblical Witness
The Patristic Period
Early patristic reflections: Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130–c.202)
Athanasius (c.293–373): the debate over the divinity of the Holy Spirit
The Council of Constantinople (381)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430): the spirit as a bond of unity
Symbols of the Spirit: a dove, fire, and oil
The Filioque Controversy
The Holy Spirit: Recent Discussions
The Great Awakening: Jonathan Edwards (1703–58)
The Second Vatican Council on the Holy Spirit
Liberation theology: the Spirit and empowerment
Feminism: the Spirit and relationality
The Functions of the Spirit
God’s active presence in the world
The illumination of revelation
The appropriation of salvation
The renewal of the Christian life
Questions for Chapter 12
13: The Trinity
Approaching the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity
The apparent illogicality of the doctrine
The Trinity as a statement about Jesus Christ
The Trinity as a statement about the Christian God
Islamic critiques of the doctrine of the Trinity
The Biblical Foundations of the Doctrine of the Trinity
The Historical Development of the Doctrine
The emergence of the trinitarian vocabulary
The emergence of trinitarian concepts
Rationalist critiques of trinitarianism: the eclipse of the Trinity, 1700–1900
The problem of visualization: analogies of the Trinity
“Economic” and “essential” approaches to the Trinity
Two Trinitarian Heresies
Modalism: chronological and functional
Tritheism
The Trinity: Six Classic and Contemporary Approaches
The Cappadocian fathers
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Karl Barth (1886–1968)
Karl Rahner (1904–84)
John Macquarrie (1919–2007)
Robert Jenson (born 1930)
Some Discussions of the Trinity in Recent Theology
F. D. E. Schleiermacher (1768–1834) on the dogmatic location of the Trinity
Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926) on the social Trinity
Eberhard Jüngel (born 1934) on the Trinity and metaphysics
Catherine Mowry LaCugna (1952–97) on the Trinity and salvation
Sarah Coakley (born 1951) on feminism and the Trinity
The Trinitarian Renaissance: Some Examples
A trinitarian theology of mission
A trinitarian theology of worship
A trinitarian theology of atonement
A trinitarian ecclesiology
Questions for Chapter 13
14: Human Nature, Sin, and Grace
The Place of Humanity within Creation: Early Reflections
The image of God
The concept of sin
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) and the Pelagian Controversy
The “freedom of the will”
The nature of sin
The nature of grace
The basis of salvation
The Medieval Synthesis of the Doctrine of Grace
The Augustinian legacy
The medieval distinction between actual and habitual grace
The late medieval critique of habitual grace
The medieval debate over the nature and grounds of merit
The Reformation Debates Over the Doctrine of Grace
From “salvation by grace” to “justification by faith”
The theological breakthrough of Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Luther on justifying faith
The concept of forensic justification
John Calvin (1509–64) on justification
The Council of Trent on justification
The Doctrine of Predestination
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Catholic debates: Thomism, Molinism, and Jansenism
Protestant debates: Calvinism and Arminianism
Karl Barth (1886–1968)
Predestination and economics: the Weber thesis
The Darwinian Controversy and the Nature of Humanity
Young-earth creationism
Old-earth creationism
Intelligent design
Evolutionary theism
Questions for Chapter 14
15: The Church
Biblical Models of the Church
The Old Testament
The New Testament
The Early Development of Ecclesiology
The Donatist Controversy
Early Protestant Doctrines of the Church
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
John Calvin (1509–64)
The radical Reformation
Christ and the Church: Some Twentieth-Century Themes
Christ is present sacramentally
Christ is present through the word
Christ is present through the Spirit
The Second Vatican Council on the Church
The church as communion
The church as the people of God
The church as a charismatic community
The “Notes” of the Church
One
Holy
Catholic
Apostolic
Priesthood and Ministry: Some Major Themes
Questions for Chapter 15
16: The Sacraments
The Early Development of Sacramental Theology
The Definition of a Sacrament
The Donatist Controversy: Sacramental Efficacy
The Multiple Functions of the Sacraments
Sacraments convey grace
Sacraments strengthen faith
Sacraments enhance unity and commitment within the church
Sacraments reassure us of God’s promises toward us
A case study in complexity: the functions of the Eucharist
The Eucharist: The Question of the Real Presence
The ninth-century debates over the real presence
Medieval views on the relationship between “sign” and “sacrament”
Transubstantiation
Transignification and transfinalization
Consubstantiation
A real absence: memorialism
The Debate Concerning Infant Baptism
Infant baptism remits the guilt of original sin
Infant baptism is grounded in God’s covenant with the church
Infant baptism is unjustified
Questions for Chapter 16
17: Christianity and the World Religions
Western Pluralism and the Question of Other Religions
The detached approach
The committed approach
Approaches to Religions
The Enlightenment: religions as a corruption of the original religion of nature
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–72): religion as an objectification of human feeling
Karl Marx: religion as the product of socioeconomic alienation
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939): religion as wish fulfillment
Emile Durkheim (1858–1917): religion and ritual
Mircea Eliade (1907–86): religion and the sacred
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) and C. S. Lewis (1898–1963): religion as myth
Karl Barth (1886–1968) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–45): religion as a human invention
Trinitarian theologies of religion
Christian Approaches to Other Religions
Exclusivism
Inclusivism
Pluralism
Questions for Chapter 17
18: Last Things: The Christian Hope
Developments in the Doctrine of the Last Things
The New Testament
Early Christianity and Roman beliefs about reunion after death
Augustine of Hippo (354–430): the two cities
Joachim of Fiore (c.1132–1202): the three ages
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321): the Divine Comedy
The Enlightenment: eschatology as superstition
The twentieth century: the rediscovery of eschatology
Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976): the demythologization of eschatology
Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926): the theology of hope
Helmut Thielicke (1908–86): ethics and eschatology
Dispensationalism: the structures of eschatology
Spe salvi: Benedict XVI (born 1927) on the Christian hope
N. T. Wright (born 1948) on (not) going to heaven
The Last Things
Hell
Purgatory
The millennium
Heaven
Questions for Chapter 18
Jargon-Busting: A Glossary of Theological Terms
Sources of Citations
Acknowledgments
Index
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