The interdependence of boundary questions and the experience of cognitive dissonance reveal that knowledge in all fields of inquiry is always incomplete and tentative. The issues are particularly acute for Christian theological reflection. Ingram illustrates the importance of boundary questions and cognitive dissonance as a means of creatively transforming contemporary Christian theological reflection through dialogue with the natural sciences a ...
This is a detailed examination of the theological innovations of Kevin Vanhoozer and John Franke. Each proposes that doctrinal and systematic theology should be recast in the light of postmodernity. No longer can Christian theology be foundational, or have a stable metaphysical and epistemological framework. Vanhoozer advocates a theo-dramatic reconstruction of Christian doctrine, replacing the timeless propositions of the «purely cerebral theol ...
This book straddles the fertile middle ground between science and religion at a time when the conversation is dominated by extremists on both sides. Taking seriously the modern view of the universe, including the fossil record for the history of life across millions of years, the author considers our relationship to the rest of nature. In addition, the age-old questions concerning meaning, values, and our place within it all are perhaps more pre ...
This volume of essays, dedicated to Stan and Ruth Burgess, has been written by their colleagues and students to honor them as they retire after many years of distinguished service to Evangel University, Southwest Missouri State University, and Regent University. Several meanings can be subsumed under the title Children of the Calling. Stan and Ruth grew up in India, children of Pentecostal missionaries who felt they had «divine callings.» They ...
When considering and confronting the problem of evil, we may be asking the wrong question: Why is there evil in the world if God is good and powerful? It may be wrong because it smuggles in an unbiblical premise: God can and should use his coercive power to relieve suffering since he is both good and able. But what if coercive power does not work to accomplish God's goals? This book is an investigation into the possibility that the noncoerc ...
Concerned that American Catholic theology has struggled to find its own voice for much of its history, William Portier has spent virtually his entire scholarly career recovering a usable past for Catholics on the U.S. landscape. This work of ressourcement has stood at the intersection of several disciplines and has unlocked the beauty of American Catholic life and thought. These essays, which are offered in honor of Portier's life and work, ...
Jonathan's Loves, David's Laments uses early modern musical interpretations of David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan to deepen the historicist foundations of contemporary feminist and gay relational theologies. After laying out how gay theologian Gary David Comstock connects the story of David and Jonathan to the theology of lesbian theologian Carter Heyward, the argument interrogates both theological and exegetical problems in ma ...
This book illustrates how Christianity in the modern era has been shaped in the direction of subjectivity. In the Enlightenment, after Locke required faith to submit to reason's judgment, Kant argued that religion should remain within the bounds of reason only. Schleiermacher shifted attention away from belief to devotion to Christ and a feeling of absolute dependence on God. Rejecting Hegel's system, Kierkegaard summoned his readers t ...
To what degree is Wesleyan theology part of the church's catholic witness? This book explores this question from a number of angles and goes on to embody some of these possibilities in conversation with other major traditions and figures within the Christian church. Overall, the volume shows that Wesleyan theology does draw from and can contribute to conversations related to the catholic Christian witness. ...
