What if the deepest theological truths about God are found not in rigid binaries but in the breathtaking diversity of creation itself?In Trans Trinity, Wendy Farley offers a constructive theological reimagining of the Trinity through the metaphor of trans—as both a grammatical prefix and a gender identity. A work in sapiential theology, the book explores how theological reflection can shape not only what we think about God but also how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.Respo...
Finding God in the Basement reimagines the Christian theology of sin and salvation through the lens of addiction, offering a liberative vision of human dignity, hope for recovery, and communal transformation.In Finding God in the Basement, Jennifer Carlier offers a theologically incisive critique of how Christian doctrines of sin and salvation fail to engage the lived realities of addiction and recovery. Drawing from her own experiences and from memoirs that recount others’ journeys through addi...
After Method assumes the impossibility of doing theology right–and moves beyond it. Organized as a conversation in two voices—with systematic-theological commitments represented by Karl Barth and constructive-theological commitments represented by Marcella Althaus-Reid—this book calls the redemptive potential of any methodological program into question. Indeed, the search for a full and complete theological account of reality has only further fragmented theological discourse. T...
Rubén Rosario Rodríguez addresses the long-standing division between Christian theologies that take revelation as their starting point and focus and those that take human culture as theirs. After introducing these two theological streams that originate with Karl Barth and Paul Tillich, respectively, Rosario asserts that they both seek to respond to the Enlightenment's critique and rejection of Christianity. In so doing, they have bought into Enlightenment understandings of human reality and the ...
Originally published in 1963, Honest to God ignited passionate debate about the nature of Christian belief and doctrine in the white heat of a secular revolution. In addition, it articulated the anxieties of a generation who saw these traditional fundamentals as no longer acceptable or necessarily credible. Reissued on the 55th anniversary of the original publication, Honest to God remains a work of honest theology that continues to inspire many in their search for credible Christianity in today...
Most introductory textbooks in theology see their primary task as explaining Christian doctrines that no one quite understands anymore. While this is one of theology's jobs, it is by no means the only, nor even the most important, one. Theology has also been called to change the world, to help people connect deeply rooted beliefs about the world's source and goal to questions of personal meaning and communal thriving. Theology is here to help us make sense of the complex, flawed wor...
In this volume, highly esteemed scholar Kevin Vanhoozer introduces readers to a way of thinking about Christian theology that takes the work he began in the groundbreaking 2005 book, The Drama of Doctrine, to its next level. Vanhoozer argues that theology is not merely a set of cognitive beliefs, but is also something we do that involves speech and action alike. He uses a theatrical model to explain the ways in which doctrine shapes Christian understanding and forms disciples. The...
Too often the doctrine of creation has been made to serve limited or pointless ends, like the well-worn arguments between science and faith over the question of human and cosmic origins. Given this history, some might be tempted to ignore the theology of creation, thinking it has nothing new or substantive to say. They would be wrong. In this stimulating volume, Ian A. McFarland shows that at the heart of the doctrine of creation lies an essential truth about humanity: we are co...
This book is about the crisis brought about by doctrine's estrangement from reality—that is from actual lives, experiences, histories, and from God. By invoking "the end of doctrine," Christine Helmer opens a new discussion of doctrinal production that is engaged with the challenges and possibilities of modernity. The end of doctrine refers on the one hand to unquestioning doctrinal reception, which Helmer critiques, and on the other, represents an invitation to a new way of unde...
This work of constructive theology examines human sexuality in light of Christian faith and doctrine. Jensen moves beyond the hot-button social debates about sexual orientation and sexual practices to look for healing. The seven chapters consider Scripture and sex; the connections between the triune, covenantal God and human sexuality; Christ's incarnation and resurrection as affirming the beauty of flesh; eschatology and sexual identity; the ramifications of the Lord's Supper f...
This book presents three different, influential and representative theological approaches towards the world religions. Students are not only introduced to the field, but get three passionate and intelligent 'takes' on what is at stake. By means of a response to each of the primary essays, the authors are put into interaction with each other, and are also engaged with the most contemporary scholarship in the field of theology of religions. This sustained and high level critical inte...
Wendy Farley presents a powerful expression of Jesus Christ as experienced by those who are marginalized and persecuted in contemporary society. Drawing on broader theological sources, Farley compellingly argues that the doctrine of the Incarnation is the basis for a radical inclusivity and defense of the preciousness of all human beings, especially those the church marginalizes.
Queer theology is a significant new development and central to much current teaching and thinking about gender, sexuality and the body. Controversies in Queer Theology provides an overview of the main areas of difference and debate in queer theologies, engaging with and critiquing all the major writers working in this area. Susannah Cornwall shows how this field is still in flux and the highlights implications for employing queer methodologies across theological work.
Intercultural Theology offers a set of groundbreaking essays that describe the nature of intercultural theology as a domain of theology that pays particular attention to the identity of non-western forms of Christianity in dialogue with western forms. It is theological discourse engaged in multi-disciplinary dialogue and therefore uses the insights from historical, socio-cultural, inter-religious and empirical studies. Intercultural theology is a development from previous discussion...
This book is a collection of essays by thirteen feminist and womanist authors who locate themselves within the Reformed tradition. Topics explored include: the Trinity, creation, election, atonement, the church, fear, resistance, and vocation. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students interested in feminist theology.The Columbia Series in Reformed Theology represents a joint commitment by Columbia Theological Seminary and Westminster John Knox Press to provide the...
During the past 30 years, what we used to call æthe passing show of existenceÆ has turned into a global torrent of electronic communication and cultural change. Everywhere, Tradition is collapsing. Local fundamentalist reactions û hailed by some as evidence that æGod is backÆ û cannot hope to stem the flood. They are merely symptoms of faithÆs increasing desperation. In our time, Don Cupitt says, religion is no longer about gaining immortality, or the forgiveness of our sins: it is ...
Philos ophy and theology have each struggled with the problem of dualism, the assumption that reality can be split in two. Too often, this split places God, spirit, mind, and the masculine in opposition to evil, body, matter, and the feminine. These intellectual divisions support social structures that oppress rather than embrace women, the poor, people of color, and others. With this volume, Voss Roberts expertly shows how comparative theology uproots this dualism and fosters new ...
Disasters indicate the complex peril of earthly existence. Suffering and risk are global realities. Yet, the biblical depiction of persons and communities as "earthen vessels" also suggests that vulnerable creatures can be strengthened to receive and bear the grace and glory of God. Culp demonstrates how vulnerability to devastation and to transformation is the very basis for life before God. The glory of God may be witnessed in resistance to inhumanity and idolatry, and expressed i...
Contemporary Christian faith and practice tend to address spiritual, mental, and emotional issues but ignore the body. As a result, many believers are uncomfortable in their own skins. Shoop addresses this "dis-ease" with a theology that is attentive to physical experience. She also suggests how worship services can more fully invite God to inhabit every part of a congregation- including their flesh and blood bodies. For when individual Christian bodies are allowed to flourish, so w...
Rambo draws on contemporary studies in trauma to rethink a central claim of the Christian faith: that new life arises from death. Reexamining the narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the middle day-liturgically named as Holy Saturday-she seeks a theology that addresses the experience of living in the aftermath of trauma. Through a reinterpretation of "remaining" in the Johannine Gospel, she proposes a new theology of the Spirit that challenges traditional concepti...
What does it mean to be a human being? David Kelsey expertly probes this complicated issue in his exhaustive and ambitious examination of theological anthropology. Divided into three parts, Kelsey's work posits that humanity's relationship to God is a basic claim of Christianity and that God actively relates to human beings in three major ways: God creates them, God is there at the end of all things eschatologically, and God reconciles humans when they are alienated from God. The res...
This major sourcebook provides significant primary readings from the history of Christian theology on the topics of creation and humanity. Beginning with an extended introduction, McFarland fleshes out the topics of creation and humanity in sections such as "God as Creator," "The Human Creature," "Evil and Sin," and "Providence," and provides a brief introduction to each selection that demonstrates its importance and establishes its historical context. This collection will be of s...
In this book, theologian Letty Russell redefines the commonly held notion of hospitality as she challenges her readers to consider what it means to welcome the stranger. In doing so, she implores persons of faith to join the struggles for justice.Rather than an act of limited, charitable welcome, Russell maintains that true hospitality is a process that requires partnership with the "other" in our divided world. The goal is "just hospitality," that is, hospitality with justice.Russe...
Are there viable pathways from nature to God? Natural theology is making a comeback, stimulated as much by scientific advance as by theological and philosophical reflection. There is a growing realization that the sciences raise questions that transcend their capacity to answer them--above all, the question of the existence of God. So how can Christian theology relate to these new developments?In this landmark work, based on his 2009 Gifford lectures, Alister McGrath examines the a...
This is a study of the atonement, the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ. The book surveys historical views but also proposes that the atonement be seen as the death of Christ for both victims and the oppressed, for sinners and oppressors, for the whole creation--including animals and nature. This "triune atonement" refers to the involvement of the Trinity in the atonement, here presented from an Asian American perspective.
