Engaging variously with the legacy of Paul L. Lehmann, these essays argue for a reorientation in Christian theology that better honours the formative power of the gospel to animate and shape doctrine and witness, as well as ethical and political life. The authors explore key themes in Christian theology and ethics - forgiveness, discernment, responsibility, spirituality, the present day tasks of theology and the role of faith in public life - making plain the unabated importance of Lehmann's work at this juncture in contemporary theology. The internationally recognized contributors draw crucial connections between the gospel of reconciliation, the form of Christian theology and witness, and the challenges of contemporary ethical and political reflection. This book demonstrates why this close friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and author of Ethics in a Christian Context and The Transfiguration of Politics continues to influence generations of theologians in both the English-speaking world and beyond.

Engaging variously with the legacy of Paul L. Lehmann, these essays argue for a reorientation in Christian theology that better honours the formative power of the gospel to animate and shape doctrine and witness, as well as ethical and political life. The authors explore key themes in Christian theology and ethics - forgiveness, discernment, responsibility, spirituality, the present day tasks of theology and the role of faith in public life - making plain the unabated importance of Lehmann's work at this juncture in contemporary theology. The internationally recognized contributors draw crucial connections between the gospel of reconciliation, the form of Christian theology and witness, and the challenges of contemporary ethical and political reflection. This book demonstrates why this close friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and author of Ethics in a Christian Context and The Transfiguration of Politics continues to influence generations of theologians in both the English-speaking world and beyond.

This book presents the most significant work of the highly esteemed contemporary theologian George Schner, who died in 2000. Gathering together his writing in the areas of theology and the philosophy of religion, it offers a distinct contribution to our understanding of the prospects and perils of undertaking theology in the Christian tradition at the present juncture. Engaging key texts in philosophy of religion from the modern period, recent official Roman Catholic teaching related to the basis and doing of theology, and the work of key representatives of the so-called 'Yale School' of post-liberal theology, the essays collected here represent acute and historically informed judgment upon the problematique of the practice of contemporary theology. Drawing together a substantial body of work of recognized intellectual scope, philosophical rigour and theological richness, this volume provides invaluable insight into key questions regarding theological method, the importance of modern philosophy of religion, the nature of theological discourse and contemporary Catholic theological reflection.

This clear and comprehensive introduction to apocalyptic theology demonstrates the significance of apocalyptic readings of the New Testament for systematic theology and highlights the ethical implications of the apocalyptic turn in biblical and theological studies. Written by a leading theologian and proponent of apocalyptic theology, this primer explores the impact of important recent Pauline scholarship on contemporary theology and argues for a renewed understanding of key Christian doctrines, including sin, grace, revelation, redemption, and the Christian life.

How ought Christian faith and theology understand the concept of human immortality today? And what, if anything, might be distinctively Christian about such a concept? The contributors to this volume explore how our thinking about the prospect of human immortality is decisively determined by what we receive of the limitless life of the triune God of the gospel, and how our understanding of immortality is made concrete by the Christian hope in 'the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting'. Debates about how best to understand the eternal life of God are directly significant to how we can imagine the promise of eternal life. While immortality is generally conceived to be a future qualification of human reality, theological approaches to the question of personal immortality must investigate the difference that the hope and promise of such eternal life makes in the living of present-day spiritual life as well as in our common moral and political existence. To understand immortality as an eschatological gift of God requires that we take account of it as a formative factor at the foundations of the Christian life.

What are the pressing questions concerning Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology? What impulses and provocations does his theological legacy offer to contemporary work in Christian theology and ethics? This volume draws together leading international theologians to critically engage Bonhoeffer's Christology, harmartiology, ecclesiology and contributions to Christian-Jewish encounter.

How ought Christian faith and theology understand the concept of human immortality today? And what, if anything, might be distinctively Christian about such a concept? The contributors to this volume explore how our thinking about the prospect of human immortality is decisively determined by what we receive of the limitless life of the triune God of the gospel, and how our understanding of immortality is made concrete by the Christian hope in 'the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting'. Debates about how best to understand the eternal life of God are directly significant to how we can imagine the promise of eternal life. While immortality is generally conceived to be a future qualification of human reality, theological approaches to the question of personal immortality must investigate the difference that the hope and promise of such eternal life makes in the living of present-day spiritual life as well as in our common moral and political existence. To understand immortality as an eschatological gift of God requires that we take account of it as a formative factor at the foundations of the Christian life.

What are the pressing questions concerning Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology? What impulses and provocations does his theological legacy offer to contemporary work in Christian theology and ethics? This volume draws together leading international theologians to critically engage Bonhoeffer's Christology, harmartiology, ecclesiology and contributions to Christian-Jewish encounter.

Synopsis: Early Christian writers preferred to speak of the coming resurrection in the most bodily way possible: the resurrection of the flesh. Twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth took the same avenue, daring to speak of humans' eternal life in rather striking corporeal terms. In this study, Nathan Hitchcock pulls together Barth's doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh, anticipating what the great thinker might have said more systematically in volume V of his Church Dogmatics. Provocatively, Hitchcock goes on to argue that Barth's description of the resurrection--as eternalization, as manifestation, as incorporation--bears much in common with some unlikely programs and, contrary to its intention, jeopardizes the very contours of human life it hopes to preserve. In addition to contributing to Barth studies, this book offers a sober warning to theologians pursuing eschatology through notions of participation. Endorsements: "In this engaging monograph, Hitchcock offers a challenging exploration and analysis of Karl Barth's theology of the resurrection. This is detailed in its presentation, provocative in its critique, and lucid throughout. Hitchcock's study is set to be an important conversation partner in the fields of Barth studies in particular and eschatology in general." --Paul T. Nimmo, Lecturer of Theology, New College, Edinburgh "No doubt, Barth confessed the resurrection of the flesh. But in three careful and daring soundings of Barth's theology of the resurrection, Hitchcock puts his finger on the sore spot: that the conceptual structure of his Christology and eschatology does not allow for the very confession Barth wants to make. No further research on Barth's writing on resurrection and eschatology should ignore this insightful and clearly written book." --Edwin Chr. van Driel, Assistant Professor of Theology, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary "In this profound and sophisticated study Nathan Hitchcock explores what has been an astonishingly undertreated feature of Barth's] work. He depicts the role of carnal resurrection, with regard to the eschatological binding of persons to the salvific history of God's humanization, and the locus of life as reconciled life being redeemed through the categories of eternalization, manifestation, and incorporation. Readers will be swept along by Hitchcock's deft critical touch." --John C. McDowell, Professor of Theology, University of Newcastle, New South Wales Author Biography: Nathan Hitchcock is Assistant Professor of Church History and Theology at Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

This is a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of providence, from historical, philosophical-theological, systematic and practical perspectives. This text comprises a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of providence, from historical, philosophical-theological, systematic and practical perspectives. The essays in this book discuss the doctrine of providence from four central angles. First, three chapters give an historical introduction to the modern interpretation of the notion of providence, examining how it was progressively naturalised and secularized in modern times. Second, over seven chapters, and from different perspectives, the book restates the Christian notion of providence in relation to the problem of evil and the theory of evolution. Third, in two chapters, the book exhibits providence as a core theme in systematic theology. Finally, over three chapters, the book shows the ethical and political relevance of the doctrine of providence today.

This is a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of providence, from historical, philosophical-theological, systematic and practical perspectives. This text comprises a comprehensive analysis of the doctrine of providence, from historical, philosophical-theological, systematic and practical perspectives. The essays in this book discuss the doctrine of providence from four central angles. First, three chapters give an historical introduction to the modern interpretation of the notion of providence, examining how it was progressively naturalised and secularized in modern times. Second, over seven chapters, and from different perspectives, the book restates the Christian notion of providence in relation to the problem of evil and the theory of evolution. Third, in two chapters, the book exhibits providence as a core theme in systematic theology. Finally, over three chapters, the book shows the ethical and political relevance of the doctrine of providence today.

This volume provides a comprehensive resource for those wishing to understand the German theologian, pastor, and resistance conspirator Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) and his writings. During his lifetime he made important contributions to many of the major areas of theology: ecclesiology, creation, Christology, discipleship, and ethics. The Oxford Handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer surveys, assesses, and presents the field of research and debates of Bonhoeffer and his legacy, as well as of previous Bonhoeffer scholarship. Featuring contributions from leading Bonhoeffer scholars, historians, theologians, and ethicists, many essays draw attention to Bonhoeffer's positive contributions, while several essays also identify limits and problems with his thinking as it stands. Divided into five parts, the first section provides a detailed outline of Bonhoeffer's biography and the contexts that gave rise to his theology. The contributors explore the dynamic relationship between Bonhoeffer's life and theology. Section two provides rigorous engagements with and assessments of Bonhoeffer's theology on its own terms. Part three demonstrates how Bonhoeffer's ethical claims and engagements are deeply integrated with theological commitments. The fourth section showcases some of the best work drawing upon Bonhoeffer for engaging contemporary challenges, including feminism, race, public theology in South Africa, and contemporary philosophy. In recent decades, Bonhoeffer's theology has provoked significant critical reflection on social and cultural issues. The essays in this section exemplify how his writings can continue to contribute to such reflection today. The fifth and final section consists of essays on resources for the contemporary study of Bonhoeffer and his theology, including sources and texts, biographies and portraits, and readings and receptions. These essays also address pressing historiographical issues and problems surrounding writing about Bonhoeffer's life and theology. This authoritative collection draws together and assesses the very best of existing research on Bonhoeffer and promotes new avenues for research on Bonhoeffer.

Eberhard Jungel is one of the world's most creative Christian thinkers. This is his first explicit examination of the relationship between theology and politics, between the church and state or, as he himself puts it, of 'the political existence of the Christian'. This examination takes the form of a critical theological analysis of the Barmen Theological Declaration - the courageous statement of faith produced in Germany in 1934 in the face of the rise of National Socialism. Jungel explores in particular the fifth thesis, which concerns the state's God-given responsibility to safeguard justice and peace. One of the significant characteristics of this book is its concern to integrate the serious, academic commitment of theology in the service of truth with its necessary existential relationship to the pulpit. Without a coherent grasp of this the church degenerates into a 'characterless club for the cultivation of religion' while academic theology is reduced to a form of spineless irrelevance which shirks its responsibilities to the real world. Jungel's concern is to offer a theology in which rigorous theological commitment and the spiritual life of the church are intergrated. This refreshing book makes significant contributions to the debate concerning the question of natural theology and divine decree, the Lutheran doctrine of the two regiments (kingdoms), the theological grounds of human rights, the ethics of the use of force by the state, the implications for just war theory of the nuclear capability and a whole range of other vital contemporary issues.

This significant work, precipitated by the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on the doctrine of justification, represents Eberhard Jungel's most sustained theological writing for some time. Jungel examines the role of justification in Christian faith - and emphasises its central importance. He traces the history of the concept of 'justice' in Greek thought, and of the Old Testament parallel concept 'righteousness'. He then moves on to a consideration of the righteousness of God in its Christian context, and in particular to God's righteousness in Christ. A major contribution to theological discussion is found in his fresh and fearless treatment of the unfashionable topic of sin. Throughout the work, Jungel constantly interacts with the great Catholic and Protestant thinkers, his skill as a theologian matched by his insight as a philosopher.