Christology and Pneumatology face many challenges today. Eight contributors, four European and four Asian theologians, respond to some of these challenges. Christoph Schwoebel responds to the challenge of fundamentalism and spiritualism through the renewal of the Trinitarian theology of the Reformers, Markus Muhling through a return to the "concarnational" Pneumatology of Thomas Erskine. Hans-Joachim Sander meets the challenge of suffering and powerlessness through the postmodern hermeneutics of heterotopia (Foucault), Lieven Boeve responds to that of skepticism and pluralism through the hermeneutics of interruption. Lee Ki-Sang and Kim Heup Young address the globalization of materialism and anthropocentrism through the respective retrieval of the apophaticism and Christology of Ryu Young Mo, increasingly noted today for his original synthesis of Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Finally, Lai Pan-Chiu and Anselm Min engage in an East/West dialogue, Lai by comparing the Christian idea of deification and the Neo-Confucian idea of self-cultivation, Min the Trinity of Aquinas and the Triad of Zhu Xi. This is a substantial, timely, and insightful contribution to Christology and Pneumatology in the context of the many issues raised by globalization, especially the need for serious East/West dialogue.

In "Rethinking the Medieval Legacy for Contemporary Theology, "six distinguished theologians bridge medieval and contemporary theologies by developing the theological significance of medieval insights in response to contemporary issues. Their nuanced readings of medieval texts, extended to major theological issues of our time, provide examples of the retrieval of the medieval tradition, an essential part of any contemporary theological reconstruction.
Barbara Newman extends the theology of "perichoresis "or mutual indwelling to illuminate the relationship between donor and recipient in the case of organ transplants; Marilyn McCord Adams applies insights about divine friendship to the perennial issue of horrendous evil; and Kevin Madigan brings principles of medieval exegesis to bear on the contemporary historical critical approach to biblical interpretation. Ingolf U. Dalferth applies insights from the doctrine of divine omnipotence and creation "ex nihilo "to deconstruct Heidegger's limitation of the possibilities of authentic existence to historical facticity. Pim Valkenberg explores the possibilities of a theological encounter between Christianity and Islam in the works of Aquinas and Nicholas of Cusa; and Anselm K. Min applies the analogical insights of Aquinas on the nature and limits of human knowledge of God to a critique of contemporary theologies that claim to know either too little or too much about God.
"This is a splendid collection of essays. Anselm K. Min has assembled a distinguished group of theologians who persuasively argue for the relevance of the Christian theology of the Middle Ages to the problems we face in the twenty-first century." --Kevin Hart, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies, University of Virginia

In Paths to the Triune God, Anselm K. Min brings five relevant themes in the theology of Thomas Aquinas into mutually critical dialogue with contemporary theological concerns. Min defends Aquinas's Trinitarian theology of reason and creation against modern detractors of natural theology while also calling attention to the lack of historical consciousness in Aquinas's writing. Min discusses Aquinas's affirmation of the salvation of the non-Christian through a moral life but also criticizes his sometimes-naive approach to salvation history. Min presents Aquinas's Trinitarian theology of salvation through the incarnation and the possibility of a sacramental theology of religions for today while also taking seriously the scandal of his doctrine of reprobation. Min highlights Aquinas's contemplative, sapiential conception of theology against contemporary preoccupations with praxis while also criticizing his intellectualist interpretation of human existence. Min also devotes a significant portion of this study to the immanent Trinity. and Chapter 6 is a full-scale analysis and critique of the views of contemporary social Trinitarians, such as Jurgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., in light of Aquinas. Min concludes that neither the purely sapiential theology of Aquinas nor the purely prophetic theology of contemporary liberation movements is adequate. He argues that contemporary theology must methodologically incorporate into its content a tension between wisdom and praxis, between sapiential and prophetic theology. Min's book represents a genuine encounter between Aquinas and contemporary theologies on many topical issues. It will be of interest to students and scholars of theology, both medieval and contemporary.

Faith, hope, and love, traditionally called theological virtues, are central to Christianity. This book renews faith, hope, and love in the context of the many contemporary challenges in many unique ways. It is an ecumenical collection of papers, equally divided between Catholic and Protestant positions, that seek to radically renew the classical doctrine of faith, hope, and love, and argues for their essential connection to the praxis of justice. It contains eight different approaches, each represented by a distinguished theologian and addressing different aspects of the issues and followed by insightful and critical responses. It does not merely seek to renew the theological virtues but to also reconstruct them in the demanding context of justice and the contemporary world, nor is it simply a treatise on justice but a theoretical and practical reflection on justice as vital expressions of faith in God, hope in God, and love of God. A non-dogmatic and non-ideological approach, it accommodates both conservative and liberal positions, and avoids the separation of the theological virtues from the demands of the contemporary world as well as the separation of justice talk from the theological context of faith, hope, and love. It seeks above all to renew, not merely repeat, the classical doctrine of faith, hope, and love in the contemporary context of the urgency of justice, and to do so ecumenically, comprehensively, and from a variety of perspectives and aspects.

In Paths to the Triune God, Anselm K. Min brings five relevant themes in the theology of Thomas Aquinas into mutually critical dialogue with contemporary theological concerns. Min defends Aquinas's Trinitarian theology of reason and creation against modern detractors of natural theology while also calling attention to the lack of historical consciousness in Aquinas's writing. Min discusses Aquinas's affirmation of the salvation of the non-Christian through a moral life but also criticizes his sometimes-naive approach to salvation history. Min presents Aquinas's Trinitarian theology of salvation through the incarnation and the possibility of a sacramental theology of religions for today while also taking seriously the scandal of his doctrine of reprobation. Min highlights Aquinas's contemplative, sapiential conception of theology against contemporary preoccupations with praxis while also criticizing his intellectualist interpretation of human existence. Min also devotes a significant portion of this study to the immanent Trinity. and Chapter 6 is a full-scale analysis and critique of the views of contemporary social Trinitarians, such as Jurgen Moltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., in light of Aquinas. Min concludes that neither the purely sapiential theology of Aquinas nor the purely prophetic theology of contemporary liberation movements is adequate. He argues that contemporary theology must methodologically incorporate into its content a tension between wisdom and praxis, between sapiential and prophetic theology. Min's book represents a genuine encounter between Aquinas and contemporary theologies on many topical issues. It will be of interest to students and scholars of theology, both medieval and contemporary.