This collection of essays reflects constructive engagement with a liberal and progressive programme of Christian theology over a number of years. The themes are diverse - from the renewal of Christology and the ecumenical dimensions of ecclesiology to human rights and emancipatory theology. Particular theologians, from Schleiermacher and Juengel in continental Europe, to Baillie and Lampe in the UK, are discussed. The preface and epilogue underline the urgent need for new and viable contemporary liberal theological voices to re-imagine the doctrinal, ethical and political implications of the Christian gospel. The final piece offers a progressive perspective on the sexuality debate in the churches.

A new and wide-ranging study of Christianity in Scotland, from the eighteenth century to the present.The contributors include D. W. D. Shaw, Ian Campbell, Kenneth Fielding, William Ferguson, Barbara MacHaffie, Peter Matheson, John McCaffrey, Owen Chadwick, David Thompson, Keith Robbins, Andrew Ross, Stewart J. Brown and George Newlands.Topics encompass varieties of unbelief, challenges to the Westminster confession, John Baillie, Queen Victoria and the Church of Scotland, the Scottish ecumenical movement, the disestablishment movement, and Presbyterian-Catholic relations.

Fifty Key Christian Thinkers provides both valuable information and stimulating debate on the lives and work of fifty of the most important Christian theologians. Divided into five sections, it covers:
* Christian Beginnings
* Middle Ages
* Reformation and its aftermath
* Modern Theology and the Twentieth Century.
This guide provides an overview of Christian theology from the emergence of the faith 2000 years ago to the present day. Among the figures included in this accessible guide are Paul, Aquinas, Ockham, Luther, Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer.

Exploring the hospitality of God, and its implications for human thought and action, this book examines the concepts of hospitality as cognitive tools for reframing our thinking about God, divine action, and human response in discipleship. Hospitality is imagined as an interactive symbol, changing perspectives and encouraging stable environments of compassionate construction in society. Human rights are of crucial importance to the wellbeing of the people of our planet. But there is a sense in which they will always be an emergency measure, a response to evils as they are happening. The authors argue that a hospitable comparative theology reaches out to bring Christian hospitality into the dialogue of world religions and cultures. It will respect the identity of particular groups and yet will strive for a cosmopolitan sharing of common values. It will respect tradition but also openness to reform and re-imagining. It will encourage convergence and development in a fluid stream of committed hospitalities.

Written between 2005 and 2014, George Newlands's essays span a wide array of subjects, from Christology and the doctrine of God to human rights and Christian spirituality. Coming from within the liberal tradition of theology, these essays were written and delivered in a variety of contexts, from colleges to churches, on both sides of the Atlantic. In Spirit of Liberality, Newlands displays his own brand of theology, marked by its kindness and erudition, in his approach to the vastness of human experience.

Exploring the hospitality of God, and its implications for human thought and action, this book examines the concepts of hospitality as cognitive tools for reframing our thinking about God, divine action, and human response in discipleship. Hospitality is imagined as an interactive symbol, changing perspectives and encouraging stable environments of compassionate construction in society. Human rights are of crucial importance to the wellbeing of the people of our planet. But there is a sense in which they will always be an emergency measure, a response to evils as they are happening. The authors argue that a hospitable comparative theology reaches out to bring Christian hospitality into the dialogue of world religions and cultures. It will respect the identity of particular groups and yet will strive for a cosmopolitan sharing of common values. It will respect tradition but also openness to reform and re-imagining. It will encourage convergence and development in a fluid stream of committed hospitalities.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century there is an increasing tendency to retrenchment within the Christian churches and among other world religions. Religious fundamentalisms are on the increase. In Europe, at least, there is an accelerated decline in church membership. In theology there is a corresponding move away from addressing basic theological issues in the contemporary world, towards increasingly technical interpretation of historical tradition. This book draws on the strengths in classical liberal traditions in theology, augmented by other perspectives, to present a creative proposal for the future of theology and society. George Newlands explores the nature, scope and limits of an intercultural Christian theology, setting out a working model for a new open theology which relates theology and culture. Contributing to the cumulative effort to re-imagine faith in the contemporary world, a focus on the Christian understanding of God lies at the heart of this book. Exploring the interface between theology and particular cultural activities, The Transformative Imagination engages with politics, literature, philosophy and other humanities, and the natural sciences. The relationship between theology and the social and geographical sub-cultures which characterize human life, is explored through diverse examples which make connections and initiate dialogue. Connecting Christian theology and human rights, religion is seen to link constructively with some of the most intractable problems in contemporary global conflicts of interest. Theology is re-situated as a team player, a catalyst to facilitate dialogue in contrast to triumphalist theologies of the past.

Human rights is one of the most important geopolitical issues in the modern world. Jesus Christ is the centre of Christianity. Yet there exists almost no analysis of the significance of Christology for human rights. This book focuses on the connections. Examination of rights reveals tensions, ambiguities and conflicts. This book constructs a Christology which centres on a Christ of the vulnerable and the margins. It explores the interface between religion, law, politics and violence, East and West, North and South. The history of the use of sacred texts as 'texts of terror' is examined, and theological links to legal and political dimensions explored. Criteria are developed for action to make an effective difference to human rights enforcement and resolution between cultures and religions on rights.

Fifty Key Christian Thinkers provides both valuable information and stimulating debate on the lives and work of fifty of the most important Christian theologians. Divided into five sections, it covers:
* Christian Beginnings
* Middle Ages
* Reformation and its aftermath
* Modern Theology and the Twentieth Century.
This guide provides an overview of Christian theology from the emergence of the faith 2000 years ago to the present day. Among the figures included in this accessible guide are Paul, Aquinas, Ockham, Luther, Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer.

Human rights is one of the most important geopolitical issues in the modern world. Jesus Christ is the centre of Christianity. Yet there exists almost no analysis of the significance of Christology for human rights. This book focuses on the connections. Examination of rights reveals tensions, ambiguities and conflicts. This book constructs a Christology which centres on a Christ of the vulnerable and the margins. It explores the interface between religion, law, politics and violence, East and West, North and South. The history of the use of sacred texts as 'texts of terror' is examined, and theological links to legal and political dimensions explored. Criteria are developed for action to make an effective difference to human rights enforcement and resolution between cultures and religions on rights.