Theology (eBook)

The Basic Readings

Alister E. McGrath (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 3. Auflage
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
9781119158189 (ISBN)

Infos

This highly successful and popular book is now available in a thoroughly expanded and updated new edition. Alister E. McGrath, one of the world's leading theologians, provides readers with a concise and balanced introduction to Christianity as it has been interpreted by many of its greatest thinkers and commentators, from its beginning to the modern day.

Theology: The Basic Readings, 3^rd Edition comprises sixty-eight readings spanning twenty centuries of Christian history. To help readers engage with the material, each reading is accompanied by an introduction, comments, study questions, and a helpful glossary of terms used by its author.

• Readings are drawn from a broad theological spectrum and include both historical and contemporary, mainstream, and cutting-edge approaches
• Uses the Apostles' Creed as a framework to introduce readers to writings on key issues, such as faith, God, Jesus, creation, and salvation
• Represents two thousand years of sustained critical reflection within western Christianity
• Encourages readers to interact with each text and to engage with primary sources
• Serves as an ideal companion to the bestselling, Theology: The Basics or as a standalone text

Theology: The Basic Readings, 3^rd Edition is an essential guide to the topics, themes, controversies, and reflections on Christianity as they have been understood by many of its greatest commentators.

ALISTER E. McGRATH is currently Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He is regarded as one of the world's leading Protestant theologians and is the author of some of the world's most widely used theological textbooks, including the bestselling The Christian Theology Reader (5th edition, Wiley Blackwell, 2016), Christian Theology: An Introduction (6th edition, Wiley Blackwell, 2016), and Christianity (Wiley Blackwell, 2015).

Inhalt

Acknowledgments ix

How to Use This Book xiii

How to Engage a Reading xvi

Christian Theology: A Historical Overview xviii

The Apostles' Creed xxv

Chapter 1 Faith 1

Chapter 2 God 27

Chapter 3 Creation 47

Chapter 4 Jesus 70

Chapter 5 Salvation 94

Chapter 6 Spirit 118

Chapter 7 Trinity 140

Chapter 8 Church 162

Chapter 9 Sacraments 182

Chapter 10 Heaven 202

A Brief Glossary of Theological Terms 225

Sources of Readings 239

Index 245

Textauszug

Christian Theology:
A Historical Overview

This reader brings together a collection of readings drawn from the first two thousand years of Christian theology. Although two in every three of these readings are drawn from very recent sources, you will find material from each of the great periods of Christian history represented here. To get the most out of these readings, you need a basic understanding of the main features of the development of Christian theology. If you are using this reader alongside my textbook Christian Theology: An Introduction, now in its sixth edition, you will find that this provides you with a detailed road map which will allow you to get the most from this collection of readings. It will help you make much more sense of what you read, and allow you to appreciate the context in which it was written. The four introductory chapters of this larger work provide a survey of historical theology. The following four chapters deal with issues of sources and interpretation, dealing with material covered in the first two chapters of this reader. The remaining chapters present a detailed engagement with the major themes of Christian theology, providing an in-depth introduction to the readings.

However, not all will want to make use of this specific introduction to Christian theology. For those not using this companion volume, the brief section which follows will give you something of a panoramic view of the main landmarks of this process of development, and identify readings that will help you understand some of its features. While this can only highlight some of the many themes of Christian theology (passing over many topics, debates, and schools of thought that fully deserve discussion), it will nevertheless help readers to get their bearings in the midst of this vast landscape of ideas.

For the sake of convenience, historians of Christian thought tend to break its first two thousand years down into more manageable sections. While everyone has their own views about how best to divide Christian history, many use a framework which looks something like this.

The apostolic period

The first hundred years are often referred to as the apostolic period. This is the period during which the works now included in the New Testament were written. During this time, Christianity was spreading throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond. The missionary journeys of St Paul, described in the Acts of the Apostles, are an excellent example of this activity. This reader does not include readings from the New Testament, as this document is so readily accessible in traditional and digital forms.

The patristic period

This is followed by the patristic period, which is usually held to begin about the year 100. There is no firm agreement about when this period ended: some scholars suggest it ends in the fifth century, while others extend it by at least two centuries. The Council of Chalcedon (451) marked a landmark in Christian thinking, especially over the identity of Jesus Christ, and is seen by many writers as bringing this important period of theological development to a close. The unusual word “patristic” derives from the Greek word pater (“father”), and designates a group of writers who are often collectively known as the “fathers of the church.” (Sadly, there were very few women among them.) The readings chosen for inclusion here are representative of all the major writers of this period – such as Irenaeus of Lyons, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Augustine of Hippo.

The patristic period witnessed important theological explorations of the relation of faith and classical culture, clarifying the place of the Bible in Christian theology (including establishing the New Testament canon), the identity of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of God (including the Trinity), the doctrine of the church, and the relation of grace and free will. Most of these are represented in this reader. In what follows, we will look at each of them in a little more detail.

Faith and classical culture. As Christianity expanded in its first centuries, it moved from a Palestinian context into the Greek-speaking world of the eastern Mediterranean, establishing a presence in the great cities of Alexandria and Antioch. It also began to grow in the western Latin-speaking Roman empire, including North Africa. This raised the question of how Christianity related to ideas already present in this region – for example, classical philosophy.

The place of the Bible. One of the most important achievements of the patristic period was establishing which books dating from the apostolic period were to be regarded as “canonical” or “biblical.” Considerable attention was also paid to the question of how the Bible was to be interpreted, and especially the role of tradition in combating unorthodox interpretations of the Bible. During this period, “creeds” began to emerge as communally accepted and authorized summaries of the Christian faith.

The identity of Jesus Christ. The patristic period saw clarification of the identity and significance of Jesus as being of the utmost importance. Where was he to be placed on a theological map? The period witnessed growing acceptance of the “two natures” doctrine, along with exploration of how best to make sense of Jesus Christ being both divine and human.

The doctrine of God. Classical Greek philosophy already had its ideas about what “God” was like. One of the most important tasks of Christian theology was to differentiate the Christian idea of God from its philosophical rivals. Many early debates concentrated on what it meant to say that God was creator, the role of the Holy Spirit, or how the existence of evil was consistent with a good God. However, the most significant discussions concerned the doctrine of the Trinity – the distinctively Christian idea of one God in three persons. How was this to be understood?

The doctrine of the church. Patristic writers initially paid relatively little attention to the doctrine of the church, tending to focus attention on developing a coherent understanding of the sacraments. The Donatist controversy of the fourth century forced the western church to reconsider the nature of the church, and who was authorized to administer the sacraments. These debates would break out once more during the Reformation period.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, or medieval period, are regarded as extending from the end of the patristic era to about the year 1500. This long period was immensely creative culturally, and productive theologically, producing theological classics such as Peter Lombard's Four Books of the Sentences and Thomas Aquinas’ great thirteenth-century work, the Summa Theologiae (“The Totality of Theology”). Peter Lombard's medieval theological textbook was the subject of many commentaries, which used its material to develop increasingly sophisticated theological ideas.

Among the many issues to be explored in detail during this period were the relation between faith and reason, how to interpret the Bible, and the theology of the sacraments. Alongside this, there was continuing exploration of issues debated during the patristic period, such as the relation of grace and free will.

Faith and reason. The Middle Ages saw new attention being given to a whole range of issues concerning the relation of faith and reason, theology and philosophy. One reason for this was the emergence of universities in western Europe, particularly the University of Paris. The debates over whether God's existence could be proved are good examples of this concern.

Biblical interpretation. The rise of the monasteries led to a new interest in the correct interpretation of the Bible. The constant use of the Bible in corporate worship and private devotion raised important questions about how the Bible was to be understood and applied.

The institution of the church. The rise of the papacy raised increasingly important questions about the church and its sacramental system. Major issues debated during the Middle Ages included the definition of a sacrament, and the vexed question of how Christ could be present in the eucharist. The growing political power of the church raised important theological questions about the relation of church and state.

The Reformation and post-Reformation period

The sixteenth century marked a period of radical change in the western church. This period of reformation witnessed the birth of Protestantism, through writers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. Certain theological debates became especially heated around this time, especially the place of the Bible in theological reflection, the doctrine of the church, and the question of what it is necessary to do in order to be saved. The doctrine of justification by faith alone became of especial importance around this time, rapidly becoming a characteristic of the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic church also went through a period of reformation around this time, with the Council of Trent setting out the definitive Catholic position on issues of importance at this time. Many scholars also include the seventeenth century in this period, arguing that this represents the Protestant and Catholic consolidation of the developments that began in the previous century. It was during this century that Christians emigrated to North America,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 28.11.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
• Schlagworte: athenagoras of athens • Augustine of Hippo • Christian Literature • Christian theology • Christian tradition • christian writings • creation and science • creation of evil • C. S. Lewis • Doctrine of Creation • Dorothy L. Sayers • elizabeth a. johnson • Emil Brunner • Faith and Reason • feminist god • Giovanni Pico della Mirandola • G. K. Chesterton • Hans Urs von Balthasar • Historical Jesus • jnrgen moltmann • John Calvin • John Henry Newman • John Paul II • john polinghorne • Jonathan Edwards • Karl Barth • martin kShler • Natural Religion • on theology and secular philosophy • Paul Tillich • Religion & Theology • Religion u. Theologie • Revelation • Sarah Coakley • suffering of God • the Christian God • the nature of faith • Theologie • Theology • thomas acquinas • vincent of lerins • william paley • Word of God
• ISBN-13: 9781119158189 / 9781119158189