The doctrine of divine attributes, then, is set out as a reflection on Holy Scripture: Systematic theology must make bold claims about its knowledge and service of this One lord: The lord God will be seen as compatible with creatures, and the divine perfections express formally distinct and unique relations to the world. This systematic theology, then, begins from the treatise De Deo Uno and develops the dogma of the Trinity as an expression of divine unicity, on which will depend creation, Christology, and ecclesiology.
In the end, the transcendent beauty who is God can be known only in worship and praise. Sample of student guide for classroom use! Torrance at their best. I expect it to be a standard point of reference in Christian theology for years to come. It is a reflective expansion of a single, utterly arresting thought that oneness is the fundamental divine perfection by which all talk of the attributes of God is to be governed. But, above all, it offers a deeply impressive commendation of the first and greatest matter of Christian faith.
The study unites delicacy of judgment with purposiveness and originality of mind, and communicates that appetite for divine things without which wholesome theological work is not possible. This is theology of enduring intellectual and spiritual substance. Moves with personal energy through Scripture and tradition and contemporary theologians and philosophers. She opens new vistas on the doctrine by doing what almost no one with the possible exception of Barth has done so well: Katherine Sonderegger has released the first volume of her Systematic Theology , a page tome on the Doctrine of God.
The publication of volume one of Systematic Theology marks the first appearance in nearly two decades of a full cycle, multivolume dogmatics in English. Could you provide a bit of the background to this—what lead you to embark on such a task? What were some of your goals in writing such an ambitious, large scale project?
I think it must seem an odd thing to say, but in truth I have always hoped to be able to write a systematic theology. I entered graduate school with the aim of equipping myself as best as I was able to undertake such a work.
- On Location: Theory and Practice in Classroom-Based Writing Tutoring.
- See a Problem?.
- Ethics: Systematic Theology (Systematic Theology (Abingdon)), Vol. 1 by James William McClendon Jr..
- Galaxy Evolution in Groups and Clusters: A JENAM 2002 Workshop Porto, Portugal 3–5 September 2002.
- Witness: Systematic Theology - James Wm. McClendon, Jr. - Google Книги.
I had a splendid dissertation director, Wendell Dietrich, who allowed me free reign in my research and encouraged me to take on a large, constructive thesis. He had the wonderful gift of teaching rather than disciple making, and he offered me the remarkable chance to develop my own voice, my own assessment of the material at hand. How very rare that is! My colleagues in Barth studies opened my eyes to the unfailing richness and complexity of the Church Dogmatics.
I learned from them, and from Barth even more, how very demanding, and how very joyous is the task of writing theology for the Church. It is, most deeply, a vocation. I have hoped for several things in this project: Comprehensive systematic theology cycles were once a mainstay in Christian theology—a capstone achievement—not only in the longer historical tradition, but as well the mid- to late-twentieth century seemed to be a golden age of such attempts.
That has changed in the last decade or so. The mode of grand systematics seems to be in a state of modification, with more perspectival or contextual series of contributions predominating. How do you see your project in relation to the current model s of systematic theology? What are the resonances and differences? What do you hope to contribute to the present discussion? Who do you think should be reading this book and how do you imagine it will be used? Again, this must seem odd to say so, but in truth I believe that the most radical voice in our contemporary world is tradition, the Scripture and Doctrinal tradition of the Church.
These are the radical un-making of our world of the everyday, and I hope to train my ears and the ears of my neighbors to that radical theme. So, I share with my contemporaries the conviction that theology—the Gospel! But I think my colleagues in theology may find the larger field of epistemology and its methods more fruitful and compelling than do I.
I believe theology must simply begin: This conviction may give the reader the sense she has stepped back behind the modern or the Enlightenment to a naive, perhaps misguided, universality and unvarnished realism. My conviction rather is that the Spirit gives us utterance in systematic work for theology that is genuinely anchored in this day, yet speaks confidently of a Reality that is Universal, Eternal, One.
Account Options
I hope that this will strike some readers as the pattern of the biblical scribe, bringing out from the treasure house things old and things new. Relatedly, how would you describe the current state of systematic theology? What are some of the positive developments you see?
- Systematic Theology: Volume 3: Witness.
- Сведения о продавце.
- Witness: Systematic Theology Volume 3 (Paperback or Softback) | eBay.
- The Times of Laura Grey!
- History of Analytic Geometry (Dover Books on Mathematics).
- Searchable Volumes on Systematic and Dogmatic Theology at Amazon;
- Circus Song.
- Сведения о продавце.
- Christian Focus.
- Description!
- Systematic Theology | Fortress Press?
- Wahhabism: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide (Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guides).
- ;
I see signs everywhere of theologians raising their eyes from particular and local discussions to broader fields, longer views. Kathryn Tanner, Sarah Coakley, Kendall Soulen, and John Webster are all in the midst of ambitious multivolume projects, and I am sure that is a small, parochial list. Women are taking up large dogmatic themes, and are properly ambitious in their undertakings.
Dogmatic conferences are less and less handed over, without remainder, to dense methodological discussions and second or third order analyses of prolegomena. The ecumenical breadth and seriousness of theology these days is a remarkable gift—unprecedented I believe in the divided Church—and is so firmly rooted now that it almost slips by unnoticed. These are all signs of hope! But, of course, theology these days is being written in a world highly unsuitable for it.
It is not simply that the university is secular these days; rather it is no longer respectable, intellectually and at time morally, to be religious. I do think it is that strong. Of course academics are by and large tolerant and indulgent of the oddities of their neighbors! But it is an odd thing in educated, elite circles these days to be a devout Christian.
Because I do not think it enriches dogmatics to be written always contra mundum , such pronounced secularism is a burden for systematic theology these days. Theologians need to work in community, I believe, and the theological world that our ancestors could assume, even a generation or two ago, no longer surrounds us. And of course we in the postindustrial world live in a society of great inequality, one in which material objects are the steady diet of consumption, of desire, and of possession—none of these material conditions can nurture or instruct Christian dogmatics in Things Eternal.
Systematic Theology
Readers will note with some surprise that this volume does not start with the doctrine of the Trinity, which has been the resounding trend for some time. It seems to me that the relation of Christianity to Judaism has been a gift to theology, under the Providentia Dei, but one that has not been fully incorporated into the Doctrine of God. Thankfully, Christian theologians have taken to heart the counsel that the election of the People Israel is irrevocable, and no longer advocate a full-throated supersessionism in the Doctrine of the Church.
But in my view, the Doctrine of God has not kept step with the deep reappraisal underway in Doctrines of Election, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology. The faith of Israel is anchored to the proclamation and confession of the One God; the Shema stands at the head of Torah. I believe that the scholastic treatise, De Deo Uno , properly stands at the head of the Doctrine of God and gives Christian witness to the prophetical teaching of Moses in its midst.
We run risks, I believe, in the Trinitarian revival of losing sight of this Anchor and this radical Claim upon our speech. Too quickly we Christians have spoken of Three and not shown or underscored how this must be One. In this way, the Economic Trinity has achieved a prominence in the Doctrine of God that distracts us from the severely difficult demand, to think the thought of Radical Unicity.
At the heart of this volume is the Oneness—the singularity—of God.
Systematic Theology, Vol. 3: Witness-ExLibrary | eBay
It is in many respects a reclamation of scriptural monothesism, which connects to the testimony of the Jewish Scriptures and confession, and the interpretation of that tradition as impacted by the Christian declaration of Jesus Christ as Lord. This pattern really gives the volume a unique shape.
What were some of the key influences for you in pursuing this way of constructing a doctrine of God? What thinkers in particular provided inspiration or the opposite? Did you pursue this line of construction out of a sense of deficiency in modern and contemporary systematic thinking? On the advice of a friend I have been reading through volumes four and five of von Balthasar's Glory of the Lord as an aid to developing a Doctrine of Trinity. Now here is a Christian theologian who finds something deeply congenial in the paganism of ancient Greece! In a remarkable and seemingly unhesitant voice, von Balthasar can find the One, True God praised and discovered in the tragedies of Aeschylus, the epics of Homer.
But I discover in me a strong, nearly allergic, reaction to such a view. Gonzalez, et al, An Introduction to Christian Theology. Grenz , Theology for the Community of God. Wayne Grudem , Systematic Theology. Gunton , The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine. Demarest , Integrative Theology. Systematic Theology Volume 1. Systematic Theology Volume 3. McGrath , Christian Theology: McGrath , A Scientific Theology: Migliore , Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology.
Bruce Milne , Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief. Oden , The Living God: Systematic Theology, Vol 1. Wolfhart Pannenberg , Systematic Theology Volume 1. Shelley, Theology for Ordinary People: Perspectives from Liberation Theology: Readings from Mysterium Liberationis. Vanhoozer , First Theology: Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology. Contours of Christian Theology. Bloesch , Christian Foundations. Bloesch , Holy Scripture: Bloesch , God the Almighty: Bloesch , The Holy Spirit: Bloesch , The Church: Bloesch , The Last Things: Resurrection, Judgment, Glory Christian Foundations, 7.
Its Background and History. Karl Barth , Geoffrey W. Bromiley , The Theology of John Calvin. Braaten , Robert W. Jenson, The Last Things: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Eschatology. Carson , The Gagging of God. Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life.
Ethics: Systematic Theology (Systematic Theology (Abingdon)), Vol. 1
Charry , Inquiring After God: Charry , The Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine ,. An Introduction to Postmillenialism. Melvin Dieter, et al , Five Views on Sanctification. Erickson, The Postmodern World: Discerning the Times and the Spirit of Our Age. Erickson , Truth or Consequences: Evans, First Christian Theologians: Erwin Fahlbusch , et al , The Encyclopedia of Christianity: J-O Encyclopedia of Christianity. David Ford , Modern Theologians: Gunton , Act and Being: Towards a Theology of the Divine Attributes. Gunton , The Triune Creator: Gunton , Colin E.