Divine Teaching

An Introduction to Christian Theology
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4051-0271-1
Verlag: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 465 g

This innovative work is an introduction to Christian theology with a difference. Not only does it interpret, with clarity and energy, fundamental Christian beliefs but it also shows how and why these beliefs arose, promoting an understanding of theological reflection that encourages readers to think theologically themselves.

From Irenaeus and Aquinas to Girard, from Augustine to Zizioulas and contemporary feminist thought, Divine Teaching explores the ways in which major thinkers in the Christian tradition have shaped theology through the wide variety of their encounters with God. It makes theological study adventurous and interactive, not necessarily requiring a faith commitment from all, but allowing readers a thoughtful involvement in the subject that takes seriously the Christian vision of God as the ultimate teacher of theology.

Divine Teaching: An Introduction to Christian Theology is an imaginative and lively analysis of the Christian way of thinking, offering vivid and informing insight into the history and practice of Christian theology.

Zielgruppe

undergraduate and graduate students studying systematic theology, Christian doctrine, and the history of Christian thought

Autoren/Hrsg.

McIntosh, Mark A.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface ix

Part I Becoming a Theologian 1

1 How God Makes Theologians 3

Astonishment and Theological Virtue 3

Resurrection to Pentecost: Where Christian Theology Begins 7

But Can You Study Theology without Having to Believe? 13

2 Strange Calling: Theologians as Adventurers, Pirates, Mystics, and Sages 16

Adventure: Continuing Conversion of the Theologian 16

Piracy: Thinking Analogically 18

Mystical Life: Interpreting Reality in Terms of God 22

Wisdom: Thinking by Means of God’s Thoughts 27

3 Divine Teaching and Christian Beliefs 31

Theology’s Weakness and Wisdom’s Parting Gift 32

Sacred Teaching: The Nature and Function of Christian Beliefs 35

Visions of the Whole: Origen, Aquinas, and Barth 40

How Not to Believe: The Dangers of Fantasy and Fanaticism 46

Part II Theology’s Search for Understanding 55

4 Salvation: The Foundation of Christian Theology 57

Orientation 57

Why Start with Salvation? 57

Salvation as the Basis for Christian Theology 59

Identifying Different Approaches to the Mystery of Salvation 65

5 Salvation: Meeting Heaven Face to Face 79

Landmarks 79

Irenaeus: Salvation and New Creation 80

Brief Interlude: A Crucial Difficulty in Soteriology 86

Augustine and God’s Justice 87

Anselm and the Divine Order 91

Pathfinding 94

On the Death of Christ: Orthodox, Feminist, and Girardian Concerns 94

Salvation and the Paschal Mystery 99

6 Divine Life: Trinity, Incarnation, and the Breathing of the Spirit 111

Orientation 111

Sheer Bliss: Why God Reveals Divine Life to be the Trinity 111

Forgiveness and Abundance: Origins of Trinitarian Awareness 114

The Life of the Incarnate Word and the Power of the Spirit 117

The Developing Principles of Trinitarian Theology 119

Landmarks 138

Augustine on the Mysterious Attraction of the Trinity 139

Karl Barth on the God Who Loves in Freedom 159

Pathfinding 167

Questions in Trinitarian Theology Today 167

The Trinity and Mystical Participation in God 175

7 Creaturely Life: A Journey towards Beatitude 179

Orientation 179

Death No Longer Has Dominion: Creation’s Path in the Light of Easter 180

Creation – Revelation – Sacrament 188

Human Life – Ecclesial Life – Beatitude 199

Landmarks 204

Thomas Aquinas on Creation: “A Representation of the Divine Wisdom” 204

Blaise Pascal on Human Existence 210

Pathfinding 217

Two Disputed Questions 217

The Human Calling in Creation 222

Notes 229

Bibliography 241

Index 249

Über Autor(innen)

Mark A. McIntosh is Professor of Systematic Theology and Spirituality at Loyola University, Chicago, where he has taught undergraduates and doctoral students for fifteen years. His publications include Christology from Within: Spirituality and the Incarnation in Hans Urs von Balthasar (1996), Mystical Theology: The Integrity of Spirituality and Theology (Blackwell, 1998), Mysteries of Faith (2000), and Discernment and Truth (2004). A priest in the Episcopal Church, he has served as canon theologian to the Presiding Bishop and Primate.