Bøger i South Asian Theology serien

Throughout the two-thousand-year span of Christian history, believers in Jesus have sought to articulate their faith and their understanding of how God works in the world. How do we, as we examine the vast and varied output of those who came before us, understand the unity and the diversity of their thinking? How do we make sense of our own thought in light of theirs? The Christian Understandings series is an exciting new series that seeks to illuminate precisely these questions. Short, concise, orienting-volumes in the Christian Understandings series "fill in the gaps" for readers as they dive into the exciting and stimulating story of Christian thought.

The title of this book comes from Matthew's Gospel: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. . . . There will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs." (24:6-8). This locates The End Is Not Yet within popular religious rhetoric about the "end time" and more sophisticated theological discourse on eschatology or Christian hope for a better world premised on faith in God. But is such faith still justified? And if so, how are we to describe and embody it in the life of the world? The framework of the book is the current global historical context with a particular focus on the West, and especially the political and social issues that have been highlighted by the election of Donald Trump. Among these are totalitarianism and democracy, right-wing nationalism, apocalypticism and patriotism, globalization and economic injustice, terrorism and warmongering, and political and prophetic leadership.

In the last thirty years, books on the Trinity have abounded. There seems to be a fascination with this mysterious topic, especially among systematic theologians. The topic has been mined for many different interests, from liberation theology to feminist interpretations of the Christian heritage and from neo-Reformation theology to interreligious dialogue. This book has no intention of adding to the plethora of treatises on the Trinity. The main question with which it is concerned is what is really scripturally tenable with regard to the Trinity and what is unwarranted theological construction or even speculation. Through this question, Schwarz tries to discern whether the theological assertions made about the Trinity are in line with the biblical base from which they are derived, or whether they have veered off in a more or less questionable direction. What takes shape here is a story: how the doctrine of the Trinity developed over the subsequent centuries from the traces in Scripture to a centralized dogma at the heart of Christian teaching. We witness in this an evolution from proclamation to controversy to speculation. What are we to make of this doctrine? How do we articulate the biblical faith today?

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The New Testament does not conform neatly to any modern attempts to define the Christian approach to other religions, argues Basil Scott. He confronts the questions: What does the New Testament tell us about religions? And what is its approach to those who were Gentiles, and to their beliefs and practices? He focuses his attention on the evidence presented by the New Testament itself, and especially on the attitude of its writers to the religions of their times.