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Developments in biblical studies, neurosciences, and Christian philosophy of mind force theologians to reconsider the traditional concept of the immortal soul. At the same time, the concept itself tends to create axiological dualism between the bodyand the soul that in turn may lead to insufficient appreciation of the physical life in this world. A more holistic approach to the ontology of human beings is required. The aim of this study is to analyse the function of the concept of the soul in the dualistic anthropology of John Calvin and to compare it to the holistic anthropology of Karl Barth in order to answer the question of whether the transition from one to the other is possible without the loss of the functions fulfilled by the soul.
Obedience from First to Last explores the theological significance of the obedience of Jesus Christ in Karl Barth's theology. It does this via a threefold consideration of, first, the nature of Jesus' incarnate obedience; second, the relation of that obedience to the obedience of the second triune person of the eternal Son; and third, the effects Jesus' obedience has on our own obedience. Barth not only affirms the pivotal role Jesus' obedience has within the economy of salvation, but by equating that obedience with that of the eternal Son's, Barth gives Jesus' obedience a pre-eminent place within the immanent being of Godself. The obedience of Jesus Christ is seen to have a co-participatory role in God's determination of his own divine being that arises from the primordial act of divine election. This notion bears on our understanding of freedom and obedience: as divine freedom is expressed in divine obedience, so it is with human freedom and human obedience.
We are living through a digital revolution which already touches every area of life and will continue to shape the future in as yet unforeseen ways. Digital technologies are an ordinary part of daily life, and yet they also present an unprecedented challenge to Christians to articulate a biblical, theological framework to navigate times of rapid change. The work of the French theologian Jacques Ellul is a theological time-bomb primed for times like these. Accounts of Ellul's career often divide off his sociology and theology, but this book argues that Ellul conceived a single project of bringing technology into confrontation with the Word of God, tackling the phenomenon he named technique, t...
The relationship between eternity and time is a common subject for theologians and philosophers. What difference does it make for this discussion that God became man and inhabited time in Jesus Christ? In God’s Time for Us, James J. Cassidy examines the theology of Karl Barth to show that God is our Father who does not neglect us for lack of time; he is the God who has time to be with us. God also quite literally has time in his own being by virtue of the incarnation. Cassidy shows that Barth seeks a rapprochement between eternity and time, which is overcome by Jesus Christ. There is today a resurgence in interest in the theology of Barth, especially among evangelicals. Yet Barth is often read without discernment and discussed in churches without full understanding. Cassidy illuminates his thought so evangelicals can make a better, more well-informed appraisal of the man and his theology.
Hanging On and Rising Up invites readers to enter into key aspects of Christology, making use of women’s perspectives from the Andean Peruvian contexts by using novels by Clorinda Matto de Turner and José María Arguedas. Studying the social, racial, and cultural experiences in challenging contexts, the book confirms the nearness of God in Jesus Christ, who makes hope possible as a sign of resurrection and encourages persons to celebrate it daily.
Does apologetic method matter? Helmut Thielicke argues that the method should conform to its own message. He thus rejects traditional apologetic methodologies beholden to supposedly neutral scientific and philosophical paradigms. Seeking to reform Christian conversation, Thielicke discovers a lost way of persuasion, that is, the table-turning approach found in Christ’s conversations. Whenever Jesus is questioned, he seldom answers directly. For he refuses to allow the conversation to be framed by an autonomous mindset, and instead responds with a counterquestion. Christ’s style of persuasion—as the controller of the question—subverts his hearers’ presuppositions and challenges thei...
There is widespread understanding of the close connection between religion and the ecological crisis, and that in order to amend this crisis, theological resources are needed. This monograph seeks to contribute to this endeavor by engaging the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His theology is particularly suitable in this context, due to its open-ended nature, and to the prophetic and radical nature of the questions he was prepared to ask--that is why there are many other attempts to contextualize Bonhoeffer's theology in areas that he himself has not directly written about. In this monograph, Steven van den Heuvel first of all addresses the question of how to translate Bonhoeffer's theology ...
How does God relate to the world? What difference does our understanding of God make for conceiving of God's relation to us? Christian theology has seen a flourishing of activity in response to these questions under a common doctrinal theme: Trinity. That said, proposals for understanding how God relates to the world through the Trinity of God's being--otherwise known as the relationship between the immanent and the economic Trinity--vary significantly. This book, reflecting on the work of four modern theologians--Dorner, Barth, Pannenberg, and Jenson--offers a set of constructive proposals on key issues relating to the God-world relation, including a way to understand divine immutability without denying God's living history with others and a trinitarian notion of divine sovereignty that demonstrates how God transcends history from within the structures of time. At each step along the way the author conveys how Trinity opens up a richer, more expansive conception of God's relation to us. This book shows how Trinity serves the practical work of theology as faith seeking understanding.
Calvinist determinism destroys moral responsibility and makes God the author of sin. These two accusations are not new, and were arguably anticipated by Paul in Romans 9, but they remain today the most important objections offered against Calvinist/determinist views of human free will. This book is a philosophically rigorous and comprehensive defense of Calvinism against these two families of arguments. With respect to human moral responsibility, it discusses whether determinism destroys “free will,” turns humans into pets or puppets, and involves or is analogous to coercion and manipulation. It responds to the consequence argument and direct argument for incompatibilism, the principle o...
How does one read the Old Testament as Christian Scripture? This question, voiced in both academic and ecclesial settings, invites a reflection on how to take these texts with both hermeneutical alertness and sustained imaginative seriousness. While scholars have recently engaged in robust discussion about theological hermeneutics, there have been relatively few worked examples with particular Old Testament texts. This book seeks to meet this need by providing a close reading of Isaiah 14:3–23, a text with a complex amalgam of textual, historical-critical, history-of-reception, and theological issues.