Thinking the Faith
Christian Theology in a North American Context
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Thinking the Faith: Christian Theology in a North American Context
"As the Christian movement nears the end of
its second millennium, it faces a crisis
that could not have been anticipated at the
close of the first thousand years—or,
indeed, by most of our own great-grandparents. …
"Since the most conspicuous dimensions of the waning of Christendom have to do with material decline (the decline in church membership and active attendance of Sunday services, the decline in financial and physical prosperity, the decline of influence in high places), such analyses as there are usually belabor the obvious: something drastic is happening to the churches! …
"Throughout most of its long history, Christianity has not required of its adherents that they should think the faith. The historical accident of its political and cultural establishment 15 centuries ago… ensured that a thinking faith would be purely optional for members of the church. …
"But thought-less faith, which has always been a contradiction in terms, is today a stage on the road to the extinction, not only of Christianity itself, but of whatever the architects of our civilization meant by 'Humanity.' Only a thinking faith can survive. Only a thinking faith can help the world survive! "
— from the Preface
"Since the most conspicuous dimensions of the waning of Christendom have to do with material decline (the decline in church membership and active attendance of Sunday services, the decline in financial and physical prosperity, the decline of influence in high places), such analyses as there are usually belabor the obvious: something drastic is happening to the churches! …
"Throughout most of its long history, Christianity has not required of its adherents that they should think the faith. The historical accident of its political and cultural establishment 15 centuries ago… ensured that a thinking faith would be purely optional for members of the church. …
"But thought-less faith, which has always been a contradiction in terms, is today a stage on the road to the extinction, not only of Christianity itself, but of whatever the architects of our civilization meant by 'Humanity.' Only a thinking faith can survive. Only a thinking faith can help the world survive! "
— from the Preface
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9780800625450
- Dimensions 6 x 9
- Pages 464
- Publication Date January 1, 1991
Endorsements
"Douglas Hall's first volume may well be the most comprehensive and profound work of systematic theology produced in North America in our lifetime."
— John C. Bennett
Hall's careful sorting out of reason and revelation, kerygmatic and apologetic theological stances, and his futuring beyond Barth and Tillich are significant gains for our common work. . . . This book will exercise profound influence for the next generation."
— Walter Brueggemann
— John C. Bennett
Hall's careful sorting out of reason and revelation, kerygmatic and apologetic theological stances, and his futuring beyond Barth and Tillich are significant gains for our common work. . . . This book will exercise profound influence for the next generation."
— Walter Brueggemann
Table of Contents
-
Preface
- A Reputation for Timelessness
- Defining Contextuality
- Why Theology Is Contextual
- The Dangers of Contextuality
- The Process of Thinking Contextually
- A Generalization: What Makes for Contextuality in Christian Theology?
Chapter Two: Discerning Our Context
- The Circumscription of Contexts
- Prisoners of Optimism
- Invitation to Theology
- Visions in the Night
Chapter Three: Components of Our Context
Introduction: Contributing Crises
- The End of the Constantinian Era
- Religious Pluralism
- The Theological Impact of Auschwitz
- Marxism and the Revolution of the Oppressed
- The Rebellion of Nature
- The Nuclear Crisis
- Apocalyptic Consciousness and the Rise of Religious Simplism
Conclusion and Transition
PART II: THE DISCIPLINE
Chapter Four: Elements of the Discipline
- Theology and Faith
- Theology and the Bible
- Theology and Doctrinal Traditions
- Theology and Experience
- Theology and Prayer
- Theology and the Church
- Theology and " the World"
Chapter Five: Theological Method
- A Fundamental Tension
- Christian Apologetics
- Apologetic and Kerygmatic Theology in Relation to the Concern for Contextualization
Chapter Six: Knowing in Christian Faith and Theology
- Modes of Knowing
- Reason and Revelation
- What Is Revelation?
- Revelation and Reason
- Authority in Faith and Theology
Index of Subjects
Index of Names
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Introduction to Volume I: Thinking the Faith
PART I: THE DISCIPLE COMMUNITY
Chapter One: The Meaning of Contextuality in Christian Thought