Systematic Theology
Published on 21. October 2015
418 pages
978-1-4674-4413-2 (ISBN)
Description
In this concise, one-volume systematic theology, celebrated scholar Anthony Thiselton comprehensively covers the spectrum of Christian doctrine with an eye to practical application for Christian discipleship. Written with students and busy ministers in mind, this book is readable and accessible, comprising fifteen chapters of relatively equal length, with each chapter containing five evenly balanced subsections for teaching and learning convenience. Rather than setting out an abstract system, Thiselton explores theology as a living, organic whole. The book thus includes biblical foundations, historical thought, contemporary writers, and practical implications. Expertly incorporating biblical exegesis, philosophy, conceptual grammar, and hermeneutics, this work is the most succinct multidisciplinary systematic theology available.
More details
Person
Anthony C. Thiselton is professor emeritus of Christian theology at the University of Nottingham, England.
Content
- Intro
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- I. Method and Truth
- 1. The Need for Coherence and Objections to "System"
- 2. Truth, Theology, and Philosophy: The New Testament and Earlier Church Fathers
- 3. Truth, Theology, and the Bible in Historical Context
- 4. A Further Aspect of Philosophy: Conceptual "Grammar"
- 5. Speech--Acts, Hermeneutics, Sociology, and Literary Theory
- II. God: Personhood, Trinity, Holy Love, and Grace
- 1. God: Impersonal, Personal, or Suprapersonal?
- 2. God as Holy Trinity: Complication or Confirmation?
- 3. The Living God or "Theism"?
- 4. God as Holy Life--Giver and Loving Creator
- 5. God as the Giver of Grace
- III. God and the World
- 1. The God of Love and the Problem of Evil
- 2. Can We Argue from "Cause" to God's Existence? God's Transcendence
- 3. The Argument from Design, and Modern Science
- 4. The Argument from Necessity: The Ontological Argument
- 5. Almighty, Omniscient, and Omnipresent: Their Meaning
- IV. The Challenge of Atheism: Lessons for Christians
- 1. The Origins of Atheism: A Simple, Materialist View of Humankind
- 2. "God" as a Human Projection: Feuerbach and Freud
- 3. "God" and Social Manipulation: Nietzsche and Marx
- 4. The Attack on Revelation
- 5. Between Atheism and Theism: Deism, Pantheism, and Agnosticism
- V. The Nonhuman Creation, and Ordinances for Human Welfare
- 1. The Creation and Work of Angels, Mainly in the Biblical Canon
- 2. Angels in Postcanonical Judaism and in Historical Christian Thought
- 3. The Creation and Status of Animals: Is Creation Centered on Humankind?
- 4. Human Ordering: Political Communities, Marriage, and Justice
- 5. Modern Concerns for the Limitation of the State, and Justice for All
- VI. Human Potentiality and the Image of God
- 1. The Image of God: Human Beings Becoming "Persons"
- 2. The Unity of Human Nature, in Contrast to Mind--Body Dualism
- 3. The Diversity of Human Capacities
- 4. The Intervention of Sin and Alienation: Biblical Vocabulary
- 5. Understandings of the Universal Nature of Sin and the Fall, Notably in Paul
- VII. Misdirected Desire and Alienation: A Hermeneutical Comparison of Historical Thinkers
- 1. The Ante--Nicene Church Fathers
- 2. The Post--Nicene Church Fathers
- 3. The Medieval and Reformation Periods
- 4. The Early Modern Period
- 5. The Twentieth Century Onward
- VIII. Jesus Christ the Mediator
- 1. The Gospel Defined in Terms of the Cross, and the Cross Defined in Terms of God's Grace
- 2. The Transparent Meanings of Redemption and Salvation
- 3. Two Further Transparent Presuppositions: Mediation and Sacrifice
- 4. Complementary Models of the Atonement
- 5. Expiation and/or Propitiation? Paul's Distinctive Idea of Reconciliation
- IX. Why Consider Historical Theologies of the Atonement? Historical Thought and Hermeneutics
- 1. The Atonement in the Early Church
- 2. The Post--Nicene Period
- 3. Anselm and Abelard
- 4. The Reformation: Luther and Calvin
- 5. Varied Approaches in the Modern Period
- X. A Concise Christology
- 1. The Historical Context: The Prophetic and Apocalyptic Expectations of the Old Testament and Judaism
- 2. Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God: Pointers to Christology
- 3. The Three So--Called Quests and the Need for Historical Research
- 4. The Christology of the Epistles and Acts: Lord, Last Adam, One with God
- 5. Radical Contrasts between Ancient and Modern Christologies
- XI. The Holy Spirit: (I) Biblical Doctrine
- 1. Foundations and Themes in the Old Testament and Judaism
- 2. The Holy Spirit in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts
- 3. The Pauline Epistles and Gifts of the Spirit
- 4. Further Major Themes in Paul
- 5. John and the Rest of the New Testament
- XII. The Holy Spirit: (II) Historical Insights
- 1. The Rise of the Pentecostal Movement
- 2. The Holy Spirit before Nicaea
- 3. The Holy Spirit in the Post--Nicene Fathers
- 4. The Holy Spirit in the Reformation and Post--Reformation Periods
- 5. The Holy Spirit from the Nineteenth Century until the Present
- XIII. Why the Church? Why Ministry? Why Sacraments?
- 1. Foundations: The Call of God's People and Modern Individualism
- 2. Theological Debates about the Doctrine of the Church
- 3. Theological Principles Relating to Ministry
- 4. The Sacrament of Baptism
- 5. The Eucharist, Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper
- XIV. The Return of Christ, the Resurrection, and Related Issues
- 1. Death and Debated Claims about Purgatory and the Millennium
- 2. The Return of Christ, or the Parousia
- 3. Claims about the Imminence of the Parousia and the Nature of Expectation
- 4. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- 5. The General Resurrection of the Dead
- XV. The Last Judgment, Eternity, and the Restoration of All Things
- 1. The Purpose of the Last Judgment
- 2. Judgment, Verdicts, Wrath, and Justification by Grace
- 3. Progression "after" Judgment? What Is "Eternal" Life?
- 4. The New Jerusalem
- 5. From Glory to Glory
- the Restoration of All Things
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
- Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources
