Spirit and Salvation: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, vol. 4

by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2016

Overview

The fourth installment in a wide and deep constructive theology for our time

This fourth volume in Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen’s ambitious five-volume systematic theology develops a constructive Christian pneumatology and soteriology in dialogue with the diverse global Christian tradition and with other major living faiths—Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Key Features

• Presents a dynamic constructive Christian theology for the pluralistic world
• Engages the present cultural and religious diversity in a way Christian theology has not done in the past
• Covers topics including race, environment, ethnicity, inclusivity, violence, and colonialism

Contents

Part I: Spirit

• Introduction: In Search of a Plural, Holistic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the Triune God
• The Spirit in Creation
• The Cosmic Spirit and Powers
• Discerning the Holy Spirit among Religions
• The Public Spirit and Solidarity of Others

Part II: Salvation

• From Ordo Salutis to a Salutary Communion
• Visions of “Salvation” and Liberation among Religions
• The Divine Favor and Invitation for Eternal Fellowship
• (Re-)Turning to God — and to the Neighbor
• One with God: Rightwising, Renewal, and Integrity of Life
• Healing, Restoration, and Empowerment
• Reconciliation, Liberation, and Peacebuilding
• Epilogue: The Faithfulness of God and the End of Human Yearning

Praise for the Print Edition

Kärkkäinen’s systematic theology, while firmly rooted in the evangelical theological tradition, is wonderfully and warmly ecumenical, frankly Christian but still open to the insights and practices of other religious ways, and widely inclusive of Christian thinkers from all contexts and cultures. This is a new kind of theologizing, one done in a postmodern key yet remaining faithful to the treasures of our premodern and modern past. Kärkkäinen’s breadth of scholarship is amazing.

—Stephan Bevans, SVD, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago

With awe and admiration readers of this comprehensive and lucid book will no doubt link its author’s name with Thomas, Calvin, Barth, Moltmann, and other theological luminaries. After the completion of Kärkkäinen’s five-volume project, theology will not be the same.

—Peter Phan, Georgetown University

Kärkkäinen’s engagement with a multiplicity of traditions is to be commended. . . . A valuable introduction to the major issues and arguments in pneumatology and soteriology.

—Horizons

Product Details

• Title: Spirit and Salvation
• Author: Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
• Series: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2016
• Pages: 516
• Resource Type: Systematic Theology
• Topic: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

About Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen joined the Fuller faculty as associate professor of systematic theology in 2000 and was named full professor in 2003. He also holds a teaching position at the University of Helsinki as Dozent of Ecumenics. Prior to coming to Fuller, Kärkkäinen served as president and professor at IsoKirja College in Keuruu, Finland. He has taught and lived with his family on three continents: Europe, Asia (Thailand), and North America (the U.S.) He has also lectured and served as visiting professor in various schools around the world. He travels widely and has a command of several languages.

A prolific writer, Kärkkäinen has published 11 books in English (and seven in his native language, Finnish), most recently The Trinity: Global Perspectives (2007), One With God: Salvation as Deification and Justification (2004), and Trinity and Religious Pluralism: The Doctrine of the Trinity in Christian Theology of Religions (2004), as well as more than 100 articles, which have appeared in international scholarly journals. He is also the editor (with William Dyrness) of Global Dictionary of Theology (2008). Kärkkäinen was appointed to three editorial boards in 2008, which include the Strategic Initiatives in Systematic Theology series by InterVarsity Press, the Studies in Systematic Theology series by Brill Press (Leiden, Netherlands), and the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is a member of three working groups of the World Council of Churches and has participated in numerous international consultations. He is also an external examiner for Wales University.