Fortress Press Theology Collection (12 vols.)
Ovrview
Progressive movements in modern theology have sought to push the bounds of tradition and orthodoxy and have been extremely influential in the academy and the church. Much ink has been spilled in the struggle between, on the one hand, those trying to maintain classical Christianity and, on the other, those trying to move beyond it and incorporate modern and postmodern thinking. Issues such as human freedom, social justice, science and faith, Christology, and historical theology are all taken up in this diverse collection of modern theological writings. Whether you consider yourself emergent, evangelical, or outside of labels altogether, this collection will make a valuable addition to your library as you seek to understand modern theology and its impact in contemporary Christianity.
With this Logos edition, every word in the collection is integrated into, and connected with, your entire Logos library. Scripture citations appear on mouseover, and references to other works in your library are hyperlinked so that you can see them with a click. The material in this collection is also integrated Logos’ powerful features, aiding you as you study subjects like social justice and church history.
- An up-to-date collection of progressive, emergent theology from significant thinkers in the movement
- 12 volumes covering a wide range of theological issues from a modern perspective
- Title: Fortress Press Theology Collection (12 vols.)
- Publisher: Fortress Press
- Volumes: 12
- Pages: 2,524
- Contemporary Christologies: A Fortress Introduction by Don Schweitzer
- Cross and Resurrection: God’s Wonder and Mystery by Klaus Schwarzwäller
- How God Acts: Creation, Redemption, and Special Divine Action by Denis Edwards
- How to Think Theologically, 2nd ed., by James O. Duke and Howard W. Stone
- Jesus and Creativity by Gordon D. Kaufman
- A Journey through Christian Theology: With Texts from the First to the Twenty-First Century by William P. Anderson
- Love’s Availing Power: Imaging God, Imagining the World by Paul R. Sponheim
- On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process by Catherine Keller
- Rethinking Faith: A Constructive Practical Theology by James Newton Poling
- Reviving Christian Humanism: The New Conversation on Spirituality, Theology, and Psychology by Don S. Browning
- Thinking Christ: Christology and Contemporary Critics by Jane Barter Moulaison
- Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society by Philip Clayton
Partially included
While many know of the signal contributions of such twentieth-century giants as Paul Tillich or Karl Barth or Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the important work since their time often goes unnoticed until some major controversy erupts. Here is a smart and helpful survey of the chief approaches and thinkers in today’s understanding of the person, significance, and work of Jesus Christ.
Schweitzer offers an insightful introduction to the contemporary context of Christology, in which basic questions in the discipline (and soteriology) are being rethought in light of globalization, postmodernity, and the contemporary experience of evil. He then offers a kind of typology of the current approaches and voices:
- Jesus, Revealer of God (like the Gospel of John): Karl Rahner, Dorothee Soelle, Roger Haight
- Jesus, a Moral Exemplar (like Abelard): Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mark Lewis Taylor, Carter Heyward
- Jesus as Victor (like Origen): Luis Pedraja, James Cone, Elizabeth Johnson
- Jesus as Representative (like Anselm): Douglas John Hall, Marilyn McCord Adams, Jürgen Moltmann
- Jesus as Source of Openness (like Francis of Assisi): Raimon Panikkar, John B. Cobb, Jacques Dupuis
Schweitzer’s volume concludes with a reflection on the recent past and present imperatives of a discipline that virtually defines what Christianity has to offer the present age.
Surveys succeed when they illuminate the character of a given historical epoch and inspire readers to explore the original works they examine. Most surveys, in my experience, fail on both counts. They fail spectacularly when they function as substitutes for their own primary sources. Professor Schweitzer’s book seems to me an exception. His generalizations about the post-War period in Christological thought are well worth contemplating; and his brief, interesting introductions to the thinkers whom he has chosen to study ought certainly to send his readers to the originals.
—Douglas John Hall, professor emeritus of theology, McGill University, Montreal
Five major trajectories in Christology are here explored in the works of fifteen leading Protestant and Catholic theologians from around the world. Well researched and deftly portrayed, [Don Schweitzer’s analysis] invites readers to consider how these theologies have arisen from the life and social context of each theologian and how they address the animating concerns that define our age.
—Bradford Hinze, professor of theology, Fordham University
Don Schweitzer is McDougald Professor of Theology at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Schweitzer is the writer of dozens of articles on issues in contemporary theology, coeditor of Intersecting Voices: Critical Theologies in a Land of Diversity, and past president of the Canadian Theological Society.
German theologian Klaus Schwarzwäller reclaims Christ’s cross and resurrection as God’s wonder and mystery. He connects with art, history, contemporary culture, and especially Scripture in presenting a trenchant analysis of the modes of power and production that have undergirded both society and the church since the Enlightenment.
The church in the present era comes under the power of the Enlightenment’s quest for truth in the measurable, reproducible, and rational. The proof of the Spirit’s power thus comes to depend on the criteria of reason and theory, rather than on the Spirit’s work in the reality of daily life. When the church and theology operate in this way, the cross and resurrection become something that requires our management, manipulation, or expert interpretation. Thus, the church and theology wind up existing for their own ends, and freedom and faith are replaced with brutal indifference and control.
The truth of the Gospel is that, on the cross, Christ bore the brunt of power and production that could not bear his utter devotion to God and care for the powerless. The cross excludes our control, and the power of the resurrection ensures that the negativity of human life borne on the cross will be overcome. Schwarzwäller calls the church and theologians to relinquish both their conformity to society and the indifference that power and production create and instead focus on tending to God’s Word so that the cross and resurrection are again revealed as God’s wonder and mystery.
Klaus Schwarzwäller is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of Göttingen and author of numerous books and articles.
How does the Christian doctrine of creation square with the picture of an evolving universe we receive from science today? How do predatory behavior and the wasteful extinction of whole species fit within a Christian worldview? These and a host of related questions are tackled in this important and original work from theologian Denis Edwards. From providence and miracles to resurrection and intercessory prayer, Edwards shows how a basically noninterventionist model of divine action does justice to the universe as we know it without undermining central convictions of Christian faith about the goodness of God, the promises of God, and the act of creation. Here is wonderfully lucid theology supporting a vision of how God is at work in the universe.
Denis Edwards is senior lecturer in systematic theology in the School of Theology of Flinders University. An internationally acclaimed theologian, he is author of many works, including (recently) Ecology at the Heart of Faith and The God of Evolution: A Trinitarian Theology.
An outstanding introduction for college, seminary, and lay readers, this second edition of the 1996 volume has been fully updated and expanded with new resources, examples, vignettes, diagnostic exercises, and case studies. Addressing the how and why of theological sources, movements, and methods, Stone and Duke guide readers into their own theological roots and then into major theological topics—such as the Gospel, sin and salvation, vocation, and ethical discernment—through real-life case studies.
This book is not intended only for people beginning formal theological studies. Rather, Stone and Duke argue that all believers are theologians because they all have to interpret their own lives in the light of biblical and other norms . . . The authors always take great pains to explain everything, Simplicity is their goal, and they reach it.
—The Christian Century
Stone and Duke have produced a readable and useful primer on theological reflection. Their clear, comprehensive method is illustrated by plenty of vignettes, examples, case studies, and diagnostic exercises. A successful introduction to the practice of theology!
—Don R. Browning, Divinity School, University of Chicago
James O. Duke is professor of history of Christianity and history of Christian thought at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. His analytical and translation work has covered European and American religion.
Howard W. Stone is professor emeritus of psychology and pastoral counseling at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. He is the author or editor of many influential books, including Depression and Hope and Strategies for Brief Pastoral Counseling.
The lively interest today in the historical figure of Jesus is rarely matched by theological advances in understanding his person and significance for our own time and worldview. Gordon Kaufman takes up this challenge in this bold, speculative work.
Despite the fabled difficulties of traditional Christological terms, Kaufman seeks to reenvision the symbol of Jesus within the contemporary scientific worldview. Building on his notion of God as simply creativity, he here locates the meaning of Jesus’ salvific story within an evolving universe and a threatened planet.
Outside the dualistic categories of the biblical worldview, Kaufman claims that the enormously creative and influential figure of the historic Jesus can play a vital role in the emergence and development of the cosmos and human history. Within that role, Jesus, his relation to God, and his centrality to Christian faith become clearer and our own lives and actions take on a new meaning.
Gordon D. Kaufman was professor emeritus of theology at Harvard Divinity School. His many important theological works include his Essay on Theological Method, In Face of Mystery, and God—Mystery—Diversity.
The history of Christian theology can be a daunting, even forbidding field for the novice, who sees neither the need for nor the pertinence of rummaging around dusty old texts. This reader-friendly volume provides a full-scale reader in the history of Christian theology and offers an easy, nonthreatening, occasionally humorous, and thorough entry into Christianity’s central texts, from the Apostolic Fathers to Mary Daly. It is also enlivened by dozens of cartoons by Rich Diesslin. This resource offers highly accessible overviews of five periods and brief introductions to, and texts from, more than 50 key thinkers. The texts highlight perennial themes and questions in Christian tradition, especially the meaning and importance of Jesus, challenges to the institutional church, tensions of faith and reason, spirituality, and the Christian quest for social justice. The new edition, half again as large as the original, adds significant work from the Cappadocian Fathers and the Christological controversialists, the Franciscan tradition, the Radical and English reforms, and twentieth-century theologians. This resource also comes with learning aids, research-paper suggestions and guide, and glossary.
Users of this anthology need not fear about losing their way on the ‘Journey’: Anderson is a reliable guide, proving well–chosen texts, accurate introductions, penetrating study questions, and a helpful glossary.
—Denis R. Janz, Provost Distinguished Professor of the History of Christianity, Loyola University New Orleans
A textual tour of the entire theological tradition that stops at all the must-see literary locales, as well as lesser known, but fascinating, destinations. The editors complement each text with an insightful introduction and probing study questions. This collection is an invaluable resource for any introductory course on the history of Christian thought and doctrine.
—John E. Thiel, professor of religious studies, Fairfield University
As a teacher of a required survey course—‘The Christian Tradition’—I long have sought a primary-sources anthology of reasonable length (and cost) that provides excerpts from key figures and sets them in dialog with one another to model exactly the kind of cross-era conversation that must continue today. The revised edition of William Anderson’s A Journey through Christian Theology looks to fit the bill nicely.
—George C. Heider, professor of theology, Valparaiso University
William P. Anderson is professor emeritus of religious studies and graduate professor emeritus of the history and philosophy of the early church, The University of Dayton, Ohio.
Richard Diesslin is an author, freelance cartoonist and illustrator. Diesslin began his studies at Purdue University, where he received his BS in Industrial Management (1978). He then went on to University of Dayton and received his MA in Theological Studies (1995).
Paul R. Sponheim explains God’s willingness to accept risks in creating human freedom. Sponheim presents an understanding of God’s power at work in the lives of creatures, encouraging relationships and inspiring activity on behalf of creation. Sponheim’s formulation of freedom in relationship—born at the intersection of existential theology and process thought—provides a way between the extremes of individualism and a homogenizing that obscures the reality and responsibility of the individual. The power of love is not dominating coercion but a power that avails and helps to accomplish a truly human life.
Modern thought including much of modern theology has commonly separated the self and the world. In this brilliant theological synthesis of Kierkegaard and Whitehead, Sponheim brings the self and the cosmos together in God.
—Marcus J. Borg, canon theologian, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon
Kierkegaard and Whitehead seem like strange bedfellows, but Sponheim lifts them up together as witnesses to ‘a powerfully loving God (who) avails potently . . . against evil’ and who ‘in the face of our challenging finitude . . . can be sufficient to sustain us.’ Lured by the promised presence of this Love’s ‘availing power’ we hear ourselves ‘being called into a loving faith toward God and a loving justice toward the world.’ Pastors and theological students will be challenged, enlightened, and affirmed for life and ministry.
—Lowell O Erdahl, bishop emeritus, Saint Paul Area Synod, ELCA
This book brims with brilliant insights into the nature of true power. Calling us to live creatively into the image of God, it calls us to imagine the world where God’s power is at work as the love that ‘avails’ amidst all that we face in the concrete circumstances of our lives.
—Lois Malcolm, associate professor of systematic theology, Luther Seminary
Sponheim pens a beautiful narrative on one of today’s most important theological themes—the power of love. His theological interpretation will benefit all who are seeking ways that love might enlighten their thought and guide their lives. This book holds implications for reorienting the whole enterprise of Christian theology.
—Curtis L. Thompson, professor of religion, Thiel College
Paul R. Sponheim is professor emeritus of systematic theology at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Among his published works are God: The Question and the Quest, A Primer on Prayer, Faith and the Other, and The Pulse of Creation.
With immediate impact and deep creativity, Catherine Keller offers this brief and unconventional introduction to theological thinking, especially as recast by process thought. Keller takes up theology itself as a quest for religious authenticity.
Through a marvelous combination of brilliant writing, story, reflection, and unabashed questioning of old shibboleths, Keller redeems theology from its dry and predictable categories to reveal what has always been at the heart of the theological enterprise: a personal search for intellectually honest and credible ways of making sense of the loving mystery that encompasses even our confounding times.
At last: deeply Christian theology that is genuinely credible, relevant, important, and also accessible. Catherine Keller’s new work is for students and lay people—and for that vast company of people who have given up on the church but still care!
—John B. Cobb Jr., Professor Emeritus, Claremont School of Theology
Catherine Keller is professor of constructive theology at the Theological School and Graduate School, Drew University. Her works include Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World and God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys.
What can practical theology contribute to other theological disciplines and the church about the nature of God and the church’s witness to Jesus Christ in the world? What can we learn about the love and power of God in Jesus Christ from the community of survivors of violence? Rethinking Faith urges all Christians to consider themselves practical theologians by drawing on their own experiences in making theological assertions. Poling couples his understanding of the tradition with his work with survivors of violence to demonstrate the resilience of Christianity.
Jim Poling offers one of the most comprehensive and creative books on practical theology in many years. He exemplifies the best qualities of constructive practical theology. The book is timely, socially engaged, and intellectually rich. It will set the standard for practical theology in the coming decades.
—Richard Osmer, Thomas W. Synnott Professor of Christian Education, Princeton Theological Seminary
This is an extraordinary book—an almost poetic interplay between Jim Poling’s own statement of faith and a richly developed systematic practical theology that draws from feminist theology, process theology, and the personal stories of people significantly affected by violence. This book will appeal to readers ranging from interested lay people to practicing ministers and academicians as it takes them deeper into their own theological constructions. Rethinking Faith is both inspiring and educational. I highly recommend it.
—Christie Cozad Neuger, senior scholar in pastoral care, United Theological Seminary
Rethinking Faith is a brilliant and compelling culmination of a life–long devotion to bridging scholarship, pastoral care, and social justice by one of the leading thinkers in practical theology. Using the central constructs of relationship, ambiguity, and resiliency, Poling inspires new understandings of the generative connections between life in the world and Christian beliefs. The reader will be heartened by the courage, resiliency and power of love in the lives of those portrayed in this book. Through their stories, Poling demonstrates how the central Christian doctrines of God, humanity, nature, sin, evil, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the church can become the basis for faith—practices in a world grasping for alternatives to violence and injustice. Pastors, religious leaders, seminarians, pastoral caregivers, and communities of faith will be inspired and guided by this personal, profound and usable book.
—Larry Kent Graham, professor of pastoral theology and care, Iliff School of Theology
James Newton Poling is former professor of pastoral theology, care, and counseling at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, and author of numerous books.
Is there a future for intellectually honest faith at the service of humankind? Esteemed theologian Don S. Browning strongly argues that there is, and he here offers a manifesto for a new religious humanism.
Browning argues that the time is right for religious intellectuals in conversation with the social sciences to reinvigorate the deep humanistic strands of the grand religions and enter into global interfaith dialogue on that basis. Concentrating on the Christian heritage, he draws on such diverse disciplines to envision a broader canvas for psychology, a keener theological use of new insights from psychology, a more complex understanding of how personal change is fostered, a recognition of the indispensable role of institutions in personal formation and ethical deliberation, and in the end, a deeper spirituality that directly feeds the common human endeavor and the public good.
Don S. Browning is Alexander Campbell Professor of Religion and Psychological Studies at The Divinity School, University of Chicago.
Jane Barter Moulaison’s remarkable book engages contemporary critical understandings of Jesus Christ—including the postcolonial, feminist, pluralist, ecological, and socialist—to argue that the core convictions of traditional Christology remain a viable, valuable, and even indispensable witness to the Gospel in an imperiled world.
Contemporary theology often makes a virtue of deconstructing traditional claims about the person and work of Christ. Claims about the central significance of Jesus Christ appear to be oppressive, intolerant, and even violent. Jane Barter Moulaison engages several contemporary Christological critiques of classical Christology and argues that such critical theologies are not undermined by the claim of Christ’s central significance but are rather radicalized by it. She ably rereads the tradition that seeks to interpret Christ’s saving activity in light of several contemporary theological and political concerns. In so doing, she suggests that there are extraordinary resources available to those who long for political and material transformation precisely through the abandonment of spiritualized answers to Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?”
Critically relating Nicene Christologies to postmodern theories and the urgent concerns of ecological, feminist and other praxis-oriented theologies, Moulaison illuminates current issues and uncovers empowering resources in the Christian tradition for addressing them. A thought-provoking and important work—not to be missed.
—Don Schweitzer, McDougald Professor of Theology, St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon
In Thinking Christ, Jane Barter Moulaison argues that classical Christian doctrines about Jesus, far from implying a mindless affirmation of the status quo, are bursting with critical and creative potential. She embodies a kind of ‘radical Christian humanism’ in the tradition of Karl Barth, William Stringfellow, and Rowan Williams—and behind them the ancient doctors of the church, with their strange teaching about a crucified God. Beyond the ideological captivities of both the left and the right, Moulaison invites us to do our thinking at the foot of the cross. An intellectual adventure not to be missed.
—Joseph L. Mangina, professor of theology, Wycliffe College, Toronto School of Theology
Thinking Christ combines the best of modern critical theory with a thorough retrieval of Nicene Christology. Moulaison delves into the Nicene teachers in order to address the gap between our modern hermeneutics of suspicion and the root meaning of early church wrangling to understand the second person of the Trinity. She is not afraid to make ontological claims, and is unwilling to dumb down or lighten up the positions crafted by the pastors of late Antiquity as they struggled with the interface between Christian faith and Roman/Greek culture. It is written in flowing prose, asks engaging questions, and presents cogent arguments. A must read for anyone interested in “thinking Christ” today.
—Cynthia Crysdale, professor of Christian ethics and theology, School of Theology, University of the South
Jane Barter Moulaison is associate professor of theology and church history, University of Winnipeg, and is author of Lord, Giver of Life and editor of The Future of Theological Education in Canada. She is also a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada.
Is there a role for Christian theology in the ongoing transformation of church and society? How can the reflective imperative of Christian discipleship support a transformative vision of the world?
This compact volume offers a way for Christians to reflect deeply on how best to conceive Christian identity, commitment, and discipleship in today’s challenged, globalized, pluralistic scene. Growing out of the recent “Rekindling Theological Imagination” initiative and led by esteemed theologian Philip Clayton and his colleagues, this volume seeks to capture and articulate the ferment in grassroots North American Christianity and to relate it directly to the recent resurgence of progressive thought and politics. It argues strongly for a mediating role specifically for Christian theology, conceived first as a life practice of Christian discipleship, and its call has found enormous response from popular audiences in conferences, online, in informal Christian settings, and in mainline denominations and the academy.
How can an important theological book be so delightful to read? How can a top-drawer theologian have such high respect for ‘normal’ Christians that they are seen as partners in the work of transforming theology? How can Philip Clayton make the idea of big-tent, progressive Christianity so believable and attractive that one can imagine evangelicals, charismatics, mainliners, and Roman Catholics joyfully discussing it over a meal together? There’s only one way to find out: open up Transforming Christian Theology and start reading—now.
—Brian D. McLaren, author of A Generous Orthodoxy
Philip Clayton’s new book, Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society, is nothing if it is not the full skinny on progressive, mainline-shaped emergent theology . . . Clayton argues that theology has been the prerogative of an elite group of professors, but he believes it’s got to be seen as what all of us do instead of just what the professors and professionals do. He outlines what can only be called a progressive emergent agenda for doing theology in a series of proposals—too many to name here. It’s a good book and I hope it gets a wide hearing.
—Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University
Philip Clayton is one of the world’s leading philosophical theologians. In this new book, he calls for a transformation of theology—for a theology that transforms by radically engaging the concrete and practical concerns of both church and society. Pointing to significant movements within the Christian church, as well as shifts in late modern culture, Clayton clearly shows that the time is right for challenging old divisions such as ‘evangelical’ and ‘liberal.’ A welcome call for and contribution to transforming theology!
—F. LeRon Shults, professor of theology and philosophy, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
We all know that the once dominant form of Protestantism in this country is fading to the sidelines of society. In this book one of America’s premier theologians seriously and passionately writes for ordinary Christians, inviting them to become their own theologians. He also shows how they can do so. If a hundred thousand members of our old-line denominations take this book seriously and follow its suggestions, there is yet hope for renewal. Understanding and support from denominational leadership would also help.
—John B. Cobb Jr., professor emeritus, Claremont School of Theology
Straight-forward and tantalizingly thorough, Transforming Christian Theology is the first volume to describe in a highly accessible and concrete way how Christian groups of any size or circumstance can locate and amend themselves theologically. This is, in sum, a very, very user-friendly Traveler’s Guide to largely uncharted territory.
—Phyllis Tickle, author of Embracing Emergence Christianity
In the confusion of how to live one’s faith in these changing times, Dr. Clayton calls all of us, and especially young people, not to “give up on church.” Thankfully, he goes on to tell us why and how, with a challenge to become active theologians, to write our own credos and debate them vigorously. That is the challenge he has taken up in this valuable book.
—Mary Ann Swenson, United Methodist bishop
Philip Clayton is the dean of Claremont School of Theology and provost of Claremont Lincoln University. He also holds the Ingraham Chair at CST. Clayton earned a joint PhD in religious studies and philosophy from Yale University and has held visiting appointments at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Munich. He has published over 20 books and hundreds of academic and popular articles.
' fill='none' fill-rule='evenodd' stroke='%23f9d200' stroke-width='3'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)