PENTECOST 2007 SPECIAL EDITION

ISSUE 10 - ISSN 1448 - 6326

Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology J. Wentzel van Huyssteen William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006 ISBN 13: 978-3-525-56977-1 ISBN 10: 3-525-56977-7 343 pp. plus bibliography and index AUD 70.95.

J. Wentzel van Huyssteen is the James I. McCord Professor of Science and Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Since 1993 he has been engaged in a project to develop a postfoundational approach to theology.  His goal is to find a position between the foundationalist approach, which assumes that theology can be built up from unquestioned and unquestionable axioms, and the destructive subjectivity of postmodernism. His postfoundationalist position is most clearly described in his technically challenging book The Shaping of Rationality: Toward Interdisciplinarity in Theology and Science (1999). In that and related works he also seeks to develop an epistemology based on human rationality that will allow meaningful dialogue between science and religion. Alone in the World? is an edited version of his 2004 Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. As van Huyssteen himself explains, it is really a case study illustrating how the methodology developed in his earlier works can be applied to the understanding of human uniqueness through an interdisciplinary dialogue. He draws on the insights of scholars from Philo of Alexandria to Calvin O. Schrage of Purdue University, including Karl Barth, Richard Dawkins, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Michael Polanyi, Karl Popper, Karl Rahner and many others as well as such diverse disciplines as quantum physics,  neurology, sociobiology, paleoanthropology, linguistics, philosophy and theology. The work is supported by an impressive bibliography of more than two hundred publications.

Throughout the book van Huyssteen utilizes the methodology of evolutionary epistemology, which he explains briefly, on pages xv-xvi, as accepting Darwinian understanding of the human mind and of biological evolution but also emphasizing the importance of cultural evolution and the uniquely human propensity for metaphysical and religious beliefs. A less clearly explained but equally important methodological tool is transversality which is van Huyssteen’s major methodology for weaving together the, at times contradictory, strands from the various disciplines covered in order to arrive at, not uniformity, but consensus and viable conclusions, albeit tentative and subject to reform and development in the light of later knowledge. The transversal method in the sense used by van Huyssteen appears to borrow its name metaphorically from physiology where “transversality” is used to describe the network­ing and the overlay of bands of fibres in the human body. Transversality and the transversal method are explained in section 3 of a paper delivered to The Center for Theoretical Studies at Charles University in The Czech Republic in 2000, by Calvin O. Schrag  (see www.cts.cuni.cz/reports/2000/CTS-00-07.htm). According to Schrag “the texture and dynamics of transversality” are defined by “the interrelated senses” of “[c]onvergence without coincidence, integration without identity, assimilation without absorption, unification without equivalence, consensus without uniformity. . .” Transversality highlights and respects difference without making it the primary consideration. Accepting the complementary and dissident aspects of various viewpoints, transversality seeks to arrive at a richer understanding of a concrete situation. In a (2000) paper in Zygon (35 (2) 427-439) van Huyssteen mentions a situation “in pastoral care, where a good example, as Calvin Schrag (1992) has indicated, would be the multilayered dialogue of a team of diverse experts working with a patient in a hospital.”

The six chapters of Alone in the World? closely match the structure of the six 2004 Gifford Lectures. In Chapter 1, van Huyssteen firstly discusses the original instructions contained in Lord Gifford’s will that the purpose of the Gifford Lectures is “promoting, advancing, teaching and diffusing the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term” and that lecturers should “treat their subject as a strictly natural science, the greatest of all possible sciences, indeed, in one sense the only science, . . .”. He discusses how postmodern views of science and religion and increasing pluralism apparently make it impossible to carry out Lord Gifford’s instructions. Nevertheless, he suggests a way of resolving the impasse. He rejects the view that science and religion utilize incompatible reasoning strategies. He also rejects the view that science describes only how the world is while religion explains only why the world is, a dichotomy that makes an interdisciplinary discussion impossible.

He argues that science and religion share the resources of human rationality which “reveals the way that we live and reflect on our lives as deeply embedded in historical and conceptual contexts” and is conditioned, but not determined by the scientific or religious context.  However, in agreement with the postmodernists, he holds that “embodied persons and not abstract beliefs, should be seen as the locus of rationality.” Thus it is possible to develop themes that he sees as implicit in Lord Gifford’s original instructions, namely, “a multidisciplinary discussion [between science and religion] that may actually yield interdisciplinary results” and “a clear and unambiguous statement that as a species we humans can be optimally understood only in terms of our broader connection to the universe and to God”. His method of achieving these goals is to conduct a postfoundational, interdisciplinary case study of human uniqueness using a transversal approach to interweave many insights from previous research.

In the second chapter, van Huyssteen seeks to establish the validity of a multi-dimensional methodology that draws out the insights of theology, epistemology and the sciences through a transversal approach. He stresses that the evolution of Homo sapiens involved not only natural selection but rational selection. He stresses the importance of evolutionary epistemology for an understanding of the emergence of human cognition and the complexities of self awareness and cultural values. He draws out the implications for psychology, theology, and ethics, including a  discussion of the relevance of these insights on human uniqueness to the rationality of religious beliefs.

In the third chapter van Huyssteen turns his attention to the relevance of core Christian traditions, particularly the tradition of imago Dei: mankind made in the image of God. He argues that the meaning of imago Dei has changed drastically in the course of history from the values to be found in the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2, which provided support for human dominance over creation and the patriarchal dominance of man over woman. He explores whether the insights of the sciences help or hinder this theological discussion. Again, he seeks to show the validity of the transversal methodology used in this context. Here he makes it clear that he is not seeking any proof of God’s purpose or design in the universe, much less support for the “Intelligent Design” position. Central to this chapter is a discussion of the work of Philip Hefner who drew upon biology and the work of Richard Dawkins to describe the imago Dei as a meme, “a complex and powerful cultural symbol that indicates how much we become persons precisely through our relationship to the world and to God.” Human beings are seen as “created cocreators . . . whose task and purpose is the ‘stretching and enabling’ of the systems of nature so that they can participate in God’s purposes for the world.” Van Huyssteen draws out the implications for human responsibility for the animal kingdom and the environment. Finally, he argues that a postfoundationalist approach validates “the public voice of theology” in helping other disciplines by answering questions that cannot be answered from within those disciplines.

Chapter 4 continues the highly structured discussion by transversally weaving in yet another strand, namely, the insights of contemporary paleoanthropology.  This chapter includes impressive colour photographs of the paleolithic cave paintings in France and the Basque Country. Van Huyssteen sees these paintings as a spectacular example of symbolic representation by early humans, demonstrating creative ability in the manipulation of complex mental symbols. He believes that these paintings also embody a “broadly religious symbolism” and illustrate the naturalness of the human religious imagination. From the beginning, religious belief was one of the features distinguishing Homo sapiens from even its closest sister species.

In the fifth chapter, van Huyssteen weaves in additional insights from a theory of human cognition based on linguistics, cognitive science and neuropsychology. He argues that humans are biologically unique in their ability to manipulate mental symbols and that this provides a grounding for their linguistic ability and underlies their aesthetic and spiritual experiences. He also includes more detailed discussion of the implications of individual paleolithic cave paintings.  Again, he highlights religion and religious experience as essential human characteristics. However, language and culture are transmitted nongenetically from generation to generation. This is in agreement with his postfoundational viewpoint which stresses that the distinctly religious characteristic of Homo sapiens cannot be treated as genetically given, but can be discussed only within the context of specific religions and specific theologies.

In the final chapter van Huyssteen returns to the question of what theology can learn from the sciences and attempts an answer in the light of the discussion in the preceding five chapters. In particular, he asks what we can now say about the imago Dei and what human uniqueness might mean for the human person as an embodied, self-aware moral agent.  He acknowledges our relationship to the animal world but sees the development of the human mind as a manipulator of mental symbols as underpinning our unique ability to respond to ultimate questions in terms of worship and prayer. However, the dialogue between science and religion shows us that the imago Dei emerges from nature itself in the course of our evolution and is embodied in flesh-and-blood persons . Precisely as flesh-and-blood persons, we are “affected by hostility, arrogance, vulnerability and dependence, and therefore inescapably caught between what we have come to call ‘good and evil’.” For the scientist, theology offers a promising key to understanding “these profoundly tragic aspects of human existence.”

Are We Alone? makes a significant contribution to theological methodology and to the contemporary dialogue between science and religion. It earned for van Huyssteen the inaugural Andrew Murray-Desmond Tutu Prize for the Best Christian Theological Book by a South African. The book has been criticized as being self consciously structured and repetitious in that van Huyssteen tells us what he is about to do, tells us that he is doing it and then tells us that he has  done it.  Given the intellectually challenging nature of the content, these features represent good pedagogy. The reader will be well repaid for the intellectual effort and critical thought required by this book.

Reviewer:  Originally trained in theoretical physics, John Flanagan spent 35 years in industrial research and information technology before moving to the University of Wollongong where he became Director of the Logistics Program in the Graduate School of Business. Now retired, he continues with the Graduate School of Business as an honorary Senior Fellow, conducting and supervising research and contributing to course design. He is a Fellow of the University of Wollongong and also holds a further degree in theology.

Aspects of Islam Ron Geaves London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2005 ISBN 0-232-52535-8 viii + 264 pp

A sympathetic non-Muslim embarking on a study of Islam will eventually be confronted with the discrepancies and tensions between the professed unanimity of Muslim practice and belief and the deep historical and religious divisions within the Muslim world. Usually, an introductory text to Islam might gloss over these difficulties, beginning with a historical survey that typically presents the majority Sunni view of this formative history. But real divisions were already present before the death of Muhammad and even within his own family; the division between Sunni and Shi’ah having it origins in the tensions between Muhammad’s favourite wife Aisha and his son in law Ali. 

The strength of Geaves’ insightful book is that it takes these tensions as his starting point for exploring the nature of Islam. As the title Apects of Islam suggests, Geaves seeks an understanding of Islam through its various aspects, in the hope that the particular will shed light on the whole, while doing justice to the integrity of lived Islam. Diversity turns out not to be the contradiction it at first appeared but part of the dynamic fabric of the lived experience of the spiritual effort – jihad – by Muslims to live the universal message of Islam in the particular historical and cultural circumstances that they find themselves.

As a sympathetic non-Muslim Geaves seems to be keenly aware of the inherent problems in using a foreign theoretical framework to understand a living religion. Instead, Geaves takes his organizing principles from Islamic self-understanding. Citing Dilwar Hussain of Britain’s Islamic Foundation, Geaves observes:

That the concepts of tawhid (God’s unity and uniqueness), istikhlaf (viceregence), dhikr (remembrance), taqwa (God-consciousness) and rabbaniyah (relationship with God) form the core of Mulsim being and essence. (p.141.)

Some of the dynamic tensions surveyed by the book include: the transcendence and immanence of God; Shari’a as divine law or cultural construct; the ideal of the Umma as a sacred community and the reality of sectarian division; the Sunni doctrine of “Manifest Success” as opposed to the Shi’a experience of the suffering faithful; and the human and the cosmic Muhammad. The chapter on Sufism could be considered to have a parallel in the chapter on Fundamentalism as Geaves considers whether they are dangerous aberrations or the heart of traditional Islam. Discussion of the five pillars and the six beliefs of Islam, which in most texts comprise a discussion in their own right, are appropriately incorporated into these discussions as the bridge and source of felt unity by ordinary Muslims amidst the polarities and tensions which Geaves describes. 

However, I would agree with Lucinda Allen Mosher’s observation[1] that the weakness of Aspects of Islam is its concluding chapter on Muslim women. The chapter entitled “Muslim Women: Islam’s oppressed or victims of patriarchy” presents a false dichotomy which excludes what I would assume to be the majority of Muslim women who feel themselves to be neither oppressed nor victims. This is especially disappointing as a concluding chapter, with no attempt made to bring together the many threads that Geaves has exposed. Perhaps Geaves felt that a conclusion would be antithetical to the spirit of this otherwise excellent book.

[1] Lucinda Allen Mosher, “Aspects of Islam - Ron Geaves,” Reviews in Religion & Theology 13. 4. (2006), 553–554.

Reviewer: Dr. Damien Casey, School of Theology, Australian Catholic University

The freedom of a Christian: Grace, vocation and the meaning of our humanity Gilbert Meilaender Brazos Press, Grand Rapids, 2006 190 pages

With a title that echoes one of Luther’s most famous treatises, one would expect that Meilaender would produce something that clarifies the challenge of Christian freedom for the individual seeking to live a virtuous life in contemporary civilisations.  He does not disappoint.  This collection of essays, which have all been published in other places, manages to both appreciate the theological tradition of Lutheranism and remain strongly ecumenical in its tone.  Overall, he has produced a readable but intellectually demanding framework for making sense of the ethical challenges of our era.  In the end one does come away with what the author suggests in the preface, a discerning perspective on the meaning of our humanity.

The work is divided into three parts.  The first, consisting of three essays, is titled Freedom for the obedience of faith.  In it he explores the theological problem presented by obedience in a life that has experienced God’s grace.  Drawing on Lutheran theological references and including Roman Catholic perspectives, he tackles the tensions in Christianity between the two understandings of the person—one who’s self is shaped by what one does, or one whose deeds reflect the person one is [declared by God to be].  Of interest is his discussion of the two contrasting ways that grace works in our lives to make us righteous before God.  In one perspective grace is a power that works within us to bring us to holiness of life.  In the other, grace is the word of forgiveness and acceptance to which we return in faith again and again [justification and sanctification].  Finally he delves into the place of grace in the Christian life, its necessity, its relationship with faith and the shape it gives to a life that has experienced grace and expects in hope.  This leads to a useful discussion of the joint Roman Catholic/Lutheran declaration on the doctrine of justification, neatly summing up a realistic perspective that speaks of the narrative of a life lived in hope, recognising our place not as the Author but the actor.

The second part, of a further three essays, explores Freedom for God’s call.  It explores the nature of a life of faith that summons us out into a freedom whereby God calls us to do as he commands.  This is developed in an essay on the concept of vocation as permission, in which Meilaender explores the tension of Christian freedom and moral obligation.  The discussion neatly contrasts Roman Catholic and Lutheran understandings, finally suggesting that, “all ways of life that do not in themselves violate the fundamental duties we owe all human beings, are ways that saints may choose to live” (p. 99).  In the final essay of this trio he explores the nature of God’s call, and its impact on every earthly love and every earthly duty, particularly when it leads to renunciation of what we love, and huge demanding labour.

Having established the tensions and realities of the Christian life that provide a framework for doing Christian ethics, Meilaender proceeds in part three to explore the impact that it has on a number of ethical issues in our era.  This is done with sensitivity and sharp discernment.  The segment is titled Freedom for embodied humanity.  In the first, Between the beasts and God, he explores the nature of our humanity.  He then tackles issues such as harvesting genes, stem cell research matters, euthanasia and manipulating memory.  The argument developed is that which challenges us to accept the limitations of our mortality.  While we may be able to develop the technology, should we usurp the role of Author rather than actor, and try to rewrite our lives?  He describes with substantial insight the arguments that we who are given God’s grace need to have, with ourselves and among our communities, as we grow our technology beyond earlier human limitations.  We are left with a sense that perhaps having the capacity to do some things, we may need to draw back rather than go beyond.

For the reader with limited knowledge of the classics, or the history of western thought, there are some illustrations and illusions in the text that will be a stretch.  However, this is a minor concern.  The extended use Meilaender makes of our rich literary heritage alerts us to the inescapable fact that humanity has walked these paths and encountered these moral dilemmas in different forms throughout history.  We are left with the question, how morally and in what manner will we handle the narrative of our collective human life at this point in time?  For Meilaender, it is only right to conclude that we acknowledge our limits and faithfully live out our part of the story without knowing how the plot will end.

Reviewer: Dr Ken Albinger, Lutheran Strand Coordinator, Australian Catholic University

Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life Alister McGrath Blackwell Publishing Limited 2005 ISBN-10: 1405125381 ISBN-13: 978-1405125383 208 pp

If T.H. Huxley was “Darwin’s bulldog” just over a century ago, surely Richard Dawkins would be Darwin’s pit bull terrier today. A leading proponent of neo-Darwinism, Dawkins is just as famous for his aggressive, almost obsessive, promotion of atheism. His many well-written books and articles have made him a formidable proponent of both Darwinian theory and secular humanism.

Yet to date no book-length critique of Dawkins has appeared from a biblical point of view. Until now that is. The just-released Dawkins’ God is an important assessment and critique of Dawkins and his crusade against religion. While McGrath respects and admires Dawkins when he sticks to the realm of science, it is when Dawkins wanders out of the domain of science, attacking religion in the name of science, that McGrath shows his very real shortcomings.

And McGrath is well-suited to the task. He is a professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University and has a PhD in molecular biophysics. Indeed, McGrath has written on issues of science nearly as much as on issues of theology and philosophy.

This book is not so much a critique of Darwinism as a critique of philosophy and ideology masquerading as science. Dawkins should know as well as anyone that science has limits, and questions of God’s existence do not fall within those limits. Yet the works of Dawkins are permeated with emotive and irrational attacks on faith and religion. This misuse and abuse of science by Dawkins in this regard is a major theme of this volume.

McGrath begins by analysing Dawkins’ work on genes. For Dawkins, genes are everything, or at least they can account for everything. Thus Dawkins takes neo-Darwinism as an explanation of observable natural phenomena, and elevates it to a worldview, an all-embracing metanarrative. Again, he takes science where it was never meant to go.

McGrath analyses this further in the false disjunction Dawkins time and again sets up: one either lives by blind faith or the facts and evidence of science. Take you pick, it is one or the other. Of course he misrepresents both. No reputable Christian thinker has ever identified religious belief as mere blind faith. Faith is grounded on evidence, and Christianity offers a fair amount of evidence for its truth claims.

And science is far from the neutral, totally objective scenario that Dawkins paints. It deals with evidence and observations, yes, but also deals in probabilities as much as in certainties. The constant revision and overturning of scientific theories means that scientists should remain humble, not arrogant. So too of course should Christians, who need to continually refine and clarify their theological convictions. Both involve elements of faith and reason. Both should be approached with care and humility.

The replicators of ideas and beliefs - what Dawkins calls memes - the cultural equivalent of genes, are also critiqued by McGrath. The truth is, they are not the fruit of scientific discovery but philosophical postulation. Dawkins says people believe in God, not because he exists, but because of God memes. The idea of God, says Dawkins, like a virus, is passed along and replicated in culture, just as physical traits (in the form of DNA) are passed along by means of genes.

But as McGrath rightly points out, is this belief in a God meme just another meme, another virus, another false belief being passed along? And if there is a God meme, could there not be an atheist meme as well? The fact is, Dawkins has a philosophical precommitment to atheism, and he tries to smuggle this belief system in while piggy-backing on Darwinism. But as McGrath establishes, Darwinism does not necessarily entail atheism. Nor does it necessarily entail theism for that matter.

Science in general and evolutionary biology in particular can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. Such questions lie outside of the purview of science. But Dawkins’ hatred of religion leads him to blur the boundaries of where science leaves off and other disciplines (theology, philosophy) begin.

What one makes of Darwinism is a matter of scientific debate. The evidence can be weighed and considered. But it is simply inappropriate for scientists to wade into debates about God’s existence or non-existence by means of the scientific method. It is inadequate for such a debate. And it is disingenuous for those who have a beef against religion to seek to use the scientific method to do their dirty work.

Those wanting an attack on Darwinism will not find it here. The work of the Intelligent Design movement, for example, is not even mentioned in this volume. Yet ID has landed some telling blows on an already shaky evolutionary edifice.

But this volume does do a good job of demonstrating the proper limits of genuine science, and the very poor intellectual armaments Dawkins brings to bear against faith and religion. It will not be the end of the debate, but it is a much needed contribution to some crucial issues we all must grapple with.

Reviewer: Bill Muehlenberg is a lecturer in ethics and philosophy at several Melbourne theological colleges and a PhD candidate, Deakin University.

Mission Under Scrutiny: Confronting Current Challenges J. Andrew Kirk   London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2006

What does it mean for the Christian Church to be missionary today in a “post-everything” world? In attempting to answer this question, Andrew Kirk focuses on the “post-modern” experience which he sees as an extension rather than the overturning of modern consciousness since each holds “the same basic secular assumptions” (xii). While post-modern thought allows some space for the ‘spiritual’, it is not about to acknowledge the possibility of there being any absolute truth, Gospel or otherwise, which could be “applicable to all people and cultures” (xiii).

This being said, Kirk does not unilaterally denounce the secular world in either its modern or post-modern guise. His intention is precisely to bring the Gospel into dialogue with the world as it is—focusing on the “post-Christian” West. His opening chapter is a good example of his overall method: he uncovers the positives and negatives of “secular freedom”; then he presents his Christian vision of freedom which alone, he argues, accounts satisfactorily for human meaning, value and action. Here, and throughout the book, the prophetic, counter-cultural dimension of Christian mission is emphasized.

His argument is that Christian mission needs to be dialogical with those who espouse a secular or non-religious interpretation of life (chapter 2). His agenda for dialogue with the secular world includes immersion into secular thought-forms leading to the exploration and communication of the inadequacies of the “secular creed”. If all this sounds intellectual, we are reminded of the importance of practical expressions of care, compassion and community which flow from faith in Jesus Christ. In this way, Christian mission provides both an intellectual and a practical response to issues confronting humanity.

Exploring the new, post-Christian situation (chapter 3), Kirk says we should not bemoan the loss of Christian power and influence, or indulge in nostalgia for an irretrievable past. Rather, he sees here an opportunity for the Church to reassess its calling, review its activities, renew its hope and reconsider its relationship to society and culture. He even provides a “mission audit” whereby the Church can appraise its missionary effectiveness in terms of engagement, identification and communication with the post-Christian, secular context.

Subsequent chapters reflect on this engagement with reference to topical issues: validating Scripture in a pluralist context (chapter 4); proclaiming the Gospel to followers of other religions (chapter 5); the role of conflict in religion (chapter 6); violence, peace and reconciliation (chapter 7); same-gender relationships (chapter 9). He handles these questions with intelligence, thoughtfulness and subtlety producing, once again, a counter-cultural voice which, he readily admits, will not be uniformly welcomed by liberally-minded Christians of the West. Moreover, he also admits there is no guarantee Christian faith will persist in the world’s ultra-developed, traditionally Christian nations.

Kirk underscores the call to “prophetic mission” with a chapter dedicated to the prophetic voice of the South American Church (chapter 8). He situates this discussion with reference to “the coming of the ‘Third Church’” to replace the European model of ‘Second Church’ which has basically existed since Constantine. His preference for the Latin American model of the poor Church focused on Jesus Christ liberator is based on his conviction that it most clearly resembles the early Church—and lives most truly the Christian prophetic calling.

The final chapter accentuates Kirk’s insistence on the need for radical discipleship of Jesus as the basis for mission. He does this in context of the current crisis of Western civilization and what he perceives to be a lack of missionary nerve in many churches. Consequently, while admitting the evangelical importance of dialogue, witness, peace-building and social justice involvement (“secondary evangelism”), he stresses the priority of missionary proclamation (“primary evangelism”). In this regard, he is not foolhardy but readily admits the Church’s many historical errors and shortcomings. What is called for is a “chastened evangelism” which is courteous, gracious, listening, considerate (Kirk)—or what David Bausch ingenuously calls a “bold humility”.

Many other currents of thought—religious, philosophical, colonial, and economic—are evident in the text which is both scholarly and accessible. Its argument is also clear: the proclamation of the Gospel cannot be held ransom to theological or political correctness; yet that same proclamation demands sensitive engagement with a world that has moved into a post-Christian phase. Not all readers will agree with the author’s strongly dialectical bent which perceives such a sharp distinction between “core Gospel truth” and “postmodern secular values”. Some will say he is insufficiently attentive to the secular prophets of our time and inadequately alert to the ‘other side’ of the Gospel—its call to inculturation in the postmodern context. However, there are few who will not find the book’s scrutiny of Christian mission challenging and thought-provoking.

Reviewer: Dr Gerard Hall SM is the Editor of the Australian Ejournal of Theology

A selection of recent titles in theology chosen by Hugh McGinlay of Rainbow Books.

Available from all Christian book shops or contact Hugh directly for further information

hugh@rainbowbooks.com.au

CREATION, GRACE AND REDEMPTION

Neil Ormerod

$32.95             1570757051                Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 2007               
Australian theologian provides a solid yet accessible introduction to the complex themes of creation, grace and redemption, integrating classical and modern theological resources with perspectives from science, cultural studies and interfaith dialogue.

RECOGNISING THE MARGINS

Developments in theological and biblical studies

Werner Jeanrond (ed)

$45.00             1856075494                Dublin, Columba Press, 2006            
Eighteen scholars (including Elaine Wainwright) from Ireland and around the world contribute significant articles under four headings: Biblical Themes, Theological Themes, Cultural Themes and Ethical Themes.

ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS

A mission theology of the Old Testament

James Chukwuma Okoye

$49.95             1570756546                Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 2006
Nigerian theologian – sensitive to his own background – provides a much needed missional reading of the Old Testament aimed at showing how Israel became a ‘missionary people’ by opening to the nations its covenant with Yahweh.

LONGING FOR GOD

Orthodox reflections on Bible, ethics and liturgy

John Breck     

$29.95             0881413097                Crestwood, NY, SVS Press, 2006
Explores ethical and moral dilemmas facing believers who ‘live in the flesh but not for the flesh’ with reflections such as: Are the stories of Jesus’ birth true?, Why read the church fathers?, Hurricanes and hummingbirds, The gift of silence, Prayer in the Spirit, What they didn’t teach me in seminary.

LIFE BEYOND DEATH

Threads of hope in faith, life and theology
Vernon White
$45.00             0232526869                London, DLT, 2006
At a time when much mainstream church life and theology has become strangely reticent about life beyond death, the author examines general ‘signs of transcendence’ in contemporary thought, culture and experience.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Laws of the heart
Joan Chittister
$26.95             1570756849                Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 2006
Considers what it means to love God and our neighbour in a world where violence, greed and fear threaten our lives, our values and our hearts; what it means to be born in the image and likeness of God in a world that too often looks just the opposite. 

HISTORY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Second edition
John Hayes and Maxwell Miller
$87.95             0334041171                London, SCM Press, 2006
New edition that takes into account contemporary research in Biblical Studies, Epigraphy and Palestinian Archaeology, and critical new discoveries such as the Tel Dan Inscription, explaining how the biblical material can be used in relation to other ancient written sources and archaeological evidence. 

THE BOOK OF GENESIS

Question by question
William T. Miller
$37.95             0809143488                Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press, 2006
Designed to help individuals and groups planning to read the entire book of Genesis, and who want to gain a full understanding of its meaning, its authorship and the circumstances under which it was written.

SCM STUDYGUIDE TO NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION

Ian Boxall
$49.95             0334040485                London, SCM Press, 2006
Up-to-date, accessible introduction covers the main areas of introductory New Testament courses, such as the contents and diversity of the New Testament, how the texts came to be written and collected, their relationship to Jesus of Nazareth, and the nature of the canon.

BAPTISM IN THE MEDIEVAL WEST

Christian initiation
J.D.C. Fisher
$42.95            1595250018    Chicago, LTP, 2006
Reissue of Fisher's classic work introducing the primary sources that led the author to the theory of disintegration of the primitive rite of initiation; his material is covered geographically according to liturgical areas. 

DYING AND RISING WITH CHRIST

The theology of Paul the Apostle
Terrance Callan
$34.95             0809144395X             Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press, 2006
Describes the theology of Paul that underlies and comes to expression in his letters especially the assertion that dying and rising with Christ as part of the body of Christ is central to Paul's understanding of Jesus as Saviour and to his understanding of Christian life.

GOD’S POLITICIAN

William Wilberforce’s struggle
Garth Lean
$34.95             0232526907                London, DLT, 2007
Powerfully describes how William Wilberforce profoundly changed the political and social climate of his time, bringing vividly to life the personalities and the politics of the fight against the slave trade.

RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS IN THE CHURCH

James Coriden

$24.95             0809144336                Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press, 2007

Written in non-technical language to provide a solid and centrist explanation of what Catholics (including deacons, priests, bishops, and religious) are entitled to by virtue of their baptisms and aimed at enhancing justice and fairness within the church community.

THE MORAL CLIMATE

The ethics of global warming
Michael Northcott
$39.95             0232526680                London, DLT, 2007
In the face of uncertain yet impending crisis, argues for making a moral response as an essential weapon in winning the battle against further environmental disaster.

WOMEN SHAPING THEOLOGY

Mary Ann Hinsdale
$22.95             0809143100                Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press, 2007
Considers the issues and problems facing women theologians in the Catholic church today including: the changing demographics of women theologians; the impact women are having on the 'theological establishment'; the reception of feminism and feminist theology by the hierarchy; etc.