Life Abundant : Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril

by McFague, Sallie

• ISBN13: 9780800632694
• ISBN10: 0800632699
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: AUGSBURG FORTRESS PUB

Summary

FROM THE PUBLISHER In this splendidly crafted work, McFague argues for theology as an ethical imperative for all thinking Christians: Responsible discipleship today entails disciplined religious reflection. Moreover, theology matters: Without serious reflection on their worldview, ultimate commitments, and lifestyle, North American Christians cannot hope to contribute to ensuring the "good life" for people or the planet. To live differently we must think differently. McFague has therefore written this primer in theology. It helps Christians assess their own religious story in light of the larger Christian tradition and the felt needs of the planet. At once an apology for an ecologically driven theology and a model for how theology itself might be expressed, her work is expressly crafted to bring people into the practice of religious reflection as a form of responsible Christian practice in the world. McFague shows the reader how articulating one's personal religious story and credo can lead directly into contextual analysis, unfolding of theological concepts, and forms of Christian practice. In lucid prose she offers creative discussions of revelation, the reigning economic worldview (and its ecological alternative), and how a planetary theology might approach classical areas of God and the world, Christ and salvation, and life in the Spirit. Enticing readers into serious self-assessment and creative commitment, McFague's new work encourages and models a theological practice that "gives glory to God by loving the world." Author Bio: Sallie McFague is Carpenter Professor of Theology and former Dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee. Among her manyinfluential works, all of which are from Fortress Press, include Metaphorical Theology (1982), Models of God (1987), The Body of God (1993), and Super, Natural Christians (1997).

Author Biography

Sallie McFague is Carpenter Professor of Theology Emerita, Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface	xi
Part I: The Practice of Planetary Theology
A Brief Credo	3	(22)
A Religious Autobiography	3	(6)
Some Reflections	9	(6)
Thinking Theologically	15	(2)
A Credo	17	(8)
Theology Matters	25	(14)
Is Theology Possible for North American Christians?	25	(8)
Ecological Theology: A North American Liberation Theology	33	(6)
The Matter of Theology	39	(36)
Contexts	40	(11)
Content	51	(6)
Criteria	57	(18)
Part II: The Context of Planetary Theology
Introduction	71	(4)
The Contemporary Economic Model and Worldview	75	(24)
Neo-classical Economics and Its Worldview	75	(6)
The Contemporary Economic Worldview and the Consumer Society	81	(12)
An Assessment of the Consumer Society	93	(6)
The Ecological Economic Model and Worldview	99	(34)
The Ecological Economic Worldview and the Ecological Society	105	(15)
An Assessment of the Ecological Society	120	(13)
Part III: The Content of Planetary Theology
Introduction	127	(6)
God and the World	133	(24)
Some Preliminary Reflections	133	(2)
Beginning with God	135	(3)
God Is Love: The Many Ways to Say It	138	(5)
God as Creator, Liberator, and Sustainer	143	(5)
How Is God Present in the World?	148	(3)
Is Reality Good?	151	(6)
Christ and Salvation	157	(24)
Christ and the Neo-Classical Economic Worldview	157	(3)
Ecological Christologies	160	(6)
An Ecological Economic Christology: Prophetic and Sacramental	166	(5)
Christ and the Ecological Economic Worldview	171	(10)
Life in the Spirit	181	(22)
Human Existence in the Spirit	182	(4)
The Life of Discipleship: John Woolman and Dorothy Day	186	(9)
Life in the Church	195	(4)
Life in Society	199	(4)
Epilogue	203	(2)
Appendix: A Manifesto to North American Middle-Class Christians	205	(6)
Notes	211	(32)
Index	243