A Theology of Word & Spirit

by Bloesch, Donald G.

• ISBN13: 9780830827510
• ISBN10: 083082751X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-31
• Publisher: Ivp Academic

Summary

A 1994Christianity Todaybook award winner.In the inaugural volume of his seven-volume systematic theology, Christian Foundations, Donald G. Bloesch surveys his method. His approach is conversant with up-to-the-minute theological concerns but also vitally grounded in the Reformation emphasis on biblical revelation illumined by the Holy Spirit.InA Theology of Word & SpiritBloesch draws out the contemporary implications of the biblically founded theology of Augustine, Luther, Calvin and Barth. He also offers fresh and faithful discussions of relativism, the present church conflict over biblical authority, fideism and rationalism, feminine-gender language for God, narrative theology, and the hermeneutical problem.Harvesting the fruit of a lifetime of devoted scholarship and passionate dialogue, Bloesch offers his assessments and reflections at a time of extraordinary change and challenge. InA Theology of Word & Spirithe points the way toward a confessional theology for the 21st century.

Table of Contents

Foreword	11	(5)
1 Introduction	16	(9)
Reclaiming Dogma	19	(1)
Toward the Recovery of Biblical, Evangelical Theology	20	(5)
2 The Theological Malaise	25	(9)
The Slide into Relativism	28	(3)
A New Church Conflict?	31	(3)
3 Faith and Philosophy	34	(33)
Faith and Reason	35	(3)
Theology and Philosophy	38	(6)
Faith and Metaphysics	44	(5)
Faith and Religion	49	(4)
Faith and Ethics	53	(4)
Beyond Fideism and Rationalism	57	(4)
Appendix A: Kierkegaard	61	(6)
4 Theological Language	67	(40)
The Enigma of Faith-Language	70	(6)
Dialectic and Paradox	76	(5)
The Divine Names	81	(4)
Resymbolizing God	85	(9)
Words and Images	94	(8)
Appendix B: On Meaning	102	(5)
5 Toward the Renewal of Theology	107	(36)
Theology Defined	114	(5)
Dogma and Doctrine	119	(5)
Dimensions of a Renewed Theology	124	(3)
The Two Sides of Theology	127	(3)
The Challenge Today	130	(3)
A Venture in Obedience	133	(3)
Appendix C: Gospel and Kerygma	136	(2)
Appendix D: Orthodoxy	138	(5)
6 Natural Theology	143	(41)
Karl Barth and His Adversaries	149	(7)
The New Catholicism	156	(3)
General Revelation	159	(7)
Natural Morality	166	(7)
A Theology of Creation	173	(3)
Natural Theology Today	176	(2)
Appendix E: Thomas F. Torrance	178	(6)
7 Rethinking Theological Authority	184	(28)
Loci of Authority	186	(9)
Absolute and Relative Norms	195	(4)
The Paradoxical Nature of Theological Authority	199	(3)
The Ground of Certainty	202	(3)
Mystery and Meaning	205	(3)
Appendix F: The Wesleyan Quadrilateral	208	(4)
8 The Communication of the Gospel	212	(38)
Revelation and Communication	221	(4)
Questionable Methods	225	(6)
A Biblical Alternative	231	(3)
A Reappraisal of Apologetics	234	(7)
Religious Imperialism Versus Evangelism	241	(9)
9 Theology at the Crossroads	250	(23)
Four Options	252	(1)
Theology of Restoration	253	(3)
Theology of Accommodation	256	(3)
Theology of Correlation	259	(3)
Theology of Confrontation	262	(2)
Points of Conflict	264	(3)
Toward a New Kind of Confessional Theology	267	(2)
Discordant Voices	269	(4)
Notes	273	(56)
Index of Names	329	(3)
Index of Subjects	332	(3)
Index of Scripture	335