Delves into the ancient debate regarding the nature and purpose of the seven sacraments What are the sacraments? For centuries, this question has elicited a lively discussion and among theologians, and a variety of answers that do anything but outline a unified belief concerning these fundamental ritual structures. In this extremely cohesive and well-crafted volume, a group of renowned scholars map the theologies of sacraments offered by key Christian figures from the Early Church through the twenty-first century. Together, they provide a guide to the variety of views about sacraments found throughout Christianity, showcasing the variety of approaches to understanding the sacraments across the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox faith traditions. Chapters explore the theologies of thinkers from Basil to Aquinas, Martin Luther to Gustavo Gutiérrez. Rather than attempting to distill their voices into a single view, the book addresses many of the questions that theologians have tackled over the two thousand year history of Christianity. In doing so, it paves the way for developing theologies of sacraments for present and future contexts. The text places each theology of the sacraments into its proper sociohistorical context, illuminating how the church has used the sacraments to define itself and its congregations over time. The definitive resource on theologies of the sacraments, this volume is a must-read for students, theologians, and spiritually interested readers alike.

Delves into the ancient debate regarding the nature and purpose of the seven sacraments What are the sacraments? For centuries, this question has elicited a lively discussion and among theologians, and a variety of answers that do anything but outline a unified belief concerning these fundamental ritual structures. In this extremely cohesive and well-crafted volume, a group of renowned scholars map the theologies of sacraments offered by key Christian figures from the Early Church through the twenty-first century. Together, they provide a guide to the variety of views about sacraments found throughout Christianity, showcasing the variety of approaches to understanding the sacraments across the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox faith traditions. Chapters explore the theologies of thinkers from Basil to Aquinas, Martin Luther to Gustavo Gutiérrez. Rather than attempting to distill their voices into a single view, the book addresses many of the questions that theologians have tackled over the two thousand year history of Christianity. In doing so, it paves the way for developing theologies of sacraments for present and future contexts. The text places each theology of the sacraments into its proper sociohistorical context, illuminating how the church has used the sacraments to define itself and its congregations over time. The definitive resource on theologies of the sacraments, this volume is a must-read for students, theologians, and spiritually interested readers alike.

Christian Theology: An Introduction, one of the most internationally-acclaimed Christian theology textbooks in use, has been completely rewritten for the 6th edition. It now features new and extended material and companion resources, ensuring it retains its reputation as the ideal introduction for students. A new edition of the bestselling Christian theology textbook to celebrate its 25th anniversary Rewritten throughout for exceptional clarity and accessibility, and adds substantial new material on the Holy Spirit Features increased coverage of postcolonial theology, and feminist theology, and prodigious development of world theology Increases the focus on contemporary theology to complement the excellent coverage of historical material A new 2-color design includes more pedagogical features including textboxes and sidebars to aid learning

Should Christianity's theological face remain largely European and North American in the twenty-first century in the wake of the expansion of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America? The question about the theological face of Christianity cannot be ignored. For too long African, Asian, and Latin American theologians have been left out of mainstream theological discussions. Few standard textbooks on Christian theology acknowledge the unique contributions theologians from these continents have made to global Christianity. Introducing Christian Theologies: Voices from Global Christian Communities is a two-volume textbook that alters the predominantly European and North American theological face of Christianity by interacting with the voices of Christian communities from around the globe. Introducing Christian Theologies explores the works of key theologians from across the globe, highlighting their unique contributions to Christian theology and doctrine.

The Westminter Dictionary of Christian Theology is an important reference for any pastor, scholar, or student of theology. The articles are clearly written, historically informative, and conceptually clarifying. The entries are arranged alphabetically for ease of use.

African Christian theology has been developing for the last four decades. The trend has been to focus on traditional African religions as a foundation for Christian theology. While acknowledging the importance of African traditional religions to Christian theology in Africa, this study argues that African history progressively changes, and it is these changed and changing circumstances that theology is to address. This work analyzes issues affecting Africa today and shows the social and political role that Christianity has to play in an African context. This study views enculturation as a dialogue among African Christians, their history and culture, and Christian teachings. Theological approaches such as anthropological, liberation, and historical are analyzed from the perspective of Small Christian Communities (SCCs), which are a recent development in African Christianity. SCCs are presented as a concrete hermeneutical tool in theological analyses. Further, this work acknowledges the indispensable need for an authentic African Christology in an African Christian theology. While critical of contemporary African Christology, the study also suggests issues to be considered in the development of African Christology.

Christian Sacraments in a Postmodern World offers a fresh perspective on the sacramental event by bringing together two generally unrelated subjects in a new way: sacramental theology and postmodern philosophical thought. Osborne shows, in an innovative way, how these two factors of third millennium life can be positively united to encourage powerful new thinking on the ways we Christians not only theorize about sacraments but also live sacraments. Using a key section on sacraments from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and by employing foundational concepts of postmodern philosophy and several issues from medieval Franciscan philosophy, the author develops a distinctly different approach to sacrament events. Here is a visionary, thoughtful work by a major theologian, writer and educator. It is sure to stir thinking and discussion among theologians, philosophers, liturgists and religious educators. +