Theology and the Future: Evangelical Assertions and Explorations

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Theology was once 'queen of the sciences', the integrating centre of Christendom's conceptual universe. In our own time the very idea of systematic theology is frequently called into question, derided as an arcane and superstitious pseudo-discipline. Even within the church, it is commonly disregarded in favour of unreflective piety and pragmatism. At the same time, the southward shift in world Christianity's centre of gravity prompts crucial questions about the future form and content of theology. Within this context, Theology and the Future offers a case for the continuing viability of theology, exploring how it might adapt to changing circumstances, and discussing its implications for how we are to imagine and help shape our shared human future. Beginning with the question of God, this book explores what might be meant by 'the future of God', and what its implications are for Christian theology. Chapters follow on the location of theology (in global Christianity, the church and the academy) and on its sources and method. The second half of the book explores a wide variety of dimensions of the human future that theology might address and illuminate. The essays bring together a mix of specialist theologians and interdisciplinary thinkers to support the assertion that there can be no more critical endeavor to the future than understanding God and all things in relationship to him.

Author Bio

Trevor Cairney is Director of CASE, Master of New College and Professor of Education within the faculty of Arts and Social Science at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He has written 9 books and over 150 refereed articles and book chapters across the fields of education, early learning, language development and (more recently) public theology. David Starling lectures in New Testament and Theology at Morling College, Australia. He is the author of Not My People: Gentiles as Exiles in Pauline Hermeneutics (2011) and a number of journal articles and book chapters on biblical exegesis and theological hermeneutics.