Gustavo Gutierrez: We Drink from Our Own Wells

Let's get one thing straight right away: I think liberation theology is great and feel very strongly that all theology needs to be contextual to be relevant. That said, this book didn't do much for me. There are several reasons for this. I am familiar with most of the ideas central to liberation theology, so there were few "new ideas" here. More importantly this really is "spirituality of Latin America". It s not even supposed to be particularly relevant for me.

This is not criticism then, but rather an effort to clarify the major differences between the Latin American outlook of Gutierrez and my North European outlook.

Of course, poverty is a rather abstract thing for me. There is very little poverty in Finland, because we still have a great social security system. It is being torn down as we speak, but still extreme poverty is not something you encounter here. This means that I can agree in principle that God has a preference for the poor, it is not something that has much existential meaning for me.

This does not mean that all is well in the Republic of Finland, because the solution to poverty is not more money, but liberation. People in Finland, too, needs liberation, but not so much from poverty as from the tyranny of the accepted opinion, as one might call it. Sure, people in Finland are free to express their opinion (if they have one), and to live their life in any way (within reasonable limits), but most people still live a rather destructive life, destructive not only for the environment (only USA and some other country (was it Australia?) produce more CO2 per capita than Finland) but also for their own souls.

In a way - and I do not say this to in any way downplay the atrocity of extreme poverty - we are little better off, because most Finns have no idea they are oppressed, because we are oppressed by a system so efficient that it has made itself nearly invisible. Why use violence when there is television? Still, we are forced to live a life centered of producing value for the system, by working way more than is healthy and to put any creativity we still have after what is commonly called education to the service of that same system. What this means is that there is way too little joy in our lives, way too little beauty. Instead of joy we have entertainment.

Surely this is a situation where salvation is deeply needed.

Another thing that is difficult for me with Gutierrez book is that is so much a spirituality of a people. I just cannot relate to that. Here again our situation is so different. If they are a people oppressed by an elite, then we are oppressed in part by the idea of being a people. Nationalism is still strong in Finland, as in the rest of Europe, and it seems to be even worse in the US where it is called patriotism. Nationalism is clearly the most destructive idea in the history of mankind (only religion comes close in the amount of blood shed), and even though we have few wars today in this corner of the world, people still argue with this completely abstract notion of the nation as a basis. For example, we hear people argue that "we" must work so that "all Finns" will have a better life. How about all humans? All lifeforms? Why draw any line based on who belongs to this made up concept the Finnish nation? Well, of course the reason is to make it OK to exploit the others, ow wage war against them if need (such as high petrol prices) arises.

I really like how Gutierrez lifts up death as the central symbol for evil, in part replacing for example sin, that is always transformed into some abstract form of spiritual aids. Death is real; it is there. We can be made aware how poverty (in their case) or compliancy (in our) is death. You do not live when you're working 14 hours a day, be it because you have to to put food on your family's table or because a bigger car seems to be a good idea. That is death. From that we need salvation.

Gutierrez is in this book also concerned with dispelling the idea that liberation theology is merely thinly veiled Marxism. Of course it is not. I doubt anyone who believes that has read this far, but if this is the case, do read the book. For the rest of us, we need to keep on working on a liberation theology of our own.

Elizabeth A. Johnson: She Who Is

Johnson's book was the only one written by a woman that featured in the list of the fifteen most important books of the last 25 years. That's just sad. I hope it says more about who writes and reads theology blogs than about what is really the state of theology today. At least in my own field, the study of Early Christian Asceticism, there are lot's of great female scholars. In fact, from the top of my head I could probably mention more female scholars of note than male.

In any case, this just makes a book like Johnson's all the more important. The book tries to sum up the main insights of the first few decades of feminist theology in a systematic manner. Of course it cannot be complete, it focuses mostly on theology and Christology, and does not treat for example ecclesiology or the ministry. This has the clear advantage that she can avoid much disputed areas and that what she says is applicable in any church regardless of confession.

Johnson presents the case for the need of a feminist theology very convincingly and in a manner I think most people would find reasonable. There are still people out there who think feminism is dangerous (it is, but not in the way they think!), but Johnson writes in a way that is more likely to convince than anger.

I had a fair knowledge of feminist theology prior to reading the book, but I still learned a thing or two of great importance. For example, I was not aware of how sentimental my image of the symbol "Mother" actually was. I guess many a reader would be surprised at the multitude of female symbols for God found in the Bible. But more important is that I have tended to see the value if feminist discourse in theology mostly as criticism: the necessary pointing out of a deeply rooted problem in the Christian tradition. While Johnson does present this criticism, she spends more time in showing in what ways womens perspective actually helps moving the theological discussion forward. Particularly in the area of Christology I found many inspiring insights.

In conclusion, this book should be mandatory reading for all theologians. It (or another one like it) should be on every curriculum. It clears up so many misconceptions and brings home so many significant insights. It is not the best theology I've ready, but it may be among the most important.

Tracy's Imagination

I've been reading David Tracy's book The Analogical Imagination lately. It came in on a shared 14th place on my list of recent theological works, the oldest work to do so, just making the time frame allowed (it was published in 1981).

The book is a kind of overview of the (then) present state of systematic theology, and as such a very good one. Tracy is balanced, he has a very wide knowledge of different kinds of theology, and he presents the works he cites fairly.

As a person deeply influenced by Tillich, it is nice to read Tracy's appreciation of Tillich which is very high. At least back in -81 Tillich's influence was still strong apparently. Whatever happened then?

I like Tracy's discussion on the public and publicness of theology. Theology has three audiences: the church, academia and society, and it need to be public in all areas. This is an insight that seems to be lost on many writers today, that write for the church, uses the academia and neglects the rest of society completely.

So, Tracy's book is good to read, it might broaden your knowledge in many areas. That said, it seems to me that Tracy's own ideas are not really as important as he seems to think. His talk of classics, religious and otherwise may have some pedagogical value, but beyond that I am unsure... I don't really know what I'm supposed to do with it. He also has a language that is a bit irritation at times. I order to try to communicate the significance of the gospel, he uses words like danger and risk a lot, and it doesn't really work, it just strikes you as odd.

This criticism apart, I tend to agree a lot with Tracy's views of theology and how it should be done. I feel much more at home in this kind of theology than, for example more recent kinds of "post-modern" theology. Does that make me old-fashioned or conservative. Or has theology lost its way? At the moment I'm leaning towards the second alternative.

The 15 Most Important Theological Works of the Last 25 Years

Here are the most important works in recent theology as voted by the theo-blogosphere. About 50 people participated in the survey, which was made in January 2007. For more about the process see these posts.

1. John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (1985) 21 votes
2. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theodramatik (completed 1983) 17 votes
3. George A Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine (1984) 16 votes
4. John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory (1990) 13 votes

• A Rant on John Milbank
  

5. Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996) 12 votes
6. John Paul II, Theology of the Body (1979-1984) 11 votes
7. Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer on Christian Ethics (1983) 10 votes
7. Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology (1988-93) 10 votes
9. Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life. A Universal Affirmation. (1991) 9 votes
10. Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is (1992) 8 votes

• A review

10. T. F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith (1985) 8 votes
12. Gustavo Gutierrez, We Drink From Our Own Wells (1984) 7 votes

• A review
• Thoughts on Liberation in Finland
  

12. Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology (1997-99) 7 votes
14. Jean-Luc Marion, God without Being (Dieu sans l'être) (1982) 6 votes
14. David Tracy, The analogical imagination: Christian theology and the culture of pluralism (1981) 6 votes

• A Review
  

As I said when starting this project, I want to make this list into a source for info on these works, so now I invite those of you that have written something on these works - reviews, comments and so on - on you blogs to list such post in a comment to this post. I will move these links into the original post, so they will be easy to find. I won't be too strict when deciding what goes on the list, but it has to be a little bit more than just a quotation.

A lot of works came in on a shared sixteenth place: Borg, Childs, Cavanaugh, Hart, Newbigin, Ratzinger, Vanhoozer, Williams and Wright all got five votes each. Six votes thus seemed a good place to draw the line.

The full list of works nominated for this list is here.

I for one will do my best to read all the works on this list that I haven't read (the majority of them). It seems like a really good way to expand one's knowing on the current theological climate (in the English-speaking world, one should add).

The list shows commendable ecclesiastic width, and about half of the works are by writers that do not have English as first language. It sadly male-heavy, though, Johnson being the only woman to make the list. There were a number of other female theologians on the long list, but none of them got more than two votes. But then I don't think there were more than two female voters...

I also asked you which one work you find to be the most important. Many decided not to name one such work, but it is still interesting to see that these votes gave quite a different result:

1. John Paul II (6 votes)
2. Lindbeck (5 votes)
3. von Balthasar, Millbank (4 votes)
5. Pannenberg, Zizioulas ( 3 votes)
7. Gutierrez, Moltmann, (2 votes)

A big thank you to all the people who participated in the creation of this list, and since I'm sure theology giants like these also google their name every now and then, my congratulations to all the writers who made the list.

It'll be really interesting to see what kind of a list we'll get in 2012.

Voting Still Open

I will keep the voting open maybe a day or so more, it would be great to have some more votes. It would make it possible to make the final list a little longer without too much random in the lower regions. I feel I can already announce the top three, since these are right now in a class of their own.

1. John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (1985)
2. George A Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine (1984)
3. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theodramatik (completed 1983)

I wonder if an Orthodox theologian could have made it to the top of a list like this even ten years ago. Right now, Zizioluas leads of Lindbeck with two votes, and over von Balthasar with three, so things can still change.

So congratulations to Zizioulas and the others!

And remember, you can still contribute to the list by voting, as well as by linking to bring in more people!

Update: actually, I won't have time to look at this today, so the voting remains open for some time still.

Keep those votes coming!

Man, this is fun! About fourty people have voted so far, and right now, three title share the top spot, and these three seem to be pulling away from the rest. I won't tell you which titles these are, it would affect the result of the vote.

Right now, the votes indicate that about ten titles seem to be more popular than the rest. But the more votes we have coming in, the more titles will pull ahead, so we can make the list a bit longer. I'd like the final version of of the list to have 20-25 titles on it, so keep spreading the word that the vote is open!

The voting takes place here.

Best Contemporary Theology: Final Vote

Ok, here is the list we will no vote on. Using the form below you can vote for as many of these titles you like (ok, if you vote for more than, say, 20 titles it is already a bit silly). Of course, you may vote only once. Asking for name and e-mail is only for the purpose of making it at least a little bit harder to cheat. I won't spam you.

My thanks to everyone who has participated so far! It has been fun, the meme, though not a perfect tool for gathering data, proved to be a lot fun - many people wrote small essays on theology in the last 25 years, well worth reading. If your nominations do not appear, I am sorry, I must have missed them (except in the case you nominated Dan Brown. That I ignored).

1. James Alison, Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay
2. Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (1981)
3. Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads
4. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theodramatik (completed 1983)
5. Carl Bangs, 'Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation' (1985)
6. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the eyewitnesses: the Gospels as eyewitness testimony (2006)
7. Oswald Bayer, Living by Faith - Justification and Sanctification
8. Kwame Bediako: Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of Non-Western Religion
9. Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology (2002)
10. Michael Buckley, At the origin of modern atheism
11. Brevard Childs, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments
12. Leonardo & Clodvis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology (1986)
13. Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith
14. Ion Bria, Liturgy After the Liturgy
15. Benezet Bujo, African Theology in its Social Context
16. D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God
17. William T. Cavanaugh, Torture and Eucharist
18. Louis-Marie Chauvet, Symbol and Sacrament: A Sacramental Reinterpretation of Christian Existence
    
19. Carol Christ, She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World.
20. James Wm McClendon, Systematic Theology
21. Sarah Coakley, Powers and Submissions: Spirituality, Philosophy and Gender
    
22. John Cobb, Christ in a Pluralistic Age
23. James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (1981)
    
24. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity in Christian Life.
25. Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down
26. John Dear SJ, Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action
27. Oliver O'Donovan, Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics (1994)
    
28. Gary Dorrien, The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Relgion 1805-1900
29. Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered
    
30. Marc H. Ellis, Ending Auschwitz: The Future of Jewish and Christian Life
31. Sallie McFague, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology
32. Douglas Farrow, Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology (1999)
33. David Ford, Self and Salvation: Being Transformed (1999)
    
34. Gerhard O. Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross (1997)
    
35. Matthew Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity, 2006.
36. Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom (1981)
    
37. Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 2000
38. Bede Griffiths, Return to the Center, 1982.
39. Colin Gunton, The One, The Three, and The Many
40. Vigen Guroian, Ethics After Christendom
41. Gustavo Gutierrez, We Drink From Our Own Wells (1984)
    
42. Douglas John Hall, The Cross in our Context
43. David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite (2003)
44. Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer on Christian Ethics
45. John F Haught, God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, 2001.
46. J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race (2003)
47. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (1989)
48. Carter Heyward, Touching Our Strength: The Erotic As Power and the Love of God
49. Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: devotion to Jesus in earliest Christianity (2003)
50. Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (1997-99)
51. John Paul II, Theology of the Body (1979-1984)
    
52. Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is
53. Luke Timothy Johnson, Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church
54. Serene Jones, Feminist Theory and Christian Theology (2000)
55. Eberhard Jüngel, Justification: The Heart of the Christian Faith
56. Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God (2003)
57. Walter Kasper, Der Gott Jesu Christi (1982)
58. Emmanuel Katongole, The Future of Africa
59. Hans Küng, Theologie im Aufbruch
60. Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
    
61. Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy
62. Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity
63. George A. Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine (1984)
64. Jean Marc-Ela, African Cry
65. Jean-Luc Marion, Dieu sans l'être (1982)
66. Johann Baptist Metz, Faith in History and Society
67. John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory (1990)
68. R.W.L. Moberly, Prophecy and Discernment
69. Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life
70. Richard A. Muller, Post Reformation Dogmatics, Volumes I-IV. 2003
71. Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (1995)
72. John T. Noonan, A Church that Can and Cannot Change (2005)
73. Henri J.M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus
    
74. Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982)
75. Heiko A. Oberman, The Dawn of the Reformation. 1992.
76. Mercy Amba Oduyoye: Beads and Strands: Reflections of an African Woman
77. Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematische Theologie, 3 vols. (1988-93)
78. Catherine Pickstock, After Writing. On the liturgical consumation of philosophy.
79. William Placher, The Domestication of the Transcendence, 2000
80. Jeffery Pugh, Entertaining the Triune Mystery: God, Science, and the Space Between
81. Joseph Ratzinger, Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs: Die Herausforderungen der Zukunft bestehen (2004)
    
82. Stephen G. Ray, Jr, Do No Harm: Social Sin and Christian Responsibility
83. Rosemary Radford Reuther: Sexism and God-Talk (1983)
84. Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God
85. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose: The Soul After Death
    
86. Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
87. Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message
88. Edward Schillebeeckx, Pleidooi voor mensen in de kerk. Christelijke identiteit en ambten in de kerk (1985) (The Church with a Human Face)
    
89. David L. Schindler, Heart of the World, Center of the Church (1996)
90. Harold Senkbeil, Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness (1994)
    
91. Stephen Sizer, 'Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon?' (2004)
92. Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy, The Law of God
    
93. Jon Sobrino, The Principle of Mercy
94. John Stott, The Cross of Christ (1986)
    
95. Dorothee Sölle, To Work and To Love: A Theology of Creation
96. Kathryn Tanner, Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology
97. Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text (2000)
98. T. F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith (1985)
99. David Tracy, The analogical imagination: Christian theology and the culture of pluralism (1981)
100. E. Frank Tupper, A Scandalous Providence: The Jesus Story of God's Compassion
101. Denys Turner, The Darkness of God
     
102. Kevil Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine
103. J. Danny Weaver, The Non-Violent Atonement
     
104. Rowan Williams, On Christian Theology
105. Clark Willimanson, Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology
106. Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation.
107. Telford Work, Living and active: scripture in the economy of salvation (2002)
108. N. T. Wright, Simply Christian
109. John Howard Yoder, Body Politics.
     
110. Yogananda, Paramahansa, The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, 2004.
111. John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (1985)

Best Contemporary Theology Meme Update

After arriving at one title per writer these are the 108 titles on the list. If there are any comments that you want to make, you still have on day before I will finalize the list and start the voting. I would especially appreciate it if titles that do not fit the timeframe (1981-2006) are pointed out. Also, I someone notes a title that is missing, it is still possible to add it.

• James Alison, Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay
• Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (1981)
• Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads
• Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theo-Dramatik (completed 1983)
• Carl Bangs, 'Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation' (1985)
• Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the eyewitnesses: the Gospels as eyewitness testimony (2006)
• Oswald Bayer: Living by Faith - Justification and Sanctification
• Kwame Bediako: Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of Non-Western Religion
• Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology (2002)
  
• Leonardo Clodvis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology (1986)
• Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith
• Ion Bria, Liturgy After the Liturgy
• Walter Brüggermann, The Prophetic Imagination
  
• Benezet Bujo: African Theology in its Social Context
• D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God
• William T. Cavanaugh, Torture and Eucharist
• Louis-Marie Chauvet, Symbol and Sacrament: A Sacramental Reinterpretation of Christian Existence
  
• Carol Christ, She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World.
• James Wm McClendon, Systematic Theology
• Sarah Coakley, Powers and Submissions: Philosophy, Gender, and Spirituality
• John Cobb, Christ in a Pluralistic Age
• James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation (1981)
  
• Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity in Christian Life.
• Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down
• John Dear SJ, Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action
• Oliver O'Donovan, Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics (1994)
  
• Gary Dorrien, The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Relgion 1805-1900
• Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered
  
• Marc H. Ellis, Ending Auschwitz: The Future of Jewish and Christian Life
• Sallie McFague, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology
• Douglas Farrow, Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology (1999)
• Gerhard O. Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross (1997)
  
• Matthew Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity, 2006.
• Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom (1981)
  
• Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 2000
• Griffiths, Bede. Return to the Center, 1982.
• Colin Gunton, The One, The Three, and The Many
• Vigen Guroian, Ethics After Christendom
• Gustavo Gutierrez, We Drink From Our Own Wells (1984)
  
• Douglas John Hall, The Cross in our Context
• David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite (2003)
• Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer on Christian Ethics
• Haught, John F. God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, 2001.
• J. Daniel Hays, 'From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race' (2003)
• Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (1989)
• Carter Heyward, Touching Our Strength: The Erotic As Power and the Love of God
• Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: devotion to Jesus in earliest Christianity (2003)
• Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (1997-99)
• John Paul II, Theology of the Body (1979-1984)
  
• Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is
• Luke Timothy Johnson, Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church
• Serene Jones: Feminist Theory and Christian Theology (2000)
• Eberhard Jüngel, Justification: The Heart of the Christian Faith
• Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God (2003)
• Walter Kasper, Der Gott Jesu Christi (1982)
• Emmanuel Katongole: The Future of Africa
• Hans Küng, Theologie im Aufbruch
• Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
  
• Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy
• Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity
• George A. Lindbeck: The Nature of Doctrine (1984)
• Jean Marc-Ela: African Cry
• Jean-Luc Marion, Dieu sans l'être (1982)
• Johann Baptist Metz, Faith in History and Society
• John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory (1990)
• R.W.L. Moberly, Prophecy and Discernment
• Jurgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life
• Richard A. Muller. Post Reformation Dogmatics, Volumes I-IV. 2003
• Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (1995)
• John T. Noonan, A Church that Can and Cannot Change (2005)
• Henri J.M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus
  
• Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982)
• Heiko A. Oberman. The Dawn of the Reformation. 1992.
• Mercy Amba Oduyoye: Beads and Strands: Reflections of an African Woman
• Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (1988-93)
• William Placher, The Domestication of the Transcendence, 2000
• Jeffery Pugh - Entertaining the Triune Mystery: God, Science, and the Space Between
• Joseph Ratzinger, Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs: Die Herausforderungen der Zukunft bestehen (2004)
  
• Stephen G. Ray, Jr, Do No Harm: Social Sin and Christian Responsibility
• Rosemary Radford Reuther: Sexism and God-Talk (1983)
• Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God
• Hieromonk Seraphim Rose: The Soul After Death
  
• Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
• Lamin Sanneh: Translating the Message
• Edward Schillebeeckx, Pleidooi voor mensen in de kerk. Christelijke identiteit en ambten in de kerk (1985)
  
• David L. Schindler, Heart of the World, Center of the Church (1996)
• Harold Senkbeil, Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness (1994)
  
• Joseph Sittler: The Care of the Earth.
• Stephen Sizer, 'Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon?' (2004)
• Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy: The Law of God
  
• Jon Sobrino, The Principle of Mercy
• John Stott, The Cross of Christ (1986)
  
• Dorothee Sölle, To Work and To Love: A Theology of Creation
• Kathryn Tanner: Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology
• Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text (2000)
• T. F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith (1985)
• David Tracy, The analogical imagination: Christian theology and the culture of pluralism (1981)
• E. Frank Tupper, A Scandalous Providence: The Jesus Story of God's Compassion
• Kevil Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine
• J. Danny Weaver, The Non-Violent Atonement
  
• Rowan Williams: On Christian Theology
• Clark Willimanson, Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology
• Miroslav Wolf : Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation.
• Telford Work, Living and active: scripture in the economy of salvation (2002)
• N. T. Wright, Simply Christian
• John Howard Yoder, Body Politics.
  
• Yogananda, Paramahansa. The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, 2004.
• John D. Zizioulas: Being as Communion

Best Contemporary Theology work: Preliminary votes

As explained here, some of the writers that have been nominated for inclusion on the list of the best contemporary theological works have been nominated with more than one title. For fairness, we will now vote on which work by these writers will be nominated. I will have the polls open as long as I feel is need, maybe a day or two.

The meme continues to live its own life (it has already mutated quite a bit). As long as the preliminary voting is going on I will add titles to the list. (If another title is added by a writer who is already nominated, I will, however, discard it. Too complicated otherwise...)

Best Contemporary Theology Meme Update

The Nominations keep coming in (117 at the latest count). A potential problem has occurred to me.

My plan was to have the vote happen so that everyone can vote for as many titles as she or he wants to (maybe a maximum of 20 or so). The problem is that several writers have more than one work nominated. This could lead to several problems, either that a writer looses out because votes are split between several works, or than one writer gets to much attention because of several titles in the list.

This problem could be solved in a few ways. On possibility is a pre-vote where the we vote on which title of these writes will go on the official list we vote on.

Another way would be to say that one writer can only have one title on the final list, so the title with the most votes will go on even if another title would have more votes than a different title by another writer.

Any suggestions?

Best Contemporary Theology Meme Update

Just a quick note to tell you that I know have 107 titles on my list. However, only 14 of those have received more than one nomination, so it will be very interesting to see what will happen when we start voting.

I will close the nominations on Monday evening, and post the entire list of nomination, with instruction on how we will go about voting for the titles that will go on the final list.

Best Contemporary Theology Meme Update

A day has passed since the meme was set loose and so far (about) 20 people have responded. Keep passing the word by tagging, the list will only be better the more people get involved. If you want to know how the meme spreads, you can follow it here.

The list so far looks like this:

• James Alison, Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay
• Hans Urs von Balthasar, Was dürfen wir hoffnen? (?)
• Carl Bangs, 'Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation' (1985)
• Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the eyewitnesses: the Gospels as eyewitness testimony (2006)
• Leonardo & Clodvis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology (1986)
• Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith
• D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God
• Carol Christ, She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World.
• Sarah Coakley, Powers and Submissions: Philosophy, Gender, and Spirituality
• John Cobb, Christ in a Pluralistic Age
• * Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity in Human Life.
• John Dear SJ, Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action
• Oliver O'Donovan, Desire of the Nations
• Marc H. Ellis, Ending Auschwitz: The Future of Jewish and Christian Life
• Sallie McFague, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology
• Sallie McFague, Models of God
• Colin Gunton, The One, The Three, and The Many
• Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 2000
• Gustavo Guttierez, The Power of the Poor in History
• David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite (2003)
• * Stanley Hauerwas, With the Grain of the Universe
• J. Daniel Hays, 'From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race' (2003)
• Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: devotion to Jesus in earliest Christianity (2003)
• * Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (1997-99)
• * Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is
• Eberhard Jungel, God's Being is in Becoming
• Hans Küng, Theologie im Aufbruch
• Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity
• * George A. Lindbeck: The Nature of Doctrine (1984)
• Jean-Luc Marion, God without Being (1982)
• John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body
• * John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory (1990)
• Jürgen Moltmann: Das Kommen Gottes: Christliche Eschatologie.
• Jürgen Moltmann: Trinität und Reich Gottes (?)
• Richard A. Muller. Post Reformation Dogmatics, Volumes I-IV. 2003
• Richard A. Muller. The Unaccommodated Calvin: Studies in the Foundation of a Theological Tradition. 2001.
• Heiko A. Oberman. The Dawn of the Reformation. 1992.
• * Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (1988-93)
• William Placher, The Domestication of the Transcendence, 2000
• Stephen G. Ray, Jr, Do No Harm: Social Sin and Christian Responsibility
• Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
• Joseph Sittler: The Care of the Earth.
• Stephen Sizer, 'Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon?' (2004)
• Jon Sobrino, The Principle of Mercy
• Dorothee Sölle, To Work and To Love: A Theology of Creation
• * Kathryn Tanner: Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology
• Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text (2000)
• T. F. Torrance, The Christian Doctrine of God
• * T. F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith (1985)
• * David Tracy, The analogical imagination: Christian theology and the culture of pluralism (1981)
• E. Frank Tupper, A Scandalous Providence: The Jesus Story of God's Compassion
• * Kevil Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine
• Rowan Williams: The Body's Grace
• * Rowan Williams: On Christian Theology
• * Miroslav Wolf : Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation.
• Telford Work, Living and active: scripture in the economy of salvation (2002)
• * John D. Zizioulas: Being as Communion

Titles with an * has more than one nomination. 56 Titles so far.

I am unsure if the titles marked with (?) fit within the time frame... Can anyone confirm this?

Best Contemporary Theology Meme

This meme exists because of an effort to create a kind of canon of contemporary theology. See more about it here.

Update: The voting for the final list is now underway!

Name three (or more) theological works from the last 25 years (1981-2006) that you consider important and worthy to be included on a list of the most important works of theology of that last 25 years (in no particular order).

1. John D. Zizioulas: Being as Communion
2. George A. Lindbeck: The Nature of Doctrine
3. Jürgen Moltmann: Das Kommen Gottes: Christliche Eschatologie.


Just to get this started, I'm tagging everyone in my blogroll (please tag a few of your friends to spread the word):
Kevin, Chris Tilling, Rev. Sam, Chris, Ben, Rich, Joshua, Joey, Byron, Dan, Cynthia, Lawrence of Arabia, Chris Baker, D.W. Congdon, Krister, John, Thomas. Of course, anyone else who sees this can and should join in!

(No sweat I you find it hard to name three... I know some of you have other things to think about than this...)

Compiling a list of the Best Contemporary Works of Theology

Ok, its time for a bit of fun now. My request for tips on great contemporary books on theology got me thinking... Wouldn't it be great if we had a kind of canon on great new theology, that would reflect not the ideas of a single person, or a group of people, but the international community of theologians? I think this could be done without to much trouble and it could even be a bit of fun.

So here's what I thought we could do. I'll do the compiling here at God in a Shrinking Universe. The titles will be picked in two steps. First a nomination round; and then among these nominations, we will vote on which titles make it to the final list.

I think the best way to do the nominations is by creating a meme. I will do that in a separate post. The I will compile the results of that meme and among the titles that get a certain amounts of votes (I'll have to decide on the exact number when I see to what degree this picks up), I will compile the list of titles that participate in the final vote.

The reason I want to do it in two steps is that I think that it can be difficult to remember all books that are important when you chose from the top of your head, and with a list in front of you, you may chose somewhat differently. Also, it is more exciting. When I have the list of nominees that we will vote on, I will also ask for links to reviews on the various works (I'm sure many of you have such reviews in you blogs), and make it not only a list of good books, but also a list of more info on them.

So while spreading the meme, you can refer to this post for an explanation of what we are doing. By linking to this post, it will be easier for me to track the meme, but I should be able to find it also with search engines.

I won't be too strict when it comes what titles qualify, but let's focus on theology (not biblical exegesis, historical studies and so on - unless these are of special theological interest!). I'll let popular consensus decide. But the titles have to have been first published in the last 25 years, that is, from 1981 to 2006. (If it is published last week that will be ok too, but I doubt enough people will have had time to read it.)

If you do not have a blog of your own, you can give you nomination in a comment to this post.