Ben Meyers on A Book for Each Doctrine

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2007/06/book-for-each-doctrine.html

Saturday, 16 June 2007

A book for each doctrine

Following my previous post, Andy Goodliff asks: if you had to choose one book for each major doctrine, what would you choose? And so he posts a list of one book for every doctrine.

I thought I'd attempt a similar list – but I found it impossible to choose just one, so I've expanded it to two books for each doctrine. Here are my suggestions (with no more than two books from a single author – otherwise, the whole list might be overrun by Barth and Pannenberg). Which books would you choose?

Theological method:
Eberhard Jüngel, God as the Mystery of the World (1983)
John Webster, Confessing God (2005)

Doctrine of God:
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics II/2 (1942)
Robert Jenson, The Triune Identity (1982)

Creation:
David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite (2003)
Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning (1995)

Christology:
Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man (1964)
Kathryn Tanner, Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity (2001)

Anthropology:
Wolfhart Pannenberg, Anthropology in Theological Perspective (1985)
Stanley Grenz, The Social God and the Relational Self (2001)

Salvation:
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/1 (1953)
Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ: The Experience of Jesus as Lord (1980)

Pneumatology:
Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. 1 (1983)
John Taylor, The Go-Between God (1972)

Ecclesiology:
John Zizioulas, Being as Communion (1985)
Hans Küng, The Church (1967)

Eschatology:
Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope (1964)
Hans Urs von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, Vol. 5 (1998)

Ben Meyers' Top Ten Systematic Theologies

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2005/08/top-ten-systematic-theologies.html

Tuesday, 9 August 2005

Top ten systematic theologies

Some of the biblical studies blogs have been churning out Top Ten booklists on various subjects. So I felt obligated to offer my own systematic theology Top Ten list (and see also Jim West’s outrageous alternative list):

1. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics
2. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae
3. Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Christian Faith
4. John Calvin, Institutio christianae religionis
5. Origen, De principiis
6. Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology
7. Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology
8. Emil Brunner, Dogmatics
9. Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology
10. Helmut Thielicke, The Evangelical Faith

It’s hard to decide the exact order—the first four definitely belong together as the four greatest systematic theologies. Karl Barth has no contenders for top place, but the order of the next three is fairly arbitrary—Calvin and Schleiermacher could just as easily have changed places. Origen’s De principiis (number 5) deserves special honour, since this is really the work that invented the discipline of “systematic theology.”

After Origen, the list gets much more arbitrary: Tillich and Pannenberg definitely deserve their places, but the last three are more a matter of taste. Perhaps among the last three I should have included instead the works of Gerhard Ebeling, or Herman Bavinck, or even Augustus H. Strong (his work is still the only great Baptist systematic theology); or perhaps I should have included the small but still significant systematic works of Karl Rahner (Foundations of Christian Faith) or Hans Küng (On Being a Christian) or Hendrikus Berkhof (Christian Faith) or Peter Hodgson (Winds of the Spirit). But for the time being I will leave things as they are.

Ben Meyers, A Dogmatics for Every Occasion

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2007/06/dogmatics-for-every-occasion.html

Friday, 15 June 2007

A dogmatics for every occasion

An imaginative dogmatics: Origen, De principiis
A majestic dogmatics: Calvin, Institutes
An informative dogmatics: Donald Bloesch, "Christian Foundations"
An encyclopaedic dogmatics: Pannenberg, Systematic Theology
An intricate dogmatics: Schleiermacher, The Christian Faith
A patient dogmatics: Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae
A deep dogmatics: Tillich, Systematic Theology
A legalistic dogmatics: W. G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology
A dogmatics for worshippers: Geoffrey Wainwright, Doxology
A dogmatics for the oppressed: Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation
A dogmatics for theorists: D. B. Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite
A cultural dogmatics: Langdon Gilkey, Message and Existence
A boring dogmatics: Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology
An energetic dogmatics: Robert Jenson, Systematic Theology
A sleep-inducing dogmatics: Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology
A nightmare-inducing dogmatics: Herman Hoeksema, Reformed Dogmatics
A traditional dogmatics: Thomas Oden, Systematic Theology
An untraditional dogmatics: Gordon Kaufman, Systematic Theology
A cheerful dogmatics: Barth, Church Dogmatics
A mystical dogmatics: Matthias Scheeben, Mysteries of Christianity

Propositions by Kim Fabricius at Faith & Theology blog

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2006/09/propositions-by-kim-fabricius.html

Propositions by Kim Fabricius

Kim is a minister at Bethel United Reformed Church in Swansea, Wales, and he's United eformed chaplain to Swansea University. He was born in New York in 1948, and, after spending most of the 70s wasting his youth (which he reckons is better than having done nothing with it), he was blasted into faith reading Karl Barth's Commentary on Romans. This led him pretty directly into ministry, which Kim describes as "that wonderful vocation provided by the good Lord for displaced Christian intellectuals who are useless at proper work."

He studied English literature at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and then took an MA (Theology) at Oxford University in 1981. He's married to Angie, and they have two kids in their late twenties, Karl and Katie.

Kim's favourite theologians are Barth, Bonhoeffer, Yoder, Hauerwas, John Webster, and Rowan Williams; and his interests include running, baseball, rugby union, cappuccino, baseball, Indian food, cats, and baseball. He often contributes posts to Faith & Theology, including the ever-popular "ten propositions" series, listed below:

Ten Propositions on the Trinity
Ten Propositions on Prayer
Ten Propositions on Preaching
9.5 Theses on Listening to Preaching
Ten Propositions on Penal Substitution
Ten Propositions on Hell
Ten Propositions on Peace and War (with a postscript)
Ten Propositions on Karl Barth: Theologian
Ten Propositions on Being Human
Ten Thoughts on the Literal and the Literary
Ten Propositions on Worship
Twelve Propositions on Same-Sex Relationships and the Church
Ten Propositions on the Divine Perfections
Ten Propositions on Self-Love and Related BS
Ten Propositions on Theodicy
Ten Propositions on Ecumenism
Ten Propositions on the Holy Spirit
Ten Propositions on Sin
Ten Propositions on the Resurrection
Ten Propositions on Being a Theologian
Ten Propositions on Political Theology
Ten Propositions on Freedom
Ten Propositions on Being a Minister
Interlude: Ten Reasons Why Baseball Is God's Game
Ten Propositions on Heresy
Ten Propositions on Spirituality
Ten Propositions on Faith and Laughter
Ten Propositions on Richard Dawkins and the New Atheists
Autobiographical: Ten Stations on My Way to Christian Pacifism

Ben Meyers on Essential Culture for Theologians

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2006/02/essential-culture-for-theologians_26.html

Sunday, 26 February 2006

Essential culture for theologians

Over the past weeks I have thoroughly enjoyed this series of "essential culture for theologians." The posts in this series have covered everything from films to philosophy, from paintings to poets, from architecture to rock-and-roll. I think the best aspect of the series was the participation of so many different people: guest-contributors included Kim Fabricius, Joanna C., Joe Cathey, Stephen Cox, Tim Hormon, Chris Tessone, Jim West, and Tyler Williams.

Thanks to all of you who contributed and commented throughout the series—here is a full list of the 14 posts (please remind me if I have forgotten any of them!):

• Essential paintings for theologians
• More essential paintings for theologians
• Essential ikons for theologians
• Essential novels for theologians
• Essential poets for theologians
• Essential plays for theologians
• Essential philosophy for theologians
• Essential history for theologians
• Essential compositions for theologians
• Essential popular music for theologians
• Essential films for theologians
• Essential spiritual and devotional writings for theologians
• Essential travel for theologians
• Essential buildings for theologians

Ben Meyers on Theology for Beginners

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2006/09/theology-for-beginners.html

Tuesday, 12 September 2006

Theology for beginners

Here are the links to the series:

Faith
1. Faith
2. Theology
3. Gospel

Gospel
4. Israel
5. Jesus
6. Crucifixion
7. Resurrection

God
8. Triunity
9. Election

Creation
10. Creation
11. Creatures
12. Humans

Salvation
13. Deity
14. Descent
15. Ascent

Community
16. Spirit
17. Church
18. Freedom
19. Forgiveness
20. Mission

End
21. Completion
22. Glorification

Ben Meyers on Barth's Church Dogmatics in a Week

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2005/11/church-dogmatics-in-week.html

Monday, 28 November 2005

Church Dogmatics in a week

Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics is one of the longest theological works ever written. The work was published as 13 massive tomes; and although Barth had planned to divide the work into five main volumes, he did not live long enough to complete even the fourth volume.

It took Barth decades to write the Church Dogmatics; and it takes a couple of solid years to read the whole work through. But since ours is the generation of microwave ovens and fast food, I thought it would be appropriate to offer a one-week summary of the Church Dogmatics.

So below I have posted a single-sentence summary of each of the 13 books that make up the Church Dogmatics, along with my choice of a notable section, and a quote from each book. Naturally, my tongue is in my cheek when I describe this as a "summary," since Barth, more than any other theologian, resists even the most elaborate attempts at systematic summary. His thought can never be summarised or reduced to a set of propositions, because it is in a constant state of movement, dialectic, and life. When we try to summarise Barth, we necessarily lose all that is most interesting and most vital in his thought—just as we would lose everything that matters if we tried to "summarise" one of Shakespeare's plays.

Just as we can understand and appreciate Shakespeare only by experiencing his language firsthand, so we can understand and appreciate Barth only by reading him, only by experiencing the extraordinary power and dynamic movement of his thought.

With that disclaimer aside, let me now heartlessly betray Barth by offering a sort of fast-food version of the Church Dogmatics....

Ode to Church Dogmatics (a poem)

Church Dogmatics: summary of the whole work

Church Dogmatics I/1

Church Dogmatics I/2

Church Dogmatics II/1

Church Dogmatics II/2

Church Dogmatics III/1

Church Dogmatics III/2

Church Dogmatics III/3

Church Dogmatics III/4

Church Dogmatics IV/1

Church Dogmatics IV/2

Church Dogmatics IV/3

Church Dogmatics IV/4 (fragment)

Church Dogmatics: more to come

Church Dogmatics: some personal choices

Church Dogmatics: more personal choices