The
Modern Churchpeople's Union
Modern Believing 49:2 April 2008
Books Reviewed - each picture link will take you to Amazon
Nicholas Adams,
Habermas and Theology.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006 . Pp 278
Reviewed by Johannes Hoff
Jürgen Habermas may be regarded as the last important intellectual successor of irreligious Kantian Protestantism in Germany. And he appears to have a Hegelian stomach, for he is able to digest the most dispersed scholarly material and to reshape it from the point of view of the basic question of the Kantian enlightenment. Considering the ‘signs of the times', he still asks the question: What difference does today introduce with respect to yesterday?
Oliver Davies, Paul D. Janz and Clemens Sedmak,
Transformation Theology: Church in the World.
London: T & T Clark, 2007. Pp 179.
Reviewed by Rob Warner
This manifesto for a new theology is co-authored by three professors at King's College London. A doctrinal theologian, a philosophical theologian and a Christian ethicist have each written two chapters that develop a single theme: authentic Christian theology is grounded in the embodied revelation of the incarnation and the continued embodiedness of the ascended Christ. This, they argue, requires a transformation of the doctrine of revelation as a gift of God that continues to be made available in embodied form.
Kevin J. Vanhoozer,
The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology.
Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. Pp 488.
Revied by Gerard Mannion
This new and lengthy volume by Kevin Vanhoozer is a further constructive attempt both to appropriate anew as well as to take on board particular criticisms of postliberal theology, as typified by the influential work of George Lindbeck. In what he calls a ‘canonical-linguistic approach to Christian theology', Kevin Vanhoozer's aim is to return the canon of scripture to centre-stage, believing that earlier postliberal theology somewhat sidelined scripture at the expense of practices.
G. R. Evans,
Christian Belief: A Short History for Today.
London: I.B. Tauris, 2006. Pp. ix, 230.
Sanctified commonsense seems to be the principal victim of the turf wars that are being conducted in many religious circles at the moment. The result has been to provide a considerable supply of ammunition for those (whether cultured or uncultured) who despise or dismiss religious belief. For those who feel depressed by this development, Professor Evans' book will come as a welcome relief.Reviewed by Patrick Thomas