andygoodliff

T & T Clark in 2010

The New Atheist Novel by Arthur Bradley and Andrew Tate (January 2010)

Secularization and its Discontents by Rob Warner (April 2010)

Jesus as Restoration Prophet: Engaging the Work of E. P. Sanders edited by Robert Webb and Mark Goodacre (April 2010)

Martyrdom and Identity by Michael Jensen (May 2010) - published version of his Oxford DPhil

Kant and Theology by Pamela Sue Anderson and Jordan Bell (Tutors at Regent's Park College, Oxford) (May 2010)

The Theology of Colin Gunton edited by Lincoln Harvey (June 2010)

Ecological Hermeneutics edited by David Horrell et al (June 2010)

Jesus as Israel's Messiah: Engaging the Work of N. Thomas Wright edited by Robert Webb and Mark Allen Powell

Kierkegaard and Theology by Murray Rae (June 2010)

Seeking Humanity by Alistair MacFadyen (June 2010)

Barth Reception in Britain by D. Densil Morgan (June 2010)

Ascension Theology by Douglas Farrow - builds on his earlier work Ascension and Ecclesia (looks like it includes some previously published book/journal articles) (July 2010)

The Theology of Rowan Williams by Ben Myers (August 2010)

The Church: A Guide for the Perplexed by Matt Jensen (October 2010)

Remembering the Future by John Zizioulas (September 2011)

... and ten books I'm looking forward to reading

Lots of posts on books at the moment.

1. Simon Woodman and Helen Dare (eds.), The ‘plainly revealed' Word of God? Baptist Hermeneutics in theory and practice (Mercer, 2011) - I've had an earlier look at this and its a fantastic collection of essays from the likes of Paul Fiddes, John Colwell, Rex Mason, Sean Winter, Chris Ellis, plus the editors and others and if that's not enough also responses from Brian Brock and John Lyons. Only downside, it looks we might have to wait another year.

2. Paul S. Fiddes version of his 2005 Bampton lectures on Seeing the world and knowing God: ancient wisdom and modern doctrine - hopefully this will appear soon, but Fiddes has a habit of not saying 'no' to requests that so these are taking longer to write up than planned.

3. Douglas Campbell's book on Paul's biography - following The Deliverance of God, will (surely) be a smaller book that sets out Campbell's construction of Paul's life (following the likes of John Knox's Chapters in a Life of Paul and Robert Jewett's Dating Paul's Life)

4. Richard B. Hay's book on the Gospels and the Old Testament (reading the gospels in the way he did for Paul in Echoes of Scripture)- he's been presenting this material in a number of places, including the 2004 Burns lectures at university of Otago, he was also on sabbatical in the UK last year and gave various papers at places

5. Philip E. Thompson, The Freedom of God: Towards Baptist Theology in Pneumatological Perspective (Paternoster) - Thompson's doctoral thesis, which has so far only emerged in a few articles and footnotes. This is long over due.

6. Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah's Child - Hauerwas reflects theologically on his life.

7. David Ford's manifesto on the future of Christian theology (Blackwell) - Ford has been doing interesting theology for years, often combining biblically studies (commentary on 2 Corinthians) with systematics (seeing his books on Self and Salvation and Christian Wisdom), as well as developing an argument for christian theology to be done in conversation and in partnership with religious studies.

8. John Colwell's Why Have You Forsaken Me? A Personal Reflection on the Experience of Desolation (Paternoster, 2009) and whatever he decides to write next - Colwell is always worth a read, and now back in local pastorate, here's hoping he will find the time (perhaps more time) to stimulate us (baptists especially) into more theological thinking. Will the sketch of the liturgical systematics get expanded?

9. Lincoln Harvey (ed.), The Theology of Colin Gunton (T & T Clark) - the first examination of Gunton's theology, admittedly by mostly those who are sympathetic to his theology. Some of the papers I heard a few years ago, others have been commissioned for the book. Contributers include Jenson, Holmes, Schwoebel, Webster and Colwell.

10. various dictionaries and handooks: a revised New Dictionary of Theology (IVP) edited by Stephen Holmes and others ; Cambridge Dictionary of Theology, co-edited with Karen Kilby, Ian McFarland and Iain Torrance ; Gerald R. McDermott (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology

(also, and I know this is going over 10, are various completed doctorates from Baptists, including Anne Philips on faith amongst teenage girls, Darrell Jackson on church membership, Paul Goodliff on ordination, Craig Gardiner on musical theology and Bonhoeffer, Sean Winter's work on Philippians and into the future (still be completed) is Myra Blyth's work on overcoming violence, Helen Dare's work on hermeneutics, and Sally Nelson's work on disability)

Paternoster will continue to keep publishing

Great news from Robin (Paternoster's editorial director) that the future of Paternoster Publishing is secure.  This is excellent news for theological publishing in the UK, especially for those who are writing in the areas of evangelical theology and also baptist theology.

David Ford's ten books he's looking forward to reading

At the end of his article in Modern Theology (January 2010), David Ford gives a brief summary of ten books he's looking forward to reading in the next few years.

Janet Soskice, Naming God

Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality and the Self: An Essay 'On the Trinity' (Cambridge) - the first of a 4 volume systematic theology

David Kelsey's two-volume Eccentric Existence: A Theocentric Anthropology

Frances Young. In 2011 she will deliver the Oxford University Bampton Lectures on The Loving Wisdom of our God: Towards a 'Theology of Presence'

Steven Kepnes of Colgate University is writing a manifesto on the future of Jewish theology (Ford is writing in the same series a manifesto on the future of Christian theology)

Aref Nayed, Director of Kalam Research and Media, is writing a manifesto on the future of Muslim theology

Peter Ochs, Another Reformation: Postliberal Christianity and the Jews

Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah's Child

Micheal O'Siadhail, Tongues due out in autumn 2010

Jim Foder Time with Texts project - it explores the relationship between prayer, reading texts and keeping time

Theology Books of the Decade

A bit of fun and reflects my limited reading and knowledge and just what I enjoyed/have been constantly off my shelf. What would you include?

New Testament : The Deliverance of God by D. A. Campbell (Eerdmans, 2009) - just sneeks in!

                Runners Up : Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by R. Bauckham ; Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith by F. Watson (T & T Clark, 2004) ; Colossians Remixed by B. J. Walsh & S. Keesematt (SPCK, 2004)

Baptist Theology : Promise and Presence by J. E. Colwell (Paternoster, 2005) - a baptist defends the seven sacraments

                Runners Up : Tracks and Traces by P. S. Fiddes (Paternoster, 2003); Towards Baptist Catholicity by S. Harmon (Paternoster, 2006)

Christian Ethics : Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics by S. Wells (Brazos/SPCK, 2004) - a fascinating study of ethics through the dramatic practice of improvisation

                Runners Up : God's Companions: Reimagining Christian Ethics by S. Wells (Blackwell, 2006) ;

Systematic Theology : The Rhythm of Doctrine: A Liturgical Sketch of Christian Faith and Faithfulness by J. E. Colwell (Paternoster, 2007) - a fantastic study of Christian doctrine around the Christian year

                Runners Up : Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and Learning in Love by D. F. Ford (Cambridge, 2007) ; Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch by J. Webster (Cambridge, 2003)

Old Testament : The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 by J. R. Middleton (Brazos, 2005)

Church History : Reinventing English Evangelicalism by R. Warner (Paternoster, 2007) - another possibly controversial choice, reflecting my narrow knowledge of this area, but this is the first major interpretation of evangelicalism since Bebbington's Evangelicalism in Modern Britain 20 years ago

                Runner Up : The English Baptists of the 20th Century by I. M. Randall (2005) - fantastically readable account of Baptist life in the last century

New area of study: The Child in Christian Thought edited by M. J. Bunge (Eerdmans, 2001) - the first in a series of studies of a theology of children

Youth Ministry : Practicing Passion by K. C. Dean (Eerdmans, 2004) - a fantastic book which I long for more youth workers to put into practice

                Runner Up : Contemplative Youth Ministry by M. Yaconelli (SPCK, 2006)

The Book that remained Unfinished : Christian Dogmatics by Colin Gunton (the first volume of which was not far off completion in 2003 when he died, and of which he would have surely had the projected 4 volumes complete by now if he had lived)

The Faith of Jesus Christ: Exegetical, Biblical and Theological Studies

This book is out at SBL according to Michael Bird and due for publication in the UK in January with Paternoster. Click here for introduction and sample chapter.

Contents:

Preface  - Michael F. Bird and Preston M. Sprinkle

Foreword -  James D.G. Dunn

1. Introduction: Problems and Prospects for a New Testament Debate - Michael F. Bird

I. Background of the Debate
2. Debating the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ in Twentieth-Century Scholarship -  Debbie Hunn 

3. Pistis with a Preposition and Genitive Modifier: Lexical, Semantic, and Syntactic Considerations in the pistis Christou Discussion - Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts

II. Pauline Texts in Contention
4. The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ in Romans 3:22  - Douglas A. Campbell

5. Saving Faith: The Rhetoric and Semantics of pistis in Paul - R. Barry Matlock 

6. pistis Christou Terminology in Philippians and Ephesians - Paul Foster

7. Faith in Christ: Some Exegetical and Theological Reflections on Philippians 3:9 and Ephesians 3:12
  Richard H. Bell

III. Pauline Exegesis, Hermeneutics, and Theology: Mediating Proposals and Fresh Approaches
8. The Faith of Christ  - Mark A. Seifrid (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

9. By Faith (of Christ): An Exegetical Dilemma and its Scriptural Solution - Francis Watson

10. pistis Christou as an Eschatological Event - Preston M. Sprinkle 

11. The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ as a Theme in Paul’s Theology in Galatians - Ardel B. Caneday

IV. The Witness of the Wider New Testament
12. The Faith of Jesus Christ in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts - Peter G. Bolt

13. The Obedient Son: The “Faithfulness” of Christ in the Fourth Gospel - Willis H. Salier

14. James 2:1 in the pistis Christou Debate: Irrelevant or Indispensable? - Bruce A. Lowe

15. On the Sidelines of the pistis Christou Debate: The View from Revelation - David A. deSilva

V. Historical and Theological Reflections
16. pistis Christou in the Church Fathers and Beyond - Mark W. Elliott

17. From Faithfulness to Faith in the Theology of Karl Barth - Benjamin Myers 

Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas

One of the books 2010 will surely be this memoir by Hauerwas due in May from Eerdmans. Book description:

A loving, hard-working, godly couple has long been denied a family of their own. Finally, the wife makes a deal with God: if he blesses her with a child, she will dedicate that child to God’s service. The result of that prayer was the birth of an influential — some say prophetic — voice. Surprisingly, this is not the biblical story of Samuel but the account of Stanley Hauerwas, one of today’s leading theologians in the church and the academy. / The story of Hauerwas’s journey into Christian discipleship is captivating and inspiring. With genuine humility, he describes his intellectual struggles with faith, how he has dealt with the complex reality of marriage to a mentally ill partner, and the gift of friendships that have influenced his character. Throughout the narrative shines Hauerwas’s conviction that the tale of his life is worth telling only because of the greater Christian story providing foundation and direction for his own.

Top Ten Indispensable Books on Theology and Children

1. The Child in Christian Thought, (ed.) Marcia Bunge (Eerdmans, 2001)

2. The Child in the Bible, (ed.) Marcia Bunge (Eerdmans, 2008)

3. Graced Vulnerability: A Theology of Childhood by David Jenson (Pilgrim Press, 2005)

4. Welcoming Children: A Practical Theology of Childhood by Joyce Ann Mercer (Chalice Press, 2005)

5. Children and the Theologians: Clearing the Way for Grace by Jerome Berryman (2009)

6. The Vocation of the Child, (ed.) Patrick McKinley Brennan (Eerdmans, 2008)

7. Let the Children Come: Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore (Jossey-Bass, 2003)

8. Children of God: Towards a Theology of Childhood, (ed.) Angela Shier-Jones (Epworth, 2007)

9. Jesus and the Children by Hans-Ruedi Weber (WCC, 1979)

10. Through the Eyes of a Child: New Insights in Theology from a Child's Perspective (2009)

Christianity and Contemporary Politics

This is looking an important and fascinating book from Luke Bretherton due out in March 2010 (Just look at the comment from Stanley Hauerwas on the front cover - although Stanley does seem to say this about a fair few books these days!)

Relations between religious and political spheres continue to stir passionate debates on both sides of the Atlantic. Through a combination of theological reflection and empirical case studies, Bretherton succeeds in offering timely and invaluable insights into these crucial issues facing 21st century societies.
Explores the relationship between Christianity and contemporary politics through case studies of faith-based organizations, Christian political activism and welfare provision in the West; these case studies assess initiatives including community organizing, fair trade, and the sanctuary movement
Offers an insightful, informative account of how Christians can engage politically in a multi-faith, liberal democracy
Integrates debates in political theology with inter-disciplinary analysis of policy and practice regarding religious social, political and economic engagement in the USA, UK, and continental Europe
Reveals how Christians can help prevent the subversion of the church – and even of politics itself – by legal, bureaucratic, and market mechanisms, rather than advocating withdrawal or assimilation
Engages with the intricacies of contemporary politics whilst integrating systematic and historical theological reflection on political and economic life

Contents

The Terms and Conditions of Political Life.

Religion and Postsecular Politics.

Theological Politics and the Ecclesial-Turn.

Summary of Aims and Methodology.

1. Faith-Based Organizations and the Emerging Shape of Church–State Relations.

"Working Together": The Shaping of Relations between the State and Religious Groups in a Multi-Faith Society.

Social Cohesion, Social Capital, and the "Salvation" of Civil Society.

Liberalism and the Continuing Requirements of Public Reason.

Theological Politics and the Question of What Constitutes Faithful Witness.

Ecclesiology and the Political Mission of the Church.

2. Local: Augustine, Alinsky, and the Politics of the Common Good.

The Alinsky Approach: The Work of Broad-Based Community Organizing.

Eschatology, Politics, and the Mutual Ground of the Saeculum.

Christian Realism Redivivus?

A Thomistic Democratic Politics?

Reweaving Civil Society.

Politics without Piety Is Pitiless; Piety without Politics Is Pitiful.

3. National: Christian Cosmopolitanism, Refugees, and the Politics of Proximity.

Introduction.

Theological Politics and the Liberal Democratic Response to Refugees.

Refugees as Bare Life.

Bare Life and the Limits of Humanitarianism.

Hallowing Bare Life: A Doxological Response.

Hallowed Be Thy Name.

Sanctuary: The Practice of Hallowing Bare Life.

4. Global: Consumerism, Fair Trade, and the Politics of Ordinary Time.

Defining Political Consumerism.

Consumerism and the Formation of Desire.

Political Consumerism as Apprenticeship in the Virtues.

Political Consumerism as Neighbor Love.

Fair Trade as Contradiction.

Fair Trade, Globalization and the Emergence of Political Consumerism.

Ordinary Politics and the Peace of Babylon.

Conclusion: Toward a Politics of Hospitality and a Theology of Politics.

Forthcoming Books on Colin Gunton's Theology

The Theology of Colin E. Gunton edited by Lincoln Harvey (T & T Clark, June 2010)

In The Theology of Colin E. Gunton, a number of contemporary theologians from across the world critically engage with the work of this influential British theologian. Gunton’s handling of the gospel of Jesus Christ is celebrated, key doctrines critically examined, and his contribution to the ongoing theological task carefully evaluated. Contributors address key issues at the centre of Gunton’s understanding of the Christian gospel, thereby enabling readers to appreciate how Gunton’s fundamental analysis of the relation between God, creation and Jesus Christ impacts the church’s ongoing task of faithful theological enquiry.

In this volume of essays, contributors explore Gunton’s constructive thinking on a range of doctrinal topics, as well as critically analyze Gunton’s theological method and use of the Christian tradition. As such, this collection of essays provides the Christian theological community with its first wide-ranging and carefully argued examination into the influential work of Colin E. Gunton. [The chapters by Robert Jenson, Steve Holmes and John Colwell were originally given at the 2007 day conference on Gunton]
 
Table of Contents

DOUGLAS FARROW, 'Foreword'

LINCOLN HARVEY, ‘Introduction’

ROBERT W. JENSON, 'A Decision Tree of Colin Gunton's Thinking'

JOHN WEBSTER, 'Gunton and Barth'

STEVE HOLMES, 'Towards the Analogia personae et relationis: Developments in Gunton’s Theology of the Trinity'

ALAN SPENCE, 'The Person as Willing Agent: Classifying Gunton's Christology'

PAUL CUMIN, 'The Taste of Cake: Relation and otherness with Colin Gunton and the strong second hand of God'

LINCOLN HARVEY,  'The Double Homoousion: Forming the Content of Gunton's Theology'

JOHN E. COLWELL,  'Provisionality and Promise: Avoiding Ecclesiastical Nestorianism?'

PARASKEVÈ (EVE) TIBBS, 'Created for Action: Colin Gunton’s Relational Anthropology’

JUSTYN TERRY, 'Colin Gunton's Doctrine of Atonement: Transcending Rationalism by Metaphor'

TERRY J. WRIGHT, 'Colin Gunton on Providence: Critical Commentaries'

BRAD GREEN, 'Colin Gunton and the Theological Origin of Modernity'

CHRISTOPH SCHWOEBEL,  'The Shape of Colin Gunton's Theology. On the Way towards a Fully Trinitarian Theology'

The other book is Spirit and Sonship: Colin Gunton's Theology of Particularity and the Holy Spirit by David Hohne (Ashgate, January 2010)

This book weaves together an interpretation of Christian Scripture with a conversation between Colin Gunton and Dietrich Bonhoeffer concerning the role the Holy Spirit plays in shaping the person and work of Christ. The result is a theological description of human personhood grounded in a sustained engagement with, and critique of, Gunton's theological description of particularity - a topic central to all his thinking.

In the course of the conversation with Bonhoeffer the book also offers one of few broad assessments of his work as a systematic theologian. In bringing together the work of two important modern theologians, this book explores both the possibilities of theology generated from Christian Scripture and the central importance of the doctrines of Christ and the Trinity in understanding what it means to declare someone or something unique. [This is a version of Hohne's PhD Cambridge thesis surpervised by David Ford]

Contents

Introduction

Establishing an exegetical description

Establishing a theological alternative

The spirit enables sonship

The spirit opens sonship

The spirit preserves sonship

Conclusion