andygoodliff

introducing Murray Rae

from new zealand. lecturer in systematic theology, king's college london (1997-2004), senior lecturer in systematic theology, university of otago (2004-). expert on kierkegaard. completed PhD on the incarnation in kierkegaard at KCL in 1995. trained originally as an architect. chair of an international colloquium on 'theology and the built environment'. on the editorial board of IJST and journal of theological interpretation.

Selected Publications

ed. with Hilary Regan and John Stenhouse, Science and Theology: Questions at the Interface (T&T Clark, 1994)

Kierkegaard's Vision of the Incarnation: By Faith Transformed (Clarendon Press, 1997)

‘The Risk of Obedience: A Consideration of Kierkegaard’s Fear And Trembling’ in International Journal of Systematic Theology,1.3: 308-21 (1999)

ed. with Graham Redding, More Than a Single Issue; Theological Considerations Concerning the Ordination of Practising Homosexuals (Australian Theological Forum, 2000)

ed. with Colin Gunton and Stephen Holmes, The Practice of Theology: A Reader (SCM Press, 2001)

‘The Travail of God’ in International Journal of Systematic Theology 5.1: 47-61 (2003)

‘Creation and Promise: Towards a Theology of History’, in ‘Behind’ the Text? History and Biblical Interpretation , Craig Bartholomew, C. Stephen Evans, Mary Healey & Murray A. Rae (eds.) (Paternoster Press, 2003) 263-95.

‘A Remnant People: The Ecclesia as Sign of Reconciliation’ in The Theology of Reconciliation, Colin Gunton (ed) (T&T Clark, 2003) 93-108.

‘Learning the Truth in a Christian University: Advice from Søren Kierkegaard’ in Jeff Astley Leslie Francis, John Sullivan & Andrew Walker (eds.) The Idea of a Christian University: Essays on Theology and Higher Education (Paternoster Press 2004) 98-112.

‘Introduction’ (pp. 1-12) and ‘The Baptism of Christ’ (pp. 121-37) in Stephen Holmes & Murray Rae (eds) The Person of Christ ( T&T Clark, 2005)

History and Hermeneutics (T & T Clark, 2005)

‘Prolegomena’ in Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology, ed. Paul Metzger (T&T Clark, 2005) 9-20

‘To Render Praise: Humanity in God's World’ in The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics, Michael Banner & Alan Torrance (eds.)(T&T Clark, 2006) 201-20.

‘Texts and Context: Scripture and the Divine Economy’ in Journal of Theological Interpretation 1.1: 23-45 (2007)

‘Incline Your Ear So That You May Live: Principles of Biblical Epistemology’ in The Bible and Epistemology Mary Healey and Robin Parry (eds.) (Paternoster Press, 2007) 161-80.

‘The Testimony of Works in the Gospel of John’  in The Gospel of John and Christian Theology, Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser (eds.) (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007) Forthcoming.

introducing Alan Spence

Theologian. Minister in the URC. expert on the theology of John Owen. Former doctoral student of Colin Gunton. PhD 1989 on the holy spirit in the person of Christ. author of Incarnation and inspiration (2007) and The promise of peace (2006). He is currently working on a textbook on christology. The recent revival of interest in john owen's theology can be traced back to the late 1980s and the beginnings of Alan Spence's doctoral studies under Colin Gunton. Spent many years as minister in south africa before coming back to the UK.

Selected publications:

'Inspiration and Incarnation: John Owen and the Coherence of Christology', King's Theological Review 12 (1989)

'Christ's Humanity and Ours: John Owen' in Persons, Divine and Human, pp.74-97, eds. Christoph Schwoebel and Colin Gunton, T & T Clark (1991)

'John Owen and Trinitarian Agency', Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol 43 (1990)

'A Unified Theory of the Atonement', International Journal of Systematic Theology, Vol 6.4 (2004)

The Promise of Peace: A Unified Theory of the Atonement (T & T Clark, 2006)

Inspiration and Incarnation: John Owen and the Coherence of Christology (T & T Clark, 2007)

Christology: A Guide for the Perplexed (T & T Clark, 2009)

'The Person as Willing Agent: Classifying Colin Gunton's Christology' in Lincoln Harvey (ed.), The Theology of Colin Gunton (T & T Clark, 2010)

Justification: A Guide for the Perplexed (T & T Clark, 2012)

introducing Alan Torrance

Professor of systematic theology at knox theological hall, Dunedin, New Zealand (1987-1993). Senior lecturer in systematic theology at KCL (1993-1998). Professor of systematic theology at St. Andrew's, Scotland (1998-). Ordained minister of the church of scotland. Son of James Torrance, nephew of Tom Torrance and cousin to Iain Torrance. Author of Persons in communion (1996). Doctorate from university of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany in 1994. Director of the research institute in systematic theology, KCL (1994-1998). An expert on Karl Barth (wrote a paper on Barth's doctrine of the trinity for the Cambridge companion to Karl Barth. see also Persons in communion which is a monograph on Church Dogmatics 1/1) and John Zizioulas (Torrance has been fairly critical of Zizioulas' doctrine of the trinity). He has also written on diverse subjects, giving papers for conferences and/or books on harmful abuse, theology and gender, homosexuality, woman in ministry. He was the 1998 hensley henson lecturer in Oxford. A senior research fellow at the university of Notre Dame’s erasmus institute in 1998-1999, where he was working on the christian contribution to an open society. He was a committee member of the Society for the Study of Theology from 1995-1998. The inaugural Wadsworth Memorial Calvin Lecturer at Mcgill university, Montreal in 1999. 2009 Didsbury Lectures. Accomplished violinist who founded and leads the northern scottish philharmonic orchestra.

Selected Publications

_____'Forgiveness: the essential Socio-Political Structure of Personal Being', Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 56 (1986)
____' The Self-Relation, Narcissism and the Gospel of Grace', Scottish Journal of Theology 40 (1987) 481-510
____ 'Christian Experience and Divine Revelation in the Theologies of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Karl Barth' in I. Howard Marshall (ed.), Christian Experience in Theology and Life (Rutherford House Press, 1988), pp. 83-113
____'Does God Suffer? Incarnation and Impassability' in Trevor Hart and Daniel Thimell (eds.), Christ in our Place: The Humanity of God in Christ for the Reconciliation of the World. Essays presented to James Torrance (Paternoster, 1989), pp.345-348
____'On the Theological Derivation of "Ought" from "Is"' in Religious Studies in Dialogue: Essays in Honour of Albert C. Moore, 195-204 (Otago University Press, 1991)
____(ed.) with Hilary Regan, Christ and Context (T & T Clark, 1993)
____Persons in Communion: Trinitarian Description and Human Participation (T & T Clark, 1996)
____'Inclusive Ministry and the Logical Impossibility of Theological Inclusivisim, Pluralism and Relativism' in Douglas A. Campbell (ed.), The Call to Serve: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Ministry (Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), pp. 256-268
____'Creatio Ex Nihilo and the Spatio-Temporal Dimensions, with special reference to Jurgen Moltmann and D. C. Williams' in Colin Gunton (ed.), The Doctrine of Creation (T & T Clark, 1997) pp.83-103
____'Theology and Political Correctness' in Andrew Walker and Lawrence Osborn (eds.), Harmful Religion (SPCK, 1997)
____'The Trinity' in John Webster (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth (Cambridge, 2000), pp.72-91
____'On Determining Whether Homosexuality Is To Be Endorsed Theologically' in More Than A Single Issue, pp.163-183, (eds.) Murray Rae & Graham Redding (2000, Australia Theological Forum)
____'Jesus in Christian Doctrine' in Markus Bockmuehl (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge, 2001), pp.200-219
____ 'Being of One Substance with the Father' in Nicene Christianity-the future for a new ecumenism (Brazos Press, 2001), 49-61
____'Is Love the Essence of God?' in Kevin Vanhoozer (ed.), Nothing Greater Nothing Better: Theological Essays on the Love of God (Eerdmans, 2001)
____'God, Personhood and Particularity: On Whether There Is, or Should Be, a Distinctive Male Theological Perspective' in Douglas A. Campbell  (ed.) Gospel and Gender: A Trinitarian Engagement with being Male and Female in Christ, (T & T Clark, 2003), pp.134-154
____''Call No Man Father!': The Trinity, Patriarchy and God-Talk' in Douglas A. Campbell (ed.) Gospel and Gender: A Trinitarian Engagement with being Male and Female in Christ, (T & T Clark, 2003), pp.179-197
____'Theism, Naturalism and Cognitive Science: Can the Academy make Sense of Itself?' in Science, Consciousness and Ultimate Reality, (ed.) David Lorimer (2004. Imprint Academic) pp.197-216,
____'What is a Person?' in Malcolm Alexander Jeeves (ed.) From Cells to Souls - and Beyond: Changing Portraits of Human Nature (Eerdmans, 2004), pp.199-222
____ 'Developments in Neuroscience and Human Freedom: Some Theological and Philosophical Questions', Science and Christian Belief, 16.2 (2004) 123-137
____ 'On whether forgiveness has boundaries" in W. Storrar and A. Morton (eds.), Public Theology for the 21st Century (T&T Clark, 2004) 303-313
____''Auditus Fidei': Where and How Does God Speak? Faith, Reason, and the Question of Criteria' in Paul Griffiths and Reinhard Hutter (eds.) Reason and the Reasons for Faith ( T & T Clark, 2005)
____(ed.) with Michael Banner, Theological Ethics and the Doctrine of God (T & T Clark, 2006)
____ 'On Deriving 'Ought' from 'Is': Christology, Covenant and 'Koinonia'" in The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics (T & T Clark, 2006), 167-190
____The Theological Grounds for Advocating Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Sociopolitical Realm (Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland, 2006)
___ 'The Bible as Testimony to our Belonging: The Theological Vision of James B. Torrance' in Gerrit Scott Dawson (ed.), An Introduction to Torrance Theology: Discovering the Incarnate Saviour (T & T Clark, 2007), pp.103-120
___ (ed.) with Markus Bockmuehl, Scripture's doctrine and theology's Bible: how the New Testament shapes Christian Dogmatics (Baker, 2008)
___ 'Hermeneutics and the Homoousion' in Scripture's doctrine and theology's Bible: how the New Testament shapes Christian Dogmatics (Baker, 2008)
___ 'The Lazarus Narrative, Theological History, and Historical Probability' in Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser (eds.), The Gospel of John and Christian Theology (Eerdmans, 2008)

introducing Douglas Knight

theologian. blogger. anglican. student of colin gunton. describes gunton, john zizioulas and robert jenson has big influences. author of the eschatological economy: time and the hospitality of God (2006, eerdmans) and editor of the theology of john zizioulas: personhood and church (2007, ashgate). passionate about theology that serves the church. passionate about theology in london.   
Other selected publications:

'John Zizoulas on the Eschatology of the Person' in The Future as God's Gift: Explorations in Christian Eschatology, pp.189-198, eds. David Fergusson and Marcel Sarot (2000, T & T Clark)
'Jenson on Time' in Trinity, Time, and the Church: A Response to the Theology of Robert W. Jenson, pp.71-79, ed. Colin Gunton (2000, Eerdmans)
'From Metaphor to Mediation: Colin Gunton and the concept of mediation' in Neue Zeitschrift fur Systematische Theologie and Religionphilosophie 43:118-136 (2001) (a paper given on the occasion of Colin Gunton's 60th birthday)

'The Confession of the Son' in The Person of Christ, eds. Stephen Holmes & Murray Rae (2005, T & T Clark)
'The Spirit and Persons in the Liturgy' in The Theology of John Zizoulas: Personhood and the Church, pp.183-198, ed. Douglas Knight (2007, Ashgate)

The Eschatological Economy is a fantastic and ambitious book and well worth reading. It begins with:

This book invites you to hear what Christian theology has to say to the contemporary world. Christian theology is the creature of the Church, and the Church is the creature of God. When the Church lives out of the tradition it has received, and passes on the good things of that tradition, it has something to say about the world. It speaks theologically when it offers coherent and public talk about God and man. The Church has a more generous definition of the world than our contemporary world has of itself. Theology has a more sophisticated idea of time than does the surrounding world. It talks about time in order to say that the world is not yet settled, and will not be settled until it is established in relationship with God. We raise the subject of time to draw our attention to the way things come and go, and to remind us to be realistic in estimating what we know about them. Eschatology is the Church’s term for this form of self-control. (you can read the rest of the introduction here)

It reminds me of the writing style of John Webster and like Webster, Douglas is concerned primarily with christian doctrine, with the science of theology, although as I've said above, theology that serves, encourages and challenges the church to be more faithful.

introducing colin gunton

systematic theologian. reformed theologian. trinitarian theologian. english theologian. lecturer in philosophy of religion at king's college london in 1969, and then lecturer in systematic theology in 1980. professor of christian doctrine king's college london 1984-2003. associate minister at brentwood URC church from 1975. born in 1941. died in may 2003. author of 14 books and editor or co-editor of 7. didsbury lecturer 1990 (see christ and creation), bampton lecturer 1992 (see the one, the three and the many, 1993). warfield lecturer 1993 (see a brief theology of revelation). visiting professor at the universities of kiel and copenhagan (1996 and 1997 respectively). helped recover the doctrine of the trinity and creation. fan of barth, jenson, zizioulas. founder of the research institute of systematic theology at king's. renowned expert on the theology of barth. didn't like augustine's theology much, but loved the theology of ireneaus and the cappadocian fathers. a minister in the united reformed church at brentwood URC. congregationalist. PhD from oxford. honorary doctorates from london (1993), aberdeen (1999) and oxford (2003). started the international journal for systematic theology in 1999 with john webster and ralph de colle. husband and father. influential on the shape of british theology. long-standing member of the society for the study of theology. wrote on every major theological topic - doctrine of God (becoming and being), trinity (promise of trinitarian theology, father, son & holy spirit), atonement (the actuality of atonement), christology (yesterday and today, christ and creation), creation (the triune creator), doctrine of the Holy Spirit (theology through the theologians), the church (on being the church) and the sacraments, preaching (theology as preaching, theologian as preacher), revelation (a brief theology of revelation), eschatology, anthropology, imago Dei. 'the most significant english theologian of his generation' (mccormack, trinitarian soundings). 'theology was exciting when colin was around because it excited him so and his excitement was contagious' (mccormack, trinitarian soundings).

for more see colin gunton's short essay 'theology in communion' in shaping a theological mind (ashgate, 2002), the foreword by bruce mccormack and the afterword by robert jenson in trinitarian soundings, 2005.  see also steve holmes' obitituary in the guardian and introduction to theologian as preacher.

introducing hauerwas

theologian. christian ethicist. pacifist. methodist. texan. american. professor of theological ethics at duke university since 1984. challenges religious platitudes. PhD in christian ethics from yale. DD from edinburgh. gifford lecturer at st. andrew's. was called america's best theologian by Time magazine in 2001. his book a community of character was named one of the 100 most important books on religion of the 20th century. taught at the university of notre dame from 1970-84. born in 1940. prolific, provocative and a polemicist. critic of american politics and morality. prophetic. author of over 22 books and of numerous articles. son of a bricklayer. fan of john howard yoder and pope john paul II. accused of being a sectarian. father and husband. 'shy of the thorough systematic ordering of theology' (wells, transforming fate into destiny, 1998). his theological journey moves from quandary to character, character to story, story to community, and finally from community to church (according to wells, transforming fate). believes the virtues and narrative are important for christian ethics. has written on a diverse range of topics from sex, abortion, war, disability, homosexuality, punishment, the family, courage, old age, postmodernity, worship, watership down, suffering, bonhoeffer, the church, non-violent terrorism, the bible, barth, september 11, and Jesus. he says 'I have never sought to justify Christian withdrawal from social and polictical involvement; I have just wanted us to be involved as Christians' (A Better Hope, 2001)

for more see 'stan the man: a throughly biased account of a completely unobjective person' by william cavanaugh (in The Hauerwas Reader, 2000), 'stanley hauerwas: where would we be without him' by mark thiessen nation (in Faithfulness and Fortitude, 2000), 'engaging stanley hauerwas' by l. gregory jones, reinhard hutter and c. rosalee velloso ewell (in God, Truth and Witness, 2005) and the many prefaces and introductions to hauerwas' many books.