Modern Protestant theology has tended to shun metaphysics. The philosophical underpinnings of our theological traditions have cracked under the weight of modern scrutiny. Robert Jenson is a theologian who has embraced the critique of inherited metaphysics
The respected American theologian Robert Jenson here, in brief compass, presents his uncluttered understanding of the Christian message in a form ideal for beginning students, laypeople, and clergy. Professor Jenson sees the heart of the gospel as "the unconditional promise of the ultimate triumph of the love of Jesus of Nazareth." This gospel is based on the story of Jesus and is worked out in the lives of men and of nations as the promise it brings moves towards fulfillment. Story and Promise--we dare to call it a "one-volume dogmatics"--leaves no element of the Christian faith untouched: the classical doctrines concerning God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, man, the church; the clearly radical implications of these doctrines for personal and social transformation; the focus of Christian vision on the future as the time when God comes and man becomes what God intends. This book clarifies the traditional problems of faith, and also raises the revolutionary issues marking the end of this century. It is a thoughtful and satisfying piece of systematic theology in a time of shattered understandings of the faith.
The author argues that Edwards was very much a figure of the Enlightenment, but was able to use Enlightenment thought in his theology without yielding to its mechanistic and individualistic tendencies.
Come and listen in as one of the world's most respected theologians talks theology with his eight-year-old granddaughter. In Conversations with Poppi about God, Robert Jenson and Solveig Lucia Gold share with us their unscripted, spontaneous talks about everything from the meaning of the Trinity to what God looks like. The result is a charming and enlightening book that reminds us all we have a lot to learn from theologians and from children. Now available in paper, Conversations with Poppi will appeal to parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers, and Christians looking for a refreshing perspective on the mysteries of Christianity.
The concluding volume of Robert Jenson's 'Systematic Theology' considers the work of God, examining the nature and role of God and God's works of creation.
This volume begins with an extended discussion of Jenson's methodology, and addresses questions on the nature of the Christian God, including the classic christological and trinitarian questions.
What sort of meaning for today’s world emerges in theological discourse? "We sit in the pew," the author writes, "and ask, 'But what does the preacher mean?’ We climb the pulpit with despair of the words we must utter—a despair present for a generation at least, but now become explicit." The suspicion that talk about God makes less and less sense is set both by the dominance of the sciences as models of certainty, and by our increasing acceptance of historical relativism. The order of Dr. Jenson's book follows the order of his search for verifiability; his conclusions acknowledge the reality of promise, the "centrality of hope for Christian faith and discourse" that is the common motif of many different contemporary theological programs. To overcome a deficiency of previous discussions, Dr. Jenson starts with an investigation of how classical theology, through key proponents, has understood itself. An account of Origen centers on "the language of images," one of Thomas on the notion of “analogy.” Seeking both continuity with and freedom from these traditional interpretations, the author then enters the contemporary discussion. Over the challenge of verifiability he engages the English and American “analysts,” over the challenge of historicism he engages the European ''hermeneuticists,” in quest of a more viable and comprehensive answer than either has been able to offer.
A Theology in Outline: Can These Bones Live? began with an undergraduate course taught by Robert W. Jenson at Princeton University in the spring of 2008. Based on a series of twenty-three course lectures, it offers a concise and accessible overview of Christian theology while retaining the atmosphere of Jenson's classroom. Much as does Jenson's Systematic Theology, A Theology in Outline treats a standard sequence of doctrines in Christian theology--God, Trinity, creation, humanity, sin, salvation, church, among others. However, its organizing principle and leitmotiv are less traditional. Reflecting his recent interest in theological interpretation of scripture, Jenson frames the whole of Christian theology as a response to the question posed to the prophet Ezekiel: "Son of man, can these bones live?" For Jenson, to ask this question is to ask whether Christian theology itself is a pile of dead bones. Can the story that God lives with his people be told today? From first to last the chapters of this book proceed under the impelling pressure of this question. They thus comprise a single sequence of illustrative conversations for the purpose of introducing beginners to Christian theology.
This new addition to a series that enlists leading theologians to interpret scripture for the twenty-first century presents a theological exegesis of Jonah by esteemed theologian Robert Jenson.
Western religion today is as phony as an aluminum Christmas tree or a celluloid carnation. Our culture in its customs, laws, and creative arts no longer reckons seriously with supernatural realities--although it pretends to. According to Robert W. Jenson, the present epoch of phony religion gives the church the task and opportunity of making explicit the antireligious nature of the gospel. Indeed, Christian faith is antireligious religion. Dr. Jenson takes up the theme of religionless Christianity and works it out in relation to theology, worship, ethics, parish structure, missionary motivation, and faith. The final chapter consists of sermonic attempts to do what A Religion against Itself says must be done. Three excursuses show how the author's thought differs from that of Thomas J. J. Altizer, William Hamilton, and Harvey Cox. For Christians repelled by their own religion, here is a book that comes to grips with the "logic and music of our condition," in the hope of helping the church make sense of the gospel to itself and perhaps also to others.
On its publication nearly 40 years ago, Christian Dogmatics, a two-volume survey of the twelve major loci of Christian doctrine, seemed destined to become a classic. It rapidly took its place among the top multi-volume theologies and became a foundational text for generations of theological and ministerial students. Each loci, treated from the perspective of the Lutheran tradition and deeply examined in terms of its biblical foundations, historical tradition, and contemporary significance, was written by a scholar wise beyond their years. Each of the six authors went on to have influential and esteemed teaching and writing careers. Here, presented together for the first time, are the two loci written by Robert Jenson for the project. In The Triune God, Jenson examines the Doctrine of God by way of "the fruit of liturgical and catechetical history." In The Holy Spirit, he undertakes Pneumatology. Helpful for students and scholars alike, this convenient assembly of Jenson's early work will broaden the impact of his thought for a new generation.
At the time of his death in the autumn of 2017, Robert W. Jenson was arguably America's foremost theologian. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, much of Jenson's thought was dedicated to the theological description of how Scripture should be read-what has come to be called theological interpretation. In this rapidly expanding field of scholarship, Jenson has had an inordinate impact. Despite its importance, study of Jenson's theology of scriptural interpretation has lagged, due in large part to the longevity of his career and volume of his output. In this book, all of Jenson's writings on Scripture and its interpretation have been collected for the first time. Here readers will be able to see the evolution of Jenson's thought on this topic, as well as the scope and intensity of his late-period engagement with it. Where other twentieth-century thinkers rely on non-theological, secular methods of scriptural investigation, Jenson is willing to let go of "respectability" for the sake of a truly Christian theological interpretation. The result is a genuinely free, intellectually invigorating exercise in reading and theory from one of the greatest theologians in the last century.
At the time of his death in the autumn of 2017, Robert W. Jenson was arguably America's foremost theologian. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, much of Jenson's thought was dedicated to the theological description of how Scripture should be read-what has come to be called theological interpretation. In this rapidly expanding field of scholarship, Jenson has had an inordinate impact. Despite its importance, study of Jenson's theology of scriptural interpretation has lagged, due in large part to the longevity of his career and volume of his output. In this book, all of Jenson's writings on Scripture and its interpretation have been collected for the first time. Here readers will be able to see the evolution of Jenson's thought on this topic, as well as the scope and intensity of his late-period engagement with it. Where other twentieth-century thinkers rely on non-theological, secular methods of scriptural investigation, Jenson is willing to let go of "respectability" for the sake of a truly Christian theological interpretation. The result is a genuinely free, intellectually invigorating exercise in reading and theory from one of the greatest theologians in the last century.
The theology of Karl Barth, the world-renowned German religious philosopher, has won the interest of intelligent laymen as well as clergymen, seminarians, and students. This book is an analysis of the way in which Barth describes the existence of Christ as the beginning and end of human history. From the dominant clichŽ of modern theology--ÒChristianity is an historical religionÓ--it untangles three questions which it then directs to Barth's writings: 1. To what end does God rule human history? 2. In what sense does God have a history and what is the relation between His history and ours? 3. What does the Christian assertion that Jesus, an historical event, is the meaning of life, say about the meaning of reality? Through investigation of these questions, Alpha and Omega presents Barth's theology as an answer to the challenge presented by the loss of man's ancient belief in an eternal and unchanging framework and in a goal of life. The Church must speak to man as it þnds him. Today it cannot assume that man already believes in Òjustice,Ó Ògoodness,Ó and ÒGod.Ó Christianity must learn to present Jesus Christ, in his unadulterated historical reality, as the meaning of man's life. Alpha and Omega shows that Barth's development of a proclamation in which Christ's life is seen as the unconditional goal of the history of creation, in which to live means to become Christ's brother and share in His story, is one of theology's few live possibilities--if not the only one.
This volume begins with an extended discussion of Jenson's methodology, and addresses questions on the nature of the Christian God, including the classic christological and trinitarian questions.
The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible encourages readers to explore how the vital roots of the ancient Christian tradition should inform and shape faithfulness today. In this addition to the series, highly acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian Robert Barron offers a theological exegesis of 2 Samuel. He highlights three major themes: God's non-competitive transcendence, the play between divine and non-divine causality, and the role of Old Testament kingship. As with other volumes in the series, this book is ideal for those called to ministry, serving as a rich resource for preachers, teachers, students, and study groups.
This book presents a bold venture in theology, combining a presentation, explanation, analysis, and reinterpretation of trinitarian language. Rejecting the assumption that traditional trinitarian discourse is useless in an age of cults and sects, Jenson points to a profound and provocative renewal of trinitarian piety and reflection understood as a remedy for spiritual desolation and powerlessness. Proceeding on the premise that any radical analysis of the formula ÒFather, Son, and Holy SpiritÓ must work from biblical statements, Jenson investigates the significance of two biblical identifications of God: ÒGod is whoever freed us from EgyptÓ and ÒGod is whoever raised Jesus from the deadÓ. In opposition to the notion that God is to be understood simply as timeless being, Jenson shows how the memory of God's acts and the presence of God in Christ leads to a hope for the future based on the promise of the spirit.
Presents a statement of Christian theology. Addresses the nature of the Christian God including christological and trinitarian questions. Examines the role of the church and God's works of creation.
The Triune God, together with the forthcoming second volume, The Works of God, develops a compendious statement of Christian theology in the tradition of a medieval summa, or of such modern works as those of Schleiermacher and Barth. Theology, as it is understood here, is the Christian church's continuing discourse concerning her specific communal purpose; it is the hermeneutic and critical reflection internal to the church's task of speaking the gospel, to the world as message and to God in petition and praise. This volume and its successor are thus dedicated to the service of the one church of the creeds; it is for no particular denomination or confession. The interlocutors of this work's analyses and proposals are drawn from wherever in the ecumenical tradition a question may lead: to theologians and traditions ancient, medieval, or modern; Eastern or Western; Catholic or Protestant.
Robert Jenson deserves to be studied as one of the more creative theologiansin America today. It is perhaps due to his wisdom in the ways of this worldthat each of his books leaves the reader impatient to hear more. If his workin the future proves to be as stimulating as that in the past, we will not bedisappointed."Christopher L. MorseUnion Theological Seminary, New York"For those who have experienced genuine confusion about sacraments, Jenson'sbook is a breath of fresh air."Donald H. JuelLuther Theological Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota"Saint Augustine's distilled description of sacraments, 'visible words, ' is used by the systematic theologian Robert Jenson to title this important book. In attempting something so deceptively simple as 'to explain Christianity's sacraments, ' the author is remarkably successful."William S. AdamsVancouver School of Theology"Jenson is especially helpful in his discussion of the sacraments as communicationevents. One wishes great influence for this book in the Christian churches for itsurely will assist the liturgical dialogue among them."John Barry RyanManhattan College, Bronx, New YorkRobert W. Jenson is a leading American Lutheran theologian. He has taught atmany institutions, including Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, and Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. With Carl Braaten, he founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in Northfield, Minnesota. He was a Senior Scholar for Research at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, where he now resides. Among his many books are his two-volume Systematic Theology, Lutheranism: The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings (with Eric Gritsch), and A Map of Twentieth-Century Theology (editor with Carl Braaten).
This useful guide offers a critical appraisal of a theological movement within the church catholic. The authors, a church historian and a systematic theologian, describe Lutheranism as centered in the fundamental principle of the Reformation, "justification by faith apart from works of law."The book focuses on the emergence of this chief article of faith as a proposal of dogma to the church ecumenical, its theological formulation, and its significance for the shaping of piety and doctrine. Each issue is treated in terms of both confessional history and systematic theology. Seminarians, pastors, teachers, and interested laypersons of all traditions will gain ecumenical insights as well as pertinent information from this work.
At the time of his death in the autumn of 2017, Robert W. Jenson was arguably America's foremost theologian. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, much of Jenson's thought was dedicated to the theological description of how Scripture should be read-what has come to be called theological interpretation. In this rapidly expanding field of scholarship, Jenson has had an inordinate impact. Despite its importance, study of Jenson's theology of scriptural interpretation has lagged, due in large part to the longevity of his career and volume of his output. In this book, all of Jenson's writings on Scripture and its interpretation have been collected for the first time. Here readers will be able to see the evolution of Jenson's thought on this topic, as well as the scope and intensity of his late-period engagement with it. Where other twentieth-century thinkers rely on non-theological, secular methods of scriptural investigation, Jenson is willing to let go of "respectability" for the sake of a truly Christian theological interpretation. The result is a genuinely free, intellectually invigorating exercise in reading and theory from one of the greatest theologians in the last century.
As most systematic theologians, Colin Gunton planned to write a Systematic Theology towards the end of his life, a summa of his theological thinking. He did not live to fulfill this task. However, the first volume of this opus magnum existed in a draft form, read by and discussed with eminent colleagues before Colin's premature death. The text of this first volume is here presented in a carefully edited version by two of Colin's closest theological friends, Robert Jenson and Christoph Schwoebel, and one of his former PhD students. They bring academic expertise, deep knowledge of Gunton's theology and accuratesse to their task. This text will be adding much to the understanding of Colin Gunton's theology and legacy.
As most systematic theologians, Colin Gunton planned to write a Systematic Theology towards the end of his life, a summa of his theological thinking. He did not live to fulfill this task. However, the first volume of this opus magnum existed in a draft form, read by and discussed with eminent colleagues before Colin's premature death. The text of this first volume is here presented in a carefully edited version by two of Colin's closest theological friends, Robert Jenson and Christoph Schwoebel, and one of his former PhD students. They bring academic expertise, deep knowledge of Gunton's theology and accuratesse to their task. This text will be adding much to the understanding of Colin Gunton's theology and legacy.
There has been an explosion of interest in classical Christian spirituality over the past 50 years. While a great deal of work has been done on the history of Christian spirituality, there has been no full-scale theological and pastoral treatment of Christian spiritual life since before the Second Vatican Council. Beloved Dust takes a realistic, contemporary view of human being as entirely physical (dust) and shows it immersed in three great tides of the Holy Spirit, the traditional threefold rhythm of conversion, transfiguration, and glory. What is unique about Robert Hughes's approach is the effort to root spiritual theology in the doctrine of the Spirit, an outgrowth of the renewed interest in the Trinity among both Catholics (Karl Rahner) and Protestants (Robert Jenson). Also striking is Hughes's emphasis on "ordinary life". Here as a married Episcopal priest/theologian who brings a distinctly "Protestant" perspective to a traditionally "Catholic" enterprise for so long the preserve of celibate priests. What he achieves is a new presentation of the traditional teaching in the light of contemporary knowledge and practice.
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