What is Systematic Theology?

Three types of systematic theology are distinguished, each with its own form, function, interests and location: 'official', produced by the institutional church; 'ordinary' theological reflection, engaged in by virtually all believers; professional-academic systematic theology. Viewed in the context of the theology of the church, official theology would benefit from a more realistic understanding of ordinary theologies. Academic systematic theology mediates between the other two, critically and constructively, and engages university disciplines likewise. It belongs within the sphere of the church but at some distance from the institution, and thus is usefully (though necessarily uneasily) located within the university.     

Argumentative Discussion: The Rationality of What?

Topoi - Most dialectical models view argumentation as a process of critically testing a standpoint. Further, they assume that what we critically test can be analytically reduced to (1) individual...     

Salvation and Suicide: What Does Islamic Theology Say?

Abstract : The Islamic soteriological doctrine advocates good deeds and God's mercy as the pre‐requisites for human salvation. This article introduces these two important dimensions of the Muslim belief of salvation. In contemporary settings it addresses some of the motives behind the spate of suicide bombings by Muslims and argues that taking one's own life is totally forbidden in Islam. The moving notion that suicide bombing is an open door to salvation is, therefore, untenable. Whatever the mitigating factors, there is no legitimacy in Islamic Law (shariah) to the crime of suicide or the derived terrorism.     

Older Adults: The Next Suicide Epidemic?

Suicide rates historically and currently are highest by age among those over the age of 65. Predictions of markedly higher rates for future older adults have been advanced. Possible alternative factors that might produce lower risk among future elderly Americans are presented and it is argued that future trends are uncertain. Predictions of elderly suicide are made based on an assumption of stable rather than changing rates. Constant rates produce estimates of more than twice the current number of suicides and a proportionate increase in the number of suicides from one in five for the 1980s to one in three by the year 2030. The elderly are and likely will be a group with high suicide risk. Immediate efforts to lower elderly suicide risk and avert high future rates are recommended.     

The liar: What paradox?

Most philosophers believe that the Liar Paradox is semantical in character, and arises from difficulties in the predicate true. The author argues that the paradox is pragmatic, not semantic, and arises from violations of essential conditions that define statement-making speech acts. The author shows that his solution to the paradox will not only handle the classical Liar sentences that are necessarily or intrinsically paradoxical, but also sets of Kripke-sentences that are contingently paradoxical.     

The discourse of oppression in contemporary gay Asian diasporal literature: Liberation or limitation?

In this article I examine contemporary Asian gay literature and argue that the experience of oppression is the central focus of this writing. Although this focus has helped gay Asians understand their experiences as a minority, the privileging of oppression as the primary site of gay identity also has other ramifications. In particular, it works to exclude experiences that are crucial to gay Asian identity but that are not centered around the experience of oppression. Because language not only describes but also determines and creates our reality, the centering of oppression in contemporary Asian gay literature helps to construct a reality for gay Asians in which oppression becomes the primary locus for identity politics. Consequently other kinds of experiences become, unwittingly, excluded as worthwhile areas of study in gay Asian criticism.     

Embodied Knowing, Embodied Theology: What Happened to the Body?

As part of a larger project on human bodies and theological knowledge, this paper is a preliminary investigation into how biology and physicality shape human knowing. It asks whether, in the frequent use of the phrase embodied knowing or embodied theology, religion scholars have paid sufficient attention to actual bodies. It argues that there has been a lapse of attention to physical dimensions of bodies in the unreflective employment of such phrases, ironically among practical and pastoral theologians who have strong interest in understanding how theology operates on the ground. The paper traces evolving interest in embodiment across several disciplines, including theology, before exploring what might be learned from recent research on evolution, biology, and bodies in anthropology and the biological sciences.     

Ignoring God Triune? The Doctrine of the Trinity in Dutch Theology

This article presents an overview of Dutch trinitarian theology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It will become clear how and why leading Dutch theologians either ignored the doctrine, or used it for their own purposes, or uttered critical reservations regarding its sense and significance. After having reviewed the ways in which this majority of Dutch theologians has dealt with the doctrine, some notable constructive exceptions are explored. In conclusion, the authors raise the question as to Low Dutch theology might, starting from its own tradition, catch up with the recent international and inter-denominational tendency towards a well-developed trinitarian theology.     

Theology: Reduction or Autonomy?

Issues of the nature and task of theology remain important to the science-theology dialogue. This paper lays out a framework for understanding the nature of theology in relation to the other sciences. In particular, I argue that the primary question remains one of autonomy and reduction. If theology is a genuine academic discipline, then it should be an autonomous field with its own subject matter and norms. Wolfhart Pannenberg argues that theology is the science of God, but I suggest that theology be more broadly understood as the science of meaning. If we recognize this, the modes of interaction between theology and the other sciences becomes clearer.     

The Outcome of Parenting: What Do We Really Know?

Lykken's proposal that people should be required to apply for a license before they can become parents is based on his belief that the increase in crime over the past 40 years is due largely to the increase in the number of children reared in fatherless homes. I argue that the absence of a father is a correlate of criminal behavior in the offspring but not its cause. Other correlations that are usually interpreted as the effects of good or bad child-rearing practices are similarly ambiguous and subject to other explanations. I conclude that the increase in crime over the past 40 years cannot be blamed on the absence of fathers or inept child rearing, and offer two alternative hypotheses.     

Philosophy of Religion or Philosophical Theology?

Books reviewed in this article:
Alvin Plantinga Warranted Christian Belief
Bruce Marshall Trinity and Truth