REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Situating the Self: Gender, Community and Postmodernism in Contemporary Ethics , by Seyla Benhabib
The Politics of God: Christian Theologies and Social Justice , by Kathyrn
A Theology of Reconstruction: Nation-Building and Human Rights , by Charles Villa-vicencio
Out of Every Tribe and Nation: Christian Theology at the Ethnic Reoundtable , by Justo L. Gonzalez
The Thought of Thomas Aquinas , by Brian Davies
Logic and Sin in the Writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein , by Philip R. Shields
Self/Power/Other. Political Theory and Dialogical Ethics , by Romand Coles
Christian Faith and Philosophical Theology: Essays in Honour of Vincent Brümmer , edited by Gijsbert van den Brink, Luco J. van den Brom, and Marcel Sarot
A New Handbook of Christian Theology , Edited by Donald W. Musser and Joseph L. Price
The Love commandments: Essays in Christian Ethics and Moral Philosophy , Edited by Edmund Santurri and William Werpehowski
Gott: Philosophisch-theologische Denkversuche , by Ingolf U. Dalferth
The New Testament and The People of God , by N.T. Wright
Sister in the Wilderness. The Challenge of Womanist God-Tald , by Delores Williams
Bound to Differ, The Dynamics of Theological Discourses , by Wesley A. Kort
Between Athens and Berlin: The Theological Education Debate , by David H. Kelsey     

REVIEWS

Books reviewed:
David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth Reviewed by Oleg Bychkov
Ingolf U. Dalferth, Die Wirklichkeit des Möglichen: Hermeneutische Religionsphilosophie Reviewed by Matthias Gockel
Vincent J. Miller, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture Reviewed by Michael L. Budde
John David Dawson, Christian Figural Reading and the Fashioning of Identity Reviewed by John C. Cavadini
Stanley Hauerwas, Performing the Faith: Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence Reviewed by Clifford Green
Stephen van Erp, The Art of Theology: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics and the Foundations of Faith Reviewed by Mark Alan Bowald
John Inge, A Christian Theology of Place Reviewed by Belden C. Lane
Graham Hughes, Worship as Meaning: A Liturgical Theology for Late Modernity Reviewed by Jim Fodor
Denys Turner, Faith, Reason and the Existence of God Reviewed by David Burrell
Francesca Aran Murphy, Art and Intellect in the Philosophy of Étienne Gilson Reviewed by Trent Pomplun     

An exploration of the experience of Christian counsellors in their work with both Christian and non‐Christian clients,with particular reference to aspects of cultural transition

Aim: This study explores the experience of Christian counsellors working in both Christian and secular settings, paying particular attention to the possibility of regarding their development as a form of cultural transition. Method: Heuristic methodology was used, interviewing 22 counsellors with varying churchmanship (i.e. Christian tradition/denomination) and counselling training. Findings/Discussion: A spectrum of experiences with both Christian and non‐Christian clients emerged. The level of overtness of the counsellors’ faith with these clients varied considerably. Parallels with the experience of these counsellors and that of immigrants in terms of cultural transition are discussed. Conclusions: The experience of Christian counsellors differs with respect to the level of Christian influence (i.e. Christian or secular input) in training, supervision and work context. Those with higher secular influence have less difficulty working with clients with different belief systems and values. Implications: Christian counsellors need to be more reflexive with respect to the effect of their own value systems when working with clients, particularly if they work mostly in a Christian context. Trainers need to be aware of cultural transition aspects in the development of counsellors who have a Christian faith.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: The Trial OF Beyers Naudé: Christian Witness AND THE Rule OF Law, edited by the Der überholte Marx, by Walther Bienert Karl Barths Tauflehre, by Richard Schlüter Evangelischer Erwachsenen Katechismus: Kursbuch DES Glaubens, edited by Werner Jentsch, Harmut Jetter, Manfred Kiessig and Horst Keller The Common Catechism: A Christian Book OF Faith, edited by Johannes Feiner and Lukas Vischer The Ecumenical World OF Orthodox Civilization: Russia AND Orthodoxy Christian Ethics FOR Black Theology, by Major J. Jones La Cage DES Chrétiens, by Bruno Bürki. Yaoundé Cyprian OF Carthage AND THE Unity OF THE Christian Church, by Peter Hinchliff The Hindu Response TO THE Unbound Christ, by S. J. Samartha Gott IN Japan, edited by Yagi Sehchi and Ulrich Luz Entwicklung IM Paradies, by Ulrich Beyer A Theology OF THE Old Testament, by John L. McKenzie Papsttum UND Petrusdienst, by Heinrich Stirnimann and Lukas Vischer     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Christ and Spirit. Spirit-Christology in Trinitaraian Perspective by Ralph Delcolle
Winds of the Spriti: A constructive Christian Theology, Peter C. Hodgson
The Eucharist Makes the Church: Henri de Lubac and john Zizioulas in Dialogue by Paul McParthan
Changing the Subject: Women's Discourses and Feminist Theology by Mary McClintock Fulkerson
Plurality and Christian Ethics, by Lan S. Markham
Ther fall to Voilence: Original sin in Relational Theology by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki
Religion and Revelation: A Theology of Revelation in the World's Religion by Keith Ward
Power & Christian Ethics by James P. Mackey
Mystical Language of Unsaying by Michael A. Sells
Narratives of a Vulnerable God: Christ, Theology and Scripture by William C. Placher     

Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes The Faith of the Christian Church A Primer for Christian Doctrine

Books reviewed:
Serene Jones and Paul Lakeland, eds., Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes. Tyron Inbody, The Faith of the Christian Church. Jonathan R. Wilson, A Primer for Christian Doctrine. Reviewed by Mike Higton University of Exeter     

Karl Barth, Emil Brunner and the Subjectivity of the Object of Christian Hope

Abstract:   Christian hope is not best conceived as a specific instance of a more general category of 'hope'; rather, within Christian theology, the nature of hope itself is transformed by the things hoped for. The Barth–Brunner debate of 1934, although not specifically about hope, provides resources for exploring the radical nature of Christian hope.     

The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics

Book reviewed in this article:
John E. Colwell, Living the Christian Story: The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics     

Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Dorothee Soelle, The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance
R. R. Reno, Redemptive Change: Atonement and the Christian Cure of the Soul
Francesca Aran Murphy, The Comedy of Revelation: Paradise Lost and Regained in Biblical Narrative
Robert Pasnau, Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature: A Philosophical Study of Summa Theologiae Ia 75–89
Hent de Vries, Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida
Bernard McGinn, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart: The Man from Whom God Hid Nothing
Charles Pinches, Theology and Action: After Theory in Christian Ethics
Kathryn Greene-McCreight, Feminist Reconstructions of Christian Doctrine: Narrative Analysis and Appraisal
Gavin D'Costa, Sexing the Trinity: Gender, Culture, and the Divine
Allen Verhey, Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life
Herbert McCabe, God Still Matters
Marguerite Abdul-Masih, Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Frei: A Conversation on Method and Christology     

Paul Christian - A Jewish Dominican Preaching for the Jews

The so-called Barcelona disputation of 1263 was one of the earliest Jewish-Christian disputations in medieval Europe. The disputants were Paul Christian, a Jewish convert to Christianity and member of the Dominican order, and the well known Jewish sage Ramban (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman of Gerona). In the disputation Paul Christian used an innovative method: he attempted to prove the truth of basic Christian dogma, for instance that the Messiah had already come, by using classical Jewish texts, especially the Talmud. Paul Christian used the same method in his sermons which the Jews in the area were forced to listen to. When one analyses the arguments he employs, it becomes obvious how he alludes to both Jewish and Christian traditions in order to convince his listeners.     

Mere Metaphysics: An Ecumenical Proposal

This is the second part of an essay that appeared in Modern Theology in October, 2018, entitled “After Heidegger and Marion: The Task of Christian Metaphysics Today.” Whereas the first part made a case for the importance of metaphysics to Christian theology (specifically in the form of an analogical, proto‐Christological metaphysics), and hinted at its ecumenical potential, the point here is twofold: first, to provide a more detailed argument for analogical metaphysics as the kind of metaphysics Christianity in fact implies; secondly, to elaborate its ecumenical potential – now, though, more specifically, with regard to the Christian East. Whereas the previous essay sought to overcome while respecting the difference between Catholic analogy and Reformed dialectics by arguing for a dialectical analogy as the proper form of Christian metaphysics, here the specific task is to show a formal compatibility between the analogical metaphysics of the Christian West and the sophiological metaphysics of the Christian East. Accordingly, the goal is to show that there is such a thing as a mere metaphysics – a common metaphysics – of the Christian tradition, notwithstanding real differences and mutually enriching emphases.     

Once More ≡

Short notices of reissued books:
J. Philip Wogaman, Christian Perspectives on Politics
J. Philip Wogaman, Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction
J. Philip Wogaman and Douglas M. Strong (eds), Readings in Christian Ethics: A Historical Sourcebook     

Reviews

Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief
Sue Patterson, Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age
Michael Banner, Christian Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems
Alejandro García-Rivera, The Community of the Beautiful: A Theological Aesthetics
Richard Fardon, Mary Douglas: An Intellectual Biography
David N. Power, Sacrament: The Language of God's Giving
Rush Rhees, Discussions of Simone Weil
Richard Viladesau, Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty, and Art
George Hunsinger, Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth
Kevin F. Burke, S.J., The Ground Beneath the Cross: The Theology of Ignacio Ellacuriá     

基督教青少年的宗教性：以甘肃农村基督教群体为例

以148名基督教青少年为被试,研究了基督教青少年的宗教性。研究结果表明,（1）基督教青少年的宗教信仰的坚定性在减弱,没有表现出性别差异,出生于基督教家庭的青少年的宗教坚定性高于某个时期皈依的青少年;（2） 宗教倾向包括内倾宗教、外倾个人和外倾社会等三个方面,以外在个人倾向为主,不存在性别差异,“保持宗教者”在内倾宗教和外在个人维度的得分显著高于“脱离宗教者”;（3）高宗教卷入的基督教青少年在内倾宗教和外倾个人维度的得分显著地高于低宗教卷入的基督教青少年;（4 ）宗教倾向内部各维度间表现出显著的正相关,宗教态度的各维度与宗教卷入、内倾宗教倾向和外在个人宗教倾向表现出显著的正相关     

RHETORIC OF FAITH AND PATTERNS OF PERSUASION IN BERKELEY'S ALCIPHRON

In this article I consider George Berkeley's Alciphron (1732) from the standpoint of the literary techniques and rhetorical procedures employed, as evidence for placing this composition within the tradition of Christian apologetic rhetoric. The argument develops around three main issues: 1) Berkeley's employment of the traditional rhetorical tool of attacking his opponents using their own weapons; 2) Berkeley's resort to a perennial tradition of pre‐Christian or non‐Christian wisdom, in order to validate his Christian‐theistic claims; and 3) Berkeley's ‘argument from utility’ (considering the beneficial effects that accepting Christianity has had over the centuries on people's lives, making them better, wiser, happier, and more virtuous, as well as the social peace and harmony that living by Christian standards brings about – it is preferable to adopt the Christian faith than not). These three theses are discussed in light of the history of Christian apologetic rhetoric, with references to the works of St. Augustine, St. Justin Martyr, Origen, St. Thomas Aquinas and other Christian authors.     

Holy Movement and Holy Place: Christian Pilgrimage and the Hajj

Abstract : This article uses a comparative theological model to explore the concept of pilgrimage—holy movement and holy place. It examines Christian pilgrimage exemplified by John Paul II's pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2000 and Islamic pilgrimage exemplified by the Hajj. It then re‐visions Christian pilgrimage by suggesting how three features of the Hajj (danger and hardship, ritual nature, and gathering) can be used to deepen the Christian experience and understanding of pilgrimage.     

Effects of Online Christian Self‐Disclosure on Impression Formation

This experiment examined the effects of online Christian disclosure. Respondents (N = 233) viewed a fictional social networking profile containing one of three levels of Christian disclosure frequency: none, nominal, and extensive. Respondents made few distinctions between nondisclosure and nominal disclosure. Most notably, respondent religiosity moderated impressions. Regardless of disclosure level, religious respondents rated profile owners as more likeable and less stereotypically negative than less religious respondents. The least religious respondents tended to rate the extensively disclosing Christian as least romantically desirable and with more negative stereotyping. The most religious respondents rated the extensively disclosing Christian as most likeable and as most romantically desirable. Christian identity tended to be assumed when not disclosed. Nominal disclosure may constitute a socially acceptable level of online Christian disclosure.     

Reviews

Nagel, Thomas Other Minds: Critical Essays 1969–1994
Genova, Judith Wittgenstein: A Way of Seeing
Hagberg, G.L. Art as Language
Swinburne, Richard The Christian God
Padget, Alan G. (Ed) Reason and the Christian Religion     

Trinity and Church: Trinitarian Perspectives on the Identity of the Christian Community

Starting from practical problems with praying and living a Christian life, the author argues that God's relationship with the Christian community has primacy over God's relationship with individual believers. When we conceive of the Christian community as being the body of Christ, we can uphold the high Christian ideals of prayer and living a Christian life without making them unattainable: these ideals are ideals for the community rather than for individual persons within the community. Next, the author argues that being the body of Christ is given to the Christian community not as a possession but as a task to fulfil through the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, he shows how, in becoming the body of Christ through the Spirit, the Christian community is drawn up into the trinitarian community. He concludes that the identity of the Christian church cannot be fully understood apart from the Trinity.