4th Edition
The Christian Theological Tradition
The fourth edition of The Christian Theological Tradition provides students with essential theological knowledge of key persons and events of the Bible and the Christian faith, and of Christianity's multifaceted encounter with Western culture.
Historically arranged, the textbook addresses major theological themes such as revelation, God, Jesus Christ, Creation, salvation, and the church. The textbook deals with the entire Christian tradition from an orientation that is both Catholic and ecumenical, with the fourth edition including expanded coverage of modern Protestant Christianity. The Christian Theological Tradition has been thoroughly revised and updated with nine new or rewritten chapters, including:
- A new section on the reception of the Second Vatican Council, including the pontificate of Pope Francis.
- A new treatment of contemporary developments in liberation and environmental theology.
- A new examination of the relationship between science and Christianity.
- An entirely rewritten treatment of Islam that focuses on the ways in which the Christian tradition has historically understood and responded to Islam.
- A new discussion of the "New Atheism," with theological responses to this influential movement.
- New textboxes on aspects of religious life, such as liturgy, prayer, art, moral teaching, and social institutions, appropriate to given chapters.
With the assistance of images and maps, key words, and recommended reading, this textbook outlines the methods for Christian theology and demonstrates the relevance of the Christian theological tradition for our contemporary world.
This is an ideal resource for students of theology, biblical studies, or religious studies, and anyone wanting an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the Christian theological tradition.
Table of Contents
List of figures and maps
List of contributors
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction: Approaching the Christian Theological Tradition
Mark McInroy
Part I: The Old Testament
Corrine Carvalho
Chapter 2: Israel’s Story of the Creation of the World
Corrine Carvalho
Chapter 3: The Pentateuch
Corrinne Carvalho
Chapter 4: Israel in the Land: Settlement, Exile, Return
David Penchansky
After the Babylonian Exile Paul Niskanen
Chapter 5: Second Temple Judaism
David T. Landry
The Land
John W. Martens
Part II: The New Testament
David T. Landry
Chapter 6: Jesus and the Gospels
David T. Landry
Chapter 7: Paul
John W. Martens
Part III: The History of Christianity
Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 8: Christianity after the Apostles
Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 9: The Age of the Imperial Church
Mark DelCogliano and Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 10: Augustine
David Hunter
Chapter 11: Eastern Christianity
Paul L. Gavrilyuk
Other Eastern Christianities
Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 12: Islam as Seen in the Christian Tradition
F. Dominic Longo
Chapter 13: Christianity in the Early Medieval Period
Fr. (Jan) Michael Joncas
Chapter 14: Christianity in the High Middle Ages
Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 15: Thomas Aquinas
Robert St. Hilaire
Chapter 16: Christianity in the Late Medieval Period
Anne H. King
Part IV: The Modern Period
William Junker
Chapter 17: The Renaissance
William Junker
Chapter 18: Martin Luther
Sherry E. Jordon
Chapter 19: Other Protestant Reformers
The Swiss Reformation
Sherry E. Jordon
The Radical Reformation
Ry Siggelkow and David Cunningham
Pietism
Sherry E. Jordon
The English Reformation
Mark McInroy
Chapter 20: The Catholic Reformation
Anne H. King
Chapter 21: The Coming of Global Christianity: Mission, Empire, and Post-
Colonialism
Christianity in the Age of Global Exploration: Conversion, Conquest, and
Colonialism
Michael J. Hollerich
The Christian Globe Tilts South
Gerald W. Schlabach
Chapter 22: Christianity in the Modern Period
Mark McInroy
Chapter 23: Christianity in the United States
Michael J. Hollerich
Chapter 24: The Second Vatican Council in Context
From the French Revolution to Vatican I
Michael J. Hollerich
Theological Trends between Vatican I and Vatican II
Robert Koerpel
The Second Vatican Council
Elaine MacMillan
The Reception of Vatican II
Massimo Faggioli
Chapter 25: Christianity and Science
Philip Rolnick
Chapter 26: Christianity in the Contemporary Situation
Mark McInroy
The New Atheists
Anne H. King
Chapter 27: Theologies of Liberation
Latin American Liberation Theology
Gerald W. Schlabach
Contextual Theology in South Africa
Kimberly Vrudny and Richard Cogill
Black Theology
Ry Siggelkow
Feminist Theology
Sherry E. Jordon
Christianity and Environmental Sustainability
Cara Anthony
Chapter 28: Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue
Edward Ulrich
Textboxes
Moral Theology Textboxes
Bernard V. Brady, Amy Levad, Paul Wojda
Lived Religion Textboxes
Mary Margaret Hoden
Biography
Mark McInroy received his doctorate from Harvard Divinity School, and after postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge he joined the Theology Department at the University of St. Thomas, USA, where he is Associate Professor of Theology. He is the author of Balthasar on the Spiritual Senses: Perceiving Splendour (2014) for which he received the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2015. In addition to his work on Balthasar, he has published examinations of Karl Rahner, Karl Barth, John Henry Newman, Martin Luther, and Origen of Alexandria in journals such as the International Journal of Systematic Theology, the Scottish Journal of Theology, and Catholica, along with several edited volumes. His current projects include co-editing with Anthony Sciglitano and Cyril O’Regan The Oxford Handbook of Hans Urs von Balthasar (forthcoming), and with C.A. Strine and Alexis Torrance Image as Theology: The Power of Art in Shaping Christian Thought, Devotion, and Imagination (forthcoming). He is presently completing a monograph on the view of deification found in Martin Luther’s mature theology.
Michael J. Hollerich is Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas, USA. His teaching and academic interests include early Christian exegesis, religion and politics/political theology, modern German Catholic history, and Eastern Christianity. He has articles and chapters in books on all these subjects. His books include Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on Isaiah: Christian Exegesis in the Age of Constantine (1999), partial contribution to Isaiah: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators, ed. Robert L. Wilken (2007), and an edition in English of Erik Peterson’s Theological Tractates (2011). He is currently finishing a book on the reception history of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea.
2021 Textbook Excellence Award Winner (College) by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)
Praise for the previous edition:
"I think The Christian Theological Tradition is the best introduction to the Christian tradition on the market."
Joseph Kroger, St Michael’s College, Colchester, VT, USA
Endorsements for the fourth edition:
"This superb volume introduces students to the places, forms, and agents of a complex tradition incomprehensible without an accurate version of its historical settings. The new edition is indispensable for instructors and students alike."
Robin Darling Young, The Catholic University of America, USA
"This textbook is both thoroughly historical and genuinely theological; it displays the vibrancy and sophistication of Christian attempts to deal with questions of meaning in a way that is accessible to undergraduates and other beginners, whether Christian or not. The text as a whole makes a compelling case that one cannot understand the world today without understanding the Christian tradition. I taught the third edition of this book for many years; this new fourth edition is even better."
William T. Cavanaugh, DePaul University, USA
