Can Christians learn from other religions? This book offers a fascinating account of the nature, role, and purposes of religious diversity within God's providential plan.

From the outset, cultures and neighboring faith traditions have influenced the development of Christian theology. This process continues even today, as Christians in the West are encountering a whole host of other believers, including Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. As people of all faiths come together, Christians have begun asking some important questions: How does Christianity differ from other faiths? Can Christians learn from other religions? And if so, can other religions learn from Christianity? Many Christians have looked to other religions and wondered whether Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus can be saved. But according to Amos Young, Christians should rather seek to understand the role and purpose of religions in the overall providential plan of God. While not ignoring questions about salvation through other religions, Yong asks Christians to focus on the work of the Holy Spirit, which is both universal and particular. In other words, God creates human beings by breathing his spirit into them, and yet the Spirit is sent by Jesus to a particular group of people. Recognizing the various understandings of the Spirit in Scripture helps Christians to take seriously the variety of world religions and consider that dialogue with these religions might well spark a renaissance of Christian theology in the twenty-first century. Beyond the Impasse will appeal to pastors, students, and laypeople interested in formulating a robust, biblical, and comprehensive Christian theology of religions.

Efforts to construct a Christian theology of religions have inevitably stumbled on the Christian scandal of particularity-the historical Jesus of Nazareth. What, however, if we began by focusing on the universal presence and activity of God in the world as symbolized by the Holy Spirit? Yong develops just such a pneumatological approach to religions, drawing, by way of resource, on the Pentecostal-charismatic experience of the Spirit. This book thus invites Pentecostals, charismatics and other Christians to conceive of how a pneumatological approach to religions can invigorate the wider ecumenical conversation. At the same time, it also brings recent Pentecostal-charismatic scholarship into dialogue with a broader audience, including those interested in philosophical theology, world religions, global spiritualities, and comparative religion and theology.

Evangelicalism, a vibrant and growing expression of historic Christian orthodoxy, is already one of the largest and most geographically diverse global religious movements. This Companion, first published in 2007, offers an articulation of evangelical theology that is both faithful to historic evangelical convictions and in dialogue with contemporary intellectual contexts and concerns. In addition to original and creative essays on central Christian doctrines such as Christ, the Trinity, and Justification, it breaks new ground by offering evangelical reflections on issues such as gender, race, culture, and world religions. This volume also moves beyond the confines of Anglo-American perspectives to offer separate essays exploring evangelical theology in African, Asian, and Latin American contexts. The contributors to this volume form an unrivalled list of many of today's most eminent evangelical theologians and important emerging voices.

Ever since the sensational Azusa Street Revival in 1906, the global Pentecostal church has continued to explode numerically, pushing theological debates on the Holy Spirit to the forefront. This insightful collection draws together theologians, scientists, and Pentecostal scholars to make connections between the study and experience of the Holy Spirit. The authors begin by addressing theological implications before moving on to the Pentecostal experience, finally connecting the Spirit to scientific and philosophical reflections. Filled with interdisciplinary insights, The Work of the Spirit is inspiring and timely, honoring a century of intense reflection on and involvement with the Holy Spirit. Contributors: D. Lyle Dabney James D. G. Dunn Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen Frank D. Macchia Bernd Oberdorfer John Polkinghorne Margaret M. Poloma Kathryn Tanner Grant Wacker Michael Welker Amos Yong Anna York Donald G. York

This volume presents interdisciplinary, intercultural, and interreligious approaches directed toward the articulation of a pneumatological theology in its broadest sense, especially in terms of attempting to conceive of a spirit-filled world.

Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies Over the last four decades, evangelical scholars have shown growing interest in Christian debates over other religions, seeking answers to essential questions: How are we to think about and relate to other religions, be open to the Spirit, and at the same time remain evangelical and orthodox? Gerald R. McDermott and Harold A. Netland offer critiques of a variety of theologians and religious studies scholars, including evangelicals, but also challenge evangelicals to move beyond parochial positions. This volume is both a manifesto and a research program, critically evaluating the last forty years of Christian treatments of religious others and proposing a comprehensive direction for the future. It addresses issues relating to the religions in both systematic theology and missiology, taking up long-debated questions such as contextualization, salvation, revelation, the relationship between culture and religion, conversion, social action, and ecumenism. It concludes with responses from four leading thinkers of African, Asian, and European backgrounds: Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Vinoth Ramachandra, Lamin Sanneh, and Christine Schirrmacher.

Fruitful relationships and constructive interaction between religions have become more important than ever. But what about the issues of truth and conflicting truth claims? Is it a betrayal of one's own faith to acknowledge the truth of other religions? The current work is the first English translation of "Gott ohne Grenzen", published in 2005. In this much acclaimed study, Perry Schmidt-Leukel defends religious pluralism showing under which presuppositions Christians can accept other religions as equally valid without denying their differences. He discusses in detail how the pluralist position opens up new perspectives in Christianity's dialogue with Jews, Muslim, Hindus and Buddhists. Schmidt-Leukel, Perry, Prof. Dr., ist Professor für Religionswissenschaft und interkulturelle Theologie an der Universität Münster. Er ist am Exzellenzcluster Religion und Politik der Universität Münster beteiligt. Er ist Mitglied im international advisory board des Forschungsprojektes 'Religion und Dialog in modernen Gesellschaften' an der Akademie der Weltreligionen der Universität Hamburg. Seine Schwerpunkte sind unter anderem Theologie der Religionen, interreligiöse Beziehungen, christlich-buddhistischer Dialog und Pluralismusfähigkeit der Religionen.

In The Theology of Amos Yong and the New Face of Pentecostal Scholarship, Wolfgang Vondey and Martin William Mittelstadt gather a table of experts on one of the most influential voices in current Pentecostal theology. The authors provide an introduction and critical assessment of Yong’s biblical foundations, hermeneutics, epistemology, philosophical presuppositions, trinitarian theology, theology of religions, ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology of disability, engagement with contemporary culture, and participation in the theology and science conversation. These diverse topics are pursued through the complementary perspectives that together shape Yong’s methodology: pneumatology, pentecostalism, and the possibility of renewal. The contributors invite a more thorough reading of Yong’s work and propose a more substantial engagement with the new face of Pentecostal scholarship. Contributors include Andrew Carver, Jacob D. Dodson, Jeff Hittenberger, Mark Mann, Martin William Mittelstadt, L. William Oliverio, Jr., David A. Reed, Tony Richie, Christopher A. Stephenson, Steven M. Studebaker, Paraskevè (Eve) Tibbs, and Wolfgang Vondey.