George Lindbeck lamented that his most widely read work, The Nature of Doctrine, had often been read apart from his ecumenical focus. In this book, Shaun Brown seeks to provide a corrective to misreadings of Lindbeck’s work by focusing upon his “Israelology”—his emphasis upon the church and Israel as one elect people of God. While many Christians after the Holocaust have noted the harm that Supersessionism brought to the Jews, Lindbeck focuses upon the harm that supersessionism has brought to the church. He argues the appropriation of Israelhood by the church can bring intra-Christian ecumenical benefits. This work comes in two stages. In the first stage, undertaken while he was an observer at the Second Vatican Council, Lindbeck discusses a parallel between Israel and the church. The second stage, which begins in the late 1980s and continues through the end of his career, Lindbeck describes the church as “Israel-like” or “as Israel.”

This groundbreaking work lays the foundation for a theology based on a cultural-linguistic approach to religion and a regulative or rule theory of doctrine. Although shaped intimately by theological concerns, this approach is consonant with the most advanced anthropological, sociological, and philosophical thought of our times.

George Lindbeck wrote one of the most often read and debated theological works of the twentieth century, The Nature of Doctrine. Despite the work’s wide readership, few read the book considering his work as an ecumenist. In addition, few have read Lindbeck’s other writings. This work seeks to remedy this situation by providing (1) a context for understanding The Nature of Doctrine, (2) a corrective to misreadings of Lindbeck’s work, (3) an introduction to his broader corpus, and (4) some possible ways in which Lindbeck’s work can contribute to future ecumenical discussion and to Christian theological practice more broadly. It will do so by focusing upon several key roles or aspects of Lindbeck’s life and thought, from his understanding of his own Lutheran background and his participation in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, to his training in medieval philosophy and theology and later work on the church as Israel.

The Nature of Doctrine, originally published in 1984, is one of the most influential works of academic theology in the past fifty years. A true classic, this book sets forth the central tenets of a post-liberal approach to theology, emphasizing a cultural-linguistic approach to religion and a rule theory of doctrine. In addition to his account of the nature of religion, George Lindbeck also addresses the relationship between Christianity and other religions, the resolution of historic doctrinal conflict among Christian communities, and the nature and task of theology itself. This is a work that all theologians and advanced students should know. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition includes an English translation of the foreword to the German edition and a complete bibliography of Lindbeck's work.

Examines the Roman Catholic roots of postliberal theology via conversations with three seminal postliberal theologians: George Lindbeck, David Burrell, and Stanley Hauerwas.

In this innovative work in theological method and hermeneutics, Michael S. Horton uses the motif of the covenant as a way of binding together God's "word" and God's "act." Seeking an integration of theological method with the content of Christian theology, Horton emphasizes God's covenant as God's way of working for redemption in the world. Horton maintains a substantial dialogue with important philosophical figures and Christian theologians, ultimately providing scholars and serious students a significant model for approaching and understanding Christian theology.

This creates a Christian theology of wisdom for the present day, in discussion with two sets of conversation-partners: The writers of the 'wisdom literature' in ancient Israel and the Jewish community in Alexandria; and the philosophers and thinkers of the late-modern age, among them Derrida, Levinas, Kristeva, Ricoeur, and Arendt.

The past and future of Jewish-Christian dialogue The history of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity is storied and tragic. However, recent decades show promise as both parties reflect on their self-definitions and mutual contingency and consider possible ways forward. In Healing the Schism, Jennifer M. Rosner maps the new Jewish-Christian encounter from its origins in the early twentieth-century pioneers to its current representatives. Rosner first traces the thought of Karl Barth and Frank Rosenzweig and brings them into conversation. Rosner then outlines the reassessments and developments of post-Holocaust theological architects that moved the dialogue forward and set the stage for today. She considers the recent work of Messianic Jewish theologian Mark S. Kinzer and concludes by envisioning future possibilities. With clarity and rigor, Rosner offers a robust perspective of Judaism and Christianity that is post-supersessionist and theologically orthodox. Healing the Schism is essential reading for understanding the perils and promise of Messianic Jewish identity and Jewish-Christian theological conversation.

Old assumptions - rational, objectivist, absolutist - have for the most part given way to new outlooks, which can be grouped under the term postmodern. What does this new situation imply for the church and for Christian proclamation? Can one find in this new situation opportunity as well as dilemma? How can central biblical themes - self, world, and community - be interpreted and imagined creatively and concretely in this new context? Our task, Brueggemann contends, is not to construct a full alternative world, but rather to fund - to provide the pieces, materials, and resources out of which a new world can be imagined. The place of liturgy and proclamation is "a place where people come to receive new materials, or old materials freshly voiced, which will fund, feed, nurture, nourish, legitimate, and authorize a counterimagination of the world". Six exegetical examples of such a new approach to the biblical text are included.

In this challenging dialogue of the book, three of today's most respected Christian thinkers explore the role of theology, the task of Christian learning, and the meaning of the self in our contemporary Western society. Jürgen Moltmann builds a case for the "public" nature of Christian theology and explores how expressions of faith from both the church and the academy relate to significant aspects of modernity. Responses by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Ellen T. Charry provide a provacative engagement with Moltmann's views.