"Through detailed case studies this book breaks new ground by linking together two major themes: the production of realism and its relationship to revelation. It addresses 'truth telling', confession and the production of knowledges about the self and its place in the world".--BOOKJACKET.

This book examines the possibility and necessity of critical thinking in religious education through the lenses of critical realism and the Christian doctrine of sensus fidei (‘sense of faith’). Drawing on Bhaskar’s original critical realism and data from a survey of over a thousand teachers in the Philippines, the author argues for a view of critical thinking based on components of ‘disposition’ and ‘competence’. As such, critical thinking becomes the expression of a commitment to judgemental rationality and, in a Christian religious education, is guided by the individual’s sensus fidei. A philosophical and theological discussion of the process of coming to know in the religious domain, Religious Education from a Critical Realist Perspective also offers concrete recommendations on how to promote the practice of religious critical thinking in confessional religious education classrooms. As such, it will appeal to scholars of philosophy, theology and pedagogy with interests in religious education and curriculum development.

A Critical Realist's Theological Method explores a systematic theology method grounded in critical realism in the wake of Alister McGrath, Imre Lakatos, Nancey Murphy, N. T. Wright, and Dale Allison. Kennard surveys philosophical and traditional theological approaches for contributions and limitations in order to set out a method for theology and science. Kennard extends this method to a Thiselton-Ricoeur hermeneutic that can fund insightful exegesis and Biblical theology in the wake of Ladd, Dunn, Vos, and Goldingay. This Biblical theology method is illustrated by wisdom literature, the traditional reef of the discipline and then developed for the contributions toward systematic theology as Gabler had originally envisioned. With contextualized Scripture sourcing most of the content for systematic theology the trajectory is shown in the subtitle Returning the Bible and Biblical Theology to be the Framer for Theology and Science. The method is exampled in exegesis of creation texts which frame possibilities for science. Likewise, Biblical theology frames a bio-ethics integration of psychology and theology setting out a transactional model for psychological recovery with University of Chicago professor Paul Holmes. A theology for peer review and work is also framed.

T.F. Torrance is widely recognized as one of our most important twentieth-century theologians. And scholars of Torrance suggest 'Reality & Scientific Theology' is one of his most accessible works. Torrance's insights on Christian epistemology are remarkably relevant in light of recent discussions on realism and antirealism in philosophy and theology. Torrance brilliantly sets forth no naive or even critical realism, but rather an evangelical realism - knowledge grounded in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. He not only constructively argues the case for an evangelical realism but compares and contrasts theological knowledge with natural scientific knowledge, and shows how the Bible can function authoritatively in a fragmented church. This edition of 'Reality and Evangelical Theology' includes an in-depth foreword that contextualizes Torrance's seminal theological work in light of recent debates over postmodern and postcritical hermeneutics to Scripture. It will handsomely repay engagement (or reengagement) by theologians, philosophers, students and thoughtful pastors.

A Naïve Realist Theory of Colour defends the view that colours are mind-independent properties of things in the environment, that are distinct from properties identified by the physical sciences. This view stands in contrast to the long-standing and wide-spread view amongst philosophers and scientists that colours don't really exist - or at any rate, that if they do exist, then they are radically different from the way that they appear. It is argued that a naïve realist theory of colour best explains how colours appear to perceiving subjects, and that this view is not undermined either by reflecting on variations in colour perception between perceivers and across perceptual conditions, or by our modern scientific understanding of the world. A Naïve Realist Theory of Colour also illustrates how our understanding of what colours are has far-reaching implications for wider questions about the nature of perceptual experience, the relationship between mind and world, the problem of consciousness, the apparent tension between common sense and scientific representations of the world, and even the very nature and possibility of philosophical inquiry.

Each Christmas, adults and children alike delight at the story of the kings from the East who followed the star to Bethlehem to offer gifts to the newborn Christ. While this familiar tale is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, another little-known version later emerged that claimed to be the eyewitness account of the wise men. This ancient manuscript has lain hidden for centuries in the vaults of the Vatican Library, but through the determined persistence of a young scholar, Brent Landau, this astonishing discovery has been translated into English for the very first time as the Revelation of the Magi. Everything we know about the wise men is based on only a few verses from the Bible. With the Revelation of the Magi, we can now read the story from the Magi's perspective. Readers will learn of the Magi's prophecies of God's incarnation from the beginning of time, their startling visitation in the form of a star, the teachings they receive from the baby Jesus, and the wise men's joyous return to their homeland to spread the good news. This ancient version of the Christmas story is guaranteed to astonish and delight. It will also raise larger questions of the significance and meaning of Christ's birth, and the mission to spread the good news to every corner of the globe. All the drama and intrigue of the brief description of Jesus's birth in the Bible is filled out in greater, more colorful detail, offering for the first time the complete story of these beloved characters.

How did the Eastern European and Soviet states write their respective histories of art and architecture during 1940s–1960s? The articles address both the Stalinist period and the Khrushchev Thaw, when the Marxist-Leninist discourse on art history was "invented" and refined. Although this discourse was inevitably "Sovietized" in a process dictated from Moscow, a variety of distinct interpretations emerged from across the Soviet bloc in the light of local traditions, cultural politics and decisions of individual authors. Even if the new "official" discourse often left space open for national concerns, it also gave rise to a countermovement in response to the aggressive ideologization of art and the preeminence assigned to (Socialist) Realist aesthetics.

A re-reading of the Pneumatology in Western theology, particularly in Augustine and Barth.

This volume picks up a rather uninvested field of international relations theory: the influence of religion on Realism as well as the power of Realism to address religious issues in world politics. Although classical scholars of Realism rarely mention religion explicitly in their well-known work, this volume suggests that Realism offers serious ground for taking religion and faith into account as well as evaluating the impact of religion on its theoretical framework: how religion and religious worldviews influence and affect the theoretical framework of Realism, and how Realism approach religious issues in international relations as a relatively new field of international studies. Although international relations scholars now widely deal with issues of religion, large portions of the theoretical underpinning are missing. In addressing this lack, the volume illustrates the possibility of reform and change in Realism. Furthermore, the chapters reach out to normative statements. The contributors offer a theoretical view on religion in international relations in the context of Realism but always connect this with actual, real-world related political problems. The volume takes into account not only classical thinkers and approaches of Realism but also present-day authors dealing with ethical and normative questions of international relations in the aftermath of 9/11. Offering a fresh perspective on the influence of religion on international relations theory, this work will be of great interest to scholars of religion and international relations, international relations theory, and political philosophy

Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.