A biographical study on the Theology of W. W. Bryden.

Walter W. Bryden was Principal of Knox College, Toronto, after the Second World War, and one of the leading Presbyterian theologians of the period from the 1920s to the 1950s. In The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden, John Vissers makes an important contribution by analysing Bryden's thought, placing it in the context of contemporary European and American theology. Vissers emphasises in particular Bryden's role in introducing and popularising the ideas of Karl Barth in North America prior to the translation of Barth's Commentary on Romans into English, and his Neo-Orthodox theology owed much to Barthian ideas. In his most important work, The Christian's Knowledge of God, Bryden challenged the modernist emphasis on the rational, arguing for a Christocentric doctrine of Revelation. Vissers brings a wealth of scholarship and research to his subject, revealing Bryden's pivotal role in the development of neo-orthodoxy within the Protestant tradition in North America, a role that previous studies have often failed to explore.

The current debate on religious pluralism pits exclusivism against inclusivism, with "pluralism" an uncertain alternative. The thesis of this book is that a new theory is required to relate world religions positively, without reducing them to a lowest common denominator. Thus the question "what is comparable" needs to be re-examined. While a "theory of everything" is not possible for religious data, a "modal" approach allows each religion its own integrity. The traditional Christian claim of uniqueness is balanced by more open resources from within the tradition itself, such as Logos Christology. This has potential cosmic or properly "universal" (as distinct from global) presence. Dogma is examined through scientific and aesthetic models, resulting in a more open approach to world religions. Each may be regarded as a "mode of being" related to transcendence in non-adversarial terms. Joseph C. McLelland is J.W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion Emeritus at McGill University and Robert Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion Emeritus at The Presbyterian College, Montreal. From 1975 to 1985 he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on philosophical and historical theology, and is the founding editor of The Peter Martyr Library. Among his writings are "Prometheus Rebound: the irony of Atheism, The Clown and the Crocodile, " and most recently, "Understanding the Faith: Essays in Philosophical Theology." Dr. McLelland is a former President of The Canadian Theological Society and Editor-in-Chief of " Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses."

"The conversation between music and theology, dormant for too long in recent years, is at last gathering pace. And rightly so. There will always be theologians who will regard music as a somewhat peripheral concern, too trivial to trouble the serious scholar, and in any case almost impossible to engage because of its notorious resistance to words and concepts. But an increasing number are discovering again what many of our forbears realized centuries ago, that the kinship between this pervasive feature of human life and the search for a Christian 'intelligence of faith' is intimate and ineradicable. Maeve Heaney's ambitious, wide-ranging, and energetic book pushes the conversation further forward still. Her approach is unapologetically theological, grounded in the passions and concerns of mainstream doctrinal theology. And yet she is insisting . . . that music must be given its due place in the ecology of theology. Although convinced that music should not be set up as a rival to linguistic or conceptual articulation, let alone swallow up 'traditional' modes of theological language and thought, she is equally convinced that music is an irreducible means of coming to terms with the world, a unique vehicle of world-disclosure, and as such, can generate a particular form of 'understanding': 'there are things which God may only be saying through music.' If this is so, it is incumbent on the theologian to listen." --Jeremy Begbie, from the Foreword

This single volume does what most libraries cannot--placing at your fingertips the whole spectrum of individuals, traditions, institutions, denominations, events and ideas that have influenced North American religion and culture. Edited by Daniel G. Reid, Robert D. Linder, Bruce L. Shelley and Harry S. Stout.

Christianity is never just about beliefs but habits and practices-for better or worse. Theology always reflects the social location of the theologian-including her privileges and prejudices-all the time working with a particular, often undisclosed, notion of what is normal. Therefore theology is never "neutral"-it defends particular constructions of reality, and it promotes certain interests. Following Jesus in Invaded Space asks what-and whose-interests theology protects when it is part of a community that invaded the land of Indigenous peoples. Developing a theological method and position that self-consciously acknowledges the church's role in occupying Aboriginal land in Australia, it dares to speak of God, church, and justice in the context of past history and continuing dispossession. Hence, a "Second people's theology" emerges through constant and careful attention to experiences of invasion and dis-location brought into dialogue with the theological landscape or tradition of the church.

Spirit Christology complements Logos Christology in the same way in which Christ and the Spirit are mutually constitutive. Or at least this should be the case. The history of Christian thought shows that Logos Christology has dominated, resulting in both an eclipse of Trinitarian doctrine and a diminution of pneumatology. Recently there have been calls to reclaim a theology of the Third Article in order to present a Trinitarian theology that is faithful to Scripture, the Great Tradition, and one that is existentially viable. While studies examine various aspects of Spirit Christology there has yet to appear a work that introduces the doctrine, examines the various mutually exclusive proposals, and offers a constructive trinitarian proposal. The present work does just this, introducing the constituent features of a Spirit Christology that is Trinitarian, orthodox, and contemporary. The current work proposes a model of Spirit Christology that complements rather than replaces Logos Christology and does so in a robustly Trinitarian framework. Within contemporary theology a pneumatically oriented approach to Christology is being advanced across denominational and traditional lines. Those wanting to navigate their way through the many competing proposals for a Third Article theology will find a comprehensive map here.