New Library Books in Theology

Title God With Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God
Author K. Scott Oliphint
Publisher Crossway
Call Number BT103.O39 2012
Synopsis from Publisher

For the Christian mind seeking to understand the nature of God, one fundamental paradox poses a philosophical stumbling block: how can God be both a wholly independent, eternal being yet also an interactive force in the temporal plane of creation? The desire to harmonize God's actions and his attributes has challenged laymen and scholars through the ages. In God With Us, K. Scott Oliphint finds an answer in the person of Jesus Christ incarnate-the manifestation of God and the cornerstone of creation. Where other theological efforts view the study of Jesus as simply one branch of a systematic approach, Oliphint puts a primary focus on the understanding of the Son of God as both the quintessential revelation of God's character and the explanation of how he relates to us. This book leads the reader to think biblically about who God is and how he in his eminence can condescend to us in our finite surroundings. Oliphint's unique approach to the attributes of God will appeal to anyone desiring a biblical perspective on God's nature, whether for academic reasons or personal advancement.

Title The Trinitarian Theology of Jonathan Edwards: Text, Context, and Application
Author Steven M. Studebaker & Robert W. Caldwell III
Publisher Ashgate
Call Number BT109.S748 2011
Synopsis from Publisher

While Jonathan Edwards scholars have increasingly recognized the central role that the Trinity played in his thought, no work brings together Edwards' central texts on the Trinity and interprets and applies them to contemporary theological issues.This book reveals how the doctrine of the Trinity transformed Edwards' ministry and how the Trinity can inform current evangelical thought, life, and ministry. Key primary texts, interpretation, and application of Edwards' trinitarian theology are all presented here. Part one features Edwards' chief trinitarian writings and provides an in-depth analysis on his doctrine. Part two sets Edwards' trinitarianism in historical context. Part three demonstrates how Edwards employed the Trinity in his sermons, in spiritual formation, and in other areas of doctrine.

 

Title The Way of Jesus: To Repair and Renew the World
Author Bruce Chilton
Publisher Abingson
Call Number BT205.C49 2010
Synopsis from Publisher
The way of Jesus means that despite our tears and scars, we can become vessels of divine light. A young man loses his wife while their babyescapes without injury. In abject grief he reaches out to a friend for solace. Whatwords of comfort are even possible? How can Jesus repair and renew these lives inthis world Author Bruce Chilton begins in the everyday. Heshows how following Jesus not only repairs shattered lives, but renews them. Whileno broken life is ever simply reassembled and although there is no magic going backto the pristine, repair and renewal will empower us to truly live and love again. But our path requires something from us--mindful practice of Jesus' teachings aboutthe soul, spirit, kingdom, insight, forgiveness, mercy, and glory.

Title Christian Peace and Nonviolence: A Documentary History
Author Michael G. Long, Ed.
Publisher Orbis
Call Number BT735.4.C443 2011
Synopsis from Publisher
From the Sermon on the Mount to the twenty-first century, this comprehensive reader recounts the Christian message of peace and nonviolence. Through testimony by the confessors and martyrs of the early church, the voices of medieval figures like St. Benedict and St. Francis, as well as Erasmus, Lollards, Anabaptists, and Quakers abolitionists, Christian Peace and Nonviolence presents a coherent story in which the peace message of Jesus is restored to central place. Later sections highlight many of the great prophets of modern times, including Tolstoy, Dorothy Day, A.J. Muste, Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, and Oscar Romero. Their challenge remains timely and urgent. As John Haynes Holmes observed, "If war is right then Christianity is false, a lie." Christian Peace and Nonviolence is not only intellectually compelling but also inspirational. It is more than a reference work. It is a witness

Title The Age of Doubt: Tracing the Roots of Our Religious Uncertainty
Author Christopher Lane
Publisher Yale
Call Number  BT771.3.L35 2011
Synopsis from Publisher

The Victorian era was the first great “Age of Doubt” and a critical moment in the history of Western ideas. Leading nineteenth-century intellectuals battled the Church and struggled to absorb radical scientific discoveries that upended everything the Bible had taught them about the world. In The Age of Doubt, distinguished scholar Christopher Lane tells the fascinating story of a society under strain as virtually all aspects of life changed abruptly.
In deft portraits of scientific, literary, and intellectual icons who challenged the prevailing religious orthodoxy, from Robert Chambers and Anne Brontë to Charles Darwin and Thomas H. Huxley, Lane demonstrates how they and other Victorians succeeded in turning doubt from a religious sin into an ethical necessity.
The dramatic adjustment of Victorian society has echoes today as technology, science, and religion grapple with moral issues that seemed unimaginable even a decade ago. Yet the Victorians’ crisis of faith generated a far more searching engagement with religious belief than the “new atheism” that has evolved today. More profoundly than any generation before them, the Victorians came to view doubt as inseparable from belief, thought, and debate, as well as a much-needed antidote to fanaticism and unbridled certainty. By contrast, a look at today’s extremes—from the biblical literalists behind the Creation Museum to the dogmatic rigidity of Richard Dawkins’s atheism—highlights our modern-day inability to embrace doubt.