A comprehensive, systematic and biblically based introduction to theology as an academic discipline, encouraging readers to think theologically and to explore the interconnections between key topics and their relevance to the world today
· Introduces readers to the biblical foundations and key methodological questions for theology: faith and reason, the nature of religious authority, the place of experience, revelation, Scripture and tradition, orthodoxy and heresy, and the importance of context (both historical and geographical)
· Provides a comprehensive overview of all the major doctrinal topics (loci) of the Christian faith (the Trinity, Christology, pneumatology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, etc.), with emphasis on their coherence and interdependence
· Highlights the most important issues currently being debated within each topic (including perspectives from black, feminist, postcolonial, queer and other theologies)
· Profiles the major theologians who have contributed to each topic, offering a broader perspective on the angles taken by distinct figures in the history of theology
· Encourages readers to think theologically in connection with contemporary questions, e.g. the local vs. the global, issues of gender, race, ecology and the theology of religions
· Adopts a balanced, ecumenical approach, looking at the contributions of all the major branches of the Church to the inheritance of theology today, and demonstrating the breadth and richness of Christian tradition
· Introduces readers to the biblical foundations and key methodological questions for theology: faith and reason, the nature of religious authority, the place of experience, revelation, Scripture and tradition, orthodoxy and heresy, and the importance of context (both historical and geographical)· Provides a comprehensive overview of all the major doctrinal topics (loci) of the Christian faith (the Trinity, Christology, pneumatology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, etc.), with emphasis on their coherence and interdependence · Highlights the most important issues currently being debated within each topic (including perspectives from black, feminist, postcolonial, queer and other theologies)· Profiles the major theologians who have contributed to each topic, offering a broader perspective on the angles taken by distinct figures in the history of theology· Encourages readers to think theologically in connection with contemporary questions, e.g. the local vs. the global, issues of gender, race, ecology and the theology of religions· Adopts a balanced, ecumenical approach, looking at the contributions of all the major branches of the Church to the inheritance of theology today, and demonstrating the breadth and richness of Christian tradition
