A Modern Introduction to Theology: New Questions for Old Beliefs

304 Pages·2006·4.194 MB·English

by  Philip Kennedy

a modern introduction to theology
Most existing undergraduate textbooks of theology begin from basically
traditional positions on the Bible, doctrine, authority, interpretation and
God. It is very difficult to find a satisfactory survey of what theology is
really about, and how it has developed historically, unless one shares the
assumption that these traditional positions are normative. It is hardly
surprising therefore that many people from outside the theological guild,
or the Church, dismiss theology as an anachronistic and self-absorbed
discipline of little relevance to modern life. What makes Philip Kennedy’s
book both singularly important and uniquely different is that it has a
completely new starting point. The author contends that traditional
Christian theology must extensively overhaul many of its theses because of
a multitude of modern social, historical and intellectual revolutions. Offering
a grand historical sweep of the genesis of the modern age, and writing with
great panache and a magisterial grasp of the relevant debates, conflicts
and controversies, A Modern Introduction to Theology moves a tired and
increasingly incoherent discipline in genuinely fresh and exciting directions.
  is a member of the Faculty of Theology in the University
of Oxford and is the Senior Tutor and a Fellow of Mansfield College. He is the
author of a much-praised volume on the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx.
‘What a delight to discover in Kennedy’s book a comprehensive resource for
theological educators and inquirers! Researchers and students will engage vigorously
with the spectrum of ideas and the depths of analysis of “intellectual revolutions in
geography, astronomy, scientific method, critical philosophy, biblical studies, historical
Jesus research, biology, physics and hermeneutics” developed in the text. Kennedy’s
theology is immediately accessible to all who share his concern for the crucial conflict
between humankind and the ecosystem of the planet. His courage and competence
in formulating “a language about God that does not expect God to rectify what
humans are so systematically destroying” invites those who may have given up on
Christianity to reassess their position. Deceptively simple in the clarity of expression,
the book opens the reader to a rich panorama of complex ideas.’
Maryanne Confoy,
Professor of Pastoral Theology, Melbourne College of Divinity
‘Philip Kennedy’s book will make a fine introductory text in a variety of undergraduate
classes. It contains excellent chapters on such standard topics as the challenges posed
by the Enlightenment and the rise of biblical criticism, but it also offers the beginning
student useful roadmaps to such subjects as globalism and economic justice, feminism,
and recent developments in physical cosmology. Perhaps most striking are the
interspersed text-boxes in which the author explains, in ordinary language, terms and
concepts that the undergraduate student is likely to be encountering for the first time
– a fine addition to a book that is sure to be widely used.’
Terry F. Godlove,
Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Hofstra University
‘Some Christian readers will find this book challenging and disturbing, but if they
value their faith, they should persevere. Kennedy has a genuine passion to discover a
Christianity which can proclaim truth, and he is unflinching in his surgery of obstacles
to that proclamation. Anyone seeking an adult faith will benefit from reading what he
has written. A Modern Introduction to Theology can also serve as principal textbook for
introductory student courses in theology and doctrine, the history of Christianity,
Church history and philosophy of religion.’
Diarmaid N.J. MacCulloch,
Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford
‘It is one of the unfortunate facts of our time that few books about theology manage to
communicate beyond the circle of professional theologians. Even fewer are those that
convey a sense of academic theology itself as an important, exciting, and challenging
venture of human thought. Kennedy’s book does just this. As he depicts it, theology
is not just the defence or reinterpretation of ancient dogmas but a totally engaging
effort to face the implications of the gospel for contemporary living. As such, theology
will lead us to radical and critical positions vis-à-vis the institutional Church, and
Kennedy does not shrink from being crystal-clear about just where the fault lines are
to be found. Vigorous, punchy, and fast-moving, this book will excite, instruct, disturb
and provoke. Accessible to students from sixth-form level upwards, it also contains
much that calls for a response from academic colleagues and, no less importantly, the
Churches themselves.’
George Pattison,
Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford
a modern introduction to theology
new questions for old beliefs
 
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contents
orientation vii
part  quibbles with tradition
chapter  theology ancient and modern 
chapter  christianity’s current predicament 
part  the revolutions of modernity
chapter  the rise of modernity 
chapter  the enlightenment 
chapter  secularity and suspicion 
part  aftershocks for traditional theology
chapter  can the bible be trusted? modern biblical studies 
chapter  the identity of jesus 
chapter  hermeneutics: are christian teachings unambiguous? 
part  disputed questions in the wake of modernity
chapter  life in the gutter: half-lives and have-nots 
chapter  no girls allowed: christianity and feminist theology 
chapter  god, quarks and quasars: modern science and
christian thought 
chapter  modern encounters between major religions 
conclusion theology’s paramount task 
notes 
further reading 
index 
orientation
Christianity was born in the agrarian societies of the ancient Middle East when
the Empire of Rome was strong and the civilization of Greece pervasive. It
survives in a vastly transformed world of slums and super-cities; in high-rise,
high-tech, multimedia cultures; and in countries enthralled by computerized
transnational money markets. Five hundred years ago, Christianity dominated the
artistic, political and intellectual life of Europe. Its theology buttressed the power
of monarchs, directed universities and commanded the allegiance of the populace.
Its missionaries dispersed its doctrines to the far reaches of the globe. Today,
Christianity’s condition depends on where and how it is implanted. In some areas
it flourishes or enjoys vigorous revivals. In others it is ignored as moribund and
meaningless, or dismissed as an old-fashioned carry-over from a peasant past. In
China it is a carefully monitored minority. Throughout Brazil it is more prevalent
than any other faith-system. Around Morocco it hardly matters. For the United
States of America it has a very public face. In general, though, and especially
since the eighteenth century, Christianity has gradually lost its former ability to
captivate western cultures. For many people, traditional Christian theology is a
Humpty-Dumpty: it has tumbled from its perch and can’t be put together again.
In short, Christian theology is a time-honoured enterprise mired in profoundly
troubling circumstances. This book explores the way such a situation arose. It
probes what has happened to Christianity and its solemnly taught theology
since the advent of the modern era; introduces its readers to challenges and
dilemmas currently confronting Christian life and thought; considers the at-
tempts of various theologians to guarantee that Christianity continues; describes
the genesis of modernity and the quandaries it poses for esteemed theologies;
and charts the evolution of a chain of historical, political, social and intellectual
viii a modern introduction to theology
revolutions that now cumulatively question the credibility of many aspects of
traditional Christian teaching.
The presumed novelty or distinctiveness of this book rests with two factors.
First, the text recoils from the assumptions that traditional theologies received
from the past are unquestionable; that what has been formerly laid down doctri-
nally is absolutely normative for the present; and that an introduction to theology
should confine itself to a reverential exposition of teachings conceived in bygone
eras. Bluntly stated, the Christian tradition is not only a conduit of wisdom; it
has also promoted disturbing dehumanizing prejudices. It proposes much that
is helpful to people today, and a good deal that needs to be reconsidered or
rejected. As such, it is a mixture of sense and nonsense. Theology would fail to
convince at present were it to be practised with inattention to events and ideas
peculiar to contemporary cultures. What is the point of addressing people by
ignoring what is new and distinctive about their experiences and knowledge?
The second facet of the book’s novelty lies in the particular constellation of
relatively recent historical transformations and intellectual discoveries that it
broaches. The major part of the book considers ideas and events that were never
encountered by pre-modern generations. In brief, new science, new experiences
and new knowledge coalesce to invite new considerations of theology’s primary
tasks and taxing dilemmas.
Anyone observing Christians today will soon discover that they are adept
at disagreement. Despite their commonalities they often dispute one another.
Since its beginnings, Christianity has been a movement of creative discussions,
rival voices, diverse opinions and varied tastes. Over the course of their history
Christians have split into several thousand rival denominations. The questions
they debate vary widely, but one in particular stands out – what is the best way
to ensure that Christianity endures? Many Christians are greatly troubled by
this question because over roughly the past two hundred years a long-standing
culture of Christendom has been collapsing ignominiously, especially in Europe.
Christendom was a civilization in which religious and civil authorities governed
societies in concert. It began noticeably in  when the Emperor Constan-
tine adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. It insisted that
Christian beliefs are true, and upheld them by political fiat. It kept the loyalty
of by far the majority of Europe’s inhabitants until it began to decline, notably
during the nineteenth century. Its vestiges remain around the world, but it has
lost the widespread political support it previously enjoyed.
Christianity is not Christendom. The former might survive without the latter.
But how? For numerous Christians at present, the ideal strategy for advancing
Christianity is repetition: to rehearse and reaffirm the grand account of human
orientation ix
destiny that is taught by traditional Christian theology. Others disagree. For
them, Christianity will languish as an irrelevant cultural sideshow unless it
develops new theologies that are informed by knowledge that was unavailable
to previous generations.
A dominant strand of conventional Christian theology tells a sober story of
a Fall, Redemption and Judgement. It teaches that a primordial human couple,
Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, and thereby fell from divine favour in paradise.
All human beings – so the story goes – as descendants of Adam and Eve are
estranged from God from birth, because they have inherited the debilitating
after-effects of the first parents’ original sin. No mere human could ever repair
the damage of the first disobedience. So God’s son became incarnate in history
in the man Jesus, and sacrificed himself on a cross to redeem humanity by recon-
ciling it with God. After his execution, Jesus was raised upward by God to a
glorified heavenly mode of existence whence, one day, he will return downward
to earth to judge the living and the dead. Whether one accepts or rejects him will
decide one’s everlasting fate. Those deemed unworthy of proceeding to heaven
will be consigned to the miseries of hell for eternity. In sum, the three pillars of
Christianity’s conventional account of human destiny in relation to God are the
doctrines of humanity’s Fall, engineered by Adam and Eve; Redemption wrought
by the self-sacrificing death of Jesus Christ; and his future Judgement of the entire
human race. The entire lattice of traditional Christian doctrine can be condensed
into a slogan of two words: ‘Jesus saves’.
The sketch of the drama of perdition and salvation just outlined is not a
caricature. It is a theological paradigm that has been preached and believed
in Christian circles for the major part of Christian history. It was eloquently
articulated about  years ago by Aurelius Augustinus, otherwise known as St
Augustine of Hippo (–). He recounts the story of the Fall in his massive
book The City of God, which was produced in instalments between  and .
His view of humanity’s fate entered the lifeblood of Christendom and remains
the official teaching of many major Churches. It was widely believed in the west
during the Middle Ages. Despite their passionate debates, it united Catholics
and Protestants throughout the sixteenth-century Reformation. Members of both
groups fretted about what they took to be the real possibility of languishing
in hell, and of being tormented by demons. Eventually, like Humpty-Dumpty,
the story of the Fall began its own fall, as it met significant trouble in the form
of growing incredulity. Its difficulties arose in the wake of a string of modern
revolutions in a host of human fields of enquiry. The classical Christian drama
of sin and salvation presupposes that the earth is the centre of the universe
and that its age can be counted in thousands of years. It avers that the cosmos
x a modern introduction to theology
is vertically ordered with heaven above earth and hell. With major discoveries
and advances in disciplines such as geography, astronomy, physics, biology and
philosophy, the time-honoured edifice of Christian doctrine began to teeter as its
underlying assumptions were more frequently questioned. Its power to convince
was sapped and its ability to inspire diminished. The end result is that a homo-
genous Christian Europe is a phenomenon of the past. The populations of most
European countries today are far from monochromatic and comprise at least three
different groups: those who are indifferent to religion in general and Christianity
in particular; those who profess religious creeds apart from Christianity; and
those who are involved with Christian churches. How and why such a situation
arose will be pondered at length below. Hereinafter, the expression ‘traditional
Christian theology’ refers mainly to the long-standing Augustinian account of
the Fall and its doctrine of a Father–Creator God.
The twelve chapters of this book are divided into four parts. The first considers
the nature of theology, traditional Christian doctrines, and Christianity’s current
predicament. The second charts the evolution of modernity, the Enlightenment,
and the gradual secularization of nineteenth-century Europe. The third consid-
ers aftershocks for traditional theology generated by the rise of the modern age.
It focuses on modern biblical studies, the
Throughout the book, the body of the
historical investigation of the identity of
text is occasionally interspersed with
Jesus, and hermeneutics, or the theory of
boxes that either explain expressions that
how to interpret language. The fourth part
might not be immediately intelligible,
attends to acute dilemmas that have arisen
or furnish further information.
for traditional theology since the advent of
modernity. It discusses such topics as talk about God in relation to debilitating
human poverty, women and Christianity, the interplay between theology and sci-
ence, and religious diversity in a globalized era. The book ends with an estimation
of theology’s paramount task today and Christianity’s greatest challenge.
A Modern Introduction to Theology is based on lectures I gave before under-
graduates in the University of Oxford over the past ten years. The lectures were
largely devoted to the history of modern Christian life and thought, and aimed
to illustrate the peculiar challenges encountered by theologians in the modern
era. My students were not always aware they were being used as guinea pigs to
test new modes of probing ancient issues. Experiments complete, this book has
been thoroughly recast to address a much wider and far more diverse audience.
Importantly, it is not the fruit of sustained and contemplative sabbatical research.
On the contrary, it was devised during a standard rota of university teaching and
faculty business. That is not an excuse for its limitations, but an explanation for
its final form and general tone.