The Christian Theology Reader

629 Pages·2016·9.87 MB·English

by  Alister E. McGrath

THE CHRISTIAN
THEOLOGY READER
Praise for previous editions of The Christian Theology Reader
“In a time when Christians are increasingly ignorant of our own traditions, McGrath’s efforts in his Introduction and
this Reader are most welcome. Those who have found his Introduction a significant resource will undoubtedly also
want to use his companion set of readings. Its great strength is the breadth of figures and topics treated, and we can
hope that students who become acquainted with the riches in these brief selections will want to return to engage the
primary sources in their fullness. Such engagements could offer an important sign of hope for Christianity’s future.”
L. Gregory Jones, Duke University, North Carolina
“This anthology of extracts from primary sources will prove extremely useful for teaching historical and system-
atic theology. It is essential that students use primary sources, and a compromise has to be reached between undue
expectations and snippets which are too brief to help. In the light of the author’s introductions, the quotations are
sufficiently substantial to be useful, yet remain within a compass which is realistic for undergraduate or theological
college needs. I shall place it high on my book-lists for students.”
Anthony C. Thiselton, University of Nottingham
“The Christian Theology Reader brings the best primary sources to the theological inquirer.”
Gabriel Fackre, Andover Newton Theological School
Also by Alister E. McGrath from Wiley Blackwell
Christian Theology: An Introduction, 6th edition (2016)
Darwinism and the Divine (2011)
Theology: The Basic Readings, 2nd edition (2011)
Theology: The Basics, 3rd edition (2011)
Science and Religion: An Introduction, 2nd edition (2010)
The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology (2008)
Christianity: An Introduction, 2nd edition (2006)
The Order of Things: Explorations in Scientific Theology (2006)
Luther’s Theology of the Cross, 2nd edition (2005)
Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life (2004)
A Brief History of Heaven (2003)
The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism (ed., with Darren C. Marks, 2003)
The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation, 2nd edition (2003)
The Future of Christianity (2002)
Christian Literature: An Anthology (2000)
Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 3rd edition (2000)
Christian Spirituality: An Introduction (1999)
Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought (1998)
The Foundations of Dialogue in Science and Religion (1998)
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought (1995)
A Life of John Calvin (1993)
For a complete list of Alister E. McGrath’s publications from Wiley Blackwell, visit our website at
http://www1.alistermcgrathwiley.com.
THE CHRISTIAN
THEOLOGY READER
25th Anniversary Fifth Edition
Edited by
ALISTER E. MCGRATH
This fifth edition first published 2017
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paperback 9781118874387
Names: McGrath, Alister E., 1953- editor.
Title: The Christian theology reader / edited by Alister E. McGrath.
Description: 25th Anniversary Fifth Edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2016. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016004203| ISBN 9781118874387 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781118874370
(epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Theology, Doctrinal–Popular works.
Classification: LCC BT77 .C47 2016 | DDC 230–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004203
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: [Production Editor to insert]
Set in 10/12.5 pt MinionPro-Regular by Thomson Digital, Noida, India.
Printed in Malaysia
1 2017
Contents
Preface xv
Approaching the Readings xvii
To the Student: How to Use This Book xix
To the Teacher: How to Use This Book xxi
Video Resources for This Textbook xxiii
The Development of Christian Theology: An Historical Overview xxv
Acknowledgments xxxi
1 Getting Started: Preliminaries 1
Introduction 2
1.1 Justin Martyr on Philosophy and Theology 5
1.2 Clement of Alexandria on Philosophy and Theology 6
1.3 Tertullian on the Relationship between Philosophy and Heresy 7
1.4 Augustine of Hippo on Philosophy and Theology 9
1.5 The Nicene Creed 10
1.6 The Apostles’ Creed 12
1.7 Anselm of Canterbury’s Proof for the Existence of God 13
1.8 Gaunilo’s Reply to Anselm’s Argument 14
1.9 Thomas Aquinas on Proofs for the Existence of God 16
1.10 Thomas Aquinas on the Principle of Analogy 19
1.11 William of Ockham on Proofs for the Existence of God 21
1.12 Martin Luther on the Theology of the Cross 23
1.13 John Calvin on the Nature of Faith 24
1.14 The Heidelberg Catechism on Images of God 26
1.15 John Locke on the Formation of the Concept of God 27
1.16 René Descartes on the Existence of God 28
1.17 Blaise Pascal on Proofs for the Existence of God 29
1.18 Blaise Pascal on the Hiddenness of God 31
1.19 Immanuel Kant on Anselm’s Ontological Argument 32
1.20 Søren Kierkegaard on the Subjectivity of Truth 33
1.21 The First Vatican Council on Faith and Reason 34
1.22 John Henry Newman on the Grounds of Faith 36
CONTENTS
1.23 Adolf von Harnack on the Origins of Dogma 38
1.24 Karl Barth on the Nature and Task of Theology 39
1.25 Ludwig Wittgenstein on Analogy 41
1.26 Ludwig Wittgenstein on Proofs for the Existence of God 42
1.27 Vladimir Lossky on Apophatic Approaches to Theology 43
1.28 Dietrich Bonhoeffer on God in a Secular World 45
1.29 Paul Tillich on the Method of Correlation 47
1.30 Ian T. Ramsey on the Language of Christian Doctrine 49
1.31 Sallie McFague on Metaphor in Theology 50
1.32 Gustavo Gutiérrez on Theology as Critical Reflection 52
1.33 Brian A. Gerrish on Accommodation in Calvin’s Theology 54
1.34 George Lindbeck on Postliberal Approaches to Doctrine 55
1.35 Dumitru Stăniloae on the Nature of Dogma 58
1.36 Kevin Vanhoozer on the Challenge of Postmodernity for Theology 60
1.37 John Polkinghorne on Motivated Belief in Theology 62
1.38 Pope Francis on Faith and Truth in Theology and the Church 64
For Further Reading 66
2 The Sources of Theology 67
Introduction 68
2.1 Melito of Sardis on Typology and Old Testament Interpretation 71
2.2 Irenaeus of Lyons on the Role of Tradition 73
2.3 Hippolytus on Typological Interpretation of Scripture 74
2.4 Clement of Alexandria on the Fourfold Interpretation of Scripture 75
2.5 Tertullian on Tradition and Apostolic Succession 76
2.6 Origen on the Three Ways of Reading Scripture 77
2.7 Cyril of Jerusalem on the Role of Creeds 78
2.8 Augustine of Hippo on the Literal and Allegorical Senses of Scripture 79
2.9 Jerome on the Role of Scripture 80
2.10 Vincent of Lérins on the Role of Tradition 82
2.11 Bernard of Clairvaux on the Allegorical Sense of Scripture 83
2.12 Stephen Langton on the Moral Sense of Scripture 84
2.13 Ludolf of Saxony on Reading Scripture Imaginatively 85
2.14 Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples on the Senses of Scripture 86
2.15 Martin Luther on the Fourfold Sense of Scripture 88
2.16 Martin Luther on Revelation in Christ 89
2.17 John Calvin on the Natural Knowledge of God 91
2.18 John Calvin on the Relationship between the Old and New Testaments 92
2.19 The Council of Trent on Scripture and Tradition 93
2.20 The Gallic Confession on the Canon of Scripture 94
2.21 The Belgic Confession on the Book of Nature 96
2.22 Melchior Cano on the Church as an Interpreter of Scripture 97
2.23 The Formula of Concord on Scripture and the Theologians 98
2.24 Robert Bellarmine on Protestant Biblical Interpretation 99
2.25 The King James Translators on Biblical Translation 100
2.26 Sir Thomas Browne on the Two Books of Revelation 102
vi
CONTENTS
2.27 Francis White on Scripture and Tradition 104
2.28 Jonathan Edwards on the Beauty of Creation 105
2.29 William Paley on the Wisdom of the Creation 106
2.30 Johann Adam Möhler on Living Tradition 108
2.31 John Henry Newman on the Role of Tradition 110
2.32 Charles Hodge on the Inspiration of Scripture 113
2.33 Gerard Manley Hopkins on God’s Grandeur in Nature 114
2.34 Charles Gore on the Relationship between Dogma and the New Testament 115
2.35 James Orr on the Centrality of Revelation for Christianity 117
2.36 Wilhelm Herrmann on the Nature of Revelation 118
2.37 Karl Barth on Revelation as God’s Self-Disclosure 121
2.38 Emil Brunner on the Personal Nature of Revelation 123
2.39 Rudolf Bultmann on Demythologization and Biblical Interpretation 124
2.40 Pope Pius XII on the Authority of the Vulgate Translation of the Bible 126
2.41 Austin Farrer on Demythologization, History, and Biblical Interpretation 127
2.42 Gerhard von Rad on Typology and Biblical Interpretation 129
2.43 Karl Rahner on the Authority of Scripture 131
2.44 Brevard S. Childs on the Canonical Interpretation of Scripture 133
2.45 Phyllis Trible on Feminist Biblical Interpretation 134
2.46 John Meyendorff on Living Tradition 137
2.47 James I. Packer on the Nature of Revelation 138
2.48 Thomas F. Torrance on Karl Barth’s Criticism of Natural Theology 140
2.49 The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Scripture and Tradition 143
2.50 N. T. Wright on the Authority of Biblical Narratives 145
2.51 Alister E. McGrath on a Christian Approach to Natural≈Theology 147
For Further Reading 148
3 The Doctrine of God 150
Introduction 151
3.1 Athenagoras of Athens on the Christian God 155
3.2 Irenaeus of Lyons on the Origin of Evil 156
3.3 Irenaeus of Lyons on the Trinity 157
3.4 Tertullian on Creation from Preexistent Matter 158
3.5 Origen on Creation from Preexistent Matter 159
3.6 Origen on the Relationship between God and Evil 160
3.7 Gregory of Nyssa on Human Analogies of the Trinity 161
3.8 Basil of Caesarea on the Work of the Holy Spirit 163
3.9 Gregory of Nazianzus on the Gradual Revelation of the Trinity 165
3.10 Athanasius of Alexandria on the Holy Spirit and the Trinity 166
3.11 Hilary of Poitiers on the Trinity 167
3.12 Augustine of Hippo on the Trinity 168
3.13 Augustine of Hippo on the Relationship between God and Evil 172
3.14 Epiphanius of Constantia on Sabellianism 173
3.15 Cyril of Alexandria on the Role of the Holy Spirit 174
3.16 John of Damascus on the Holy Spirit 175
3.17 The Eleventh Council of Toledo on the Trinity 176
vii
CONTENTS
3.18 Anselm of Canterbury on the Compassion of God 177
3.19 Richard of St. Victor on Love within the Trinity 178
3.20 Alexander of Hales on the Suffering of God in Christ 180
3.21 Thomas Aquinas on Divine Omnipotence 181
3.22 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio on the Origin of Evil 182
3.23 Julian of Norwich on God as Our Mother 183
3.24 William of Ockham on the Two Powers of God 184
3.25 Thomas à Kempis on the Limits of Trinitarian Speculation 185
3.26 John Calvin on the Providence of God 186
3.27 Benedict Spinoza on the Impassibility of God 188
3.28 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on the Trinity 189
3.29 Karl Barth on the “Otherness” of God 190
3.30 Jürgen Moltmann on the Suffering of God 191
3.31 Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Glory of God 193
3.32 Leonardo Boff on the Trinity as Good News for the Poor 195
3.33 Robert Jenson on the Trinity 197
3.34 Hans Küng on the Immutability of God 200
3.35 Eberhard Jüngel on the Crucified God 202
3.36 Jacques Ellul on the Theology of Icons 203
3.37 Walter Kasper on the Rationality of the Trinity 205
3.38 Paul Jewett on Noninclusive Language and the Trinity 207
3.39 John Milbank on the Trinity in a Postmodern Age 209
3.40 Elizabeth A. Johnson on Male and Female Images of God 211
3.41 Anne Carr on Feminism and the Maleness of God 213
3.42 Sarah Coakley on Social Models of the Trinity 215
3.43 David Bentley Hart on God and Evil 217
For Further Reading 219
4 The Person of Christ 221
Introduction 222
4.1 Ignatius of Antioch on Docetism 225
4.2 Irenaeus of Lyons on Gnosticism in Christology 226
4.3 Tertullian on Patripassianism 227
4.4 Tertullian on the Incarnation 227
4.5 Novatian on the Divinity of Christ 229
4.6 Origen on the Two Natures of Christ 230
4.7 Arius on the Status of Christ 231
4.8 Athanasius of Alexandria on the Two Natures of Christ 232
4.9 Apollinarius of Laodicea on the Person of Christ 233
4.10 Gregory of Nazianzus on Apollinarianism 234
4.11 Theodore of Mopsuestia on the “Union of Good Pleasure” 235
4.12 Nestorius on the Term Theotokos 236
4.13 Cyril of Alexandria on the Incarnation 238
4.14 Pope Leo the Great on the Two Natures of Christ 239
4.15 The Chalcedonian Definition of the Christian Faith 241
4.16 John of Damascus on the Incarnation and Icons 243
viii