My Theology Series

The Word within the Words is a Poet's Credo, in which Malcom Guite sets out to show how his Christian faith informs and underpins his poetry and, in turn, how poetry itself and, more widely, the poetic imagination help him understand and interpret his faith. After a brief introduction outlining a theology of Christ as the Word, the essential logos or meaning that underlies all things made flesh for us in Jesus, there are short chapters on Scripture, liturgy, and sacrament, each understood as a kind of poetry capable of transfiguring our vision and transforming our lives. In light of these, the final section of the book reflects on the all-transforming reality of Christ and the Kingdonot only within but well beyond the bounds of the church. The theology in this book is illustrated throughout with personal stories and with poetry, both classics from the cannon and Guite's own poems. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

In The Corner of Fourth and Nondual, a title inspired by Thomas Merton's moment of revelation 'at the corner of Fourth and Walnut' in his celebrated essay 'A Member of the Human Race', Cynthia Bourgeault--internationally renowned retreat leader, and a practitioner and teacher of centering prayer--describes the foundations of her theology: a cosmological seeing with the eye of the heart, and classic Benedictine daily rule informed and enlightened by wisdom from the Asian traditions. She explains the influence of the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Teilhard de Chardin, Boehme, Barnhart, Keating, and Gurdjieff, among others in a philosophy built on the cornerstones of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery, tied by the Trinity as a cosmogonic principle, the fundamental generative mechanism through which all things came into being. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books. There are sixteen titles total.

Alister McGrath explains how he returned to Christianity from the "distant country" of Marxism and scientific atheism and became a Christian theologian. The work offers a summary of McGrath's vision of Christian theology, focusing on the distinct role of historical theology, the importance of engaging the relation of science and faith, the need for theologians to participate in major public debates, and the significance of theological education. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

In an age of anxiety where reason is deified, what is the role of love? This short book centralizes love as the core reality of all cosmic life. From the cosmological to the theological dimensions of existence, love is shown to be the irresistible force of attraction that leads straight into the heart of God. The book is divided into three short chapters based on a metaphysics of love: we are born out of divine love, we exist in love, and we are oriented toward the fullness of love. In a world of evolutionary convergence and global consciousness, love may be the singular ethic that binds us together, heals our wounds and draws us into a new unity of planetary life. In the My Theology series, the world’s leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Spirit Life centers on the Spirit as an avenue for better understanding God and reconciling with our faith. The Spirit is present in the Old Testament as ruach and in the New Testament as pneuma. When the field of theology was prominently German-led, theologians used the word geist to talk about the spirit. As an Asian-American theologian existing in the liminality between multiple cultural spheres, Kim finds it necessary to retrieve and disseminate Asian words and religious symbols into the mainstream discourse to revolutionize the accessibility and global understanding of God today. One important Asian concept is chi, translated as wind, breath, spirit, energy, much like ruach, pneuma, and geist. Chi is a fitting term for coming to know God as the Spirit as it effectively conveys God's presence in the world. As such, we can move toward a nondualistic theology that provides an abundant space for everyone, including the marginalized and the subordinated, paving a path toward liberation and radical demarginalization. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Forgiveness and Reparation, the Healing Journey is about reparations. We think of reparations as a remunerative act and as a punitive one. The colonial powers must pay back a significant percentage of what they stole from the colonized. To arrive at what would be a meaningful amount, we must tally up the cost of the human lives lost, the opportunities denied, the mineral wealth ravaged, and the ecosystems destroyed. How can we even begin to calculate the worth of even one of those categories? How can we rightly price even one human life? Furthermore, this approach assumes there is only one side in need of repair--the side of the subjects who were raped, ravaged, abused, misused, and had their lives and labor stolen. But reparations rightly engaged is part of a spiritual process of forgiveness and reconciliation. Reparations would be an element in a process of atonement and restorative justice that sees the need for acknowledgment of the damage done to the enslaved and colonized, healing and restoration of the lost humanity of the perpetrators, and repair of the violated relationships between the human and ecological victims and the human perpetrators. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

In The Audacity of Peace, Scot McKnight sketches a peace ethic, or a peace witness, that embraces the embodied self-denial of Jesus to the point of the cross, which through the resurrection is vindicated by God. As such, a peace ethic volitionally and communally participates in the cruciform pattern of the life of Jesus. Through the power of God's grace and the indwelling Spirit of God, the participant in the way of Jesus is transformed into a Christoform life. A peace ethic is a lived theology whose discerning witness transcends the specific principles and ideas of that theology. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Priest, poet, and broadcaster Rachel Mann believes the world is charged with a divine spark. She explains how in our encounters with what she terms "the spectres of God," one can become at peace with limitation, precariousness, lack of certainty, and one's fractures--and at the same time find in divine fragility the hope of the world. Drawing on her own experiences, in three short chapters (on the body, on love, and on time) Mann explores how God invites us, repeatedly, to live in a rich, three-dimensional mystery that subverts the depressing flat-earth of modern life. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

This book contours Robert Beckford's recontextualization of African American Black and Womanist theologies of liberation. Making the black British experience a point of departure, Beckford's theological method appropriates two distinct approaches to pursue a contextual theology or a Black theology dub: first, a correlation of linguistic concepts from Black cultural history and urban life (Rahtid, Dread, and Dub) with the theological categories of "God," "Jesus," and the "Spirit"; second, a media theopraxis or inscribing of Black theology onto commercial television documentary filmmaking and studio-produced contemporary gospel music. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

The God that we were brought up on is not big enough to be God. To be both religious and spiritual, modernity must be able to absorb the notion of a cosmic and evolving God. This notion redefines the place and purpose of humanity itself. The old notions of who is in charge, who is superior and whose theology is paramount is in a state of flux. Unless, or until, this new vision comes into play, directs our hearts, guides our business, underlies our technology, the world itself is not ready to understand or survive the horizon of Newness on which it stands. In the My Theology series, the world’s leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Reflecting on the particular challenges facing a schoolgirl of the 1950s attracted to the possibility of going to university to read theology, and on her path to becoming the first woman to be given a personal Chair at the University of Durham, professor emerita of divinity at the same, an honorary professor at the University of St. Andrews, and a CBE for "services to theology," Ann Loades introduces some of the key tenets of her theological thinking, including about theodicy, women in theology, worship, engagement with actual living, and biography and theology in various writers. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

How does a scientist find God in the universe? Finding God in the Universe is the personal reflection of a Jesuit brother and astronomer, the director of the Vatican Observatory. Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, insists that science is more than observing the universe; it's learning how to pay attention, how to concentrate on one aspect while setting aside, at least momentarily, all the other interesting aspects that can distract us from a deeper knowledge of the universe--or of God. In his telling, joy is our compass, truth is our goal, and imagination weaves the story where we situate the joy that leads us to truth. Most importantly, both science and theology are done within a community of fellow seekers, where we share the stories that teach us how to explore, and with whom we can try to make sense of what we think we have found. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Theology doesn't come to us neatly packaged from above. There is a sense in which all theology is autobiography. We learn it as we live it, and the place where we live it out is within our own story. It's not that there is no such thing as objective truth. It's just that we come to know what we know not only as we think our way into it with our minds but as we live into it with the whole of our lives. As theologians, our own stories inevitably matter. In this book, John Swinton uses fragments of his own story to show how that story has impacted the way he sees and practices theology. His place of formation walking alongside people living with intellectual disabilities, mental health challenges, and dementia has gifted Swinton with the opportunity to ask different questions of the tradition--questions that emerge from the lives of people who see the world differently. That learning has shaped him as a theologian. It has also raised some crucial questions around the nature of faithfulness, discipleship, and exactly what kind of community the church is and should be in both theory and in practice. As we reflect on these matters, the hope is that all of us together can begin to appreciate more deeply the goodness, kindness, and love of God for all human beings. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

A short, definitive account of Keith Ward's theology, based on the philosophy of personal idealism, this book records his views about God, revelation, the kingdom of God, life after death, the incarnation, atonement, and the Trinity. In summary, it is a concise and clear account of most central Christian doctrines, formed in the light of modern science and Idealist philosophy. In the My Theology series, the world's leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

Artist-theologian Siku, creator of The Manga Bible and artist on Judge Dredd, introduces the concept of Narrative Theology - and the specific subset of Graphic Theology - that informs his unique work and ministry. Through the visual language of superhero archetypes, legend and lore, he demonstrates a contemporary method of engaging with the Bible that resonates with how the Hebrew sages and prophets of pre-antiquity read Scripture. This one-of-a-kind contribution to the My Theology series is presented in full color as a mix of text and Siku's dynamic artwork and comic-style illustration. In the My Theology series, the world’s leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.