Confessing the Faith: Christian Theology in A North American ContextThis bold work culminates Hall's three- volume contextual theology, the first to take the measure of Christian belief and doctrine explicitly in light of North American cultural and historical experience.Hall is deeply critical of North American culture but also of sidelined Christian churches that struggle to gain dominance within it. "We must stop thinking of the reduction of Christendom as a tragedy!" he says. The disestablishment that the churches reluctantly enjoy can enable them to develop genuine community, uncompromised theology, and honest engagement with the larger culture. To a failed culture and a struggling church Hall shows the radical implications of a theology of the cross for the shape and practice of church, preaching, ministry, ethics, and eschatology.Hall's frank and prophetic volume is the trilogy's most practical, and the most sustained probe to date of Christian life in a post-Christian context. |
Contents
33 | |
44 | |
Contours of the Church | 65 |
4 The Marks of the Church | 70 |
5 The Church and the Churches | 97 |
6 The Body and Its Members | 107 |
7 Church Society and State | 116 |
8 The Church and the Faiths of Others | 135 |
21 The Doctrine of Election | 322 |
22 The Ethic of Resistance and the Ethic of Responsibility | 332 |
The Forms of Faiths Confession | 341 |
Christian Confession as Word Deed and Stance | 343 |
Preaching the Faith | 348 |
25 Other Verbal Forms of Faiths Confession | 364 |
26 Confession as Deed | 387 |
27 Confession as Stance | 395 |
Mission Message and Ministry | 143 |
10 The WorldOrientation of the Christian Mission | 150 |
11 The Mission as Message | 163 |
The Empowerment of Mission | 184 |
Metamorphosis From Christendom to Diaspora | 199 |
Disestablishment and the Crisis of Mainline Protestantism | 201 |
An Overview | 204 |
15 Establishment and Disestablishment in North America | 226 |
16 The Task of Disestablishment | 240 |
17 On Being a Diaspora in a Christian Context | 256 |
Christian Life in a PostChristian Context | 265 |
19 Resources for the Journey | 275 |
20 The Covenantal Basis of the Disciple Community | 311 |
Theological Ethics | 405 |
29 Ethics as Discipleship | 419 |
30 The Ethics of a Prophetic Minority | 433 |
The Reign of God and Christian Hope | 451 |
Confessing Hope | 453 |
32 What is Eschatology? | 469 |
Creaturely Destiny | 483 |
34 The Journey of the Self | 498 |
Conclusion | 519 |
523 | |
530 | |
Other editions - View all
Confessing the Faith: Christian Theology in A North American Context Douglas John Hall No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
aspect assumption Barmen Declaration become believe Bible biblical body called century Chris Christendom Christian ethics Christian faith Christian movement Christian Right christological church concept concerned confess the faith confessing church congregation Constantinian contemporary context covenant creation creature critical culture deeds denominations diaspora Dietrich Bonhoeffer dimension disciple community discipleship discussion disestablishment divine divine grace doctrine ecclesiastical ecclesiology eschatology establishment evangelism fact faith's confession forms foundations future God's gospel grace Holy hope human Ibid individual Jesus Christ Jürgen Moltmann justification Karl Barth liberal liberal Christian live Luther means ministry moral newer Testament Niebuhr North American Paul Tillich perhaps persons political preaching precisely present Professing the Faith Protestant Protestantism question reality Reformation Reinhold Niebuhr relation religion religious response sacraments sanctification Scriptures secular sense social society sola scriptura speak Spirit term theologians theology thought tian Tillich tion tradition trans transcendent truth understanding whole words worldly