9780130991676

For one-semester, undergraduate-level courses in Introduction to Theology or History of the Christian Tradition. This text helps students acquire a basic theological literacy in key persons and events of the Bible and the Christian faith, and in Christianity's encounter with culture at large. Historically arranged, it also addresses five major themes of systematic theology: revelation, God, creation, Jesus, and church.

Preface

ix

Introduction

1

(12)

Terence Nichols

David Smith

Jan Michael Joncas

Part I The Old Testament

13

(58)

David Landry

The Primeval Story

19

(10)

David Landry

David Penchansky

God's Covenant with Israel

29

(15)

David Smith

Judges, Prophets, Kings

44

(13)

David Penchansky

David Landry

Second Temple Judaism (520 B.C.E.-70 C.E.)

57

(14)

David Landry

Part II The New Testament

71

(32)

Catherine Cory

Jesus and the Gospels

75

(14)

Catherine Cory

Apostolic Missions

89

(14)

David Landry

Catherine Cory

Part III The History of Christianity

103

(142)

Michael Hollerich

Christianity after the Apostles

108

(15)

Michael Hollerich

The Age of the Imperial Church

123

(18)

Michael Hollerich

Augustine of Hippo

141

(12)

David Hunter

Eastern Christianity

153

(14)

Jan Michael Joncas

Islam

167

(15)

Carol Lahurd

Christianity in the Early Medieval Period

182

(14)

Jan Michael Joncas

Christianity in the High Middle Ages

196

(19)

Michael Hollerich

Thomas Aquinas

215

(15)

David Smith

Christianity in the Late Medieval Period

230

(15)

Anne H. King

Part IV The Modern Period

245

(154)

Terence Nichols

The Renaissance

249

(10)

Terence Nichols

Martin Luther

259

(16)

Shirley E. Jordon

Other Protestant Reformers

275

(21)

David S. Cunningham

The Catholic Reformation

296

(13)

Anne H. King

Global Expansion and the Colonial Churches

309

(15)

Thaddeus Posey

Modern Challenges to Christianity

324

(21)

Terence Nichols

Christianity in the United States

345

(20)

Thaddeus Posey

Christianity and the Contemporary Situation

365

(22)

Terence Nichols

David Smith

David S. Cunningham

Christianity and, Other Religions

387

(12)

Edwards Ulrich

Glossary

399

(20)

Copyright Acknowledgments

419

(4)

Index

423

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The textbook you are about to read is a very unusual one, for it is not the work of one or even two people, but a collaborative work involving fourteen separate authors, five or more reviewers, and two editors. What follows is the rather remarkable story of how this textbook came into being. In the fall of 1990, the theology department at the University of St. Thomas created a new first course in theology, a course that all undergraduate students would take as part of their general education requirements at this urban, Catholic, liberal arts university. The new first course was entitled "The Christian Theological Tradition." It was designed to give students a one-semester introduction to the whole of Christian history, from Genesis to Vatican II, as a starting point for their studies in the curricular area "Faith and the Catholic Tradition." The reasons for the creation of this course were manifold. A major factor was the realization that students who came to St. Thomas were increasingly less prepared to handle what were previously classified as "introductory" courses in theology. Through no fault of their own, fewer and fewer students had any real knowledge about the Catholic tradition, the contents of the Bible, the major doctrines of the Christian faith, or the meaning of the various parts of Christian liturgy. "The Christian Theological Tradition" was created, in part, to provide the basic knowledge necessary for further study in theology, the foundation on which advanced learning could be built. The backbone of the new course was to be a long list of primary texts. Included on this list were seminal biblical texts from the Pentateuch, the prophets, the gospels, and Paul's letters; the decrees of important church councils, such as Nicaea, Constantinople, Chalcedon, Trent, and Vatican II; Christian spiritual writings, such as those of Julian of Norwich; and works by the greatest theologians in Christian history such as Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther. Although the course was built around the primary texts, it needed a textbook to complement these readings and to provide a context for the readings themselves. The theology faculty considered numerous possible textbooks but found that none met all of its needs. In the spring of 1994, the theology department created a committee to explore the possibility of writing a textbook specifically for "The Christian Theological Tradition." The committee met that summer to develop a table of contents and some sample chapters. The results were sufficiently encouraging that the committee made a recommendation to the whole department that it proceed with the textbook project, and the recommendation was approved. The first task of the committee was to find authors for each of the proposed twenty-four chapters. This was not as difficult as it might appear, since when it comes to covering the length and breadth of the Christian theological tradition, the theology department at the University of St. Thomas possesses an embarrassment of riches. Due to the large size of the undergraduate student body at St. Thomas (approximately 5,500 students) and the three-course requirement, the theology department is unusually large, with approximately thirty full-time members. Because of this, the committee was able to find authors for each of the chapters who are truly experts in the areas to be covered, many of them scholars with a national reputation. Eventually, thirteen people volunteered to write one or more chapters. A fourteenth author was added in the second edition. The two people who were chosen to be the general editors of the textbook then wrote various grant proposals in search of funds to finance the project. When the proposals were accepted by the Bush Foundation and the Aquinas Foundation, the final hurdle had been cleared, and serious work on the project began. The writing of the chapters took place between the fall of 1994 and the winter of 1996. As a first

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Christian Theological Tradition

The Christian Theological Tradition

0130991678

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Excerpts