Modern Theologians (CH3400T)

Content

This unit introduces students to a selection of some of the key figures and movements in theological history from the early 1800s to the end of the twentieth century, including: Ernst Troeltsch and the History of Religions School, Karl Barth’s ‘neo-orthodoxy’, liberation theologies, Pentecostalism, and the post-liberalism of George Lindbeck and Robert Jenson. It examines the contexts in which they arose, the intellectual, cultural and theological trends against which they were reacting, and the responses to them by their critics. Students will engage with key texts from each school, movement or figure.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

Lectures, tutorials, online materials

Indicative Bibliography

• Althaus-Reid, Marcella & Isherwood, Lisa. Controversies in Feminist Theology. London: SCM Press, 2007.
• Anderson, Allen. An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
• Barth, Karl. Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century. London: SCM Press, 2010.
• Boff, Leonardo. Introducing Liberation Theology. London: Burns & Oates, 1987.
• Cartledge, Mark. Encountering the Spirit: The Charismatic Tradition. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2006.
• Ford, David F., ed. The Modern Theologians: Introduction to Christian Theology in the Twentieth Century, Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
• Guttierez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. New York: Orbis, 1988.
• Lindbeck, George. The Nature of Doctrine. Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1984.
• Loades, Anne, ed. Feminist Theology: A Reader. London: SPCK, 1996.
• McCormack, Bruce. Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1906-1936, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
• McGrath, Alister. The Making of Modern German Christology, 1750-1990, Eugene, Wipf & Stock, 2005.
• Muers, Rachel & Higton, Mike. Modern Theology: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge, 2012.
• Placher, William. The Triune God. An Essay in Postliberal Theology. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
• Rowland, Christopher, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
• Welch, Claude. Protestant Thought in the Nineteenth Century. Volume 2, 1870-1914. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2003.

Assessment