The Craft of Innovative Theology
Argument and Process
1. Edition January 2022
304 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Further versions
A comprehensive collection of resources showing students of theology how to prepare and write creative research-oriented material
The Craft of Innovative Theology: Argument and Process delivers a thorough examination of the method of producing and writing creative theological theses and projects, explaining to students how to write elegant, innovative research-oriented articles. Through a collection of papers written by distinguished scholars, the text exhibits numerous examples of well-executed creative writing on topics as varied as theodicy and evolution, and artificial intelligence and baptism.
Each article includes an introduction by the editor that serves to guide the student through the material and elucidates what makes the work stand out as exceptional. The articles are also annotated to assist with the appreciation of the methodology and style used by the author. The Craft of Innovative Theology assists theology students in improving their research writing to a point where they'll be ready for a Masters' thesis or PhD dissertation, and is an excellent resource for a research methods course in a graduate program.
The works incorporated by the editors include:
* A thorough introduction to God and the Incarnation, including knowing God through religious pluralism
* An exploration of God and church, including racial stigma and the southern Baptist public discourse in the twentieth century, and the appropriateness of baptizing artificial intelligence
* A discussion of God and the world, including where humanity has come from and where we're going, and the challenges posed by biological evolution to Christian theology
* A treatment of God and ethics, including sin and the faces of responsibility
Perfect for students of postgraduate theology and research methods courses, The Craft of Innovative Theology: Argument and Process will also earn a place in the libraries of students in courses that prepare them to write a Masters' thesis in theology or to begin shaping their PhD dissertation topic.
Contributors xi
Introduction xiii
Part I God and the Incarnation 1
1 Knowing God through Religious Pluralism 3
Tinu Ruparell
Research Level 2 3
2 Is It Possible for the Eternal Word to Be Made Manifest in a Person with Down's Syndrome? 19
Ian S. Markham
Research Level 1 19
Part II God and Church 31
3 Racial Stigma and Southern Baptist Public Discourse in the Twentieth Century 33
Pamela D. Jones
Research Level 1 33
4 The Plugged-in Church: Is it Appropriate to Baptize Artificial Intelligence 50
Ian S. Markham
Research Level 1 50
Part III God and the World 63
5 Humanity: Where on Earth Have We Come From and Where Are We Going To? 65
Celia Deane-Drummond
Research Level 3 65
6 What Challenges Does the Theory of Biological Evolution Pose to Christian Theology? 81
Christopher Southgate
Research Level 3 81
Part IV God and Ethics 97
7 Sin and the Faces of Responsibility 99
Leigh Vicens
Research Level 4 99
8 A Good Story: Human-Animal Friendship and Meat Eating 114
Trevor Bechtel
Research Level 2 114
9 Just Business: It's Not What You Think 127
Kathryn D. Blanchard
Research Level 2 127
Part V The End of the World 149
10 Relentless Love and the Afterlife 151
Thomas J. Oord
Research Level 1 151
11 Hell: Retributivism, Escapism, and Universal Reconciliation 164
Andrei A. Buckareff
Research Level 3 164
12 Christ Will Come Again 183
Keith Ward
Research Level 2 183
Part VI Method in Theology 195
13 Theological Language and Method in Liberal Theology: Schubert Ogden's Response to the Falsification Controversy 197
John Allan Knight
Research Level 4 197
14 Does Culture Determine Belief? The Relationship between the Social Sciences and Theology 212
Martyn Percy
Research Level 3 212
15 Theological Reference and Theological Creativity in Judaism 226
Cass Fisher
Research Level 4 226
16 Marshall's Slingshot: Truth Theory, Realism, and Liberal Theological Method 245
John Allan Knight
Research Level 4 245
Glossary 261
Index 266
Ian S. Markham is the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and a priest in the Episcopal Church. He has degrees from King's College London, the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from the University of Exeter. He is the author of numerous books, including Against Atheism: Why Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris are Fundamentally Wrong (Wiley ??Blackwell, 2010), The New Apologetics (2020), A Theology of Engagement (Blackwell, 2003), Truth and the Reality of God (1998), and Plurality and Christian Ethics (1994).
