Theological Method: A Guide for the Perplexed: (Guides for the Perplexed)

Theological Method: A Guide for the Perplexed is a book that introduces the reader to the practice of doing theology. It provides a historical survey of key figures and concepts that bear on an understanding of difficult methodological issues in Christian theology. Beginning with a description of philosophical themes that affect the way theology is done today, it summarizes the various theological methods deployed by theologians and churches over two millennia of Christian thought. The book uncovers patterns in the theological task of relating biblical texts with beliefs and doctrines, according to historically conditioned theological and cultural priorities. The book's highlights include a discussion of Augustine's epoch-making De doctrina Christiana. Also receiving close attention is the relationship between philosophy and theology during the Middle Ages, the meaning of sola scriptura for the Protestant Reformers, the methods of key interpreters of doctrine in the nineteenth century and the theological priorities of the 'Radical Orthodoxy' movement.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Paul: Kerygma and Ecclesia 2. The Patristic Era: Understanding the Word of God 3. Augustine: Reading for Conversion 4. The Medieval Period: The Bible and Natural Theology 5. Sola Scriptura or Scripture and Tradition 6. Early Modern Theology: History and the Rise of Explicit Methodology 7. Modern Theological Methods as Diffuse Hermeneutics 8. Modern Theological Methods as Wisdom Appendix, Excerpts from one or two classical texts Bibliography  

About the Author :
Dr. Paul L. Allen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Review :
A stimulating and thought-provoking addition to the Guides for the Perplexed series. It will be particularly useful for those who have already completed some theological study and wish to go deeper into questions of method. Allen deserves much credit for this achievement . . . I'll likely find a way to incorporate this helpful methodological and theological book into my classes Notably detailed for a short introduction ... This is the most successful feature of the book: rather than making one reliant on the text, it acts as a catalyst to read the works of the theologians themselves with the themes brought up in mind ... For those beginning explicit study in theological method, this is a book well worth reading. Paul Allen offers an illuminating set of example to display-rather than try to explain-how theologians proceed to negotiate the set of questions with which revelation inevitably leaves us. This approach should entice readers to explore one of the exemplars he offers, and so taste themselves how theologians actually operate. The best way to introduce a discipline.