About the Book
James Mackey has written a bold one-volume systematic theology in eight chapters on creation, fall, salvation, God, creed, code, cult and church constitution. It is fashioned out of material from two sources: the major theological movements of the 20th century, which in haphazard, start-stop fashion sought to construct a theology of some of these themes in the light of contemporary cultural categories of thought and imagery, and a thorough reading of the Bible as innocent as possible of the influence of theologies borrowed from Platonism. The first source yields the conclusion that nature and history provide the dominant sources of divine revelation, thus eliding the crass distinctions between nature and super-nature, reason and faith. The second confirms the notion that from the opening of Genesis to the teaching of Jesus, the Bible, when read on its own terms, proclaims a creation faith: the central idea being that grace and revelation are to be found in the eternal activity of the loving creator God ever evident in evolving creation.
Finding the essence of Christianity in the lived creation faith of Jesus the Jew, Mackey goes on to shows what the Christian religion has lost or corrupted on the way, what corrections and advances need to be made in all the Christian churches, and what future the Christian faith can plot for itself in a world characterized by an increasing secular culture, by a growing interest in spirtualities without the trappings of religion, and by ever-closer encounters between all the religions of the human race. The fact that Christian faith is fundamentally a creation faith offers common ground for a dialogue of human equals between Christians and members of other religions or of none.
Table of Contents:
Part One: The Essence of Christianity 1. Creation 2. Fall 3. Salvation 4. God Part Two: Christianity the Religion 5. Creed 6. Code 7. Cult 8. Constitution
About the Author :
James P. Mackey holds doctorates in both philosophy and theology. He began his career in the philosophy department at
Queen's College, Belfast, and went on to become professor of theology at the University of San
Francisco and then at the University of
Edinburgh, where he was the first Roman Catholic to hold the chair of theology since the founding of the university in the sixteenth century. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, at Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, at Dartmouth College, and currently at Trinity College, Dublin. Among his ten books are The Problems of Religious Faith, Jesus the Man and the Myth, An Introduction to Celtic Christianity, The Critique of Theological Reason, and Power and Christian Ethics.
Review :
"This is a detailed and scholarly recapitulation of fundamental theology relating to salvation history as expressed in religious cult. The text is accessible to general readers but may be better suited to seminarians, theologians, and pastors. Mackey, a respected and frequently published theologian (e.g., Power and Christian Ethics), skillfully provides a contemporary perspective on Creation, the Fall, and Salvation without overwhelming the reader with proof texts and complicated arguments. Mackey is adept at capturing and elucidating the essential beliefs of Christianity and quickly sifts out accumulated theological hypotheses. The book is conveniently divided into two parts; namely, a consideration of the original faith of Jesus the Jew and the religion that later developed from this belief. Issues pertinent to creed, morality, cultic expression, and ecclesial constitutions are thoroughly treated. The epilog examines the role of Christianity in dialog with other world religions. A helpful index and limited bibliography are included. For theological libraries."
"This remarkable and idiosyncratic book is the twelfth in a series of studies of theology and ethics by a distinguished Roman Catholic theologian currently teaching at Trinity College, Dublin. Mackey states that this book was written for "those who still maintain a thoughtful and preferably critical interest in religion" (p.xi). Mackey describes his book as a "standing on-scriptures theology. A thoroughly scriptural theology" (p.xii). This is its main strength, especially in part one which is filled with original, often profound, biblical exegesis, albeit with little discussion of historical critical issues. Mackey focuses on Genesis and John, which he describes as" the two most foundational, powerful and insightful books of the Bible" (p.145). On the basis, Mackey's book is an extended argument that Christianity is essentially a doctrine of creation, "a creation faith." The epilogue is a new approach to the relation of Christianity to other religions. Mackey begins with a critique of the traditional dichotomies of nature and grace and of revelation and reason and gets to the question of other religions only in the last twelve pages. His approach is quite radical. First, it is possible to be a follower of Jesus and his creation faith and not be a member of any church or any religion at all. Furthermore "there is probably no one true religion, but all exhibit in different measures percentages of truth and diminished truth and downright falsehood, of grace and disgrace" (p.397). Mackey states, "all [faiths] are at bottom creation faiths" (p.401). There is, however, little discussion of Eastern religions in this connection. In his chapter on creation in part one, Mackey has assessed positively the critique of the traditional idea of God by Heidegger, Neitzsche, Feuerbach, Marx and Sartre, and he concludes his final chapter with the following statement: ‘Indeed if one put together these defining ingredients of the philosophies of Sartre, Nietzsche, and Marx... one would have in one's hands a tolerable recipe from which to cook a very edible theology of the essence of Christian faith for today' (p.402). In sum, although many of the important contributions of this book must go unmentioned, it is clearly a novel, radical, and creative reinterpretation of Christian faith and life that deserves wide and careful attention."- Owen C. Thomas, Anglican Theological Review, May 2007
"[A] serious and important book" Doctrine & Life
mention in Bulletin De Theologie, Revue de Science philosophiques et Theologiques, 2008
"A capstone achievement! Harvesting a lifetime of theological work, Mackey has crafted a sage and passionate reflection on the core beliefs of Christian faith that reconnects human beings with nature and both with God in a beautiful, holistic vision. This is a creation theology that does not neglect sin, a christology that places Jesus Christ at the hub, all the while honoring indigenous and world religions, an eschatology shot through with scientific learning yet replete with hope for eternal life. A powerful legacy to spur reflective persons of the twenty-first century into new appreciation of their tradition and acion in its light."—Elizabeth A. Johnson, Disinguished Professor of Theology, Fordham University
"For too long it has been felt that theology and religion itself have been a dry, barren desert. James Mackey has returned to the source (the Bible) and revealed a rain forest. Many churches, and particularly the Roman part of the Catholic church, will hate and fear this book. But its scholarship and insights will water the souls and minds of many people. It will also guide a healthy and life-giving religious debate."—Dr. Denis Bradley, vice-chair, Northern Ireland Policing Board
"In this brilliant, new book, written with inspirational vision and no academic paraphernalia, but relying simply on the Bible and the Christian creeds, James Mackey presents God's grace and truth in the natural history of the only world we know to exist, reinterpreting creation, fall, salvation, revelation, faith and grace in a sweeping theology of creation."—John Bowden, editor of Christianity: The Complete Guide
