John Colwell – författare

A sequel to Gunton's bestselling book of Sermons, "Theology through Preaching", this book consists of twenty sermons from the later years of Colin's life. The sermons demonstrate how Colin Gunton communicated his theology to a parish audience and how academic theology can inform preaching practice. The book is introduced by an account of Gunton's life within Brentwood URC church, where he served as associate minister for over twenty-five years. This account offers a more rounded picture of the man to those of his readers who knew only the academic side of his work. Two interpretative essays explore how Gunton understood the life of the church and the ministry of preaching, the place of an academic theologian within that, and how the work of preaching affected the development of Gunton's theology. Gunton placed significant value on the preaching ministry, of the connection he saw between that ministry and the work of theology, and of his own conviction that preaching was a necessary task. This book explores through essay and example how these intellectual convictions were worked out in his own life.

The first section identifies the pressure from Modernism for some universal basis for morality, reviews post-Modernism's critique of Modernism and the consequent possibility of Christian ethics being accepted as just one amongst many traditions and voices, and ponders some of the factors that render Protestantism (in particular) ill-prepared to meet these challenges. The second section explores the bases for an authentically Christian ethic, while the third section considers the manner in which this ethic of character takes shape in the narrative of the Church. The final section reconsiders the manner in which Christian ethics, thus identified, might be both coherent and persuasive within contemporary society.