SCM Classics – serie

The Primal Vision is widely regarded as one of the most important books ever published on the subject of African Christianity. In a sympathetic and warmly empathetic style, John Taylor tellsof his encountrs with many different African people, and reflects theologically on the conversations he has shared with men, women and children in a wide variety of circumstances. By suggesting that the missionary should listen and learn from indigenous culture, and appreciate his status as a guest, the book points towards a revisionist understanding of Christian mission. John V. Taylor was Bishop of Winchester from 1975-85 and General Secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1963 to 74. He died in 2001.

Barth stands before us as the greatest theologian of the twentieth century, yet the massive corpus of work which he left behind, the multi volume Church Dogmatics, can seem daunting and formidable to readers today. Fortunately his Dogmatics in Outline first published in English in 1949, contains in brilliantly concentrated form even in shorthand, the essential tenets of his thinking. Built around the assertions made in the Apostles Creed the book consists of a series of reflections on the foundation stones of Christian doctrine. Because Dogmatics in Outline derives from very particular circumstances namely the lectures Barth gave in war-shattered Germany in 1946, it has an urgency and a compassion which lend the text a powerful simplicity. Despite its brevity the book makes a tremendous impact, which in this new edition will now be felt by a fresh generation of readers.

In this, Geza Vermes' best known book, there emerges perhaps the closest portrayal that we have of a genuinely historical Jesus. Freed from the weight and onus of Christian doctrine or Jewish animus, Jesus here appears as a vividly human, yet profoundly misunderstood, figure, thoroughly grounded and contextualised within the extraordinary intellectual and cultural cross currents of his day. Jesus the Jew is a remarkable portrait by a brilliant scholar writing at the height of his powers, informed by insights from the New Testament, Jewish literature, and the Dead Sea Scrolls alike.

This was the book which first garnered international celebrity and notoriety for its author and which fire-started a debate about the supernatural claims of Christianity. Rejecting Christian doctrines and metaphysics in favour of the religious consciousness which characterises human identity, Cupitt 'takes leave' of God by abandoning objective theism. Because he remained an ordained priest of the Church of England, the author attracted considerable attention and criticism for his position. Indeed, Keith Ward, now Oxford's Regius Professor of Divinity, wrote an entire book - Holding Fast to God - which attempted to counter Cupitt's views. Whatever one thinks of the author's beliefs, Taking Leave of God contributed to one of the most important theological discussions of its time.

On its original publication, this work instigated a pasionate debate about the nature of Christian belief and doctrine in the white heat of a secular revolution. It also epitomized the revolutionary spirit of a fresh and challenging way of looking at the world, which, throughout the 1960s, was to bring about the disintegration of established orthodoxies and social, political and theological norms. It articulated the anxieties of a generation who saw these traditional givens as no longer acceptable or necessarily credible. It is an suitable work for students of theology, and for anyone who is interested in a document which encapsulates the spiritual preoccupations of an entire age: the age of Profumo, the Beatles, the "Lady Chatterley's Lover" trial, women's lib and abortion rights.

Combining New Testament study with the terseness of thriller writing, Gerd Theissen conveys the gospel story in the fresh and imaginative prose of a novel. The story is told by Andreas, an imaginary contemporary of Jesus, through whom we learn a great deal about life and politics in Palestine, as well as what Jesus (the Galilean of the title) might have been like and how he might have behaved.

This is the credo and seminal text of the movement which was later characterized as liberation theology. The book burst upon the scene in the early seventies, and was swiftly acknowledged as a pioneering and prophetic approach to theology which famously made an option for the poor, placing the exploited, the alienated, and the economically wretched at the centre of a programme where "the oppressed and maimed and blind and lame" were prioritized at the expense of those who either maintained the status quo or who abused the structures of power for their own ends. This powerful, compassionate and radical book attracted criticism for daring to mix politics and religion in so explicit a manner, but was also welcomed by those who had the capacity to see that its agenda was nothing more nor less than to give "good news to the poor", and redeem God's people from bondage.

Conducting a thorough examination of sexual ethics in the New Testament, this work argues that the New Testament writers did not construct a new sexual ethic from the ground up, but took over existing cultural patterns and refocused them, pushing some elements from the centre to the periphery. This suggests a pattern of ethics for contemporary life. Discussing biblical notions of purity and property, which dominate ethical ideas in the New Testament, the author characterizes sex as one of the rich blessings of creation, "to be received with delight and thanksgiving". Countryman's generous and eirenic views on sexual matters, based as they are on solid biblical research, are a welcome intervention in an area which unfortunately, in Christian circles, tends still to be dominated by conservatism and misinformation, rather than by liberal principle.

This text discusses the importance for theology of narrative and story. The central contention of the book is that, if Jesus' parables are taken as models of theological reflection, there is a form there that unites language, belief and life. A theology taking its cues from parables finds that the genres most closely associated with it are the poem, the novel and the autobiography. These become the prime resources for the theologian who tries to show how insight occurs through language, how one comes to this moment of belief, and how one works it out in one's own life. The author discusses such important works as Alan Paton's "Cry the Beloved Country"; J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"; "The Violent Bear it Away" by Flannery O'Connor; the science fiction of C.S. Lewis; and the fantasies of Charles Williams.

These 16 sermons contain in concentrated form some of Tillich's most lambent themes. Although they were first published in the early 1960s, the pieces in question take up preoccupations which continue to haunt us at the beginning of the 21st century. Tillich discusses, among other topics, wisdom; salvation; loneliness and solitude; creation in relation to the creator; inequality; and spiritual presence. He has a desire to make sense of the fundamental mystery of Christian theology: the paradox of the moment which is now wherein comes the mystery which is eternity.

In lucid and non-technical prose, Young demonstrates how and why the two most familiar Christian creeds - the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed - came into being. She describes how creeds originated in instruction before baptism and have their roots in the New Testament itself. She then shows how the rise of Gnosticism and a tendancy towards fragmentation in the church made a clear statement of faith necessary, as well as outlining the various controversies which led to particular words and phrases being included in the creeds as we now have them. She then describes the construction of the great Christian doctrines of the Trinity and incarnation.

Using feminist theology as a tool to expose the male-centred bias of classical theology, Ruether articulates a faith which incorporates both genders in their totality, and which embraces a full humanity. Whereas the traditional paradigm begets domination and subordination, Ruether's feminism seeks a mutuality which allows for variety and particularly in women and men. Examining ways in which the female has been (uncomfortably) accommodated within the Christian tradition in ecclesiology and Mariology, the author looks at ways of rehabilitating these images, and engages creatively in the areas of the doctrine of creation, Christology, ministry and eschatology. At the heart of this work is the argument that the dominant Christian tradition, if it is challenged and corrected by feminism, offers viable and credible categories for interpreting human existence and building redemptive communities.

This volume brings together seven essays which are representative of the author's style, approach to and outlook on contemporary biblical topics. Characterized throughout by openness of thought and iconoclasm, this collection serves as an introduction to one of the most important issues - the authority of the Bible - facing churches today, as well as the author's thoughts as a whole.

Using poetry, story and philosophy to bring theology alive, this book shows that theology cannot be reduced to conventional forms, but is rather like the enigmatic illustrations of M.C. Echer, many of whose pictures the book reproduces. The book draws on the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke, Gabriel Garcia Marques, Emily Dickinson, Albert Camus, Sigmund Freud and the "Tao Te Ching", among other works, to show how good theology is best compared to the image of wild birds flapping their wings and refusing to be caged. This material was originally delivered at the 1990 Edward Cadbury Lectures in the University of Birmingham.

Wolfhart Pannenberg is one of the giants of twentieth century German systematic theology, and all serious students of German doctrine are obligied to take account of his work. In particular, his weighty but succinct single-volume systematics, "Jesus - God and Man" - which was first published in English in 1968, and which has since formed the basis of countless courses and seminars in the field (as well as the inspiration behind many dissertations) - is perhaps the single publication by Pannenberg that might be called indispensible and unmissable. For Pannenberg one can only talk about God when one at the same time talks about Jesus. Theology and Christology, the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Jesus as the Christ, are therefore insuperably bound together. This book develops the connection systematically, through a careful mode of biblical, dogmatic and philosophical exposition.

This concise introduction to the main themes of the Apostles' Creed emphasizes the fundamentally Trinitarian character of the Creed, which is often overlooked, and thereby the essential contours of the Christian faith. The author shows that, in using the Creed, we grow in knowledge of ourselves, each other, the world and the mystery of God. This is a practical, rather than an academic, book, which aims to bring ordinary Christians to a deeper understanding of the words they say in the Creed.

In this book, Phyllis Trible examines four Old Testament narratives of suffering in ancient Israel: Hagar, Tamar, an unnamed concubine and the daughter of Jephthah. These stories are for Trible the "substance of life", which may imspire new beginnings and by interpreting these stories of outrage and suffering on behalf of their female victims, the author recalls a past that is all to embodied in the present, and prays that these terrors shall not come to pass again. "Texts of Terror" is perhaps Trible's most readable book, that brings biblical scholarship within the grasp of the non-specialist. These "sad stories" about women in the Old Testament prompt much refelction on contemporary misuse of the Bible, and therefore have considerable relevance today.

Aimed at the undergraduate academic and interested lay person, this is a classic history of the formative period of the Church. It includes an account of Rome and 1st-century Judaism, the Gnostics and the conflicts of Eastern Christendom and examines such figures as Origen, Arian and St Augustine of Hippo. A bibliography of general works on Church history is also included.

The Sea of Faith made a huge impact when it was first published to accompany a major television series in the mid 1980's. For a generation that was embodying the ebbing of the tide of faith, it articulated the huge intellectual and cultural shifts that had resulted in most people no longer having any connection with official religion.For many who, whilst still going to church, glimpsed horizons wider than those offered by traditional forms of religious thought, The Sea of Faith offered liberating freedom, encouraging them to have minds of their own in matters of faith.For many more who had abandoned the church, it once again made the wider question a matter of serious and worthwhile concern. Today, the Sea of Faith networks exist in Britain, Australia and New Zealand and the movement is known around much of the world. The Sea of Faith is rightly acknowledged as one of the most influential theological texts of recent years.With a preface by George Pattison

A significant event in the development of liberation theology was the publication of We Drink from Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People by Gustavo Gutierrez.We Drink from Our Own Wells is the nuanced articulation of the Christ-encounter as experienced by the poor of Latin America in their struggle to affirm their human dignity and claim their true identity as the sons and daughters of God. Such is the writing that it is impossible to reduce liberation theology to a political movement.The spirituality of We Drink from Our Own Wells does not allow for such reductionism. The telling of this spiritual journey has had a profound impact on Christians around the globe.Here in this SCM Classic edition, the text is introduced to us by Marcella Althaus-Reid, who herself is passionate about doing theology in reality, by being informed by political, economic, gender, sexual and postcolonial analysis. A self-proclaimed "indecent theologian" she brings a fresh awareness to the reading of Gutierrez's work ensuring that the passion for theological justice in which this text was formulated is as relevant and significant to theologians wishing to pursue justice and decency in all walks of life today.

This is the credo and seminal text of the movement which was later characterized as liberation theology. The book burst upon the scene in the early seventies, and was swiftly acknowledged as a pioneering and prophetic approach to theology which famously made an option for the poor, placing the exploited, the alienated, and the economically wretched at the centre of a programme where "the oppressed and maimed and blind and lame" were prioritized at the expense of those who either maintained the status quo or who abused the structures of power for their own ends. This powerful, compassionate and radical book attracted criticism for daring to mix politics and religion in so explicit a manner, but was also welcomed by those who had the capacity to see that its agenda was nothing more nor less than to give "good news to the poor", and redeem God's people from bondage.

In this, Geza Vermes' best known book, there emerges perhaps the closest portrayal that we have of a genuinely historical Jesus. Freed from the weight and onus of Christian doctrine or Jewish animus, Jesus here appears as a vividly human, yet profoundly misunderstood, figure, thoroughly grounded and contextualised within the extraordinary intellectual and cultural cross currents of his day. Jesus the Jew is a remarkable portrait by a brilliant scholar writing at the height of his powers, informed by insights from the New Testament, Jewish literature, and the Dead Sea Scrolls alike.

Barth stands before us as the greatest theologian of the twentieth century, yet the massive corpus of work which he left behind, the multi volume Church Dogmatics, can seem daunting and formidable to readers today. Fortunately his Dogmatics in Outline first published in English in 1949, contains in brilliantly concentrated form even in shorthand, the essential tenets of his thinking. Built around the assertions made in the Apostles Creed the book consists of a series of reflections on the foundation stones of Christian doctrine. Because Dogmatics in Outline derives from very particular circumstances namely the lectures Barth gave in war-shattered Germany in 1946, it has an urgency and a compassion which lend the text a powerful simplicity. Despite its brevity the book makes a tremendous impact, which in this new edition will now be felt by a fresh generation of readers.