Friday, 21 October 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
The Islam Debate Josh McDowell and John Gilchrist vs. Ahmed Deedat
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . 9
Why The Debate . . . . . . . . . . 9
Why This Book . . . . . . . . . . 11
CHAPTER ONE: Historical Background of Islam . . . . . . . . . . 13
History . . . . . . . . . . 14
Muhammad . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Call . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Hijrah . . . . . . . . . . 17
After Muhammad's Death . . . . . . . . . . 18
Islamic Teachings . . . . . . . . . . 19
Faith and Duty . . . . . . . . . . 19
Qur'an . . . . . . . . . . 19
Six Articles of Faith . . . . . . . . . . 25
Five Pillars of Faith . . . . . . . . . . 26
Cultural Expression . . . . . . . . . . 28
Language and the Arts . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Family . . . . . . . . . . 29
Contemporary Influence . . . . . . . . . . 30
CHAPTER TWO: Teachings of Islam . . . . . . . . . . 33
A Comparative Study of the Textual History of the Qur'an and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 33
Considering the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 33
Variant Readings in the Qur'an and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 35
The "Multiple" Bible Versions . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Apocrypha . . . . . . . . . . 40
The "Grave Defects" . . . . . . . . . . 41
Fifty Thousand Errors? . . . . . . . . . . 42
"Allah" in the Bible? . . . . . . . . . . 45
Alleged Contradictions in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 46
Parallel Passages in the Qur'an and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 46
Considering the Qur'an . . . . . . . . . . 50
Evidence for the Reliability of the New Testament. . . . . . . . . . 53
A True Picture . . . . . . . . . . 74
Is Muhammad Foretold in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 75
Old Testament References . . . . . . . . . . 76
New Testament References . . . . . . . . . . 83
The Gospel of Barnabas . . . . . . . . . . 90
Who Was Barnabas . . . . . . . . . . 91
Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . 91
Examination of the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . 94
Was Barnabas Really Its Author? . . . . . . . . . . 94
Evidence of Its Medieval Origin . . . . . . . . . . 99
Who Actually Composed This Forgery? . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Crucifixion and the Resurrection in the Qur'an and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Denial of the Crucifixion in the Qur'an . . . . . . . . . . 105
The Muslim Theory of Substitution . . . . . . . . . . 106
"Hazrat Isa Is Dead!" — A Modern Alternative . . . . . . . . . . 108
The Islamic Swoon and Its Ahmadiya Origin . . . . . . . . . . 111
Ahmed Deedat's "Was Christ Crucified? . . . . . . . . . . 115
What Was the Sign of Jonah? . . . . . . . . . . 125
Muslim Confusion About the Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . 127
Evidence in the Bible for the Crucifixion and Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . 128
The Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . 131
Islamic Sects/Divisions . . . . . . . . . . 132
Shi'ites . . . . . . . . . . 133
Sunnis . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sufis . . . . . . . . . . 137
Ahmadiya . . . . . . . . . . 138
Kharijites, Mu'tazilites, Wahhabis . . . . . . . . . . 139
CHAPTER THREE: Transcript of the Debate . . . . . . . . . . 143
Opening Arguments . . . . . . . . . . 143
Ahmed Deedat . . . . . . . . . . 143
Josh McDowell . . . . . . . . . . 157
Rebuttals . . . . . . . . . . 172
Ahmed Deedat . . . . . . . . . . 172
Josh McDowell . . . . . . . . . . 174
Closing Statements . . . . . . . . . . 177
Ahmed Deedat . . . . . . . . . . 177
Josh McDowell . . . . . . . . . . 178
CONCLUSION: Islam and Christianity . . . . . . . . . . 181
God . . . . . . . . . . 181
The Bible . . . . . . . . . . 182
Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . 184
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . 187
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . 197
Evangelical Affirmations
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................11
PREFACE...........................................................................13
FOREWORD.........................................................................17
Carl F.H. HenryVisiting Professor of Biblical & Systematic Theology,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School;
Former Editor, Christianity Today
The Evangelical Affirmations..........................................27
Keynote Address: Charles Colson...................................41
Chairman of the Board, Prison Fellowship Ministries
Chairman of the Board, Prison Fellowship Ministries
CHAPTER THREE — THE EVANGELICALS
Who are the Evangelicals?................................................69
Carl F.H. HenryVisiting Professor of Biblical & Systematic Theology,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Former Editor, Christianity Today
Response to Carl F.H. Henry.............................................95
Nathan O. Hatch
Acting Dean, College of Arts and Letters,
University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
Questions for Discussion.......................................................103
CHAPTER FOUR — SALVATION
James I. Packer
Professor of Systematic Theology, Regent College
Response to James I. Packer................................................137
John Ankerberg
Host & Moderator "The John Ankerberg Show"
John Weldon
Senior Researcher of "The John Ankerberg Show"
Questions for Discussion.......................................................149
CHAPTER FIVE — BIBLICAL AUTHORITY
David F. Wells
Professor of Systematic Theology, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
Response to David F. Wells...................................................177
Robert Sloan
Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Baylor University
Questions for Discussion........................................................191
CHAPTER SIX — PERSONAL ETHICS
Christian Personal Ethics.......................................................195
Kenneth S. Kantzer
Director of the Ph.D. Program, Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School; Chancellor, Trinity College;
Former Editor, Christianity Today
Divinity School; Chancellor, Trinity College;
Former Editor, Christianity Today
Response to Kenneth S. Kantzer............................................241
Ralph D. Winter
General Director, U.S. Center for World Mission
Questions for Discussion........................................................253
CHAPTER SEVEN — SOCIAL ETHICS
Evangelicals and Social Ethics...............................................257
Harold O.J. Brown
Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology,
Franklin Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Franklin Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Response to Harold O.J. Brown............................................285
Myron S. Augsburger
President, Christian College Coalition
Questions for Discussion........................................................295
CHAPTER EIGHT — BLACK EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY
Black Evangelical Black Theology.........................................299
William H. Bentley
Chairman, Commission on Theology, National Black Evangelical Association;
National President, United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God
National President, United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God
Ruth Lewis Bentley
Learning Skills Specialist, Counselling Center,
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
Response to William H. Bentley...........................................335
Reverend H.O. Espinoza
President, PROMESA
Questions for Discussion........................................................343
CHAPTER NINE — THE CHURCH
Evangelicals, Ecumenism and the Church .............................347
Donald A. Carson
Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Response to Donald A. Carson..............................................387
Joseph M. Stowell
President, Moody Bible Institute
Questions for Discussion........................................................397
CHAPTER TEN — MODERN SCIENCE
Evangelicals and Modern Science..........................................401
Robert C. Newman
Professor of New Testament, Biblical Theological Seminary
First Response to Robert C. Newman....................................423
Pattle P.T. Pun
Professor of Biology, Wheaton College
Second Response to Robert C. Newman...............................439
Wayne Frair
Professor of Biology, The Kings College
Questions for Discussion........................................................453
CHAPTER ELEVEN — RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Tribes People, Idiots or Citizens? Evangelicals, Religious Liberty
and a Public Philosophy for the Public Square.....................457
and a Public Philosophy for the Public Square.....................457
Os Guinness
Executive Director of Williamsburg Charter Foundation
Response to Os Guinness.....................................................499
David P. Scaer
Professor of Theology, Concordia Seminary
Questions for Discussion......................................................509
CHAPTER TWELVE — AFTERWORD
Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here?..........................513
Homosexuality : A Biblical View Greg L. Bahnsen
Preface ... 5
1. Basic Commitments ... 13
The Foundational Question of Scripture ... 14
The Law as an Expression of God's Will ... 19
2. Homosexuality as a Sin ... 27
The Creation Account ... 28
The Story of Sodom ... 31
God's Law ... 35
Romans 1 ... 47
6. Conclusion ... 125
The Balance of the book is not provided online:
Bibliographies for Further Research ... 135
Bibliography of Articles on Homosexuality ... 143
Scripture Index ... 149
The Interpretation of History by Paul Tillich
On the Boundary
Tillich discusses the boundaries that have determined his life, the boundaries between the different temperaments of his mother and father, between city and country, between social classes, between reality and imagination, between theory and practice, between heteronomy and autonomy, between theology and philosophy, between church and society, between religion and culture, between Lutheranism and socialism, between idealism and Marxism, between home and alien land, and, in retrospect, some limitations on the boundary concept.
I: The Demonic
Tillich discusses the reality and nature of the demonic, its effect in history and the demonries of the present. The demonic is the perversion of the creative, and as such belongs to the phenomena that are contrary to essential nature, or sin. The doctrine of sin without the comprehension of the demonic must be robbed of its content.
II: Kairos and Logos
Time is all-decisive; not empty time, but pure expiration; not the mere duration either, but rather qualitatively fulfilled time, the moment that is creation and fate. We call this fulfilled moment, the moment of time approaching us as fate and decision, Kairos. The thinking in the Kairos is opposed to the thinking in the timeless Logos, which belongs to the methodical main line. It must become apparent that the consideration of reality in the sense of the timeless Logos is at best an immense abstraction which cannot do justice to the passing fate and decision of immediate existence— Kairos.
I: The Problem of Power
Power as a social phenomenon always depends on a position of power recognized by society, on an institution in which society collects its intrinsic might and only thus really constitutes itself. The might of a group can really only be born when the group creates for itself a unified, advancing, and eventually retreating will. The institution in which this happens is the sphere of power determined by the group. Only he who directly or indirectly, openly or secretly is accepted in this sphere is in possession of social power.
II: The Two Roots of Political Thinking
That each individual must constantly suppress within himself subgroups of life-tendencies in favor of his unified life-process shows that we are dealing with a very deep-seated phenomenon, through which the Utopian rejection of force is refuted. In every meaningful life-process of an individual and a society, the subjection of opposing tendencies for the sake of unity takes place. Force is therefore inevitable.
I: Church and Culture
In the foundation of every philosophy of religion and culture, we can define the Church as that sociological reality in which the holy is supposed to be presented, and society as the sociological reality in which the profane appears. But one sees the loss of holiness in its being placed on the same level as the profane.
II: The Interpretation of History and the Idea of Christ
Christology faces the concept of history and history cannot be treated without regarding the Christological question. To develop Christology means to describe the concrete point at which something absolute appears in history and provides it with meaning and purpose; and this indeed is the central problem with the philosophy of history.
III. Eschatalogy and History
Religious problems are approached by either of two methods—the scientific or the authoritarian. Tillich suggests a third, that through phenomenological intuition—an attempt to isolate and clarify in rational terms the content present in the religious act.
The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments by C. H. Dodd
Preface
Chapter One: The Primitive Preaching
The very first Christians proclaimed that the great divine event, the eschaton, had already entered history; the Messiah had come, and any day the Lord would be coming a second time upon the clouds of heaven to end the age. When this did not happen, the demand for readjustment was a principal cause of the development of early Christian thought.
Chapter Two: The Gospels
Dodd explains why we cannot expect to find in the Gospels bare matter of fact, unaffected by the interpretation borne by the kerygma, (preaching or proclamation) of the early church. The present task of New Testament criticism is to explore, by a comparative study of the several writings, the common faith which evoked them, and which they aimed at interpreting to an ever-widening public.
Chapter Three: Paul and John
The present task of New Testament criticism is to explore, by a comparative study of the several writings, the common faith which evoked them, and which they aimed at interpreting to an ever-widening public
Reinhold Niebuhr by Howard G. Patton
Editor’s Preface
The editor gives the rationale for the series Makers of the Modern Theological Mind that includes this volume on the thinking of Reinhold Niebuhr.
Preface
The author.who is also editor of this series Makers of the Modern Theological Mind, explains his reasons for writing this volume.
Chapter 1: The Making of a Christian Realist
Along with relevant biographical facts, this chapter outlines the development of Niebuhr’s thought over a fifty-year period, and discusses briefly his more significant books as they throw light on his evolving ideas from liberalism to the more classical theological concepts that have profoundly affected American thought in both Christian and secular life.
Chapter 2: Existential Anthropology
Niebuhr’s theology is based on his doctrine of man as self-transcending yet finite and capable of evil in not accepting his finitude. This anthropology forms the basis of Niebuhr’s ethics, view of history, Christology and eschatology, and is the foundation of his rejection of idealism, naturalism and romanticism as inadequate to deal with man’s paradoxical nature.
Chapter 3: Man the Sinner
Niebuhr’s inordinate emphasis on the doctrine of sin derives from the anxiety inherent in the paradox created by the conflict between man’s freedom and his tendency toward the prideful self-dependency which is a universal human tendency.
Chapter 4: The Triumph of Grace
Niebuhr’s later writings reveal a shift in emphasis from human sinfulness to God’s grace as found in Christ who offers both the truth that clarifies man’s inadequate reason as well as the power to obey this truth. This grace is paradoxical in that man can never achieve righteousness himself, and must await full completion of his life eschatologically in divine action beyond history.
Chapter 5: Love and Justice
Niebuhr’s later writings reveal a shift in emphasis from human sinfulness to God’s grace as found in Christ who offers both the truth that clarifies man’s inadequate reason as well as the power to obey this truth. This grace is paradoxical in that man can never achieve righteousness himself, and must await full completion of his life eschatologically in divine action beyond history.
Chapter 6: Relevance and the March of Time
With an acknowledgment that some of Niebuhr’s thought and actions were flawed and dated, the author insists he remains relevant, and emphasizes five things we might consider. First, he was a thinker and doer who united faith and practice. Second, he defined the basic sin as pride rather than sensuality. Third, sin persists on every level of human achievement. Fourth, we can be ruggedly realistic about our illusions and those of others. Fifth, we can learn something about how to communicate the gospel in a secular age by taking seriously the biblical revelation that God revealed in Christ
Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing by Sören Kierkegaard
Translator’s Introduction by Douglas V. Steere
A helpful summary of Kierketaard's basic positions, written by an outstanding scholar of his work. Douglass Steere was Professor of philosophy at Haverford College.
Preface
A woman doing needlework on an altar cloth does not want the work admired or criticized, but rather that the intent of the work is that it be seen for its higher purpose. Kierkegaard desires his writing receive the same attention.
Chapter 1: Introduction: Man and the Eternal
In relation to the eternal, a man ages neither in the sense of time nor in the sense of an accumulation of past events. There is something eternal in a man, and the eternal must be able to exist and to be grasped within every change.
Chapter 2: Remorse, Repentance, Confession: Eternity’s Emissaries to Man
Remorse is a guide that calls out to the wanderer that he should take care. In confession one becomes at one with himself.
Chapter 3: Barriers to Willing One Thing: Variety and Great Moments Are Not One Thing
To will one thing can only mean to will the good, because every other object is not a unity. The will that only wills that another object, therefore, must become double-minded.
Chapter 4: Barriers to Willing One Thing: The Reward-Disease
If a man can will one thing, then he must will the Good, for the Good alone is one.
Chapter 5: Barriers to willing One Thing: Willing Out of Fear of Punishment
If a man wills only the Good out of fear of being punished he does not will one thing. Such a man is double-minded.
Chapter 6:Barriers to Willing One Thing: Egocentric Service of the Good
If a man wills the Good and wills its victory out of self-centered willfulness he does not will one thing. He is double-minded.
Chapter 7: Barriers to Willing One Thing: Commitment to a Certain Degree
The person who only wills the Good up to a certain degree is double-minded.
Chapter 8: The Price of Willing Our Thing: Commitment, Loyalty, Readiness to Suffer All
If a man wills the good in truth, then he must be willing to do all for the good or be willing to suffer all for the good.
Chapter 9: The Price of Willing One Thing: The Exposure of Evasions
The one who wills the Good puts cleverness to an inward use in order to prevent all evasions, and thereby to help him enter into and persist in the commitment.
Chapter 10: The Price of Willing One Thing: An Examination of the Extreme Case of an Incurable Sufferer
The man who wills the Good in truth must be willing to suffer all for the Good.
Chapter 11: The Price of Willing One Thing: The Sufferer’s Use of Cleverness to Expose Evasion
The sufferer who wills the Good sincerely, uses this cleverness to cut off evasions and hence to launch himself into the commitment and to escape the disillusionments of choosing the temporal way.
Chapter 12: What Then Must I Do? The Listener’s Role in a Devotional Address
Kierkegaard asks the reader: "What kind of life do you live, do you will only one thing, and what is this one thing?
Chapter 13: What Then Must I Do? Live as an "Individual"
The author asks the reader: Do you live in such a way that you are conscious of being an individual?
Chapter 14: What Then Must I Do? Occupation and Vocation: Mean: and End
It is not whether your work is great or mean, whether you are a king or only a laborer, nor earning a great deal of money or gaining power, prestige or fame. What is important is whether your occupation is great or mean. Do you dare think of your occupation it as a responsibility for eternity?
Chapter 15: Conclusion: Man and the Eternal
Only the individual can truthfully will the Good. For he is in touch with the demand that calls for purity of heart by willing only one thing.
Grace in Freedom by Karl Rahner
I do not agree with Karl Rahner but put the link up for students to study,by Jason Burns.
Section 1: Responsibility in the Post Conciliar Church
Subjects include the Christians' responsibility after Vatican Council II, present tasks of the Catholic, personal faith, the necessity of ecclesiastical action, courage and self-confidence of preachers, educating mature Christians, and individual morality.
Section 2: Christian Faith: Deliverance of the World
Faith and religion are often judged today by their usefulness in our world of experience. Are not faith and religion much more than this? Rahner examines faith and culture, then the nature of Christian character in a secular world.
Section 3: Religious Patterns
Is Christianity an "Absolute Religion"? While the multiplicity of religions today threatens the individual Christian more than at any other time, still non-Christian religions can be channels of grace. Hence Christians must be tolerant and humble towards all non-Christian religions. Rahner also discussed medical ethics here.
Section 4: Ecumenical Perspectives
Catholics believe that confession of the solely justifying grace of God is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith, so they profess the sola gratia of the Protestant Reformers. Ecclesial unity of Christians is the inexorable demand of the Lord of the Church, but none of the Churches has as yet the will to unity which they all ought to have.
Section 5: Free Acceptance of Creatureliness and Cross
Much is said about our misery with a note of knowing not where we go. There is a difference in whether we mourn for ourselves or whether another mourns for us. So it is that Christ mourns for us, and we remember to commemorate His death.
Section 6: Commitment to the Church and Personal Freedom
There is no law against the man who truly has faith, hope and love and who genuinely loves his neighbor and can surrender himself. In this love the law and freedom merge into the freedom of God's grace. Rahner expounds a Catholic view about three subjects: prayer, democracy in the church, and the new relationship between theology and the church.
Section 7: The Little Word "God"
God is a mystery and also infinite. Consideration of Him is difficult yet meditation on and about Him is worthwhile.
Section 8: True Freedom
The essence of freedom is not to be understood as the mere possibility of choosing between a number of objects, one of which is God. It is seen as freedom from social, economic and political constraints, the opposite of slavery and serfdom. Rahner looks at various aspects of freedom: historical, paradoxical, the role of grace, self-realization, capacity for love, moral judgment and freedom in relation to Christ.
Section 1: Responsibility in the Post Conciliar Church
Subjects include the Christians' responsibility after Vatican Council II, present tasks of the Catholic, personal faith, the necessity of ecclesiastical action, courage and self-confidence of preachers, educating mature Christians, and individual morality.
Section 2: Christian Faith: Deliverance of the World
Faith and religion are often judged today by their usefulness in our world of experience. Are not faith and religion much more than this? Rahner examines faith and culture, then the nature of Christian character in a secular world.
Section 3: Religious Patterns
Is Christianity an "Absolute Religion"? While the multiplicity of religions today threatens the individual Christian more than at any other time, still non-Christian religions can be channels of grace. Hence Christians must be tolerant and humble towards all non-Christian religions. Rahner also discussed medical ethics here.
Section 4: Ecumenical Perspectives
Catholics believe that confession of the solely justifying grace of God is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith, so they profess the sola gratia of the Protestant Reformers. Ecclesial unity of Christians is the inexorable demand of the Lord of the Church, but none of the Churches has as yet the will to unity which they all ought to have.
Section 5: Free Acceptance of Creatureliness and Cross
Much is said about our misery with a note of knowing not where we go. There is a difference in whether we mourn for ourselves or whether another mourns for us. So it is that Christ mourns for us, and we remember to commemorate His death.
Section 6: Commitment to the Church and Personal Freedom
There is no law against the man who truly has faith, hope and love and who genuinely loves his neighbor and can surrender himself. In this love the law and freedom merge into the freedom of God's grace. Rahner expounds a Catholic view about three subjects: prayer, democracy in the church, and the new relationship between theology and the church.
Section 7: The Little Word "God"
God is a mystery and also infinite. Consideration of Him is difficult yet meditation on and about Him is worthwhile.
Section 8: True Freedom
The essence of freedom is not to be understood as the mere possibility of choosing between a number of objects, one of which is God. It is seen as freedom from social, economic and political constraints, the opposite of slavery and serfdom. Rahner looks at various aspects of freedom: historical, paradoxical, the role of grace, self-realization, capacity for love, moral judgment and freedom in relation to Christ.
Essays on Biblical Interpretation by Paul Ricoeur
I do not agree with Ricoeur but as students you need to study him as he a thinker who has influenced modern thought in a big way.
Forward
The editor offers an account of the origin and development of this book.
Introduction by Lewis S. Mudge
As a philosopher Ricoeur attempts to develop a hermeneutical phenomenology of biblical interpretation that takes seriously the metaphorically symbolic language of the Bible while asking if it is true, how we can tell, and how we can receive it.
Chapter 1: Preface to Bultmann
The hermeneutic problem in Christianity is that it seeks an interpretation of a text that is itself an interpretation of the kerygma, which in turn is a proclamation about God in Christ. Ricoeur enters a dialectic with Bultmann’s hermeneutic that includes references to deLubac, Jonas, Kant, Hermann, Barth, Dilthey, Heidegger, Frege, Husserl and Luther.
Chapter 2: Toward a Hermeneutic of the Idea of Revelation
The author evolves a hermeneutics of Revelation by entering into a dialectic between the concept of biblical revelation as seen in various types of biblical discourse, and the concept of philosophical reason that engages classical and contemporary philosophy in their own categories.
Chapter 3: The Hermeneutics of Testimony
In seeking a philosophy of testimony that can accommodate a concept of the absolute, Ricoeur explores the semantic difficulties involved and concludes that such a philosophy can only be a hermeneutics, that is, a philosophy of interpretation.
Chapter 4: Freedom in the Light of Hope
The concept of religious freedom has philosophical respectability only through a hermeneutics of hope based on the eschatology of the kerygma and the resurrection.
Paul Ricoeur's Reply to Lewis S. Mudge
Responding to Mudge’s attempt to provide a coherent overview of his writings, Ricouer offers clarifications that trace the paths of his thinking
Forward
The editor offers an account of the origin and development of this book.
Introduction by Lewis S. Mudge
As a philosopher Ricoeur attempts to develop a hermeneutical phenomenology of biblical interpretation that takes seriously the metaphorically symbolic language of the Bible while asking if it is true, how we can tell, and how we can receive it.
Chapter 1: Preface to Bultmann
The hermeneutic problem in Christianity is that it seeks an interpretation of a text that is itself an interpretation of the kerygma, which in turn is a proclamation about God in Christ. Ricoeur enters a dialectic with Bultmann’s hermeneutic that includes references to deLubac, Jonas, Kant, Hermann, Barth, Dilthey, Heidegger, Frege, Husserl and Luther.
Chapter 2: Toward a Hermeneutic of the Idea of Revelation
The author evolves a hermeneutics of Revelation by entering into a dialectic between the concept of biblical revelation as seen in various types of biblical discourse, and the concept of philosophical reason that engages classical and contemporary philosophy in their own categories.
Chapter 3: The Hermeneutics of Testimony
In seeking a philosophy of testimony that can accommodate a concept of the absolute, Ricoeur explores the semantic difficulties involved and concludes that such a philosophy can only be a hermeneutics, that is, a philosophy of interpretation.
Chapter 4: Freedom in the Light of Hope
The concept of religious freedom has philosophical respectability only through a hermeneutics of hope based on the eschatology of the kerygma and the resurrection.
Paul Ricoeur's Reply to Lewis S. Mudge
Responding to Mudge’s attempt to provide a coherent overview of his writings, Ricouer offers clarifications that trace the paths of his thinking
East of the Euphrates: Early Christianity in Asia T.V. Philip
Introduction
A general and brief introduction to the exciting and fascinating story of the movement of the Christian Gospel in Asian lands. Christianity came to Asia in the first century itself.
Chapter 1: Asia: The Cradle of Christianity
No contemporary historian has recorded the Gospel’s eastward march, but there is no doubt that the Gospel did move east even while Paul was opening his mission in Europe. And however Western scholars may write their histories of the church, from time immemorial Asia has linked the church’s expansion eastward to the missionary travels of the apostle Thomas.
Chapter 2: Christianity in Edessa
On the basis of new historical evidences available, it is possible to establish the fact that there was a Christian church in Edessa (Western Mesopotamia) in the first century, and not only there but also in other places in Mesopotamia.
Chapter 3: Christianity in Persia
The earliest centers of Christianity in the East were: Edessa, Arbela in Parthia, and India. As long as the Roman emperors considered the Christians as enemies of Rome, the Persian emperors were inclined to consider them as friends of Persia. It was not until after Constantine’s death in AD 337 that the Christians began to be persecuted in the East.
Chapter 4: Christianity in Arabia and Central Asia Christianity Among the Arabs
When Christianity spread to Syria (probably by the end of the second or early third century) there is no doubt that some of the Arabs also became Christians. Islam which originated in Arabia in the seventh century was a great missionary religion. By the 13th Century, Islam became the prominent religion. Yet numerous bodies of the Nestorian Christians were still scattered over all Central Asia.
Chapter 5: Christianity in China
There are traditions that Christianity found its way to China in the first century, but the earliest more reliable report is from Arnobius who wrote in 300 AD, stating that the Gospel had been preached in China. A definitely more reliable report comes from Patriarch Yeshuyab II in about 635 AD from an excavated inscription by him which was found in an excavation in 1625 AD.
Chapter 6: Christianity in India
From the evidence available to us, especially the East Syrian and Indian traditions, it is reasonable to believe that the Indian church has an independent origin, independent of Persian Christianity, in the apostolic activity of St. Thomas in the first century.
Chapter 7: Christianity in India up to AD 1500
The expansion of Christianity in the East was not the work of Hellenistic Christian missionaries from Antioch, or a linear progression from Antioch. It was the work of Jewish Christian missionaries such as Addai in Edessa, Aggai and Mari in Persia and Thomas in India.
Chapter 8:Christianity In Other Places In Asia
Contrary to what has been said by western historians, there is evidence to show, though very scanty and fragmentary, that Christianity found its way into South East and East Asian countries even before the coming of western missionaries, through the efforts of Nestorian merchants and missionaries from Persia or India or China or from all the three places.
Chapter 9: In the Shadows of History
By AD 1500, the story of Asian Christianity, after a millennium and a half of heroic efforts and phenomenal expansion almost came to an end in several countries; so much so, the historians speak of the eclipse of Christianity in Asia. Reasons for the eclipse are suggested.
Alfred North Whitehead by Norman Pittenger
I don't agree with this theologian but put the link up for students to study,by Jason Burns
Preface
Among philosophers of this century Alfred North Whitehead has been a seminal thinker for an increasingly influential concept in the theological world.
Introduction
To Whitehead, God is in the world, or nowhere, creating continually in us and around us.
Chapter 1: Life
A brief biography of Whitehead's life -- his early years, his family, his writing and teaching, lectures, Process-Thought, and final years. Includes Charles Hartshorne's interpretation of Whiteheadian thought.
Chapter 2: Thought
For Whitehead, the cosmic process -- God -- is characterized by change, dynamism, inter-relationships or "organic inter-penetration," the presence of heights and depths of "importance," and the quality of tenderness or love.
Chapter 3: Significance
God himself is 'in process', in the sense that he is not abstractly eternal, utterly above and beyond all temporal succession. Rather, he is eminently temporal. God is seen not as primarily the 'unmoved mover' or 'first cause' or 'absolute reality,' but as the supremely related one. God in his consequent aspect is persuasive, sympathetic, affected by all that is not himself, inclusive of all possible good, supremely tender -- indeed, God so portrayed is Love.
Brief Bibliography
Preface
Among philosophers of this century Alfred North Whitehead has been a seminal thinker for an increasingly influential concept in the theological world.
Introduction
To Whitehead, God is in the world, or nowhere, creating continually in us and around us.
Chapter 1: Life
A brief biography of Whitehead's life -- his early years, his family, his writing and teaching, lectures, Process-Thought, and final years. Includes Charles Hartshorne's interpretation of Whiteheadian thought.
Chapter 2: Thought
For Whitehead, the cosmic process -- God -- is characterized by change, dynamism, inter-relationships or "organic inter-penetration," the presence of heights and depths of "importance," and the quality of tenderness or love.
Chapter 3: Significance
God himself is 'in process', in the sense that he is not abstractly eternal, utterly above and beyond all temporal succession. Rather, he is eminently temporal. God is seen not as primarily the 'unmoved mover' or 'first cause' or 'absolute reality,' but as the supremely related one. God in his consequent aspect is persuasive, sympathetic, affected by all that is not himself, inclusive of all possible good, supremely tender -- indeed, God so portrayed is Love.
Brief Bibliography
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