Regarded as the leading text in Christian theology for the last 25 years, Alister E. Regarded as the leading text in Christian theology for the last 25 years, Alister E. McGrath s The Christian Theology Reader is now available in a new 5th edition featuring completely revised and updated content. Preface Approaching the Readings To the Student: How to use this Book To the Teacher: How to use this Book Video Resources for this Textbook The Development of Christian Theology: An Historical Overview Acknowledgments 1 Getting Started: Preliminaries Introduction 1.1 Justin Martyr on Philosophy and Theology 1.2 Clement of Alexandria on Philosophy and Theology 1.3 Tertullian on the Relation of Philosophy and Heresy 1.4 Augustine on Philosophy and Theology 1.5 The Nicene Creed 1.6 The Apostles Creed 1.7 Anselm of Canterbury s Proof for the Existence of God 1.8 Gaunilo s Reply to Anselm s Argument 1.9 Thomas Aquinas on Proofs for the Existence of God 1.10 Thomas Aquinas on the Principle of Analogy 1.11 William of Ockham on Proofs of God s Existence 1.12 Martin Luther on the Theology of the Cross 1.13 John Calvin on the Nature of Faith 1.14 The Heidelberg Catechism on Images of God 1.15 John Locke on the Formation of the Concept of God 1.16 René Descartes on the Existence of God 1.17 Blaise Pascal on Proofs for the Existence of God 1.18 Blaise Pascal on the Hiddenness of God 1.19 Immanuel Kant on Anselm s Ontological Argument 1.20 Søren Kierkegaard on the Subjectivity of Truth 1.21 The First Vatican Council on Faith and Reason 1.22 John Henry Newman on the Grounds of Faith 1.23 Adolf von Harnack on the Origins of Dogma 1.24 Karl Barth on the Nature and Task of Theology 1.25 Ludwig Wittgenstein on Analogy 1.26 Ludwig Wittgenstein on Proofs for the Existence of God 1.27 Vladimir Lossky on Apophatic Approaches to Theology 1.28 Dietrich Bonhoeffer on God in a Secular World 1.29 Paul Tillich on the Method of Correlation 1.30 Ian T. Ramsey on the Language of Christian Doctrine 1.31 Sallie McFague on Metaphor in Theology 1.32 Gustavo Gutiérrez on Theology as Critical Reflection 1.33 Brian A. Gerrish on Accommodation in Calvin s Theology 1.34 George Lindbeck on Postliberal Approaches to Doctrine 1.35 Dumitru Staniloae on the Nature of Dogma 1.36 Kevin Vanhoozer on the Challenge of Postmodernity for Theology 1.37 John Polkinghorne on Motivated Belief in Theology 1.38 Pope Francis on Faith and Truth in Theology and the Church For Further Reading 2 The Sources of Theology Introduction 2.1 Melito of Sardis on Typology and Old Testament Interpretation 2.2 Irenaeus on the Role of Tradition 2.3 Hippolytus on Typological Interpretation of Scripture 2.4 Clement of Alexandria on the Fourfold Interpretation of Scripture 2.5 Tertullian on Tradition and Apostolic Succession 2.6 Origen on the Three Ways of Reading Scripture 2.7 Cyril of Jerusalem on the Role of Creeds 2.8 Augustine on the Literal and Allegorical Senses of Scripture 2.9 Jerome on the Role of Scripture 2.10 Vincent of Lérins on the Role of Tradition 2.11 Bernard of Clairvaux on the Allegorical Sense of Scripture 2.12 Stephen Langton on the Moral Sense of Scripture 2.13 Ludolf of Saxony on Reading Scripture Imaginatively 2.14 Jacques Lefèvre d Etaples on the Senses of Scripture 2.15 Martin Luther on the Fourfold Sense of Scripture 2.16 Martin Luther on Revelation in Christ 2.17 John Calvin on the Natural Knowledge of God 2.18 John Calvin on the Relation between Old and New Covenants 2.19 The Council of Trent on Scripture and Tradition 2.20 The Gallic Confession on the Canon of Scripture 2.21 The Belgic Confession on the Book of Nature 2.22 Melchior Cano on the Church as Interpreter of Scripture 2.23 The Formula of Concord on Scripture and the Theologians 2.24 Roberto Bellarmine on Protestant Biblical Interpretation 2.25 The King James Translators on Biblical Translation 2.26 Sir Thomas Browne on the Two Books of Revelation 2.27 Francis White on Scripture and Tradition 2.28 Jonathan Edwards on the Beauty of Creation 2.29 William Paley on the Wisdom of the Creation 2.30 Johann Adam Möhler on Living Tradition 2.31 John Henry Newman on the Role of Tradition 2.32 Charles Hodge on the Inspiration of Scripture 2.33 Gerard Manley Hopkins on God s Grandeur in Nature 2.34 Charles Gore on the Relation of Dogma to the New Testament 2.35 James Orr on the Centrality of Revelation for Christianity 2.36 Wilhelm Herrmann on the Nature of Revelation 2.37 Karl Barth on Revelation as God s Self-Disclosure 2.38 Emil Brunner on the Personal Nature of Revelation 2.39 Rudolf Bultmann on Demythologization and Biblical Interpretation 2.40 Pope Pius XII on Biblical Scholarship and Translation 2.41 Austin Farrer on Demythologization, History, and Biblical Interpretation 2.42 Gerhard von Rad on Typology and Biblical Interpretation 2.43 Karl Rahner on the Authority of Scripture 2.44 Brevard Childs on the Canonical Interpretation of Scripture 2.45 Phyllis Trible on Feminist Biblical Interpretation 2.46 John Meyendorff on Living Tradition 2.47 James I. Packer on the Nature of Revelation 2.48 Thomas F. Torrance on Karl Barth s Criticism of Natural Theology 2.49 The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Scripture and Tradition 2.50 N.T. Wright on the Authority of the Biblical Narrative 2.51 Alister E. McGrath on a Christian Approach to Natural Theology For Further Reading 3 The Doctrine of God Introduction 3.1 Athenagoras of Athens on the Christian God 3.2 Irenaeus on the Origin of Evil 3.3 Irenaeus on the Trinity 3.4 Tertullian on Creation from Pre-existent Matter 3.5 Origen on Creation from Pre-existent Matter 3.6 Origen on the Relation of God and Evil 3.7 Gregory of Nyssa on Human Analogies of the Trinity 3.8 Basil of Caesarea on the Work of the Holy Spirit 3.9 Gregory of Nazianzus on the Gradual Revelation of the Trinity 3.10 Athanasius on the Holy Spirit and the Trinity 3.11 Hilary of Poitiers on the Trinity 3.12 Augustine on the Trinity 3.13 Augustine on the Relation of God and Evil 3.14 Epiphanius of Constantia on Sabellianism 3.15 Cyril of Alexandria on the Role of the Holy Spirit 3.16 John of Damascus on the Holy Spirit 3.17 The Eleventh Council of Toledo on the Trinity 3.18 Anselm of Canterbury on the Compassion of God 3.19 Richard of St Victor on Love within the Trinity 3.20 Alexander of Hales on the Suffering of God in Christ 3.21 Thomas Aquinas on Divine Omnipotence 3.22 Bonaventure on the Origin of Evil 3.23 Julian of Norwich on God as our Mother 3.24 William of Ockham on the Two Powers of God 3.25 Thomas à Kempis on the Limits of Trinitarian Speculation 3.26 John Calvin on the Providence of God 3.27 Benedict Spinoza on the Impassibility of God 3.28 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on the Trinity 3.29 Karl Barth on the Otherness of God 3.30 Jürgen Moltmann on the Suffering of God 3.31 Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Glory of God 3.32 Leonardo Boff on the Trinity as Good News for the Poor 3.33 Robert Jenson on the Trinity 3.34 Hans Küng on the Immutability of God 3.35 Eberhard Jüngel on the Crucified God 3.36 Jacques Ellul on the Theology of Icons 3.37 Walter Kasper on the Rationality of the Trinity 3.38 Paul Jewett on Noninclusive Language and the Trinity 3.39 John Milbank on the Trinity in a Postmodern Age 3.40 Elizabeth A. Johnson on Male and Female Images of God 3.41 Anne Carr on Feminism and the Maleness of God 3.42 Sarah Coakley on Social Models of the Trinity 3.43 David Bentley Hart on God and Evil For Further Reading 4 The Person of Christ Introduction 4.1 Ignatius of Antioch on Docetism 4.2 Irenaeus on Gnosticism in Christology 4.3 Tertullian on Patripassianism 4.4 Tertullian on the Incarnation 4.5 Novatian on the Divinity of Christ 4.6 Origen on the Two Natures of Christ 4.7 Arius on the Status of Christ 4.8 Athanasius on the Two Natures of Christ 4.9 Apollinarius of Laodicea on the Person of Christ 4.10 Gregory of Nazianzus on Apollinarianism 4.11 Theodore of Mopsuestia on the Union of Good Pleasure 4.12 Nestorius on the Term Theotokos 4.13 Cyril of Alexandria on the Incarnation 4.14 Pope Leo the Great on the Two Natures of Christ 4.15 The Chalcedonian Definition of the Christian Faith (451) 4.16 John of Damascus on the Incarnation and Icons 4.17 Honorius of Autun on the Cause of the Incarnation 4.18 Thomas Aquinas on the Necessity of the Incarnation 4.19 Gregory Palamas on the Divine Condescension in the Incarnation 4.20 Martin Luther s Critique of Nestorianism 4.21 François Turrettini on the Threefold Office of Christ 4.22 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing on the Ditch of History 4.23 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on the Natural Heresies of Christianity 4.24 Martin Kähler on the Historical Jesus 4.25 George Tyrrell on the Christ of Liberal Protestantism 4.26 Albert Schweitzer on the Failure of the Quest of the Historical Jesus 4.27 G. K. Chesterton on the Incarnation, Myth, and Reason 4.28 Peter Taylor Forsyth on the Person of Christ 4.29 Dorothy L. Sayers on Christology and Dogma 4.30 Paul Tillich on the Dispensability of the Historical Jesus 4.31 Wolfhart Pannenberg on the Indispensability of the Historical Jesus 4.32 Thomas F. Torrance on the Incarnation and Soteriology 4.33 Rosemary Radford Ruether on the Maleness of Jesus 4.34 Morna D. Hooker on Chalcedon and the New Testament 4.35 N. T. Wright on History and Christology 4.36 Janet Martin Soskice on Christ s significance for women For Further Reading 5 Salvation in Christ Introduction 5.1 Irenaeus on the Ransom Theory of the Atonement 5.2 Irenaeus on Recapitulation in Christ 5.3 Clement of Alexandria on Christ s Death as an Example of Love 5.4 Athanasius on the Death of Christ 5.5 Athanasius on the Relation of Christology and Soteriology 5.6 Pseudo-Hippolytus on the Cosmic Dimensions of the Cross 5.7 Rufinus of Aquileia on the Fish-hook Theory of the Atonement 5.8 An Ancient Liturgy on Christ s Descent into Hell 5.9 Theodoret of Cyrrhus on the Death of Christ 5.10 Augustine on Redemption in Christ 5.11 Maximus the Confessor on the Economy of Salvation 5.12 Simeon the New Theologian on Salvation as Deification 5.13 Anselm of Canterbury on the Atonement 5.14 Peter Abelard on the Love of Christ in Redemption 5.15 Hugh of St Victor on the Death of Christ 5.16 Rupert of Deutz on the Incarnation as God s Response to Sin 5.17 Thomas Aquinas on the Satisfaction of Christ 5.18 Nicholas Cabasilas on the Death of Christ 5.19 John Calvin on the Grounds of Redemption 5.20 The Socinian Critique of the Idea of Satisfaction 5.21 John Donne on the Work of Christ 5.22 George Herbert on the Death of Christ and Redemption 5.23 Charles Wesley on Salvation in Christ 5.24 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on Christ as a Charismatic Leader 5.25 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on Christology and Soteriology 5.26 Charles Gore on the Relation of Christology and Soteriology 5.27 Hastings Rashdall on Christ as a Moral Example 5.28 Gustaf Aulén on the Classic Theory of the Atonement 5.29 Vladimir Lossky on Redemption as Deification 5.30 Bernard Lonergan on the Intelligibility of Redemption 5.31 Wolfhart Pannenberg on Soteriological Approaches to Christology 5.32 James I. Packer on Penal Substitution 5.33 Dorothee Sölle on Suffering and Redemption 5.34 Colin E. Gunton on the Language of Atonement 5.35 The Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Sacrifice of Christ 5.36 Miroslav Volf on the Cross of Christ and Human Violence 5.37 Rosemary Radford Ruether on Suffering and Redemption 5.38 J. Denny Weaver on Violence in Traditional Approaches to the Atonement For Further Reading 6 Human Nature, Sin, and Grace Introduction 6.1 Irenaeus on Human Progress 6.2 Tertullian on Inherited Guilt 6.3 Origen on the Image of God 6.4 Lactantius on Political Aspects of the Image of God 6.5 Ambrose on the Unmerited Character of Salvation 6.6 Ambrosiaster on Original Sin 6.7 Gregory of Nyssa on Human Longing for God 6.8 Augustine on the Nature of Predestination 6.9 Augustine on Fallen Human Nature 6.10 Pelagius on Human Responsibility 6.11 Pelagius on Human Freedom 6.12 The Council of Carthage on Grace 6.13 The Second Council of Orange on Grace and Freedom 6.14 Hildegard of Bingen on the Creation of Man and Woman 6.15 Alan of Lille on Penitence as a Cause of Grace 6.16 Francis of Assisi on the Creation 6.17 Thomas Aquinas on the Nature of Grace 6.18 Mechthild of Magdeburg on Humanity s Longing for God 6.19 John Duns Scotus on the Immaculate Conception of Mary 6.20 Gregory of Rimini on Predestination 6.21 Gabriel Biel on Merit and Justification 6.22 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola on Human Nature 6.23 Martin Luther on Justifying Faith 6.24 Martin Luther on Sin and Grace 6.25 Philip Melanchthon on Justification by Faith 6.26 John Calvin on Predestination 6.27 John Calvin on the Concept of Justification 6.28 The Council of Trent on Justification 6.29 Theodore Beza on the Causes of Predestination 6.30 John Donne on the Bondage of the Human Will 6.31 The Westminster Confession of Faith on Predestination 6.32 Jonathan Edwards on Original Sin 6.33 John Wesley on Justification 6.34 John Henry Newman on Original Sin 6.35 Karl Barth on Election in Christ 6.36 Emil Brunner on Barth s Doctrine of Election 6.37 Reinhold Niebuhr on Original Sin 6.38 Valerie C. Saiving on Feminist Approaches to Sin 6.39 The Second Vatican Council on Human Nature 6.40 Mary Hayter on Human Sexuality and the Image of God 6.41 Pope Benedict XVI on the Identity of Humanity For Further Reading 7 The Church Introduction 7.1 Irenaeus on the Function of the Church 7.2 Origen on the Church and Salvation 7.3 Cyprian of Carthage on the Unity of the Church 7.4 Cyril of Jerusalem on the Catholicity of the Church 7.5 Petilian of Cirta on the Purity of Ministers 7.6 Augustine on the Mixed Nature of the Church 7.7 Leo the Great on Ministry within the Church 7.8 Innocent III on the Church and State 7.9 Thomas Aquinas on the Catholicity of the Church 7.10 Pope Boniface VIII on Papal Primacy 7.11 Jan Hus on the Church 7.12 Martin Luther on the Marks of the Church 7.13 Martin Luther on Priests and Laity 7.14 Philip Melanchthon on the Nature of Catholicity 7.15 Sebastian Franck on the True Church 7.16 The First Helvetic Confession on the Nature of the Church 7.17 John Calvin on the Marks of the Church 7.18 Richard Hooker on the Purity of the Church 7.19 The Westminster Confession of Faith on the Church 7.20 Roger Williams on the Separation of the Church from the World 7.21 F. D. E. Schleiermacher on the Church as a Fellowship of Believers 7.22 The First Vatican Council on Papal Primacy in the Church 7.23 Henry Barclay Swete on the Apostolicity of the Church 7.24 The Barmen Confession on the Identity of the Church 7.25 Stephen Charles Neill on Holiness and the Mission of the Church 7.26 Yves Congar on the Hierarchy of the Church 7.27 The Second Vatican Council on the Nature of the Church 7.28 John D. Zizioulas on Local and Universal Churches 7.29 Avery Dulles on the Meanings of Catholicity 7.30 Stanley Hauerwas on the Church and the Story of Faith 7.31 George Dragas on the Orthodox Concept of the Church 7.32 Pope John Paul II on the Laity and Mission 7.33 John Webster on the Church and the Gospel For Further Reading 8 The Sacraments Introduction 8.1 Clement of Alexandria on Faith as Feeding on Christ 8.2 Tertullian on the Significance of Water in Baptism 8.3 Cyprian of Carthage on Heretical Baptism 8.4 Cyril of Jerusalem on the Meaning of Baptism 8.5 Cyril of Jerusalem on the Body and Blood of Christ 8.6 Hilary of Poitiers on the Effects of Baptism 8.7 Gregory of Nazianzus on the Symbolism of Baptism 8.8 Augustine on Donatist Approaches to the Sacraments 8.9 Augustine on the Right to Baptize 8.10 John of Damascus on the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist 8.11 Paschasius Radbertus on the Real Presence 8.12 Ratramnus of Corbie on the Real Presence 8.13 Candidus of Fulda on This is My Body 8.14 Lanfranc of Bec on the Mystery of the Sacraments 8.15 Hugh of St Victor on the Definition of a Sacrament 8.16 Peter Lombard on the Definition of a Sacrament 8.17 The Fourth Lateran Council on Baptism and Eucharist 8.18 Thomas Aquinas on Transubstantiation 8.19 Martin Luther on the Doctrine of Transubstantiation 8.20 Martin Luther on the Bread and Wine as a Testament 8.21 Huldrych Zwingli on This is My Body 8.22 Huldrych Zwingli on the Nature of Sacraments 8.23 John Calvin on the Nature of Sacraments 8.24 The Council of Trent on Transubstantiation 8.25 John Wesley on the Eucharist and Salvation 8.26 John Henry Newman on Infant Baptism 8.27 The Second Vatican Council on the Eucharist 8.28 Edward Schillebeeckx on the Real Presence 8.29 The World Council of Churches on Baptism 8.30 Alexander Schmemann on the Eucharist 8.31 Rowan Williams on the Nature of a Sacrament 8.32 Pope John Paul II on the Eucharist as a Sign of Hope For Further Reading 9 Christianity and World Religions Introduction 9.1 Justin Martyr on Christianity and Judaism 9.2 Ludwig Feuerbach on the Human Origins of Religion 9.3 Karl Marx on Feuerbach s Views on Religion 9.4 Karl Barth on Christianity and Religion 9.5 C. S. Lewis on Myth in Christianity and Other Faiths 9.6 Karl Rahner on Christianity and the Non-Christian Religions 9.7 The Second Vatican Council on Non-Christian Religions 9.8 Clark Pinnock on Pluralists and Christology 9.9 John Hick on Complementary Pluralism 9.10 John B. Cobb Jr. on Religious Pluralism 9.11 Lesslie Newbigin on the Gospel in a Pluralist Culture 9.12 Gavin D Costa on the Self-Contradictions of Pluralism 9.13 Herbert McCabe on Christianity and the Abolition of the Gods 9.14 David Ford on Scriptural Reasoning and Interreligious Dialogue 9.15 Pope Francis on Evangelism and Interreligious Dialogue For Further Reading 10 The Last Things Introduction 10.1 Irenaeus on the Final Restoration of Creation 10.2 Theophilus of Antioch on Conditional Immortality 10.3 Tertullian on Hell and Heaven 10.4 Tertullian on the Millennium 10.5 Origen on the Resurrection Body 10.6 Cyprian of Carthage on Paradise as the Christian Homeland 10.7 Methodius of Olympus on the Resurrection 10.8 Cyril of Jerusalem on Prayers for the Dead 10.9 Gregory of Nyssa on the Resurrection Body 10.10 John Chrysostom on Prayers for the Dead 10.11 Augustine on the Christian Hope 10.12 Gregory the Great on Purgatory 10.13 Peter Lombard on the Appearance of Humanity in Heaven 10.14 Pope Benedict XII on Seeing God in Heaven 10.15 Catherine of Genoa on Purgatory 10.16 John Donne on the Resurrection 10.17 Jeremy Taylor on Death and Heaven 10.18 Jonathan Edwards on the Reality of Hell 10.19 John Wesley on Universal Restoration 10.20 C. S. Lewis on the Hope of Heaven 10.21 Rudolf Bultmann on the Existential Interpretation of Eschatology 10.22 Helmut Thielicke on Ethics and Eschatology 10.23 Richard Bauckham on Jürgen Moltmann s Eschatology 10.24 Hans Urs von Balthasar on Hell 10.25 The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Heaven 10.26 Kathryn Tanner on Eternal Life For Further Reading A Glossary of Theological Terms Sources of Readings For Further Study: Additional Collections of Readings Index