Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril

by Sallie McFague

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2001

Overview

In this splendidly crafted work, McFague argues for theology as an ethical imperative for all thinking Christians: Responsible discipleship today entails disciplined religious reflection. Moreover, theology matters: Without serious reflection on their worldview, ultimate commitments, and lifestyle, North American Christians cannot hope to contribute to ensuring the “good life” for people or the planet. To live differently we must think differently.

McFague’s has therefore written primer in theology. It helps Christians assess their own religious story in light of the larger Christian tradition and the felt needs of the planet. At once an apology for an ecologically driven theology and a model for how theology itself might be expressed, her work is expressly crafted to bring people into the practice of religious reflection as a form of responsible Christian practice in the world. McFague shows the reader how articulating one’s personal religious story and credo can lead directly into contextual analysis, unfolding of theological concepts, and forms of Christian practice.

In lucid prose she offers creative discussions of revelation, the reigning economic worldview (and its ecological alternative), and how a planetary theology might approach classical areas of God and the world, Christ and salvation, and life in the Spirit. Enticing readers into serious self-assessment and creative commitment, McFague’s new work encourages and models a theological practice that “gives glory to God by loving the world.”

Key Features

• Discusses ways in which American Christians can reexamine their personal theology
• Presents theology through modern economics and worldviews

Contents

• Part I: The Practice of Planetary Theology
  • A Brief Credo
  • Theology Matters
  • The Matter of Theology
• Part II: The Context of Planetary Theology
  • The Contemporary Economic Model and Worldview
  • The Ecological Economic Model and Worldview
• Part III: The Content of Planetary Theology
  • God and the World
  • Christ and Salvation
  • Life in the Spirit
• Appendix: A Manifesto to North American Middle-Class Christians

Top Highlights

“At the base of neo-classical economics is an anthropology: human beings are individuals motivated by self-interest” (Page 76)

“A credo is the thoughtful expression of what one believes most deeply and is prepared to act on” (Page 15)

“Rather, economics inherited it from religion and political theory. Religion contributed the notion of the sacredness of the individual and the sinfulness of all before God; political science contributed ‘the rights of man,’ summarized in the motto ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’; economics combined the religious and political views to create a new creature: Homo oeconomicus—one who has the freedom to pursue his or her own personal economic interests.” (Page 82)

“economics is simple: it is about dividing up whatever is scarce among competing uses and users. It is, for instance” (Page 75)

“One hears it constantly in Christian prayers and hymns; it seems sometimes trite, overdone, and sentimental; in fact, it often seems false, if not repulsive, in light of the horrors of history, especially those perpetrated by Christians (anti-Semitism, the Inquisition, missionary genocide, American slavery, etc.).” (Page 16)

Praise for the Print Edition

Sallie McFague’s new book is alive and moving, but also clear and simple. She offers us a real, substantive vision of Christianity for the new century--one that means something and demands something from us. And she is pretty clear about what that is! Writing accessibly about theology and economics, she helps us think through the really big questions of our day (the ones so big that we easily miss them) and find the resources for a working theology and abundant living for all.

—Rebecca S. Chopp, Emory University

Reading Life Abundant is exciting, thought-provoking, and ultimately heartening. I have profound sympathy for the aims of Sallie McFague’s new book and deep admiration for the way in which it is constructed.

—Paul Lakeland, Fairfield University

Sallie McFague offers us a brilliant constructive theology. Here she focuses on the problems of contemporary human existence through a comprehensive analysis of consumerism. She marshals the resources of personal experience, scripture, and tradition to develop a theology that speaks redemptively to our plight, concluding with a challenging vision of life as it could be and can be. This provocative work deserves wide reading. It is a ‘must’ not only for those who follow the work of this fine theologian, but for all who ask how Christian thinking can today impel our actions toward the creation of beneficent communities.

—Marjorie Suchocki, Claremont School of Theology

Product Details

• Title: Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril
• Author: Sallie McFague
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2001
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 251
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Economics › Religious aspects--Christianity; Human ecology › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 0800632699, 9780800632694
• Resource ID: LLS:LFBNDNTRPLNTPRL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:10:04Z

About Sallie McFague

Sallie McFague was Carpenter Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she taught for 30 years. She is now distinguished theologian in residence at the Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, British Columbia. Among her many influential works are Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology, Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age, which received the American Academy of Religion’s Award for Excellence; and Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language. Many of her works are collected in Sally McFague: Collected Readings.

Sample Pages from Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril