Faith Thinking

by Trevor Hart

Publisher:

IVP

, 1995

Overview

Faith Thinking is a compelling exploration of where theology stands in the contemporary postmodern intellectual context. Eschewing both rigid objectivism and sheer relativism, Trevor Hart cuts a middle course towards a fresh theological paradigm capable of defending itself as an academic discipline. Faith Thinking is an invaluable resource for those struggling to understand the relationship between faith and understanding in the practice of theology.

Hart draws from philosophy, history, and literary criticism in his construction of a relevant theology for the postmodern world. In dialogue with Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Polanyi, and other influential thinkers, Hart examines what challenges and buttresses current intellectual trends have to offer theology.

Throughout Faith Thinking, Hart heeds the necessity to present theology as clearly as possible. Though cultivated in a university setting, Hart’s definitions and explanations maintain a comprehensibility that allows theologians at any level access to these important ideas. Faith Thinking’s powerful distillation of the complex world of theology after postmodernity will prove an important addition to any theological library.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Third, faith must seek to understand its place within its own specific historical and cultural context” (Page 5)

“Third, and supremely, insofar as all these stories claim to provide some account by means of which the world is opened up and made accessible to scrutiny and discovery, the theologian’s first commitment must be to the truth itself, to reality as it discloses itself and is known.” (Page 104)

“Faith is not a natural progression from knowledge or experiences available to all, but results from a special dispensation which sets us in the perspective from which the truth may be seen, and demands a response.” (Page 75)

“Rationality and morality are historically and socially context-bound, precisely because each community fashions and develops its own, just as it fashions and develops its own language.” (Page 45)

“Christ is Lord of every aspect of human existence, and not just those parts which society deems as belonging to our private worlds.” (Page 19)

Praise for the Print Edition

There are few more important questions for theology today than that of its own character and status. In this important and wide-ranging book, Trevor Hart articulates and defends a robust thesis about its respectability, integrity and independence.

—Colin Gunton

Faith Thinking is a lively, provocative and most welcome book … contending for a dynamic way of doing theology that abandons neither thinking nor the life of the believing community.

—Richard Holloway

I know of no better current introduction to the study of theology than Hart's lucid, meaty and appetizing book.

—Stephen Sykes

One of the most important books to have been published this year.

—Expository Times

Product Details

• Title: Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology
• Author: Trevor Hart
• Publisher: SPCK Publishing
• Publication Date: 1995
• Pages: 208

About Trevor Hart

Professor Trevor Hart (PhD) is currently Rector of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in the town of St Andrews on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. For thirty years he taught systematic and historical theology in two Scottish universities, latterly (from 1995 to 2013) as Professor of Divinity in the University of St Andrews, and Director of the University's Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts. He is the author of a number of books, including Faith Thinking, The Waiting Father: Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, Justice the True and Only Mercy: Essays on the Life and Theology of Peter Taylor Forsyth, and Hope Against Hope: Christian Eschatology in Contemporary Context. He is also the General Editor of The Dictionary of Historical Theology. When the commitments of pastoral ministry permit, Trevor still undertakes scholarship and publishing, supervises postgraduate research students at the University of St Andrews and Dundee University, and from time to time travels abroad to deliver lectures and conference papers. Trevor is married to Rachel. They have three adult children and a border terrier called Grizzle. In his spare time Trevor enjoys playing guitars of various (increasingly expensive) sorts, listening to music of (almost) all sorts, wood carving, cycling, spending time in the outdoors, visiting galleries, concert halls and theatres, and watching Scotland play rugby.

Sample Pages from Faith Thinking