Books in the Christian Theology in Context series

This book offers an introduction to the thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), who is one of the most significant Christian writers of the Middle Ages. It pays particular attention to the Aquinas's context as a Dominican friar, devoted to the task of preaching the Christian gospel.

The poetry and prose writings of the sixteenth-century Spanish friar John of the Cross are of interest to scholars of systematic theology, Christian spirituality, and Spanish poetry. This work provides the first extended English-language analysis of these writings since the 1950s.

This work considers Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662), one of the most discussed early Christian theologians in contemporary patristic studies. It builds on recent scholarship while also providing fresh readings of Maximus as an ancient ecumenical theologian as well as of his recontextualization in contemporary theology.

A full, contextual study of Irenaeus of Lyons, the first great theologian of the Christian tradition. John Behr sets Irenaeus both within his own context of the second century and our own contemporary context.

Karl Barth was a prolific theologian of the 20th century. This work places his theology in its social and political context, from World War I to the Cold War, by following Barth's intellectual development through the years that saw the rise of national socialism and the development of communism.

A detailed survey of the life and thought of Origen (c.185-254 A.D.), the most important Greek-speaking Christian theologian and Biblical scholar in antiquity. Heine considers how the two urban centers of Alexandria in Egypt and Caesarea in Palestine, and their communities of faith, had a discernable impact on Origen's intellectual work.

This volume assesses the German liberal theological tradition in the early years of the 20th century, concentrating on the work of Ernst Troeltsch. It locates theology in its social and political context, and seeks to understand the period on its own terms and not through the lens of World War I.

Augustine (AD 354-430) is perhaps the most influential figure in the transition from pagan antiquity to the Middle Ages. This book sets him in his social and cultural context. It shows how his belief in Christian truth and his conviction of human fallenness cut at the roots of classical aspirations after perfection.

Kierkegaard was a Christian thinker perhaps best known for his devastating attack upon Christendom or the established order of his time. Sylvia Walsh explores his understanding of Christianity and the existential mode of thinking theologically appropriate to it in the context of the intellectual, cultural, and socio-political milieu of his time.

F. D. Maurice was a leading nineteenth-century Anglican theologian and social commentator. He pioneered Christian Socialism and became a key influence on the development of the modern Church of England. This study shows his work was driven by a concern to reinvigorate Anglican ecclesiology, and to promote an ecumenism.

Martin Luther's theology presented a paradigmatic shift in defining God and humanity, refuting the foundations of Aristotelian anthropology with a new emphasis on the Revealed God and his unconditioned grace. Robert Kolb traces the development of Luther's thinking within the context of late medieval theology and piety at the dawn of the modern era.

A bishop and theologian, an ascetic and a pastoral father, Athanasius of Alexandria (c.295-373) is one of the greatest and most controversial figures of early Christian history. This book draws together these diverse yet inseparable roles that defined Athanasius' life and the influence that he exerted on subsequent Christian tradition.

This work considers Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662), one of the most discussed early Christian theologians in contemporary patristic studies. It builds on recent scholarship while also providing fresh readings of Maximus as an ancient ecumenical theologian as well as of his recontextualization in contemporary theology.