In this compact collection of essays on contextual theology, the reader is offered fresh voices from the United States, Latin America and Oceania. The inclusion of diverse cultural voices is one of the book's strengths: these voices emphasize the significance of contextual theology for our twenty-first century. The proposal of the book is to address new ways of doing theology, opening up new and fresh topics for our theological agenda.

Scholars from the United States, Latin America, and Oceania reflect in this volume on the importance of contextual theology for our twenty-first century.

Christianity in the United States is in crisis. Liberalism is declining, evangelicalism is splintering, increasing numbers of Christians are slipping away from churches, and more and more young people are for various reasons finding Christianity as they conceive it (a metaphysical thought system, or society of science-deniers, or an ideology for oppressors) not just implausible but repellent. At the same time, Christians across denominational and ideological divides are rediscovering a moral core, especially in the Jesus of the Gospels, that reactivates and unites them, and this kind of faith appeals to many who consider themselves averse to all traditional organized religion. But any revitalized Christian faith is going to need to understand its rootedness in, and interpretation of, Christianity’s foundational texts and traditions. Noted theologian Douglas F. Ottati steps in to offer a theology for this new era. Combining deep learning in texts and traditions with astute awareness of contemporary questions and patterns of thought and life, he asks: what does it mean, in our time, to understand the God of the Bible as Creator and Redeemer? Distilling the content of Christian faith into seventy concise propositions, he explains each in lucid, cogent prose. A Theology for the Twenty-First Century will be an essential textbook for those training for ministry in our current climate, a wise guide for contemporary believers who wonder how best to understand and communicate their faith, and an inviting and intelligent resource for serious inquirers who wonder whether the way of Jesus might help them grasp the real world while remaining open to the transcendent.

In our post 9/11 world where there is a growing religious fundamentalism, and when both exclusion and easy tolerance are inadequate options, this book offers a creative alternative arguing that Pentecostalism has the potential to be a peaceful harbinger of plurality. The potential lies in its spirituality - a lively pneumatology and eschatology. The eschatological Spirit is seen as orientated towards the other, crossing boundaries in redemptive embrace, transcending exclusion and easy tolerance. This book's non-Western perspective and the empirical contextual study of Singapore's multicultural and multi-faith context are unique contributions to religion and society. This is a book for students, pastors, teachers, and theologians concerned for an approach to mission that is sensitive to their context, who want to learn from a creative theological voice from what has been perhaps the largest religious movement in history, and who see the immense potential in lively theology by Christians of the Chinese diaspora who can speak to the many millions of ethnic Chinese Christians. This book will also appeal to those outside Christianity who are interested in its attempts to engage with a complex multi-ethnic and multi-religious situation such as that in Singapore.

Essays in Contextual Theology is a collection of essays that reflect on the doing of contextual theology from several perspectives. After a general introductory essay, subsequent essays reflect on topics such as contextual theology and prophetic dialogue, criteria for orthodoxy, the nature of tradition, the role of culture, the dynamics of conversion, and the way theology is being done in World Christianity. The collection closes with an autobiographical essay tracing the author’s journey to becoming a “global theologian.”

Relational theologies, such as feminist theology, ecotheology and liberation theologies of various kinds, turn our traditional starting point for theology on its head. They ask what it is that we experience. This book aims to explore the concept of the emerging divine within human and non-human relationality.

Being Christian in the Twenty-first Century was written to help struggling and doubting Christians develop an understanding of Christianity that avoids literalism, creeds, and doctrines--all factors which seem to be driving people away from the church. The book is well suited for individual or group study, complete with a study guide and sample lesson plans. It responds to the call for theological reform advocated by many contemporary clergy and religious leaders. Being Christian does not restate orthodox positions or drift into fundamentalism or sentimentalism. Instead it draws from a broad base of historical, theological, archaeological, and sociological scholarship to place Scripture within its original context, yet present it within a perspective suitable for the twenty-first-century mind. Being Christian is scholarly, yet readable, interesting, and often provocative. One reviewer put it this way, "the book reminds me of a baseball pitcher with a long wind up and a hard fastball getting better in every inning." By building upon progressive thought available today and throughout history, it offers an important resource for Christians and would-be Christians seeking a more fulfilling and thoughtful faith journey.