An innovative Christ-centered theology exploring the centrality of Christ for Christian thought and shedding fresh light on major theological issues.

In an urbane and persuasive tract for our time, the distinguished Catholic theologian combines a comprehensive metaphysics with a sensitivity to contemporary existentialist thought. Father Murray traces the “problem of God” from its origins in the Old Testament, through its development in the Christian Fathers and the definitive statement by Aquinas, to its denial by modern materialism. Students and nonspecialist intellectuals may both benefit by the book, which illuminates the problem of development of doctrine that is now, even more than in the days of Newman, a fundamental issue between Roman Catholic and Protestant, theologians and nonspecialst intellectuals alike will find the subject of vital interest. As a challenge to the ecumenical dialogue, the question is raised whether, in the course of its development through different phases, the problem of God has come back to its original position. Father Murray is Ordinary professor of theology at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. St. Thomas More Lectures, 1. "A gem of a book—lucid, illuminating, brilliantly written. A fine contribution to the current Catholic theological renaissance."—Paul Weiss.

Winner of the Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (1995) “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” So begins this award-winning intellectual history and critique of the evangelical movement by one of evangelicalism’s most respected historians. Unsparing in his indictment, Mark Noll asks why the largest single group of religious Americans—who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence—have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship. While nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have so many evangelicals failed to sustain a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of “high” culture? Over twenty-five years since its original publication, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind has turned out to be prescient and perennially relevant. In a new preface, Noll lays out his ongoing personal frustrations with this situation, and in a new afterword he assesses the state of the scandal—showing how white evangelicals’ embrace of Trumpism, their deepening distrust of science, and their frequent forays into conspiratorial thinking have coexisted with surprisingly robust scholarship from many with strong evangelical connections.

By carefully considering the full theological context of trials, this book seeks to show that Christians can realistically count it all joy when various trials come upon them. This is not a natural response, but it is the only response that the Bible permits. However, it is not simply commanded without good reason; there is tremendous biblical evidence that would convince us to so respond. From a personal perspective, it is one of the most important means that God uses to conform us to the image of his Son, enabling us to more effectively glorify him and drawing us closer to himself. If we believe that knowing God is of the greatest value, we will value the trials he brings. From a corporate perspective, that is, the kingdom of God (the body of Christ, the church), we find an even larger context in which God uses trials. The church, as we find in Acts 4, is powerful as it expresses concrete love, seeing to it that there are no needy among it. The needy are those in trials and as the church loves its needy by caring for them, it bears witness to God's care and love to those in need and witnesses to those outside the church in a most powerful way. So we see that God is truly at work in trials, both personally and corporately, glorifying himself, conforming us to the image of Christ, witnessing to the world and building his kingdom. It is a picture of God at work in a particularly powerful way.