- Title
- What is this thing called theology?: considering the spiritual in the public square
- Creator
- Lovat, Terence; Fleming, Daniel
- Relation
- http://www.dbpublishing.net.au/pub14/Theology.2014.html
- Publisher
- David Barlow Publishing
- Resource Type
- book
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- What is this thing called Theology? is written as an introduction to the study of theology for people doing formal study or for the interested reader. It is written on the basis of several assumptions. The first assumption is that theology has been on the margins of scholarship and popular interest for most of the last hundred years but is making a comeback in light of new considerations facing humankind. Among these considerations is the state of a world faced with unprecedented divisions and challenges, many of which have deep religious roots and need the sort of understanding that theology can offer. Another consideration is the turn in the sciences and social sciences to grappling with notions of infinity, the unfathomable nature of the universe and the human mind, and of the spiritual dimension in humankind. This is a turn that has scientists and social scientists calling on theology to re-discover its voice among the disciplines of learning. The second assumption is that theology is a discipline for the world, rather than only for churches and religious establishments. As defined in this book, theology can be understood as being there at the beginnings of humanity’s quest to reflect and understand the world in which it finds itself. It has also been the most persistent form of learning, to be found among peoples of all kinds throughout all times. Theology was there at the foundation of universities in the Middle Ages, not as an exclusively religious art but as one that helped in forming the mind and understanding the world. The third assumption is that the re-discovered theology of the twenty-first century must not be confined behind the walls of religious institutions. It has its place there, but its task is also to be part of the debate about the world, its people and problems, an outward-looking rather than inward-looking discipline. Its role is as a fellow discipline of learning alongside the other disciplines, its specialised knowledge being about the spiritual dimension of humanity and how that can lead to enrichment or calamity. In a word, its proper place is in considering the spiritual in the public square.
- Subject
- theology; religion
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1066362
- Identifier
- uon:18093
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781921333682
- Language
- eng
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