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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Best Contemporary Theology Meme

Chris at Sandalstraps' Sanctuary was kind enough to tag me with a meme ... one on contemporary theology ... be sure to check out his meme choices, and to visit Patrik's blog, where the meme originated. Here are the evolving guidelines - name three of the most influential works of contemporary theology, and three lesser known books almost everyone should read.

I'm no theology student - my choices are more likely to be based on what I'm finding most interesting at the moment - I've mixed the two groups up into one pile of both contemporary theological works and suggestions for reading. Here are my six choices below ...

- Hans Urs von Balthasar ... Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"?: With a Short Discourse on Hell - here this Swiss former Jesuit and buddy of Karl Rahner writes about the hope of universal salvation, and an empty hell. I wrote a little about him and this idea in a past blog entry. Lots of good links for his stuff here.

- Gustavo GutiƩrrez OP ... A Theology of Liberation ... a text on liberation theology by one of its founders, a Dominican priest who now teaches at Notre Dame. I have an old post, an interview with him from a journal, here.

- David Bentley Hart .... The Beauty Of The Infinite: The Aesthetics Of Christian Truth ... an Eastern Orthodox theologian shows us beauty will save the world. I'm not sure I always agree with him, but I love his writing. He has many articles to be found online, such as Tsunami and Theodicy at First Things.

- James Alison .... Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay .... one of the many great books by this Catholic priest and theologian. You can read Rowan William's review of the book here. And read more of Fr. Alison's work here.

- Rowan Williams .... The Body's Grace .... a paper by the Archbishop of Canterbury (before he was the Archbishop) on sexuality and theology - worth reading, and it can be found online at the link above.

- John Dear SJ ... Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action ... written by a Jesuit peace activist who's not afraid to live out his theology, even if that means going to prison, this book tells about his formation. You can read his column at National Catholic Reporter., or visit his website here.

***


8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let the official record reflect that the meme started here. I did not start it, but I was among the first who caught it.

I added the second half, about the lesser known books, because I couldn't limit myself to three.

6:15 PM  
Blogger crystal said...

Thanks for the link to Patrik's blog. I'm glad, though, that you added the second half ... only three books isn't enough!

6:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I will try.:-)

12:58 AM  
Blogger crystal said...

Thanks Paula - I look forward to seeing what you post.

1:06 AM  
Blogger Talmida said...

That was a tough one, Crystal! I couldn't think of 3 and 3, but I did my best.

:)

7:48 AM  
Blogger crystal said...

Can't wait to see what you posted, Talmida - thanks :-)

10:52 AM  
Blogger Jeff said...

I'm amazed sometimes by what a small blogosphere it really is. By chance I happened to notice last Summer that this fellow Patrik was posting a World Cup Competition for Systematic Theologians. Kind of interesting.

His Championship Bracket.

2:43 PM  
Blogger crystal said...

Jeff,

yes, blogdom is almost incestuous in it's connections. Reminds me of the brain and neuron pathways, for some reason ... the pathways that get used the most, get used even more often, but sometimes a weird unrelated connection will be made - epiphany :-)

3:03 PM  

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