Theology
Newlands' first book was Hilary of Poitiers: a Study in Theological Method in 1978. His Theology of the Love of God, followed in 1980. In the wake of 'death of God' theology and the 'myth of God incarnate' controversy during the 1970s, Newlands here attempted a 'constructive theology'. Barth had constructed a theology around the theme of faith, and Moltmann a theology of hope, so Newlands took the third of the Pauline triad to construct a theology around love (which, after all, is also of central concern in Christian theology). Further constructive theology followed with an ecclesiology in The Church of God (1984). A book on ethics followed in 1985- Making Christian Decisions.
Newlands published God in Christian Perspective in 1994. Continuing his 'constructive theology' project, he deals with the doctrine of God and- always a central concern of Newlands- Christology. This wide-ranging book engages not just with the continental tradition, but with Reformed, Anglican and wider Christian streams of thought, and more recent concerns such as feminism and liberation theology.
Generosity and the Christian Future, the 1995 Henson lectures at the University of Oxford, was published in 1997. Here Newlands returns to his concern about faith, theology, ethics and public issues, such as human rights and pluralism. He begins the book by imagining a tenth Vatican Council in the year 2517 CE, presided over by a Pope who is an American Baptist woman - a typical example of Newlands' humour, familiar to his students, which seeks to illuminate important issues. Recently Newlands has been interested in 20th Century Scottish theology. He edited Scottish Christianity in the Modern World in 2001, and produced a theological biography of John and Donald Baillie in 2002.
He has been exploring 'intercultural theology', and his most recent work reflects once more Christology and an important contemporary theme: Human Rights. This has resulted in Christ and Human Rights (2006) Faith and Human Rights (2008) and Hospitable God (2010.) A collection of essays, Traces of Liberality, was published in 2006. A festschrift The God of Love and Human Dignity was presented in 2007.
Read more about this topic: George Newlands
Famous quotes containing the word theology:
“A theology whose god is a metaphor is wasting its time.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“When the Devil quotes Scriptures, it’s not, really, to deceive, but simply that the masses are so ignorant of theology that somebody has to teach them the elementary texts before he can seduce them.”
—Paul Goodman (1911–1972)
“Only men of moral and mental force, of a patriotic regard for the relationship of the two races, can be of real service as ministers in the South. Less theology and more of human brotherhood, less declamation and more common sense and love for truth, must be the qualifications of the new ministry that shall yet save the race from the evils of false teaching.”
—Fannie Barrier Williams (1855–1944)