A Liberal Theology for the Twenty-first Century

Introduction: a castler story; the need for a rational and liberal theory; the meaning of "reason"; the scope or "range" of reason; the meaning of "liberal"; the order of inquiry. Where to begin?: the search for an absolute starting point; step one - the response to positivism - are the fundamental questions "meaningful"?; step two - the response to postmodernism - universal aspects of "reason" and "objectivity; reason and paradox; reason and analogy; the cultural context of rationality; some religious options. Materialism: the meaning of materialism; the physical universe as a "whole"; the explanation of consciousness; levels of explanation. Religious experience and monism: monism; the content and interpretation of religious experience; some sceptical responses to religious experience; the claims of "pernnial" philosophy; problems with monism. The meaning of theism: essential characteristics of theism; God and providence; God as omnipotent and omniscient; creator "out of nothing"; the goodness of God; God as the source of grace; God as ultimatel reality or infinite "substance"; God as "necessary being"; God and mystery; theism and revelation; God and personal faith. The traditional arguments for the existence of god: the cosmological argument revisited; the cosmological argument and probibility; the moral arguments; four other arguments for the reality of God; the problem of suffering. The Trinitarian option: forms of theism; the accuracy of Scripture; the experience and interpretation of redemption; redemption and incarnation; problems with the divinity of Christ; the problem of exclusivity; the Holy Spirit; theism and immortality. Some personal options: recapitu;ation; exclusivness and caricature; the role of a religious community; is there "one, true church"?; verbal inspiration and infallibility; an Anglican option; conclusion. Appendices: miracles revisited; three suggested creeds; a meditation.