An Introduction to Christian Theology

Richard J. Plantinga is Professor of Religion at Calvin University. He is editor of Christianity and Plurality: Classic and Contemporary Readings (1999) and co-editor of Christianity and Religious Plurality: Historical and Global Perspectives (2016). Thomas R. Thompson is Professor of Religion at Calvin University. He is editor of The One in the Many: Christian Identity in a Multicultural World (1998). Matthew D. Lundberg is Director of the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development and Professor of Religion at Calvin University. He is the co-editor of Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration (2017) and author of Christian Martyrdom and Christian Violence (2021).

Part I. Introduction to Theology: 1. What is theology?; 2. The critical context of theology today; Part II. Key Themes of Christian Theology: 3. Revelation and knowledge of God; 4. A tale of two theisms; 5. The triune God; 6. The world as creation; 7. Humanity in the image of God and the disfigurement of sin; 8. The problem of evil and the question of theodicy; 9. The identity and person of Jesus Christ; 10. The reconciling work of Jesus Christ; 11. The person and work of the Holy Spirit; 12. Dimensions of salvation; 13. The church and its mission; 14. Christianity in a global context; 15. Hope and the future; Part III. Historical Survey of Christian Theology: 16. Theology in the patristic era (c. 100–500); 17. Theology in the middle ages (c. 500–1400); 18. Theology in the Reformation period (c. 1400–1700); 19. Theology in modernity (c. 1700–1960); 20. Theology in the contemporary period (c. 1960–present).