Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part 1 Theology: Some Opening Reflections
1 Discovering theology: seeing things in a new way 7
Theology as a new way of seeing things 11
Imagining the new world of faith 15
Charles Taylor: imagining a new (but real) world 18
2 Theology as a 'big picture' 23
Christian doctrines: isolated or interconnected? 24
The 'big picture': weaving things together 26
Understanding theological disagreement 28
Finding the best 'big picture' 30
Dorothy L. Sayers on the Incarnation 33
Mapping the landscape of faith 36
3 Theology: five criticisms 40
Theology is vacuous nonsense, which isn't worth studying 40
Theology is irrelevant for most ordinary Christians 43
Theology has no place in the life of the Church 46
Theology seems detached from the Bible 48
Theology is a Western invention 50
Part 2 Why Theology Matters: Wisdom, Wellbeing and Wonder
4 Wisdom: discovering the depths of faith 57
Karl Popper: the three worlds 57
Growing in wisdom: a New Testament foundation 59
The wisdom of the Christian past: an antidote to superficiality 64
Going deeper: mapping the Christian vision of salvation 69
Making connections: theology and a wider vision of life 74
Faith: being realistic about what we can know 77
The darkness of faith: coping with uncertainty 80
5 Wellbeing: discerning value and meaning 84
Theology and wellbeing: the neglected importance of meaning 86
Connectedness: discovering a coherent and meaningful world 90
Faith: inhabiting a Christian vision of reality 91
The importance of the Incarnation 93
Transforming our existence: mapping the Incarnation 95
Mattering: Christianity and human value 98
The heart's desire: finding fulfilment 103
6 Wonder: expanding our vision of life 107
Why wonder matters 109
Attentiveness: seeing and respecting nature as God's creation 111
The intellectual appeal of faith 115
Speaking about God: preserving the mystery 118
The failed quest for certainty: Tomáš Halík on faith and mystery 121
The Trinity: wrestling with mystery 122
Glimpsing glory: theology, worship and spirituality 126
7 Conclusion: making theology matter 130
On theological education 132
Theology and the life of faith 133
What's the point of theology? 135
Taking things further 138
Questions for reflection 141
Notes 144