Modern ecclesiology is too concerned with the ideal church, and pays too little attention to its sinful everyday life. Pluralism and postmodernism are discussed, and the argument made that well-meaning attempts to affirm non-Christian religions make it difficult for them or the church to argue that its convictions are true. The book shows that one can talk about the church and other religious communities in ways that acknowledge their uniqueness and truth claims, but also their problems and mistakes. New disciplines are proposed: theological history, theological sociology and ecclesiological...

The work of Thomas Aquinas (1224-1275) has become increasingly influential in recent doctrinal theology and theological ethics, aside from his extraordinary historical significance. Thomas has been read ever since his death, today as much as ever. What is it that distinguishes his work, and can his theological judgments and proposals still be brought to bear in contemporary theological inquiry?

This book presents a new study of Thomas Aquinas, focusing on the evangelical, pastoral and theocentric character of his premodern theology. Healy presents Thomas as first and foremost a...

Stanley Hauerwas is one of the most important and robustly creative theologians of our time, and his work is well known and much admired. But Nicholas Healy -- himself an admirer of Hauerwas's thought -- believes that it has not yet been subjected to the kind of sustained critical analysis that is warranted by such a significant and influential Christian thinker. As someone interested in the broader systematic-theological implications of Hauerwas's work, Healy fills that gap in Hauerwas: A (Very) Critical Introduction.
After a general introduction to Hauerwas's work, Healy examines...