How deep has Pannenberg's influence been on American theology? Which particular ideas or themes from his work have been most pervasive to American thinkers, and which have encountered the greatest resistance? What implications does his work have beyond explicitly theological contexts--e.g., for philosophy, ethics, environmental concerns, political action, and the natural sciences? What new forms have his ideas taken as they have been adapted to fit the very different context of American theology? The authors of the twelve critiques in this volume represent a broad cross section of American...

""Carl Braaten has written an interesting book applying the eschatological perspective to different dimensions of the Christian faith, of the life of the church, and of Christian ethics. His extremely readable style leads to profound insight. I particularly like the chapter on the ministry and the wisdom of his reflections on ethical questions.""
Wolfhart Pannenberg, University of Munich

""More than any other theologian today, Braaten successfully relates biblical faith and ethics to the whole spectrum of urgent current concerns.""
Richard H. Hiers, Dept. of Religion, University of...

The apocalyptic Jesus speaks directly to the crises of our time, Carl E. Braaten contends. Yet few modern theologians have come to terms with this aspect of Jesus' message. In these brief and provocative essays, Braaten reappraises theology and society from the point of view of apocalypticism. The author points out the relevance for contemporary Christians of the dualities found in apocalyptic thought: Christ and Counter-Christ, freedom and slavery, the present realm and future kingdom. People in today's counterculture are even seen to possess a vision of freedom similar to that in the...

It's time that the body reassumed its rightful place of importance in Christian life, according to Carl and LaVonne Braaten in The Living Temple. In this sourcebook for a healthier way to live, the authors discuss the body, the foods we put into it, and how Christians are to regard it. Although often slighted in Christian tradition, the body was not regarded by Paul and the early Church as ""vile flesh"" to be transcended, but as a living metaphor of Christ and his people and as the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. The body is thus to be cared for and revered. Later thinkers, including...

A recent movement in modern religious thought believes that the place to start in theology is at the end--eschatology. At a critical time in history, when many are unsure of the future of faith in a secular age, here is a call for believers to participate in God's activity in the future tense. The basic theme in these pages is the idea of the future--in the language of Christian hope and in the interpretation of history. The rediscovery of the role of eschatology in the preaching of Jesus and of early Christians, says Dr. Braaten, has been one of the most important events of recent...

With perceptive insight and vigor, Dr. Braaten addresses today's crisis in ministry in Protestant and Catholic communities. Numerous studies reveal widespread confusion about the nature and scope of the church's mission. There is a split consciousness in the church at all levels between evangelism and social action, and between lay and ordained forms of ministry. The Apostolic Imperative summons the church to embody the apostolic norms of primitive Christianity in its theology and practice. ""A misinterpretation or neglect of the apostolic norms in the life of the church makes the church...

Carl Edward Braaten is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He served as a parish pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Minneapolis from 1958-1961. From 1961-1991 Braaten served as a professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. In 1992 he together with Robert W. Jenson founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in Northfield, Minnesota. For fifteen years he served as the executive director of the Center, an ecumenical organization whose mission is to cultivate faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ...

This volume interprets the lost decade of theological research and reflection on the relation of Christian faith to history. The theological development of this period is depicted as a struggle to go beyond Barth and Bultmann in stressing the centrality of history for revelation and faith. Dr. Braaten deals with new hermeneutical approaches to achieve a theological synthesis of revelation and history. He describes the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg, which calls for a more radical interpretation of revelation along historical lines, as a pivotal point in the present situation. He goes on to...

Front-ranking theologians speak out on the crisis of biblical authority and interpretation in the church, focusing in particular on the adequacy of the historical-critical method of hermeneutics. The essays in this volume address from various perspectives the notorious gap between the historical­ critical approach to the study of the Bible and the churchs liturgical and dogmatic transmission of biblical faith. The authors, following the central theme suggested by Brevard S. Childss ""canonical method"" of biblical interpretation, argue that the historical-critical method does not suffice of...