Book Description

"Religious commitment is a motivation, not a substitute, for careful thinking." So writes Fritz Guy in Thinking Theologically: Adventist Christianity and the Interpretation of Faith, a new release from Andrews University Press and a work long awaited by his colleagues and students. Guy offers his philosophy of how North American Seventh-day Adventists ought to go about the business of "doing theology." The work is addressed to theological students, pastors, and serious general readers who are interested in what theological thinking is, why it is important, who needs to be doing it, and how it should be done. - Preface -- What Theological Thinking Actually Is; Basic vocabulary; Basic characteristics; More vocabulary -- Why Everyone Should Think Theologically; An essential task; An inclusive task; A parable -- How Theological Thinking Should Begin; Audiences and motivations; Moral principles; Methodological principles -- Why Theological Thinking is Open-Ended; Limitations and change; Continuing discovery; Kinds of development -- How to Think with Intellectual Integrity; Criteria; Application; Theological fallacies -- Examining the ingredients -- How Scripture Should Function; Priority over subsequent theological tradition; Ellen White as an agent of scripture; Scripture as a whole; Theological Christocentricity; Existential perspective -- What Else Is Involved; Relation to scripture; Varieties of ingredients -- How Culture Makes a Difference; Secularity and secularism; Underlying intuitions; Theological implications -- Envisioning the work -- What Logical Presuppositions Need to Be Identified; Meaning and validity; Belief and trust; Evidence and demonstration -- What Forms Theological Thinking Can Take; Traditional systematic form; Bibliographical excursus:twentieth-century systematic theology; Other ways of organizing theology; Components and dangers -- Why Tripolar Thinking is Essential; Christian gospel; Cultural context; Adventist heritage; The challenge of tripolarity