The Wisdom of the Christian Faith

by Paul Moser (Editor), Michael McFall (Editor)

Overview

Although typically separated, philosophy and New Testament theology are mutually beneficial for the understanding of the distinctive wisdom that guides Christian thought and life. The Wisdom of the Christian Faith fills a major gap in the literature on the philosophy of religion. It is the first book on the philosophy of religion to be authored entirely by philosophers while directly engaging themes of wisdom in the Christian tradition. The book consists of all new essays, with contributions from John Cottingham, Paul Gooch, Gordon Graham, John Hare, Michael T. McFall, Paul K. Moser, Andrew Pinsent, Robert Roberts, Charles Taliaferro, William Wainwright, Jerry Walls, Sylvia Walsh, Paul Weithman, and Merold Westphal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521169790
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/12/2012
Pages:	277
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Paul K. Moser is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. He is the author of The Evidence for God: Religious Knowledge Reexamined, The Elusive God: Reorienting Religious Epistemology, Philosophy after Objectivity and Knowledge and Evidence. He is co-editor of Divine Hiddenness and The Rationality of Theism, editor of Jesus and Philosophy and Rationality in Action, general editor of the book series Oxford Handbooks of Philosophy and editor of the journal American Philosophical Quarterly.

Michael T. McFall is Visiting Instructor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University. He is the author of Licensing Parents: Family, State, and Child Maltreatment.

Table of Contents

Introduction: philosophy and cruciform wisdom; Part I. Wisdom, Faith, and Reason: 1. Faithful knowing Paul Gooch; 2. Repentance and self-knowledge Merold Westphal; 3. Obedience and responsibility William Wainwright; 4. Forgiveness, justification, and reconciliation John Hare; Part II. Wisdom, Love, and Evil: 5. Wisdom and evil Andrew Pinsent; 6. Moral character and temptation Sylvia Walsh; 7. Altruism, egoism and sacrifice Gordon Graham; 8. Unconditional love and spiritual virtues Robert C. Roberts; Part III. Wisdom, Contemplation, and Action: 9. Meaningful life John Cottingham; 10. Beauty and aesthetics in theology Charles Taliaferro; 11. Education for political autonomy Paul Weithman; 12. The wisdom of hope in a despairing world Jerry Walls.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a first-rate contribution to the emerging field of analytic theology. Beginning with the philosophical quest for wisdom, it provides fresh, dense, provocative, and illuminating treatments of crucial theological themes, such as knowledge of God, love, atonement, forgiveness, temptation, and hope. This is essential reading for both philosophers and theologians."
William J. Abraham, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

“Although philosophy is supposed to be a quest for wisdom, recent philosophers have had little to say about the subject. This book is an exception. These distinguished philosophers not only write insightfully about wisdom, but they exhibit wisdom in their essays, which plumb the depths of Christian faith and show its power to confront a range of issues, both theoretical and practical.”
C. Stephen Evans, Baylor University

“A masterful array of stimulating philosophical essays, exploring the role of the idea of wisdom in Christian thought. The distinguished contributors themselves supply great wisdom to the theme.”
Roger Trigg, Emeritus, University of Warwick, and Senior Research Fellow, Kellogg College, Oxford

"Though written entirely by philosophers and a serious work of Christian philosophy in its own right, I also recommend this book to pastors and seminarians. It is a fitting example of philosophy done in the service of the church, and an illustration of theological and pastoral benefits that such endeavors can produce."
J. Thomas Chopp, Themelios

From the Publisher