The Craft of Innovative Theology Argument and Process

A comprehensive collection of resources showing students of theology how to prepare and write creative research-oriented material 

The Craft of Innovative Theology: Argument and Process delivers a thorough examination of the method of producing and writing creative theological theses and projects, explaining to students how to write elegant, innovative research-oriented articles. Through a collection of papers written by distinguished scholars, the text exhibits numerous examples of well-executed creative writing on topics as varied as theodicy and evolution, and artificial intelligence and baptism.   

Each article includes an introduction by the editor that serves to guide the student through the material and elucidates what makes the work stand out as exceptional. The articles are also annotated to assist with the appreciation of the methodology and style used by the author. The Craft of Innovative Theology assists theology students in improving their research writing to a point where they’ll be ready for a Masters’ thesis or PhD dissertation, and is an excellent resource for a research methods course in a graduate program. 

The works incorporated by the editors include: 

• A thorough introduction to God and the Incarnation, including knowing God through religious pluralism 
• An exploration of God and church, including racial stigma and the southern Baptist public discourse in the twentieth century, and the appropriateness of baptizing artificial intelligence 
• A discussion of God and the world, including where humanity has come from and where we’re going, and the challenges posed by biological evolution to Christian theology 
• A treatment of God and ethics, including sin and the faces of responsibility 

Perfect for students of postgraduate theology and research methods courses, The Craft of Innovative Theology: Argument and Process will also earn a place in the libraries of students in courses that prepare them to write a Masters’ thesis in theology or to begin shaping their PhD dissertation topic. 

IAN S. MARKHAM is the dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary and a priest in the Episcopal Church. He has degrees from King’s College London, the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from the University of Exeter. He is the author of numerous books, including Against Atheism: Why Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris are Fundamentally Wrong (Wiley Blackwell, 2010), The New Apologetics (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2020), A Theology of Engagement (Blackwell, 2003), Truth and the Reality of God (T&T Clark, 1998), and Plurality and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 1994).

The Acknowledgments ix

Contributors xi

Introduction xiii

Part I God and the Incarnation 1

1 Knowing God through Religious Pluralism 3
Tinu Ruparell

Research Level 2 3

2 Is It Possible for the Eternal Word to Be Made Manifest in a Person with Down’s Syndrome? 19
Ian S. Markham

Research Level 1 19

Part II God and Church 31

3 Racial Stigma and Southern Baptist Public Discourse in the Twentieth Century 33
Pamela D. Jones

Research Level 1 33

4 The Plugged-in Church: Is it Appropriate to Baptize Artificial Intelligence 50
Ian S. Markham

Research Level 1 50

Part III God and the World 63

5 Humanity: Where on Earth Have We Come From and Where Are We Going To? 65
Celia Deane-Drummond

Research Level 3 65

6 What Challenges Does the Theory of Biological Evolution Pose to Christian Theology? 81
Christopher Southgate

Research Level 3 81

Part IV God and Ethics 97

7 Sin and the Faces of Responsibility 99
Leigh Vicens

Research Level 4 99

8 A Good Story: Human–Animal Friendship and Meat Eating 114
Trevor Bechtel

Research Level 2 114

9 Just Business: It’s Not What You Think 127
Kathryn D. Blanchard

Research Level 2 127

Part V The End of the World 149

10 Relentless Love and the Afterlife 151
Thomas J. Oord

Research Level 1 151

11 Hell: Retributivism, Escapism, and Universal Reconciliation 164
Andrei A. Buckareff

Research Level 3 164

12 Christ Will Come Again 183
Keith Ward

Research Level 2 183

Part VI Method in Theology 195

13 Theological Language and Method in Liberal Theology: Schubert Ogden’s Response to the Falsification Controversy 197
John Allan Knight

Research Level 4 197

14 Does Culture Determine Belief? The Relationship between the Social Sciences and Theology 212
Martyn Percy

Research Level 3 212

15 Theological Reference and Theological Creativity in Judaism 226
Cass Fisher

Research Level 4 226

16 Marshall’s Slingshot: Truth Theory, Realism, and Liberal Theological Method 245
John Allan Knight

Research Level 4 245

Glossary 261

Index 266

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