What is this thing called Theology?

The Book
What is this thing called Theology? is written as an introduction to the study of theology for people doing formal study or for the interested reader. It is written on the basis of several assumptions.

The first assumption is that theology has been on the margins of scholarship and popular interest for most of the last hundred years but is making a comeback in light of new considerations facing humankind. Among these considerations is the state of a world faced with unprecedented divisions and challenges, many of which have deep religious roots and need the sort of understanding that theology can offer. Another consideration is the turn in the sciences and social sciences to grappling with notions of infinity, the unfathomable nature of the universe and the human mind, and of the spiritual dimension in humankind. This is a turn that has scientists and social scientists calling on theology to re-discover its voice among the disciplines of learning.

The second assumption is that theology is a discipline for the world, rather than only for churches and religious establishments. As defined in this book, theology can be understood as being there at the beginnings of humanity’s quest to reflect and understand the world in which it finds itself. It has also been the most persistent form of learning, to be found among peoples of all kinds throughout all times. Theology was there at the foundation of universities in the Middle Ages, not as an exclusively religious art but as one that helped in forming the mind and understanding the world.

The third assumption is that the re-discovered theology of the twenty-first century must not be confined behind the walls of religious institutions. It has its place there, but its task is also to be part of the debate about the world, its people and problems, an outward-looking rather than inward-looking discipline. Its role is as a fellow discipline of learning alongside the other disciplines, its specialised knowledge being about the spiritual dimension of humanity and how that can lead to enrichment or calamity. In a word, its proper place is in considering the spiritual in the public square. 

The Authors
Terence Lovat is Emeritus Professor at The University of Newcastle, Australia, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University, UK, and Chair of Theology, Ethics and Education at The Broken Bay Institute, Sydney. He teaches and researches in the Philosophy, Religion and Theology discipline.

Daniel Fleming is Dean of Studies and Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the Broken Bay Institute, Sydney, and Program Convenor of the Graduate Certificate in Theology and Master of Theology at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He teaches and researches in the Philosophy, Religion and Theology discipline. 

Contents
Chapter 1 Facts and Mystery: The Questions that Stimulate Theology
Chapter 2 The Call to Theology from the Disciplines of Learning: A Related but Distinctive Role
Chapter 3 Thinking through the Mystery: Theology and Searching out the Spiritual
Chapter 4 Theologies through Time: Ancient, Primal and Global
Chapter 5 Abrahamic Theologies: Judaic, Christian, Islamic
Chapter 6 Judaic Theologies: The One God and the Chosen People 
Chapter 7 Islamic Theologies: The Universal God who is God 
Chapter 8 Foundational Christian Theologies: Establishing Distinctiveness
Chapter 9 Early Christian Theologies: Debates, Exclusion and Fracture
Chapter 10 Medieval Christian Theologies: The Schism and the High Age of Natural Theologies
Chapter 11 Reformation Theologies and their Key Proponents
Chapter 12 Counter Reformation Theologies, Movements and Proponents
Chapter 13 Nineteenth Century Theologies: Incorporating and Rejecting Science
Chapter 14 Twentieth Century Theologies: Surviving Wars and Re-defining a Place
Chapter 15 Religion and Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Taking a Place in the Public Square
Subject Index
Authors and Name Index