Multilateral Theology A 21st Century Theological Methodology Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies Series

This book introduces a new "multilateral" methodology for the contemporary study of theology. It bases this methodology on the idea that there are too many materials contributing as sources for theologizing to sustain the "one method fits all" approach found in many systematic theologies within Christianity. What is needed instead is something that reflects the various and varied natures, purposes, and tasks of theologians? theologizing for their respective contexts.

Engaging materials from a range of Christian traditions, including Evangelicalism, the Catholic Magisterium, and a limited range of pan-Orthodox resources, the book analyzes and assesses major factors that have shaped different streams of theology. Addressing doctrinal development, scripture and revelation, historical tradition and creeds, philosophy and truth, sciences and interdisciplinarity, experience, religious pluralism, and culture, it demonstrates how these various streams can form a multilateral whole. The book concludes by examining the centers and peripherals of methodologies in theologization for a spectrum of theological traditions/streams, both across and beyond Christianity.

By offering an approach that keeps in step with the increasingly interconnected and pluralistic world in which we live, this book provides a vital resource for any scholar of Christian theology, constructive theology, contextual theologies, and systematic theology, as well as religious studies.

1 Introducing Theological Prolegomena 2 Theological Prolegomena and Doctrinal Development: A Historical Overview 3 Scripture and Revelation 4 History, Tradition, and Creeds 5 Reasoned Truth: Philosophy and Theological Methodology 6 Reasoned Truth: Theology, Sciences, and Interdisciplinarity 7 Experience: Philosophical, Religious, Theological, and Geopolitical Considerations 8 Truth and Religious Pluralism 9 Culture and Theological Prolegomena: Culture’s Multi-Variegated Contexts for Theologization 10 Conclusion: Centers and Peripherals of Theological-Hermeneutics

Timothy T.N. Lim is a Visiting Lecturer at the London School of Theology. He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and in membership with the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand. His monograph, Ecclesial Recognition with Hegelian Philosophy, Social Psychology, and Continental Political Theory (2017) charts new ground for intra-Christian relations.