About this web site
This website offers essays on systematic theology, Scripture, Christian doctrine, biblical hermeneutics and contemporary theologians. It also has a number of papers by Professor John Zizioulas, many not available anywhere else, and three pieces about John Zizioulas written by me. There are papers on the work of Colin Gunton, Robert Jenson, Oliver O’Donovan, John Webster and Pope Benedict XVI in the Contemporary Theologians section. The best way to find what you want is via the Categories in the Sidebar (right).
I teach Christian Doctrine in London. You can find out more about me and about what is good in contemporary theology from my blog Douglas Knight which has a range of faster-moving short pieces on Christian theology, Church and Christian life.
The gospel is…
the unlocking of all locks
the declaration of universal release
a commission of enquiry and its report
a public trial in which the powerful are assessed for the quality of their work
the removal from office and the expulsion of the powerful who have impoverished rather than enriched those they have been set to serve
the release of what has been locked up in private treasuries to those who have received nothing.
the sheltering, feeding and clothing of those who have never been sheltered, fed or clothed.
the naming, ordering and enabling of all creatures and all creation
the witness that though all of this has started, none of it is completed.
the self-introduction of God
The Christian life…
is life together in the Church – it is the communal life
It is life lived before the whole world – it is the political life.
The Christian life is the active life – it makes us vocal and sets us to work.
It is adult life – we leave our false childhood and take on responsibility.
It is a life concerned to keep every other Christian integrated within the Christian body so all are kept invulnerable.
The Christian life is the art of confrontation and contradiction. The Christians interrupt the processes by which some are marginalized, and this is made to seem normal and unexceptional. The Christians intervene to protect whoever is being taken advantage of.
The Christian life is the knack of getting poorer, of losing respectability, of letting go of all means of support, and of becoming less visible to society.
The Christian lifestyle makes us look increasingly out of place for the society around us. It is to be part of a public display in which we are humiliated in front of the whole world.
The Christian life is lived by faith, by knowledge received at second-hand. It is the practice of questioning all definitive answers, of saying ‘Not yet’, ‘wait and see’, ‘taste and see’ and ‘Come Lord Jesus’.