Description
Book SynopsisThis volume is a collection of 33 essays, sermons, and contemporaneous addresses by Paul L. Lehmann, a highly influential theological voice of the twentieth century. Lehmann was a close friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a student and friend of Reinhold Niebuhr, and a longtime colleague of James Cone. One of the first American readers of Karl Barth, Lehmann's work also influenced early liberation theologies throughout the world. The works included here span the years 1938-1998 and are organized around the following themes: the direction of theology today (I); the revolutionary dimension of the gospel (II); the future of theology in a post-Christian world (III); and Dietrich Bonhoeffer: a theological friendship (IV). The works contained in this volume were written to address a particular context yet remain surprisingly relevant for today.
Table of ContentsPart I: The Direction of Theology Today
Introduction to Part I
1. The Direction of Theology Today (1946)
2. Contextual Theology (1972)
3. The Context of Theological Inquiry (1956)
4. The Formative Power of Particularity (1963)
5. The Dynamics of Reformation Ethics (1950)
6. Barth and Brunner: The Dilemma of the Protestant Mind (1940)
7. The Ant and the Emperor (1998)
8. Theologians Who Have Influenced Me [Reinhold Niebuhr] (1970)
9. Louise Pettibone Smith, Rudolf Bultmann, and Wellesley (1985)
Part II: The Revolutionary Dimension of the Gospel
Introduction to Part II
10. The Shape of Theology for a World in Revolution (1965)
11. Toward a Protestant Analysis of the Ethical Problem (1944)
12. The Politics of Easter (1980)
13. Piety, Power, and Politics: Church and Ministry Between Ratification and Resistance (1982)
14. The Christian Faith and Civil Liberties (1952)
15. Karl Barth, Theologian of Permanent Revolution (1972)
16. Black Theology and “Christian” Theology (1975)
17. The Transfiguration of Jesus and Revolutionary Politics (1975)
Part III: The Future of Theology in a Post-Christian World
Introduction to Part III
18. Protestantism in a Post-Christian World (1962)
19. For an Abrahamic People (1974)
20. The Changing Course of a Corrective Theology (1956)
21. Law as a Function of Forgiveness (1959)
22. No Uncertain Sound (1973)
23. Stranger Within the Gate: Two Stories for the American Conscience (1972)
24. A Christian Alternative to Natural Law (1942)
Part IV: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Theological Friendship
Introduction to Part IV
25. Eberhard Bethge, Paul Lehmann’s Initiative (1974)
26. Invitation and Contribution of Lehmann for a BBC Broadcast about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1960)
27. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Some Vignettes of Remembrance and Interpretation (1984)
28. Faith and Worldliness in Bonhoeffer’s Thought (1967)
29. Logos in a World Come of Age (1964)
30. Bonhoeffer and Paul Lehmann Correspondence (1938-1939)
31. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Four Theological Giants Influence Our Faith (1968)
32. Bonhoeffer – Real or Counterfeit (1966)
33. Called for Freedom (1947)
