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Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Marilynne Robinson is one of the most eminent public intellectuals in America today. In addition to literary elegance, her trilogy of novels (Gilead, Home, and Lila) and her collections of essays offer probing meditations on the Christian faith. Many of these reflections are grounded in her belief that the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformer John Calvin still deserves a hearing in the twenty-first century. This volume, based on the 2018 Wheaton Theology Conference, brings together the thoughts of leading theologians, historians, literary scholars, and church leaders who engaged in theological dialogue with Robinson's published work—and with the author herself.

IVP Academic

Wheaton Theology Conference Series

Balm in Gilead: A Theological Dialogue with Marilynne Robinson

George Kalantzis

Marc Cortez

As Christians, we are called to seek the unity of the one body of Christ. But when it comes to the sacraments, the church has often been—and remains—divided. What are we to do? Can we still gather together at the same table? Based on the lectures from the 2017 Wheaton Theology Conference, this volume brings together the reflections of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox theologians, who jointly consider what it means to proclaim the unity of the body of Christ in light of the sacraments. Without avoiding or downplaying the genuine theological and sacramental differences that exist between Christian traditions, what emerges is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live with the difficult, elusive command to be one as the Father and the Son are one.

Come, Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses caught Europe by storm and initiated the Reformation, which fundamentally transformed both the church and society. Yet by Luther's own estimation, his translation of the Bible into German was his crowning achievement. The Bible played an absolutely vital role in the lives, theology, and practice of the Protestant Reformers. In addition, the proliferation and diffusion of vernacular Bibles—grounded in the original languages, enabled by advancements in printing, and lauded by the theological principles of sola Scriptura and the priesthood of all believers—contributed to an ever-widening circle of Bible readers and listeners among the people they served. This collection of essays from the 2016 Wheaton Theology Conference—the 25th anniversary of the conference—brings together the reflections of church historians and theologians on the nature of the Bible as "the people's book." With care and insight, they explore the complex role of the Bible in the Reformation by considering matters of access, readership, and authority, as well as the Bible's place in the worship context, issues of theological interpretation, and the role of Scripture in creating both division and unity within Christianity. On the 500th anniversary of this significant event in the life of the church, these essays point not only to the crucial role of the Bible during the Reformation era but also its ongoing importance as "the people's book" today.

The People's Book: The Reformation and the Bible

Whether on the printed page, the television screen or the digital app, we live in a world saturated with images. Some images help shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us in positive ways, while others lead us astray and distort our relationships. Christians confess that human beings have been created in the image of God, yet we chose to rebel against that God and so became unfaithful bearers of God's image. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus, who is the image of God, restores the divine image in us, partially now and fully in the day to come. The essays collected in The Image of God in an Image Driven Age explore the intersection of theology and culture. With topics ranging across biblical exegesis, the art gallery, Cormac McCarthy, racism, sexuality and theosis, the contributors to this volume offer a unified vision—ecumenical in nature and catholic in spirit—of what it means to be truly human and created in the divine image in the world today. This collection from the 2015 Wheaton Theology Conference includes contributions by Daniela C. Augustine, Craig L. Blomberg, William A. Dyrness, Timothy R. Gaines and Shawna Songer Gaines, Phillip Jenkins, Beth Felker Jones, Christina Bieber Lake, Catherine McDowell, Ian A. McFarland, Matthew J. Milliner, Soong-Chan Rah and Janet Soskice, as well as original poems by Jill Peláez Baumgaertner and Brett Foster.

The Image of God in an Image Driven Age: Explorations in Theological Anthropology

While the age of the Holy Spirit began with Pentecost, the twentieth century has seen an explosion in the Spirit's work through the remarkable growth of Pentecostalism and the changing face of global Christianity. Despite these surprising developments, and the undeniable significance of the Holy Spirit throughout the life of the church, pneumatology too often remains a subject of misunderstanding and neglect. These essays, gathered from the 2014 Wheaton Theology Conference, provide an ecumenical exploration of the Holy Spirit?s person and work in biblical, historical, doctrinal and practical perspective. In addition to essays on Augustine, Aquinas, creation and salvation, the volume features important contributions on the current shape of global Pentecostalism by leading scholars in the field. This collection includes contributions by:

- Estrelda Y. Alexander
- Allan Heaton Anderson
- Jeffrey W. Barbeau
- Oliver D. Crisp
- Timothy George
- Gregory W. Lee
- Matthew Levering
- Douglas Petersen
- Sandra Richter
- Kevin J. Vanhoozer
- Geoffrey Wainwright
- Michael Welker
- Amos Yong
- Beth Felker Jones

Spirit of God: Christian Renewal in the Community of Faith

"My kingdom is not of this world." Followers of Jesus have been struggling to understand these words ever since he first uttered them—often in sharply contradictory ways. Today the inescapably political nature of Christian witness is widely recognized. But what is the shape of this witness? What should Christian political engagement look like today? The twelve essays in this volume, originally presented at the 2013 Wheaton Theology Conference, present biblical, historical and theological proposals for thinking responsibly about the intersection of church and state in the contemporary cultural situation. Prophetic and pastoral, this book offers a fresh look at a crucial and contested dimension of the Christian life. Contributors include:

- Stanley Hauerwas
- Mark Noll
- Scot McKnight
- Timothy G. Gombis
- George Kalantzis
- Jana Marguerite Bennett
- William T. Cavanaugh
- Peter J. Leithart
- Daniel M. Bell Jr.
- Jennifer M. McBride
- David P. Gushee
- Bishop David Gitari

Christian Political Witness

Richard L. Schultz

"How Many Isaiahs Were There and What Does It Matter?" by Richard L. Schultz was originally published as Chapter 8 in Evangelicals Scripture: Tradition, Authority and Hermeneutics, edited by Vincent Bacote, Laura C. Miguélez and Dennis L. Okholm.

How Many Isaiahs Were There and What Does It Matter?: Prophetic Inspiration in Recent Evangelical Scholarship

By definition, a high view of Scripture inheres in evangelicalism. However, there does not seem to be a uniform way to articulate an evangelical doctrine of Scripture. Taking up the challenge, Vincent Bacote, Laura Miguélez and Dennis Okholm present twelve essays that explore in depth the meaning of an evangelical doctrine of Scripture that takes seriously both the human and divine dimensions of the Bible. Selected from the presentations made at the 2001 Wheaton Theology Conference, the essays approach this vital subject from three directions. Stanley J. Grenz, Thomas Buchan, Bruce L. McCormack and Donald W. Dayton consider the history of evangelical thinking on the nature of Scripture. John J. Brogan, Kent Sparks, J. Daniel Hays and Richard L. Schultz address the nature of biblical authority. Bruce Ellis Benson, John R. Franke, Daniel J. Treier and David Alan Williams explore the challenge of hermeneutics, especially as it relates to interpreting Scripture in a postmodern context. Together these essays provide a window into current evangelical scholarship on the doctrine of Scripture and also advance the dialogue about how best to construe our faith in the Word of God, living and written, that informs not only the belief but also the practice of the church.