Theology as Retrieval: Receiving the Past, Renewing the Church

W. David Buschart · Kent Eilers

Apr 2015 · InterVarsity Press

About this eBook

"Tradition is the living faith of the dead." —Jaroslav Pelikan The movement to retrieve the Christian past is a mode of theological discernment, a cultivated habit of thought. It views the doctrines, practices and resonant realities of the Christian tradition as deep wells for a thirsty age. This movement across the church looks back in order to move forward.David Buschart and Kent Eilers survey this varied movement and identify six areas where the impulse and practice of retrieval has been notably fruitful and suggestive: the interpretation of Scripture, the articulation of theology, the practices of worship, the disciplines of spirituality, the modes of mission and the participatory ontology of Radical Orthodoxy. In each area they offer a wide-angle view before taking a close look at representative examples in order to give finer texture to the discussion. More than a survey and mapping of the terrain, Theology as Retrieval inspires reflection, practice and hope.

About the author

Kent Eilers (PhD, King's College, University of Aberdeen) is associate professor of theology at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. He is the author of Faithful to Save: Pannenberg on God's Reconciling Action and the coeditor of Sanctified by Grace: A Theology of the Christian Life. His essays have appeared in publications such as Teaching Theology and Religion, American Theological Inquiry and Christianity and Literature. His research interests include the doctrine of the Christian life, the place of traditions and the Great Tradition in the church, theological method and the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg. He and his wife Tammy have two daughters.

W. David Buschart (PhD, Drew University) is associate dean and professor of theology and historical studies at Denver Seminary. He is the author of Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality and is coeditor of and a contributor to Scholarship, Sacraments, and Service. He has published a number of articles, essays and book chapters and is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Evangelical Theological Society. Buschart served in the theology department at Canadian Theological Seminary from 1988 to 1998 and also served as acting dean of the faculty for one year. He was a founding member of the Research Science and Ethics Advisory Committee at Wascana Rehabilitation Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan and is also the founder of Credo Consulting, a theological consulting firm. He and his wife Nancy are active members of the Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village, Colorado.