Development in Christian thought scholars

Plotinus

Augustine- who he originally followed, impermanent and imperfect body that helped Augustine say that evil is not a substance

Pelagius

Augustine-who believed that humans could live morally if they tried hard enough, but Adam set a bad example

Dawkins

Augustine- the idea of original sin is contrary to evolution, absurd and dangerous with an obsession with guilt and repressed sexuality

Pinker

Augustine- religion has led to violence, until the enlightenment and the humanitarian principle that things improve when thinking of others feelings

Niebuhr

Augustine- rationalism has failed and by rejecting sin we cause more suffering

Freud

Augustine- Augustine represses sexuality when libido is a vital part of human development

Rousseau

Augustine- different view on human nature that people are good, want to defend the weak and have a fairer society

Locke

Augustine- people are born ‘tabula rasa’

Hitchens

Augustine- the genesis story lacks credibitly, religious concepts undermine humanity with outdated values

Williams

DatA- eternity in heaven would get boring, all excitement would disappear

Bruckner

DatA- eternity wouldn’t be boring as our memories would fade to enjoy things again, human ingenuity would help

Hume

DatA- how would a loving god allow the punishment of hell, questions his justice

Augustine

DatA- we all deserve eternal punishment

Rahner

DatA-purgatory should be understood as a metaphor for the sounds greater awareness of the sonsequences of sin, a self inflicted pain

Dante

Data- purgatory is an opportunity to purge yourself of sinful desires

Hick

DatA- purgatory is an intermediate state to contribute to ‘person-making process’

Luther

DatA- purgatory undermines the teaching of grace by faith, abuse of doctine

Barth

DatA- developed unlimited election

Augustin and Calvin

DatA- supports the idea of limited election

Hick

DatA- holds universalist view

Cardinal Ratzinger

DatA- universal salvation makes Jesus death on the cross seem pointless

Aquinas

DatA- describes the soul in the afterlife in the beatific vision

Wright

DatA- the gospels don’t give an account of heaven as an eternal place but supports the idea of a bodily resurrection at Jesus’ second coming

Bonaventura

KoGE-3 ways of knowing, eye of flesh, of reason, of contemplation

Polkinghorne

KoGE- binocular vision science as one eye and other for spiritual, work best together

Boyle

KoGE- there are two great books; the natural world and Bible, both with same author and complementary

Cicero

KoGE- (Nat the) the sense of the divine is intrinsic part of human nature

Aquinas

KoGE (Nat the)- prove Gods existence as reasonable

Calvin

KoGE (Nat the)- senses divinitas, innate sense of God

Barth

KoGE (Nat the) humans can’t access eternal truths, fallible human reason

Augustine

KoGE (Nat the) the fall led to a barrier between humanity and god

Calvin

KoGE acts 17 shows everyone has capacity and disposition to believe in god

Brunner

KoGE-Nat the offers discussion of evidence of gods existence, a point of contact that leads to Christ

Plantinga

KoGE (reveal the) it’s reasonable and warrants Christian beliefs, Nat the is never suffience

Hedley

KoGE- reason has its place, imagination is essential as similar to faith in reveal the

Calvin

KoGE (reveal the) Jesus was the ultimate mediator to understand god

Dawkins

KoGE (revel the), atheist reject the role of faith as harmful and lazy

Hume

KoGE (revel the) a wise man has belief in proportion to evidence, faith shouldn’t cloud judgement

aquinas

KoGE (reveal the) faith doesn’t have a self-evident certainty but is a voluntary choice

Rahner

PoJ- Jesus self awareness was layered, like an onion, divine nature was deep

O’Collins

PoJ- Jesus intuitively knew of his divinity

Bishop Apollinaris

PoJ- if Jesus was fully human he would have been corrupted

Hick

PoJ- Jesus awareness of gods nature isn’t unique, salvation is a personal change

C S Lewis

PoJ- Jesus moral guidance cannot be separated from his divine nature

Hume

PoJ-miracles are impossible to trust without direct experience

Schillebechx

PoJ- miracles can be viewed as metaphorical and spiritual

McGraph

PoJ - the resurrection establishes Christian hope in life after death

Aslan

PoJ - Jesus entrance to Jerusalem is orchastrated to fit prophecy, he confronts political authorities

Brandon

PoJ -Jesus was a politically driven freedom fighter

o’collins

PoJ- many of Jesus actions provoked political authorities

Boff

PoJ- Christianity doesn’t teach us to meekly accept suffering

Restrepo

PoJ- ‘if Jesus was alive today he’d be a guerillo’

Hays

CMP-we must use context/ hermeneutics to question to Bible, its never read in a vacuum

Verhey

CMP- the Bible speaks to a particular culture and social context, not autonomous or timeless set of rules

Messer

CMP- tradition is a shared understanding of the community

Calvin

CMP critical of catholic traditions that don’t come from the bible, fallible

Rosemary Radford Ruether

CMP tradition is shaped by male experience, not universal

Turner

CMP Jesus criticised tradition

Bultmann

CMP agape goes beyond laws, to forgiveness based on ‘god is love’

Pope Francis

CMP recognises imposing rules by authority isn’t helpful but a compassionate response is required

Pope Benedict 16

CMP agape undermines the Magesterium of the Church

MacIntyre and Hays

CMP- reason isn’t objective and is influenced by contemporary culture

Kierkegaard

CMA inspired Bonhoeffer that in extreme situations we act in faith and hope

Augustine

CMA perfection in this world is a hopeless aim

Hick

CMA- suffering helps us to grow spiritually

Aquinas

CMA primary precept to live in an ordered society either questions or justifies civil disobedience

Barth

CMA- we can only know god through what he chooses to reveal to us

Jensen

CMA- solidarity became a subversive action, against the state

Hauerwas

CMA bonhoeffers concern for truth in politics is still needed today

Race

PaT- describes the three perspectives of exclusivist, inclusivism and pluralism

Augustine and John Calvin

PaT- narrow exlusivists

D’Costa

PaT- split exclusivism into restrictive access exclusivists and universal access exclusivists, takes UAE only one way to salvation

Kraemer

PaT- non-Christians cannot achieve salvation through their own faith but must convert

Craig

PaT, god has middle knowledge of what people would’ve done if they’d known

Pankkar

PaT-pluralist view that people look through different windows

Knitter

PaT- all religions share the same aim of liberating humans from suffering and injustice- ethics theological pluralism

Sweetman

PaT- anonymous Christians is like fluoride in water unknowingly improving people’s teeth

Kraemer

PaT- other religions are misguided attempts at finding the truth, cultural concepts

Hans Urs von Balthasar

PaT- criticise idea of anonymous Christian’s, certainty of salvation in Jesus death

Pope John Paul 2

PaS- remptio missio under him

David Ford

PaS- scriptural reasoning movement and describes the 2 events that have changed inter faith dialogue, need a ‘wisdom-seeking collegiality’

Dawkins, Steven Fry and Pullman

secular-challenge traditional presence of Christianity in culture and influence on moral issues

Berger

secular- modernisation leads to the decline of religion yet later said how it has led to counter-secularisation

Eisenstadt

Secular- varying views on religion and we can’t assume all countries with follow western secularisation

Ward

Secular- Freud view of religion reduces the experience of millions

Marchant

Secular- religious practises bring physiological benefits

Taylor

secular- in a multi-culture society no culture should impose itself on others, so religious schools prevent identities from vanishing

Dawson

secular- secular education systems are dangerous, endangering religion and could impose anti-religious ideologies like communism

Francis

Secular- religious young people are more open to people of other beliefs

Rowan Williams

secular-difference between programmatic secularisation and procedural secularisation, which helps discussion

Ford

Secular- the developement of world isn’t linear, but unpredictable

Ford and Casanova

Secular- question that this is unquestionably good as atheist ideologies like racism and communisms have used brutality

Appiah

secular- interpretation of scripture has changed over time so it can continue to guide people

Niebuhr

LT- the church should help liberation

Fitzgerald

LT capitalism hasn’t satisfied the needs of Latin America, so socialism is preferable

Ratzinger

LT- concerned with use of Marxism, radical

John Paul

LT the church should work for liberation but in an appropriate way for both rich and poor, wealth doesn’t shelter from spiritual poverty

Segundo

LT liberation from sin should come first

Kloppenburg

LT by equalling theology with political action you sideline the spiritual message of chirstianity, personal sin

McBrien

LT focuses too much on the biblical theme of poverty at the expense of others