Disputed Issues is a collection of essays reflecting Professor Steven Davis’s thinking—developed over a long and illustrious career—on a host of widely-contested issues essential to Christian philosophy, theology, and belief. These thoughtful and highly readable essays explore a range of topics, from those central to basic Christian belief (such as issues about resurrection and the survival of death), to others focused on more specific questions (such as whether Mark copied Homer and whether exegesis should be presuppositionless). Intended as a useful, instructive resource for believers and unbelievers alike, Disputed Issues is essential to understanding what a thoughtful orthodox Christian believes—and why.

The problem on individuation, because of its theological implications, was a particularly controversial topic in university circles in the late thirteenth century, particularly at Paris and Oxford. The Lectura text translated in this book is from the first bachelor lectures in Oxford by John Duns Scotus on theological issues occasioned by Peter Lombard's Sentences. Book Two of Peter's collection of opinions of Fathers of the Church, which served as a university textbook, began with a discussion of angels. Scotus tells us Distinction Three "treats of the personality of the angels" and it was this that prompted him to raise these six questions about the individuation of a material substance.

Looks at how ecotheology has created a new vision of the natural world and the place of humans within it. Is there any hope for a more sustainable world? Can we reimagine a way of living in which the nonhuman world matters? Anne Marie Dalton and Henry C. Simmons claim that the ecotheology that arose during the mid-twentieth century gives us reason for hope. While ecotheologians acknowledge that Christianity played a significant role in creating societies in which the nonhuman world counted for very little, these thinkers have refocused religion to include the natural world. To borrow philosopher Charles Taylor’s concept, they have created a new “social imaginary,” reimagining a better world and a different sense of what is and what should be. A new mindset is emerging, inspired by ecotheological texts and evident in the many diverse movements and activities that operate as if the hope imparted by ecotheology has already been realized. While making this powerful argument, Dalton and Simmons also provide an essential overview of key ecotheological thinkers and texts.

What is “theological method”? Can there be more than one method? If so, how do you choose between them? How does method relate to experience?

Would experience affect your choice of method and method affect experience?

Abdul-Masih offers a three-part proposition. The first is that theological method is influenced by theological reasoning. That is, beliefs about the doctrines of revelation and God’s activity will shape one’s attitude toward experience. Your convictions provide a broad definition of “experience,” and determine how it is to be used.

Her second proposition is that one’s attitude toward experience and its use will, in turn, shape subsequent theology. In other words, the relationship between theological method and subsequent theological discourse is circular—or, more accurately, a spiral.

Her third proposition is that “experience” is itself contextual, and therefore there is no right or wrong choice but rather a plurality of methods.

To expand upon and illustrate her claim, Abdul-Masih analyzes, throughout her book, the methods of Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Frei, who represent the tension in contemporary theology surrounding the issue of experience.

Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Frei: A Conversation on Method and Christology is a book that will challenge and enlighten those who wish to expand their understanding of theological methodology.

“Pinn is one of the grand philosophers wrestling with the problem of evil. This masterful and magisterial book confirms his deserved reputation.”