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What may seem astonishing is the near dismissal of the beatific vision doctrine in the last 50+ years of biblical and theological scholarship in contrast to the emphasis given to it throughout church history. The state of theological scholarship is changing. In what follows, we set forth a short survey of a theology of the beatific vision, while also introducing the rest of the volume on the beatific vision and theosis, of which we take to have an intimate and overlapping relationship. The editorial article has four parts: it begins by (1) introducing some of the relevant biblical material on the vision, proceeding to (2) develop a theological interpretation of those passages, and then (3) offer a short historical survey of the doctrine, focusing on the relevant medieval and Reformed developments. It finally (4) introduces the articles of the issue.

The doctrine of the atonement is a subject of perpetual curiosity for a number of contemporary theologians. The penal substitution theory of atonement in particular has precipitated a great deal of recent interest, being held up by many (mostly evangelical) Protestants as ‘the’ doctrine of atonement. In this essay, we make a defense against the objection to the Anselmian theory of atonement that is often leveled against it by exponents of the Penal Substitution theory, namely, that Christ’s work does not accomplish anything for those whom it appears he undertakes his atoning work, but merely makes provision for salvation.

The beatific vision is a subject of considerable importance both in the Christian Scriptures and in the history of Christian dogmatics. In it, humans experience and see the perfect immaterial God, which represents the final end for the saints. However, this doctrine has received less attention in the contemporary theological literature, arguably, due in part to the growing trend toward materialism and the sole emphasis on bodily resurrection in Reformed eschatology. As a piece of retrieval by drawing from the Scriptures, Medieval Christianity, and Reformed Christianity, we motivate a case for the Reformed emphasis on the immaterial and intellectual aspects of human personal eschatology and offer some constructive thoughts on how to link it to the contemporary emphasis of the body. We draw a link between the soul and the body in the vision with the help of Christology as reflected in the theology of John Calvin, and, to a greater extent, the theology of both John Owen and Jonathan Edwards.

As divergent as they seem to be, In God's Image; Marriage, Family and the Church; Restless Devices; and, Believing in Bits all have several overlapping themes that center on the embodied nature of the imago Dei. Each presents a set of questions that prompt consideration of how 'technology' influences, shapes, and informs our embodied practice of religion. In God's Image and Marriage, Family and the Church give us a broad vision of the human that helps situate and theologically engage the themes, concerns, and developing challenges in Restless Devices and Believing in Bits. The latter two gesture in the direction that aid us in thinking about the liturgical nature of what it means to be human. In God's Image offers a sampling of different proposals primarily from a Protestant perspective that open up questions for how one ought to unify the themes and teleological nature of the body. Through a brief interaction with all four works, I gesture toward Marriage, Family and the Church as providing A Boat with New Nets that might just help us to navigate our changing world of technological advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of familial identity is central to a growing number of theological works. The authors of the volumes here each represent a different set of issues, disciplines, and perspectives. The discussions, ironically, center around family. Made in the Image of God gives the readers a series of reflections on diverse theological topics oscillating around the image and identity. Forming Resilient Children is unlike Made in the Image of God in that it is not strictly speaking a theological reflection on diverse issues, but a work of developmental psychology focusing on the nature of the child and the familial context for the child. Married Priests in the Catholic Church offers the reader a series of ecclesial engagements on the topic of the vocation of priesthood as either married or celibate. Overlapping with the previous two volumes in content by touching on identity, the image of God, and the nature of creaturely relations to God, Married Priests is, in one sense, a sustained reflection on the meaning of familial and organic identity (as an image of God) to the Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent atonement literature reveals a growing trend accepting the thesis that the Reformer's doctrine just is the biblical doctrine of penal substitution. This is the claim of William Lane Craig in his recent works on the atonement. In the present article, we challenge these set of claims in Craig's recent works and advance an alternative theory of the atonement that has some significant footing in the Reformed theological tradition, most notably reflected in the theologian, William Ames. Finally, we lay out several reasons why Craig's doctrine of the atonement fails to capture the biblical data on the atonement and fails to avoid the legal fiction problem parasitic on most, if not all, accounts of penal substitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The doctrine of atonement is at the heart of Christian soteriology and yet there is no one theory or even one model of atonement that is de fide instantiated in the early ecumenical symbols. Despite this fact, Penal Substitutionary atonement holds near creedal status in many evangelical circles. However, there are challenges with the theory. One of the challenges has to do with the nature of justice and how it is that Christ can assume the debt accrued by individual violators of the law. In order to salvage the theory, Joshua Thurow has recently defended a new theory of atonement, namely, a communal version of the theory for contemporary reflection. In the present article, we argue that Thurow's communal notion is neither new nor is the penal theory most fitting with a communal notion, but rather the communal feature of the atonement finds a more natural residence in Anselm's satisfaction theory of atonement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scholastic character of theological education in New England during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is reflected in part by a variety of surviving lists of theological questions. These lists--varying in content, length, and intent and most of them missing their corresponding answers--offer insight into the program of theological education in New England before and during its institutionalization, beginning with Andover Seminary (c. 1808).1 Representing the dissemination of New England theology, in 1882, Bibliotheca Sacra published 2 lists of questions entitled, "The Theological Questions of President Edwards, Senior, and Dr Edwards, His Son."2 The first list is ascribed to President Jonathan Edwards and consists of 90 questions, the order and nature of which resemble a concise systematic account of doctrine. The second list, ascribed to Dr Jonathan Edwards Jr., consists of a formidable 313 questions, some appropriated from his father's list, the bulk of which however, reflect later and distinct New Divinity sensibilities.3 These lists provide unique insight into the transmission of those theological sensibilities distinct to 'the single most brilliant and most continuous indigenous theological tradition that America has produced'. For all its brilliance, however, the collected works of most of Edwards' successors, including such well-known figures as Joseph Bellamy, Samuel Hopkins, Jonathan Edwards Jr., Nathaniel Emmons, as others, rank amongst the most ignored body of theological literature in the history of theology.5 However, in the most recent decade, interest in Edwards and his successors has gained some new ground, particularly with respect to the reception of Edwards' ideas, has accelerated.6 It is in the wake of this renewed momentum that we offer up the following biographical sketch of the Reverend Maltby Gelston (1766-1856), a little-known theologian in the New England tradition, whose hitherto private notebook, entitled, A Systematic Collection of Questions and Answers in Divinity provides insight into the development(s) of New England theology that compare in significance with such early seminal works as Joseph Bellamy's True Religion Delineated (1750) and Samuel Hopkins' System of Doctrines Contained in Divine Revelation (1793). There may be no other document that provides as thorough, as wonderfully concise and as accessible a summary of scores of philosophical and theological concerns of both President Edwards' and his son's intellectual tradition as this one.7 Following this biographical sketch of Gelston's life, as a means of previewing the value of Gelston's work for contemporary scholarship, we offer up for the first time a selection of Dr Edwards' 313 questions coupled with Gelston's answers. Gelston's significance to the New England theological tradition is certainly and inimitably bound up with the appearance of this manuscript. His place among the New England theologians is a point of some significance too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses imago Dei characterizing person as simple, independent with souls capable of change. He is critical of the scripture's narration on human persons and investigated holistic empiricism or phenomenal conservatism with fundamental intuitions. He overviewed interface between God's special revelation and one's intuitions.

Currently, there remains an aversion for substance dualism in both philosophical and theological literature. However, there has been a renewed interest in substance dualism within philosophical literature. In the present article, I advance substance dualism as a viable position that persuasively accounts for the Scriptural and theological data within Christian thought. I make a specific argument in favor of a metaphysically simple substance. Along the way, I note the overlap between the philosophical and theological literature and suggest that a simple soul as substance is a metaphysical presupposition grounding the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]