Deep-Dish Chicago-Style Bibliography

 

I often get requests for a general theological reading list.  This latest one was quite thorough and so I thought I would post it.

 

Question:

 

Thanks for the offer to assault me with titles. Please send along some sort of list having to do with Barth, Moltman, Jones, Tillich (though we didn't talk about him, I'm still a bit interested), Rahner, etc, anyone else you can think of.  Also, do you know anything about Stanley Hauerwas? I have a book of his prayers, and I really love them, and Dr. Bounds at IWU said that I'd like Hauerwas, but was unable to go into it...so I was just curious. Just curious.

Reply:

 

Barth
 short books to start with:
    Dogmatics in Outline (late 1940s) - reflections on apostle's creed
    Humanity of God (early 60s) - three excellent programmatic essays
    Introduction to Evangelical Theology (early 60s) - last lectures
    Romans (early 20s) – his early yet elusive commentary that made him famous
 his extended unfinished 15 volume Church Dogmatics:
         difficult yet rewarding if you stick it out for at least 50 pages
          * = my favorites; but you can jump in anywhere really
    I/1 - Revelation (esp. method and Trinity)
    I/2 - Revelation (esp. Incarnation, Spirit, Church)
    II/1 - God (Reality and Perfections)
    *II/2 - God (Election and Ethics)
    III/1 - Creation (God the Creator)
    *III/2 - Creation (The Human Creature)
    III/3 - Creation (Providence, Evil, etc.)
    III/4 - Creation (Ethics)
    *IV/1 - Reconciliation (Lord as Servant: Christology, Justification, Ecclesiology, etc.)
    *IV/2 - Reconciliation (Servant as Lord: Christology, Sanctification, Ecclesiology, etc.)
    IV/3 - Reconciliation (True Witness: Christology, Vocation, Ecclesiology, etc)
    IV/4 - Reconciliation (Baptism) [Fragment]
    V - Redemption [never written]

Moltmann
   short place to start with:
       "In the End-The Beginning"  - a new short book of his
       Also check out his excellent lecture series in Asbury Theological Journal 1993
   five part "Systematic Contributions to Theology":
       The Trinity and the Kingdom of God - God (1980)
       God in Creation - Creation (1985)
       The Way of Jesus Christ - Christology (1990)
       The Spirit of Life - Pneumatology (1991)
       The Coming of God - Eschatology (1995)
   his intriguing early programmatic trilogy:
            [these 3 assume more theological background]
       Theology of Hope (1964)
       The Crucified God (1972)
       The Church in the Power of the Spirit (1975)

Tillich
   short places to start:
       Dynamics of Faith (50s)
       The Courage to Be
   his three volume Systematic Theology:
          [although its short, he is doing some high level things]
       It is set up in five parts consisting each of a correlation of existential question and theological answer
       Volume 1: Part 1 Reason and Revelation
                       Part 2 Being and God
       Volume 2: Part 3 Existence and the Christ
       Volume 3: Part 4 Life and the Spirit
                       Part 5 History and the Kingdom of God
   his very helpful and illumination history of doctrine:
        History of Christian Thought

Rahner

   he re-instigated the genre of theological essay, so his theology is sprinkled through his multi-volume collection entitled

         Theological Investigations.     I especially like vol. 4

 

Von Balthasar

            Credo – great into to his thought via short reflections on the Apostle’s Creed; one of his last writings (actually radio addresses)

            Mysterium Paschale – great treatment of the Atonement structured around the Triduum: Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday

            His Trilogy built around the 3 transcendentals of classic philosophy:

                        Aesthetics (“beauty”): The Glory of the Lord (7 vols)

                        Dramatics (“goodness”): Theo-Drama (5 vols)

                        Logic (“truth”): Theo-Logic (3 vols)

                 I especially like Theo-Drama because of his direction narration of Christian doctrine, but the more philosophically oriented might like the others.


Serene Jones
   Cartographies of Grace: Feminist Theory and Christian Theology – of all the feminist writers, I do enjoy her the most because of here doctrinal insight

Hauerwas
    just start with the Hauerwas Reader - it collects up a ton of his essays, which is his primary medium

    If you are looking for a complete book, try Peacable Kingdom, although you’ll quickly find you can get most of what he’s there doing in Yoder.

Hope this helps get you start.  Feel free to ask for additional detail or more titles anytime

peace,
john