The Theology of the Cross in Historical Perspective

Madsen

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781498276351
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The theology of the cross is indisputably a trendy concept today. Numerous seminars, books, and dissertations tackle the topic. But The Theology of the Cross in Historical Perspective demonstrates that theology of the cross is no passing fancy. Theologies of the cross appear at the beginnings of the church, in the sixteenth-century reformations of the church, and in the more contemporary modernization of the church. Without theologies of the cross, what the church is called to be and to preach becomes unclear. So then, what is the theology of the cross?Anna Madsen surveys the theology of the cross in the thinking of Paul and Luther. She also outlines several important twentieth-century contributions to the subject. On the basis of her analysis, Madsen suggests that the theology of the cross reveals God to be found even in death. In death, after all, boundaries disappear. The theology of the cross assures Christians that God is present in the death of sin and in the realities of suffering and uncertainty. Given that it announces God's presence, the theology of the cross is ultimately a theology of grace, freedom, and trust.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: The Cross in Contemporary Theology
• Chapter 2: The Stumbling Block that became the Cornerstone The Cross in Paul’s Theology
• Chapter 3: Calling a Thing What It Is Luther’s Theology of the Cross
• Chapter 4: The Cross in the Soil of War, Feminism, Poverty, and Wealth
• Chapter 5: Is There One Theology of the Cross?
• Bibliography