Theology and Issues of Life and Death - Softcover

Heywood Thomas, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0227174208 ISBN 13: 9780227174203

Publisher: James Clarke & Co, 2014

Synopsis

"Does theology have any relevance to the problem of life and death?" According to John Heywood Thomas the answer is an unequivocal yes. A largely personal expression of this conviction precedes the argument's exposition, which is then stated first of all quite generally - that nothing human is alien to theology’s concern. Three main issues are considered: the unborn life, death as an event in life, and the possibility of global death. The issue of a life before birth is a complex problem, requiring as much awareness of philosophical issues as of relevant empirical factors. The same kind of multifaceted thinking is needed in confronting the issue of death, an inescapable topic for theology. If death is an event in life what does it reveal about the meaning of life? And what of the very human action of the funeral? After a discussion of the complex issues involved the argument returns to the global reference of theology. Two areas of concern are singled out to show that the theologian can offer guidance in debate: the environmental crisis and the threat of nuclear war.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1 Theology and Matters of Life and Death
Chapter 2 The Problem of the Unborn Life
Chapter 3 The Problem of Death
Chapter 4 Life and the Meaning of Death
Chapter 5 Life, Death, and Paradise: The Theology of the Funeral
Appendix to Chapter 5
Chapter 6 Responsibility as an Inclusive Concept
Chapter 7 Global Life and Death
Bibliography

About this title

About the Author

John Heywood Thomas, Emeritus Professor of Nottingham University, was Head of its Department of Theology and successively Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Arts Faculty. He had taught previously at the University of Manchester, Episcopal Seminary Austin, Texas, and the University of Durham. Described by Paul Tillich as his

Review

In Theology and Issues of Life and Death, the veteran Welsh theologian Professor John Heywood Thomas has gathered together lectures...and mostly unpublished paper.
(The Revd Robin Gill Church Times)

It has provided me with insight into Heywood Thomas’s thinking as he demonstrates that theology is of temporal as well as eternal use, and how it can be prepared to grapple with issues at the beginning and end of life that evade any simplistic solutions. Heywood Thomas’s intellectual vigour shines through the pages, as does his pastoral heart and his honesty[...]There is a wealth of material here for non-theologians such as myself, and especially for those with pastoral responsibilities.
(D Gareth Jones volume 26, no 1, 2014)

One of the great strengths of this collection of writings is the care with which Heywood Thomas reveals the complexity of the problems associated with certain ideas which have a great deal of currency in Christian circles...There is a good deal to be gained from the reflections contained within this short book and we should be grateful to Susan Parsons for her editorial hand ensuring its content an extended life.
(Duncan Dormor vol 118 issue 3, May/June 2015)

Heywood Thomas...deserves praise for a much more dispassionate, pondered approach than has become common on all sides. Any claim to high-toned certainty is largely absent, and this is in itself, given the complexity of the issues, a comment on the quality or lack of it of many of our debates.
(Nicholas Peter Harvey Volume 27.4)

About this edition

• Publisher: James Clarke & Co
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0227174208
• ISBN 13: 9780227174203
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 156
• Editor: Parsons Susan F.