Before Theological Study: A Thoughtful, Engaged, and Generous Approach

Before Theological Study will orient students to the aptitudes, knowledge, spirituality, imagination, and dispositions that are appropriate to thoughtful, engaged, and generous theological study. The book has the character of a modern theological enchiridion (handbook) for engagement with the disciplines that are a part of preparation for ministry. It is characterized by the vision of the Vancouver School of Theology to prepare students for thoughtful, engaged, and generous Christian ministry practiced in a way that is alert to the multi-religious contexts and the colonial legacy of mainline Christianity. The essays in this handbook are written in a variety of registers, yet each remains accessible to the newcomer or potential newcomer to theological education. The book is not rooted in a unified orthodoxy but expresses the bandwidth of contemporary theological viewpoints.

Harry O. Maier is Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies at Vancouver School of Theology and Fellow of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. His most recent books include New Testament Christianity in the Roman World (2018) and Picturing Paul in Empire (2013).

Ashley John Moyse is the McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Christian Ethics and Public Life at the University of Oxford and a research associate at the Vancouver School of Theology.


Richard Topping is President and Professor of Studies in the Reformed Tradition at the Vancouver School of Theology.


Joas Adiprasetya is the President of Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia, where he also teaches systematic theology and theology of religions.