The Vocation of Theology: Inquiry, Dialogue, Adoration

When Emory University's Candler School of Theology was established in 1914, the school's founders had little notion of the remarkable events ahead: two world wars, the Holocaust, a cold war under the threat of nuclear destruction, the collapse of colonialism, and technological revolution. In response, theology was inadequate to the task of understanding and interpreting these world-changing circumstances in light of the Good News.

Candler entered its second century in 2014ꟷ15, its faculty and students sought to anticipate some of the major theological challenges of the era to better prepare for the task of speaking God's truth in the midst of rapidly changing circumstances. The issues taken up during the year of Candler's centennial celebration were not trivial or parochial; they cut to the core of Christian identity and witness: theological imagination and secularization, the image of God in contemporary society, creation and care of the earth, and the kingdom of God and global pluralism.

The essays, sermons, and addresses collected in this volume represent an extended reflection on the vocation of theology in a changed and changing world.

Aptly titled, this book brings the expertise of eminent scholars and perspectives from the array of disciplines--Old & New Testament, Ethics, Sociology, Theology, History, Church & Community, Practical Theology--to bear on prospects and challenges that the Church and its leaders now face.

We live in a shrinking world where religious pluralism and conflict impose incredibly on those who would present and represent the Christian witness. This book calls us to speak yet again and in fresh idiom of creation, providence, faith, love and hope to a world filled with carnage, sin, evil, and judgment.

--Russell E. Richey, Dean Emeritus of Candler School of Theology and William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Church History Emeritus; Research Fellow, Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School