Description
In this reprinted edition of Borderlands of Theology, Donald MacKinnon examines philosophical, theological, and ethical dilemmas, bringing his theological expertise to bear alongside his scientific knowledge. Formulating his estimations through the person of Jesus Christ, he maintains a commitment to the concrete and the actual whilst resolutely believing in the search for truth as meaningful beyond a simple search for facts.
Working on the frontiers where Christian belief and theology are tested, Mackinnon’s work remains relevant today as a consideration of how Christian faith interacts with ethics, philosophy, politics, the philosophy of history, metaphysics, and epistemology. Mackinnon offers wisdom, guidance, and a grounded exploration of theology for all those interested in the intersection between theology, philosophy, and ethics.
About the Author
Donald MacKinnon (1913 – 1994) was a Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Kebble College, Oxford, and Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy at Aberdeen for thirteen years. He was also Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and Fellow of Corpus Christi College from 1960.
Contents
Editors’ Introduction
Acknowledgement
Author’s Introductory Essay
Part I Theology and Philosophy of Religion
1. Borderlands of Theology
2. Philosophy and Christology
3. Our Contemporary Christ
4. Order and Evil in the Gospel
5. Atonement and Tragedy
6. Scott Holland and Contemporary Needs
7. Some Notes on Kierkegaard
Part II Ethics, Politics and Philosophy of History
1. Things and Persons
2. Justice
3. On the Notion of a Philosophy of History
4. R. G. Collingwood as a Philosopher
5. An Approach to the Moral and Spiritual Problems of the Nuclear Age
6. Reflections on the Hydrogen Bomb
7. Ethical Problems of Nuclear Warfare
Part III Metaphysics and Epistemology
1. Metaphysical and Religious Language
2. John Wisdom’s Paradox and Discovery
3. Verifiability
4. P.F. Strawson’s The Bounds of Sense
Endorsements and Reviews
It is one of the merits of these essays that, though they bear heavily on all the contemporary theological debates, they cut right through all the nonsense and jargon of the schools and disclose some of the depth of the real issues at stake.A. D. Galloway in Religious Studies, Vol. 5, No.1, October, 1969, pp. 115-119. Published by the Cambridge University Press
It is impossible to summarize adequately a book which is so wide-ranging and sceptical (in the deepest sense). It may perhaps convey to those not fortunate enough to have been his pupils Professor MacKinnon’s qualities as a teacher.Hugo Meynell in New Blackfriars, June 1969, Vol. 50, No. 589, p. 499. Published by Wiley.
