Description
Over the last four decades, the focus of M. Douglas Meeks’s work has placed him at the centre of many of the most important developments in theological reflection and education. As a political, ecclesial, and metaphorical theologian, Meeks has given witness to the oikonomia of the triune God, the Homemaker who creates the conditions of Home for the whole of creation, in critical conversation with contemporary economic, social, and political theory. The essays of this volume were written to honour Meeks, Cal Turner Chancellor Professor Emeritus of Theology at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, by addressing the theme of God’s economy of salvation from biblical, historical, ecclesial, and theological perspectives. In an age of ecological devastation and economic injustice, Meeks teaches us how to place our hope – as disciples of Jesus, as members of local congregations, as stewards of institutional life, and as global citizens – in God’s power for life over death through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. These essays will serve to enliven and clarify this hope for the sake of the world God so loves.
About the Author
Jürgen Moltmann is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Universität Tübingen.
Timothy R. Eberhart is Assistant Professor of Theology and Ecology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois.
Matthew W. Charlton is Assistant General Secretary of Collegiate Ministry at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, and is Adjunct Professor of Religion at Belmont University.
Contents
Foreword by Matthew W. Charlton
Preface by Jürgen Moltmann
List of Contributors
1. Introduction
Timothy R. Eberhart
2. A Royal Miracle and Its Nachleben
Walter Brueggemann
3. Augustine on Riches and Poverty
J. Patout Burns
4. The Future of the Wesleyan Movement
John B. Cobb Jr
5. “Go Tell Pharaoh”, or, Why Empires Prefer a Nameless God
R. Kendall Soulen
6. M. Douglas Meeks: Process Theologian
Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki
7. Christology in the Context of Current Western Systematic Theological Reflection
Michael Welker
8. Interpreting the Text, Interpreting the World: A Wesleyan Hermeneutics of Economic Life
Sondra Wheeler
9. The Church and Its Ministry: Expanding an Ecumenical Vision
Charles M. Wood
10. Who Hopes for What He Already Sees
Josiah U. Young
11. Economy, Violence, and Culture of Peace
Néstor O. Míguez
12. A Culture of Life in the Dangers of This Time
Jürgen Moltmann
Endorsements and Reviews
The quality and range of subjects addressed by the prominent contributors to this Festschrift provide highly interesting reading and render much-deserved tribute to the influence of M. Douglas Meeks as one of America’s foremost theologians in uncovering for the church and contemporary society the biblical significance of economics according to ‘the economy of God’.
Christopher Morse, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
Such a powerful packet of papers – including the prophetic wisdom precisely calibrated for this perilous moment by Cobb and Moltmann – makes for a great tribute to a theologian who early exposed the oikonomia of global devastation.
Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological School
Meeks teaches us how to place our hope – as disciples of Jesus, as members of local congregations, as stewards of institutional life, and as global citizens – in God’s power for life over death through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in an age of ecological devastation and economic injustice. These essays will serve to enliven and clarify this hope for the sake of the world God so loves.
Bradford McCall, in Theological Book Review, Vol 28, No 1
