This book is a fresh examination of the problem of faith and
history. Instead of being a mere liability, it is argued here that
the strength of the Christian faith is its historicity. Although
modern thought was not always friendly to Christian faith because of
its deeply embedded dualism, it raised the critical intellectual
issues that Christian theology needed to address. Advancing a more
critical understanding of the nature of history than modern thought
was generally able to achieve because of its dualistic thinking,
this work argues for an integrative dialectic of historical
probability and the certainty of faith.
"This book gives a comprehensive and fascinating account of the
development of the idea of history in correspondence to changing
conceptions of the divine reality, from its origin in Ancient Israel
and in Greece all the way to the contemporary discussion. It focuses
on the rise of critical historical investigation in modern times and
on the struggle of modern theology to come to terms with it. It is
an important contribution to this discussion. The split between fact
and meaning is persuasively identified as a main obstacle and it is
shown to be overcome in the reconstruction of history in the light
of the eschatological future. Also very helpful is the final chapter
on time (space-time) and eternity with its emphasis on Boethius and
with its critical remarks on nontrinitarian theistic notions of a
personal God."
--Wolfhart Pannenberg, University of Munich
About the Author:
Laurence W. Wood is the Frank Paul Morris Professor of
Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, and
editor of The Asbury Theological Journal. He is the author of five
books and numerous articles.
