David H. Kelsey

Persons anguished by another's profound suffering are often outraged by well-intentioned efforts to console them which suggest that God 'sent' that horrific suffering to their loved one for a 'purpose' according to a tailor-made 'plan' for just that person. However, the outraged reaction simply deepens the anguish. This book argues that such 'consolation' is theologically problematic because it assumes that unrestricted power is what makes God 'God.' Against that it outlines an account of 'who' and 'what' the Triune God is, framed in terms of God's intrinsic 'glory,' the attractive and perfectly self-expressive self-giving in love that is God's life, and sets limits to the range of things we can say God 'does.' Correlatively it offers an account of different senses in which God is 'sovereign' and 'powerful', one which reflects three ways God relates to all else: to create, to bless eschatologically, and to reconcile, as is scripturally narrated.

What does it mean to be a human being? David Kelsey expertly probes this complicated issue in his exhaustive and ambitious examination of theological anthropology. Divided into three parts, Kelsey's work posits that humanity's relationship to God is a basic claim of Christianity and that God actively relates to human beings in three major ways: God creates them, God is there at the end of all things eschatologically, and God reconciles humans when they are alienated from God. The result of this seminal theological work is a textured affirmation of humanity's relationship with God and with each other. It represents the culmination of decades of theological thought and is certain to be recognized as a major achievement.

David Kelsey offers a groundbreaking discussion of Christian redemption by exploring the story of a series of horrendous events that befell a young boy and his family. Sam, eight years old, was stricken with a puzzling virus that left him physically and psychologically damaged. His family suffered greatly, as well. In the face of these events, Kelsey asks, what can it possibly mean to say that in Jesus Christ, God "redeems" such situations and events?

What are the purposes and the priorities that really govern a theological school? What are realistic expectations of theological education? What would be the ideal theological school, and what is theological about it? Theologian David Kelsey addresses these questions and other concerns regarding theological schooling, and offers suggestions on how to analyze and reconceive "theological schooling" in productive ways.