Toward Systematic Theology: Problems and Possibilities for Christian Theology in the Academy

Abstract

This article comprises a set of reflections on the future of systematic theology in academic institutions. It identifies three long term trends that have been shaping the current institutional context of the field, and the ways theology has (partially) responded. The article next identifies developments in some of Christian theology’s more important academic conversation partners that are promising potential sources for its continued vitality. In the third part, theology’s future direction is generally indicated by asserting that successful theologians are going to be those who find ways to bridge the current cultural fault-line in the academic field. In the final parts, this general suggestion is made more specific by naming four developments in a future systematic theology (concerning the God–world relation, the interconnection of core doctrines, the anthropology of salvation, and the hermeneutic of scripture) that can meet the challenges and exploit the possibilities named in the first three parts.