Nein! A Response to Progressives by Mark R. Patterson, p. 1--  Patterson contrasts progressive, liberal theology with historic Christian faith.  This is a primer that will help people understand the issues and conflict in the church today.  Mar/Apr 2007 Theology Matters p. 1

An Unworkable Theology by Philip Turner, p. 14 --  From his vantage point in the Episcopal church, Turner describes progressive doctrine as a theology of acceptance verses a theology of redemption.   Mar/Apr 2007 Theology Matters p. 14

Why Christology Is An Endangered Species by James R. Edwards
Edwards' argues "that we are witnessing a paradigm shift away from a theology of redemption to a theology of creation...we are witnessing a shift in theology from what God can and will do in the gospel to what God did once for all creation. Concomitant with the shift from Christology to creation is a shift away from the doctrines of sin and repentance, which according to the preaching of the cross are essential to the reception of new life in Christ.   The new theology argues that what is, is essentially good and right."  Jan/Feb 2002 Theology Matters p. 1

More Than One Way? Affirming the Uniqueness of Christ's Person and Work in a Pluralistic Culture by Dennis Okholm
Okholm, who was a professor of religion at Wheaton College and is now at Azuza Pacific, posits the uniqueness of Christ against the claims of pluralism.  He addresses: why pluralism now; the practice of pluralism, defining pluralism, responding to pluralism, what's wrong with pluralism? and asserting the 'scandal of particularity'.  Jan/Feb 2002 Theology Matters   p. 6

A Map for the Maze: Finding Your Way Through Contemporary Theology (A Guide for PNCs) by Randall Otto.  Dr. Otto is a PCUSA pastor with a Ph.D. in historical and theological studies.  Otto gives a map through the maze of contemporary theologies by contrasting them with the immanence and transcendence of God. "In his transcendence, God is eternally existent, self-sufficient and stands beyond creation. ... In his immanence, God graciously creates and upholds a world  with which to share his goodness and love..."  "Christian theology must always seek the proper balance between these tow poles or it will go astray."   Otto looks at, the revolt against immanence in Neo-Orthodoxy; the transcendence of the future--the theology of hope and political theology; transcendence with a story--Narrative Theology; immanence in experience of oppression--Liberation, Black and Feminist theologies; and the deepening of immanence--Process Theology and Openness Theology.  May/Jun 2001 Theology Matters p. 1

Asian Perspectives on Theological Pluralism by Scott W. Sunquist, W. Don McClure Associate Professor of World Mission and Evangelism at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  Singapore has significant Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu communities.  How does the notion of pluralism and religious harmony function in Singapore?  Sunquist looks at a definition of pluralism, the Asian context of Religious Pluralism, the Minority Community, the Suffering Community and Witness in Bold Humility.  Sep/Oct 1999 Theology Matters, p. 1

Jesus Wasn't a Pluralist by James R. Edwards, reprinted with permission from Christianity Today, April 5, 19999, p. 64-66.  Those who promote the ordination of practicing homosexuals argue that Jesus' message was one of inclusiveness.  Edwards writes, "In many respects, Jesus was inclusive.  he offered forgiveness and fellowship to outcasts within Judaism, and to Gentiles outside it, in a way that was unprecedented among Jewish rabbis.  But in other respects, Jesus was more exclusive than his Jewish contemporaries: he refused political alliances with Herod Antipas, the "fox" who beheaded John the Baptist; he refused to replace God with Torah and he refused to identify the kingdom of God with any of the prevailing sects of Judaism."  Edwards examines: the First Order of Business; American Church Captive; Liberating the Church.  Sep/Oct 1999 Theology Matters, p. 7 

 Cooking Up Gotterdamerung: Radical Feminist Worship Substitutes Self for God by Donna F. G. Hailson and Karelynne Gerber. Hailson and Gerber quote radical feminist Naomi Goldenberg who wrote, "Jesus, cannot symbolize the liberation of women [because] a culture that maintains a masculine image for its highest divinity cannot allow its women to experience themselves as the equals of its men.  In order to develop a theology of women's liberation, feminists have to leave Christ and Bible behind them."  The purpose of this article is to show "how radical spiritual feminist practices diverge from Bible-honoring worship, ritual and prayer."  Hailson and Gerber look at Biblical worship of the Triune God; Radical Feminist Worship of Self; Examples of Radical Feminist Worship."  Jul/Aug 1998 Theology Matters p. 1

From Father God to Mother Earth: The Effect of Deconstructing Christian Faith on Sexuality by Berit Kjos, author of several books including Brave New Schools, Your Child and the New Age, Under the Spell of Mother Earth and A Twist of Faith. Kjos writes, "This spiritual movement demands new deities or a rethinking of the old ones.  The transformation starts with self, some say, and women can't re-invent themselves until they shed the old shackles.  So the search for a 'more relevant' religion requires new visions of God: images that trade holiness for tolerance, the heavenly for the earthly, and the God who is above us for a god who is us."  Kjos examines the Masks of the Feminine Gods; Gateways to the Goddess, the Paradigm Shift; Sex and Feminist Spirituality; Unholy Tolerance; The Nature of Temptation; and From Tolerance to Truth.  Sep/Oct 1997 Theology Matters p. 1

The Human Point of View by Dr. Leslie Zeigler, Professor Emeritus of Christian Theology, Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, ME.   Zeigler writes, "The basic element involved in the human point of view is that our human experience becomes our norm. theologically speaking, theology becomes anthropology."  God is not the Sovereign Lord of history--a Reality Who deals with us, and with Whom we must come to terms--but a human construct, fashioned to aid and support the realization of our view of a truly human existence.  Zeigler then examines how this human point of view contrasts with traditional Christian theology in two areas--the doctrine of God and the interpretation of Scripture.   Zeigler looks specifically at radical feminist theology as one example of how this human point of view re-imagines God and Scripture.  Sep/Oct 1995 Theology Matters p. 1

Can't we all just get along?  by Frederica Mathewes-Green, syndicated columnist. Reprinted with permission from World magazine, July 15/22, 1995.  Mathewes-Green offers a brief but clear contrast between 'modernist' theology where "feelings trump truth" and historic Christian faith revealed in Scripture where "the objective events of a Friday and Sunday two thousand years ago are not projections of emotion."  Sep/Oct 1995 Theology Matters   p. 9

Doctrine and Ethics by Alister McGrath, professor of Christian doctrine and ethics at Oxford University, England.  Reprinted with permission from the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol 34, No. 2, June 1991.  McGrath writes, "A recovery of Christian doctrine is fundamental to a recovery of Christian ethics...Beliefs are important because they claim to describe the way things are.  they assert that they declare the truth about reality.  But beliefs are not just ideas that are absorbed by our minds and that have no further effect upon us.  They affect what we do and what we feel.  They influence our hopes and fears.  They determine the way we behave."  McGrath looks specifically at the doctrine of justification by faith and the doctrine of original sin.   Jul/Aug 1995 Theology Matters  p. 1

Truth Creates Boundaries by Susan Cyre, Executive Director of Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry.  Cyre writes "Objective truth had been trampled on university campuses by relativism promoted under the banner of tolerance, inclusivity and diversity. This problem of relativism, however, does not exist just in liberal academic corridors.  It exists in the culture and most disturbingly in the church even among Evangelicals... Objective truth is the plumb line which divides truth and falsehood creating a boundary.  Without that boundary, everything is believable."  Mar/Apr 1995 Theology Matters p. 1