Imagining Theology

“Garrett Green’s latest work caps a lifetime’s investigation and reflection on the nature of imagination and its function in the work of Christian theology. These chapters take the exercise of modern theological imagination as their theme and explore it with rare and detailed insight coupled with wide-ranging philosophical engagement and historical understanding. Green’s own imaginative engagements with pressing questions of our moment—about God-talk, biblical hermeneutics, the character and limits of theological reasoning, the simultaneous challenges of secularity and religious pluralism—promise to provoke, complicate, and enrich our theology, life, and faith.”—Philip G. Ziegler, University of Aberdeen 

“In this book Garrett Green pulls together a lifetime of reflection on Scripture, imagination, and aesthetics. Wide in range and deep in comprehension, his beautifully written essays sparkle with intelligence and insight. No one who cares about these themes will fail to be illuminated—and even edified.”—George Hunsinger, Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

“According to Genesis, God grieved on seeing that ‘every imagination of the thoughts of [the human] heart was only evil continually’ (Gen. 6:5 KJV). Yes, but that is only part of the story. Drawing on his years of reflection on the subject, Garrett Green makes a powerful case for the positive role of imagination in the divine-human relationship. It turns out that there are faithful imaginings as well as evil ones. A deeply thoughtful and elegantly written work of Christian theology.”—Joseph Mangina, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

“Among the many rewards in reading Garrett Green is how well he is able to address longstanding controversies with fresh explorations that defy conventional stereotypes. In Imagining Theology three examples of such explorations stand out: the stalemate between science and religion, the imagined versus the real, and the one ‘image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15) professed as self-revealed in Jesus Christ juxtaposed with religious pluralism. In each instance, historical excurses, conceptual analysis, and exegetical assessments combine to reach aptly articulated and sometimes surprising conclusions. Expounding further on his previous work regarding imagination, Green draws upon a wealth of sources, most especially Thomas Kuhn’s emphasis on the role of paradigms in shaping imagination and the influential theologies of Karl Barth and Hans Frei regarding the one Word of God’s self-revelation of grace proclaimed in Jesus Christ. All of which leads to the author’s polemical faith affirmation of a normative Christian paradigm and imagination unashamed of the gospel and trusting in the sufficiency of the grace of Jesus Christ. But precisely as gift, this normative paradigm and unique focus of Christian theology in a post-Christian age is one, Green concludes, that ‘will also acknowledge our solidarity with others on the way’ and ‘learn much even from those whose ultimate commitments [we] cannot share.’ I am happy to recommend the stimulating cogency and conviction of this interesting and most relevant book.”—Christopher Morse, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Union Theological Seminary