Children and childhood are among the most neglected subjects of Christian theology. What does it mean to be a child of God if the examples of childhood in Scripture and the Christian tradition are taken seriously and placed in dialogue with twenty-first century science, sociology and morality? This collection of essays draws together a wealth of different perspectives on a much neglected but vital subject of theology and Christian living. It takes into account the ambiguity of childhood and so begins with expectancy and ends with teleology, intending to cover each major stage of childhood in-between in chronological order. Thus from expectancy we move to birth, from birth to babe in arms, and from thence to that most mysterious stage of being educated and more obviously ‘related to’. Delinquency and adolescence are not synonymous although they do share some characteristics, they are therefore dealt with as a twinned pair before we move to consider the effect of all of this on the child in adulthood. The volume thus concludes with an exploration of the interdependence of biological and spiritual childhood and asks whether or not the children of God can ever grow up, and what they would become if they did.
About the Editor
Angela Shier-Jones is the author of A Work in Progress: Methodists Doing Theology. She is a Methodist minister in the Bromley Circuit, Methodist Tutor at the South East Institute for Theological Education and Editor of the Epworth Review. Contributors include: Natalie K. Watson, Esther Shreeve, Jeremy Worthen, Anthony G. Reddie, David Deeks, Jocelyn Bryan, Sheryl Anderson, Terry Wright and Angela Shier-Jones.
Reviews
I warmly commend this sparkling theological primer. Like a healthy child it teems with questions, motivated by a desire to look everything full in the face. It throws searching light on beaten paths, including theology, child development, education, parenting and church. It helped me to look at the worldwith fresh wonder.
Keith J. White, Director of Mill Grove, Chair of Child Theology Movement.
Lively, readable and profoundly illuminating, these essays narrate theological themes interplayed with the best insights from a range of disciplines. Honest appreciation of human potential in all its ambiguity, dynamism and complexity enables readers to understand what it might be to become ‘children of God’ – all of us. A fine collection!
Ann Loades CBE, Professor Emerita of Divinity, University of Durham.
Adrian Thatcher, Professional Research Fellow in theology at the University of Exeter.
Publisher : Epworth Press (30 May 2007)
Language : English
Hardcover : 280 pages
ISBN-10 : 0716206196
ISBN-13 : 978-0716206194
Dimensions : 13.34 x 0.64 x 21.59 cm