by von Bernd Manuel Weischer (1977)
In the early fifth century the Christian world was racked by one of the most fierce theological disputes it had known since the Arian crisis of the previous century. The center of debate turned on the nature of the personhood of Christ, and how divine and human characteristics could combine in Jesus without rendering his subjectivity hopelessly divided, or without reducing his authentic humanness to an insubstantiality. These arguments soon polarized in the conflict between two great churches, Alexandria and Constantinople, and their powerful archbishops, St Cyril (d. 444) and Nestorius (d.c. 452) respectively. Cyril is, arguably, the most important patristic theologian ever to deal with the issues of Christology. The text here translated is one of his most important and approachable writings, composed in the aftermath of the Council of Ephesus (431) to explain his doctrine to an international audience. He argues here for the single divine subjectivity of Christ, and describes how it encompasses a full and authentic humanity in Jesus - a human experience that is not overwhelmed by the divine presence but fostered and enhanced by it. Accordingly, for St Cyril, Christology becomes a paradigm for the transfigured and redeemed life of the Christian. . This book is essential reading for all those interested in the theology and spirituality of the fathers, in the ancient church's use of scripture, and the way in which the church once creatively expressed its thinking through the media of philosophy and the natural sciences.
St. Augustine
This work was written by St. Augustine late in his life with the intention of supplying a well-educated Roman layman with a brief but comprehensive exposition of the essential teachings of Christianity. It contains many of his most profound and mature definitions of his thoughts on sin, grace and predestination, and is regarded as an indispensable guide to Augustinian Christianity.
herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Gerhard Wehr
Written around 1350 by an anonymous author, this is a simple yet profound book about life in God as it translates into life in the world. This translation is based on Luther's edition of 1518. Bengt Hoffman in his Foreword says, "Luther's kinship with this book and with Johann Tauler, as well as with some other mystics of the late Middle Ages, suggests a union in the Body of Christ, transcending ecclesial boundaries." Luther wrote: "next to the Bible and St. Augustine, no other book has come to my attention from which I have learned-and desired to learn-more concerning God, Christ, man and what all things are."
David Hume
"David Hume is the greatest and also one of the most provocative philosophers to have written in the English language. His sceptical accounts of the causes and consequences of religious belief are expressed most powerfully in the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion."--BOOK JACKET. "The Dialogues ask if belief in God can be inferred from the nature of the universe or whether it is even consistent with what we know about the universe. The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and follows its development from harmless polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together they constitute the most formidable attack upon the rationality of religious belief ever mounted by a philosopher."--BOOK JACKET. "This edition also includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and a letter concerning the Dialogues as well as a particularly helpful critical apparatus and abstracts of the main texts."--BOOK JACKET.
Johann Gottfried Herder
The figure of Johann Gottfried Herder looms increasingly important not only for his prescient contributions to many fields - biblical criticism, philosophy of language, literary criticism, philosophy of history - but also for his pivotal position between the impulses of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Many of Herder's questions and concerns are more pressing at the end of the modern era than they were at its inception. Bunge's lucid and engaging translations of signal texts from Herder - most appearing here for the first time in English - are arranged thematically: human nature, language, and history; myth and religion; God and nature; literature and the Bible; and Christianity and theology. Along with her extensive Introduction and Bibliography, they constitute an essential resource for coming to terms with the checkered legacy of the Enlightenment. -- Back cover.