Thinking About God: An Introduction to Theology

Rating:
Summary: Not an introduction
Review: An introduction? If this is the introduction, I'm truly afraid of what comes next. Solee is incredible, certainly one of the greatest theological thinkers of all time. Thinking about God is, without a doubt and including Thomas Pynchon and James Joyce, the densest book I have ever had the combined pain and pleasure to read. Solee is adamant. She is thorough and deft in her analysis of the relationship of concepts of God, culture, religion, and identity. Synaptic as a lab technician, she seperates these fundamental concepts from one another and leaves them warm and pulsing in your hads for you to put back together, or not, as the case, or more particularly, as her case, may be. This one is a bonafide mind-blower for anyone who thought they had these things worked out. A great book from a great mind.

Rating:
Summary: "We had Jesus, now we just have the Church." (? )
Review: An introduction? If this is the introduction, I'm truly afraid of what comes next. Solee is incredible, certainly one of the greatest theological thinkers of all time. Thinking about God is, without a doubt and including Thomas Pynchon and James Joyce, the densest book I have ever had the combined pain and pleasure to read. Solee is adamant. She is thorough and deft in her analysis of the relationship of concepts of God, culture, religion, and identity. Synaptic as a lab technician, she seperates these fundamental concepts from one another and leaves them warm and pulsing in your hads for you to put back together, or not, as the case, or more particularly, as her case, may be. This one is a bonafide mind-blower for anyone who thought they had these things worked out. A great book from a great mind.

Rating:
Summary: Think on these things...
Review: Dorothee Soelle's book 'Thinking About God' is one of the best introductory texts for theology available. In this text, Soelle covers not only her own theological bases and biases, but also explores the wider history of Christian theology. Starting from her own standpoint, that of being a Western (in particular, German) woman educated in the liberal-to-liberation theological perspective, she explores the many different topics that concern theologians.

This text can be used (and, in fact, is being used in my classes) as a companion systematic theology. The key topics of creation, sin, Christology, God, humanity, scripture, and more are all covered. Soelle gives special attention to that tradition in which she is most comfortable, i.e., a feminist liberation perspective. However, she does not confine her reflections to that perspective, nor does she leave her own tradition uncritiqued.

At the start of the text, Soelle sets out three primary theological frameworks in Christianity - an Orthodox (conservative) framework, a Liberal (as in, liberal/Enlightenment ideas) framework, and a Radical/Liberation framework. One criticism that has occurred to me through the use of this text in class is that it could address more fully the Eastern Orthodox perspectives, as these are not much addressed even in the 'Orthodox' section. Of course, Soelle's intention is to provide a grounding for students in Western seminaries and readers generally in the Catholic and Protestant worlds to get a firmer grasp on their own theologies.

After identifying these frameworks and developing a brief history and philosophical basis for each, she looks at the history of the development of interpretation and authority of scripture, tracing these developments in light of general societal, cultural and technological changes. Different periods in history have had their own particular dominant interpretative methods of preference. She sees the radical/liberation framework as the most satisfying in a post-Holocaust, Cold-War-and-after, growing-Third-World crisis world.

In addition to addressing these concerns and the standard topics of systematic theology, Soelle takes a few excurses into fields of current contextual importance, such as Black Theology and Feminist Theology. With regard to the later, she is able to address the topic from within, as a person who embodies the theological perspective. The later she addresses through observation and empathy, but even then her perspective is very unique, given that most Black Theology has come from the African-American experience, and Soelle, as a native German, has had little direct experience of the issues, or indeed with the personalities involved.

Soelle also has an underlying strand running through her theology of concern for the post-Holocaust perspective. As a native German who pursued her career in the shadow of the national guilt over the Holocaust, she has a particular care for the responsibility of the church which remained largely silent and complicit that it should not do so ever again. She draws on references from Jewish scholars such as Martin Buber as well as Christian theologians as she develops her thoughts.

As an academic, Soelle has generously provided endnotes, bibliographic references, and suggestions for further readings in each of the topics. This list would serve as the grounding of a very good theological education.

Soelle writes in a very accessible style. Her writing is clear and largely non-technical. While she engages in redefining and recasting language occasionally, as does every theologian, she keeps it intuitive and to a minimum. This text is derived largely from a series of lectures to a non-theologically-trained audience, which helps in the accessibility. Ultimately, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Soelle's conclusions and perspectives, they will at least understand them.

This is a brief introduction; it is not (as is the reputation of German theologians historically) a thick and ponderous tome. Soelle passed away last year; while she has produced other works (articles and lectures in addition to other texts) this text may well be the one by which is best remembered, as it will no doubt be used by many seminary and religious studies students for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Think on these things...
Review: Dorothee Soelle's book 'Thinking About God' is one of the best introductory texts for theology available. In this text, Soelle covers not only her own theological bases and biases, but also explores the wider history of Christian theology. Starting from her own standpoint, that of being a Western (in particular, German) woman educated in the liberal-to-liberation theological perspective, she explores the many different topics that concern theologians.

This text can be used (and, in fact, is being used in my classes) as a companion systematic theology. The key topics of creation, sin, Christology, God, humanity, scripture, and more are all covered. Soelle gives special attention to that tradition in which she is most comfortable, i.e., a feminist liberation perspective. However, she does not confine her reflections to that perspective, nor does she leave her own tradition uncritiqued.

At the start of the text, Soelle sets out three primary theological frameworks in Christianity - an Orthodox (conservative) framework, a Liberal (as in, liberal/Enlightenment ideas) framework, and a Radical/Liberation framework. One criticism that has occurred to me through the use of this text in class is that it could address more fully the Eastern Orthodox perspectives, as these are not much addressed even in the 'Orthodox' section. Of course, Soelle's intention is to provide a grounding for students in Western seminaries and readers generally in the Catholic and Protestant worlds to get a firmer grasp on their own theologies.

After identifying these frameworks and developing a brief history and philosophical basis for each, she looks at the history of the development of interpretation and authority of scripture, tracing these developments in light of general societal, cultural and technological changes. Different periods in history have had their own particular dominant interpretative methods of preference. She sees the radical/liberation framework as the most satisfying in a post-Holocaust, Cold-War-and-after, growing-Third-World crisis world.

In addition to addressing these concerns and the standard topics of systematic theology, Soelle takes a few excurses into fields of current contextual importance, such as Black Theology and Feminist Theology. With regard to the later, she is able to address the topic from within, as a person who embodies the theological perspective. The later she addresses through observation and empathy, but even then her perspective is very unique, given that most Black Theology has come from the African-American experience, and Soelle, as a native German, has had little direct experience of the issues, or indeed with the personalities involved.

Soelle also has an underlying strand running through her theology of concern for the post-Holocaust perspective. As a native German who pursued her career in the shadow of the national guilt over the Holocaust, she has a particular care for the responsibility of the church which remained largely silent and complicit that it should not do so ever again. She draws on references from Jewish scholars such as Martin Buber as well as Christian theologians as she develops her thoughts.

As an academic, Soelle has generously provided endnotes, bibliographic references, and suggestions for further readings in each of the topics. This list would serve as the grounding of a very good theological education.

Soelle writes in a very accessible style. Her writing is clear and largely non-technical. While she engages in redefining and recasting language occasionally, as does every theologian, she keeps it intuitive and to a minimum. This text is derived largely from a series of lectures to a non-theologically-trained audience, which helps in the accessibility. Ultimately, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Soelle's conclusions and perspectives, they will at least understand them.

This is a brief introduction; it is not (as is the reputation of German theologians historically) a thick and ponderous tome. Soelle passed away last year; while she has produced other works (articles and lectures in addition to other texts) this text may well be the one by which is best remembered, as it will no doubt be used by many seminary and religious studies students for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Not an introduction
Review: This book is not so much an introduction to theology as it is critiques of what the author labels orthodoxy and liberal theologies and an apologetic for "radical" or liberation theologies.