Doing Theology in Plural Contexts

This is a fascinating and highly readable book. The theological background, namely that Christian tradition develops through recontextualisation and that we are therefore also called upon today to recontextualise that tradition ourselves, is introduced by the authors in a very understandable way. The choice of biblical texts in combination with the thematic organisation of the chapters is highly original and challenges us to reflect on bodiliness and shame, anger at injustice, mental well-being, sexual and power abuse and disaffiliation from the church. * Lieven Boeve, KU Leuven, Belgium *
This is a timely and deeply humane contribution to contemporary Catholic theology. Drawing on long experience in theological education and formation, Horner and Brown offer a vision of theology that is rigorously faithful to tradition while attentively responsive to plural, secular, and searching contexts. Shaped by the synodal vision animating contemporary Catholic theology, the book models a way of doing theology that listens carefully, enters dialogue generously, and allows faith to be rearticulated through lived human experience. Scripture and tradition are engaged not as static inheritances but as living sources, capable of interruption, renewal, and transformative meaning. Combining theological expertise with pedagogical experience, this volume presents theology as both an intellectual discipline and a formative practice. This is an invaluable resource for theologians, educators, and practitioners seeking a theology able to hold faith, experience, and difference in creative and life-giving relation. * Dermot Nestor, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland *

Horner and Brown have produced a work of enduring significance for theologians, theological educators, pastors, and all those interested in developing a recontextualized approach to reading sacred scripture hermeneutically for our time and contexts today. Their ‘four steps’ framework successfully makes complex theological dimensions accessible and achievable. They demonstrate the rich and provocative results of a layered hermeneutical approach, weaving phenomenological reading, biblical criticism, post-biblical tradition, and lived contemporary context into a unified and theologically rich reflection. Experts in the field and those with limited background will both find empowerment in this work.

Readers will be especially appreciative of their choice to wrestle with ‘challenging’ scriptural narratives and sensitive contemporary experiences. Through this choice, they demonstrate the hermeneutical capacity of the theological tradition to speak to, from, and with the realities and questions of life today.

A best-in-class resource for both scholarship and practice.

* Didier Pollefeyt, KU Leuven, Belgium *
This book adopts an approach of recontextualisation of some key passages from the New Testament. Robyn Horner and Teresa Brown provide insights into the different meanings of some of key events in the life and ministry of Jesus. They also engage with theological questions such as the divinity/humanity of Jesus Christ and contemporary issues such as clerical child sexual abuse, cultural genocide and the role of women in the Church. This is a skilful and meticulously executed study, and, throughout the book, they draw on scholarship on scripture, Patristics, Thomas Aquinas and some key ideas in contemporary theology. Thought provoking and challenging, this book is a welcome and significant contribution to Catholic theological research. * Stephen J McKinney, University of Glasgow, UK *