The mosaic of Christian belief : twenty centuries of unity & diversity / Roger E. Olson

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Introduction: The need for a "both-and" theology -- Christian belief : unity and diversity -- Sources and norms of Christian belief : one and many -- Divine revelation : universal and particular -- Christian Scripture: divine word and human words -- God : great and good -- God : three and one -- Creation : good and fallen -- Providence : limited and detailed -- Humanity : essentially good and existentially estranged -- Jesus Christ : God and man -- Salvation : objective and subjective -- Salvation : gift and task -- The church : visible and invisible -- Life beyond death : continuity and discontinuity -- The Kingdom of God : already and not yet

The story of Christian theology has often been divisive and disjointed. Providing a companion volume to his earlier work The story of Christian theology, Roger Olson thematically traces out Christian belief down through the ages, revealing a pattern of both unity and diversity. He finds a consensus of teaching that is both unitive and able to incorporate a faithful diversity when not forced into the molds of false either-or alternatives. The mosaic that emerges from Olson's work displays a mediating evangelical theology that is nonspeculative and irenic in spirit and tone. Specifically written with the nonspecialist in mind, Olson has masterfully sketched out the contours of Christian faith with simplicity while avoiding oversimplification