Reforming Theological Anthropology : After the Philosophical Turn to Relationality

Ray S. Anderson
"This stunning book places F. LeRon Shults as one of the brightest stars to appear in the galaxy of contemporary scholars. Displaying an erudition that at times is breathtaking, Shults is as much at home with the ancient Greek philosophers, the patristic theologians, the medieval scholastics, and the sixteenth-century reformers as he is with modern theologians and more recent developments in the social sciences and developmental psychology. This book creates a new frontier for the integration of psychological and philosophical approaches to understanding human personhood as ontological, existential, and relational being. Shults exposes underlying cracks in the foundation of classical theological anthropology, based as it is on a substantive dualistic metaphysics. In offering a carefully nuanced reformulation of the traditional doctrines of human nature, original sin, and the image of God based on a relational anthropology and a dynamic eschatology, this book is truly groundbreaking. A must-read for all who aspire to be theologians of the church and those who dare to say they are."

Philip Clayton
"A work of breathtaking scope, F. LeRon Shults's new book combines an impressive mastery of the primary sources with an unfailing clarity of exposition. The result is a significant contribution to theological anthropology worthy of study both as a textbook and in its own right. Perhaps here and there a loose end remains; taken as a whole, though, this book offers an impressive overview of what it means to be made 'in the image of God' and to understand humanity in light of Christian revelation. "

J. Wentzel van Huyssteen
"F. LeRon Shults has written a profoundly challenging book that clearly demonstrates his deep conviction that the Reformed theological tradition has the inner strength and vitality to rise to contemporary interdisciplinary challenges in ways that we could hardly have imagined before. Shults argues successfully that Christian theology now has the opportunity and obligation to rethink the Christian understanding of human nature. His explorations of the conceptual space of theological anthropology culminate in a revisioning of its three traditional loci: human nature, sin, and the image of God. This book not only will enrich current dialogue among theologians but also will resonate with scientists and philosophers who are challenged by ongoing debates about human uniqueness and the emergence of consciousness. "

Choice
"In this erudite and original work, Shults explores the implications of the turn to relationality for theological anthropology. . . This is a thought-provoking work that advances Reformed theology. . . Recommended."