A respected theologian introduces Augustine's theology through his most important works.

The Theology of Augustine: An Introductory Guide to His Most Important Works

Religion & Spirituality

Matthew Levering

Christian Books & Bibles

Baker Academic

How do human beings today receive divine revelation? Where and in what ways is it mediated so that all generations can hear the fullness of the gospel? In this volume, distinguished theologian Matthew Levering shows that divine revelation has been truthfully mediated through the church, the gospel, and Scripture so that we can receive it in its fullness today. Levering engages past and present approaches to revelation across a variety of traditions, offering a comprehensive, historical study of all the key figures and perspectives. His thorough analysis results in an alternative approach to prevailing views of the doctrine and points to its significance for the entire church.

Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation: The Mediation of the Gospel through Church and Scripture

Leading theologian Matthew Levering presents a thoroughgoing critical survey of the proofs of God's existence for readers interested in traditional Christian responses to the problem of atheism. Beginning with Tertullian and ending with Karl Barth, Levering covers twenty-one theologians and philosophers from the early church to the modern period, examining how they answered the critics of their day. He also shows the relevance of the classical arguments to contemporary debates and challenges to Christianity. In addition to students, this book will appeal to readers of apologetics.

Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth

This book explores the character of the Eucharist as communion in and through sacrifice. It will stimulate discussion because of its controversial critique of the dominant paradigm for Eucharistic theology, its reclamation of St Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist, and its response to Pope John Paul II’s Ecclesia de Eucharistia.     Argues that the Eucharist cannot be separated from sacrifice, and rediscovers the biblical connections between sacrifice and communion.   Timed to coincide with the Year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II.   Reclaims the riches of St Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist, which had recently been reduced to a metaphysical defence of transubstantiation.

Sacrifice and Community: Jewish Offering and Christian Eucharist (Illuminations: Theory & Religion)

History

World

Wiley/Blackwell

Engaging the Doctrine of Creation: Cosmos, Creatures, and the Wise and Good Creator

From the Back Cover\n"Once again, the indefatigable Matthew Levering has produced a wonderfully lucid survey of a crucial theological topic--this time the doctrine of creation. The work of a scholar of generous temper and analytic rigor who is in touch with the dogmatic traditions of the whole Christian world, this book provides an ideal introduction to its topic." 
--David Bentley Hart, author of Tradition and Apocalypse\n"In the latest volume of this wonderful Engaging the Doctrine series, Levering unrolls for us a robustly biblical doctrine of creation and shows how wonderfully the Christian tradition--especially in its Thomist dialect--has proclaimed, developed, and explored this doctrine. Throughout the book Levering beautifully locates creation against the background of the divine attributes and within the context of the divine economy that will lead the transformed creation finally home. A marvelous resource for all students of the Christian mysteries." 
--Lewis Ayres, Durham University\n"Levering's engaging book on the doctrine of creation goes well beyond discussions about 'in the beginning.' Protestant and Roman Catholic theologians alike will find here a thick description not only of the cosmos and the human creature but also of the creator--the good, wise, and transcendent source of everything that is. Levering mines a number of other doctrinal shafts as well in an inspired effort to retrieve the riches of the much-neglected biblical and theological perspectives (especially Aquinas's) on creation. He convincingly shows in the process that rumors of dogmatic theology's death at the hands of modern science and cosmology are much exaggerated. If that were not enough, he also displays how the doctrine of original sin functions to preserve the goodness of God's creation and how the atonement restores it. This is a fine guide for Christians who want to understand what it means to be in the world and of it (in a good sense)." 
--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School\n"This book is breathtaking in its scope and astonishing in its erudition and creativity. The doctrine of creation suffered gradual attenuation in the theology of the twentieth century, and this book--engaged with modern science and philosophy but not limited to that engagement--is a welcome and refreshing accomplishment in retrieval and reinvigoration. It will prove useful in undergraduate and graduate education alike as well as for any interested educated reader." 
--John C. Cavadini, McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame\nDistinguished scholar Matthew Levering examines the doctrine of creation and its contemporary theological implications, critically engaging with classical and modern views in dialogue with Orthodox and Reformed interlocutors, among others. Moving from the Trinity to Christology, Levering takes up a number of themes pertaining to the doctrine of creation and focuses on how creation impacts our understandings of both the immanent and the economic Trinity. He also engages newer trends such as ecological theology.

Engaging the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: Love and Gift in the Trinity and the Church

A Distinguished Theologian on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit\nDistinguished theologian Matthew Levering offers a historical examination of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, defending an Augustinian model against various contemporary theological views. A companion piece to Levering's Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation, this work critically engages contemporary and classical doctrines of the Holy Spirit in dialogue with Orthodox and Reformed interlocutors. Levering makes a strong dogmatic case for conceiving of the Holy Spirit as love between Father and Son, given to the people of God as a gift.\nFrom the Back Cover\n"Matthew Levering has acquired a well-earned reputation for being amazingly prolific without ceasing to be substantive and profound. In this work he has done it again! No one interested in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit--and especially in the seminal contributions of Augustine and Aquinas--can afford to ignore this rich and stimulating book." 
--George Hunsinger, Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary\n"This is surely the most substantive theological treatise on the Holy Spirit to appear since Yves Congar's great work on the subject over a generation ago. Like Cardinal Congar, Matthew Levering knows that 'the river of life' flows in both the West and the East, and more than Congar, he brings the immense riches of the Western Catholic tradition's teaching on the person and work of the Spirit to bear on the manifold problems of the present." 
--Bruce D. Marshall, Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University\n"In this landmark achievement, Matthew Levering presents his theology of the Holy Spirit. The result is a deeply informed, robust, Catholic articulation of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, whose proper names are Love and Gift. It is rare to encounter such a remarkable range of biblical as well as doctrinal theologians, presented by way of irenic yet vigorous discussion. As readers of Levering would expect, Thomas Aquinas takes the position as the theologian of the Holy Spirit. This book is vintage Levering!" 
--Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology, Regent College\n"An exemplary work of ecumenical theology. Levering guides the reader through the most central and subtle questions of the theology of the Holy Spirit. He engages systematically with scriptural, patristic, medieval, and modern topics and relates the whole study coherently to the mystery of the Church. A splendid achievement of wonderful intellectual breadth and profoundly Catholic verve." 
--Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP, director, Thomistic Institute, Washington, DC

For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and who rose from the dead in triumph over sin and death. For non-Christians, he is almost anything else--a myth, a political revolutionary, a prophet whose teaching was misunderstood or distorted by his followers.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and no myth, revolutionary, or misunderstood prophet, insists Benedict XVI. He thinks that the best of historical scholarship, while it can't "prove" Jesus is the Son of God, certainly doesn't disprove it. Indeed, Benedict maintains that the evidence, fairly considered, brings us face-to-face with the challenge of Jesus--a real man who taught and acted in ways that were tantamount to claims of divine authority, claims not easily dismissed as lunacy or deception.
Benedict XVI presents this challenge in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, the sequel volume to Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration.
Why was Jesus rejected by the religious leaders of his day? Who was responsible for his death? Did he establish a Church to carry on his work? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? And, most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead and what does his resurrection mean? The story of Jesus raises many crucial questions.
Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor's heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection.

A Study Guide for Joseph Ratzinger's Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (Volume 1)

Mark Brumley

Laura Dittus

Tom Harmon

Ignatius Press

This volume, like each in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible, is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.

Ezra & Nehemiah: (A Theological Bible Commentary from Leading Contemporary Theologians - BTC) (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible)

Brazos Press

The leading figures of the Enlightenment and the Reformation (and leading up to Catholic theologians of our own day) have subjected Catholic understanding of ecclesial hierarchy and sacramental mediation of the priesthood to a withering critique. Christ and the Catholic Priesthood: Ecclesial Hierarchy and the Pattern of the Trinity will establish the foundation for a theology of the hierarchical priesthood based on the hierarchical order of the Trinitarian gift, of love. Matthew Levering's brilliant original study systematically analyzes in detail the nature of Christ's priesthood, Christian hierarchical priesthood, and sacramental mediation. 
 The book's five chapters approach the topic of hierarchy in the Church through Trinitarian and soteriological reflection, unified by dialogical engagement with the biblical, patristic, and metaphysical resources of St. Thomas Aquinas's theology.

Christ and the the Catholic Priesthood: Ecclesial Hierarchy and the Pattern of the Trinity

Hillenbrand Books

Was the Reformation a mistake?In its actual historical context, it hardly seems fair to call the Reformation a "mistake." In 1517, the Church was in need of a spiritual and theological reform. The issues raised by Renaissance humanism - and by the profound corruption of the Church's leaders, the Avignon papacy, and the Great Schism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - lingered unresolved. What were key theological problems that led to the Reformation?Theologian Matthew Levering helps readers see these questions from a Catholic perspective. Surveying nine key themes - Scripture, Mary, Eucharist, Monasticism, Justification and Merit, Saints Priesthood, and Scripture - he examines the positions of Martin Luther and makes a case that the Catholic position is biblically defensible once one allows for the variety of biblically warranted modes of interpreting Scripture. At the same time, Levering makes clear that he cannot "prove" the Catholic case.The book concludes with a spirited response by "mere Protestant" theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer.

Was the Reformation a Mistake?: Why Catholic Doctrine Is Not Unbiblical

Mission Audio

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Books by Matthew Levering