Argues that an inclusive vision of God lies at the heart of Christian theology. This book also looks at the need of Liberal theology to stake a claim for the very identity of Christianity itself, showing how mainstream and inclusive values have always been a central strand of Christian thinking and represent the majority view.

Hugh Rayment-Pickard

The Inclusive God

Title page

Copyright information

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

1. Creation

2. Revelation

3. Jesus and the Kingdom

4. Jesus and the Cross

5. Jesus and the Resurrection

6. The Inclusive Church

7. The Inclusive God

Conclusion: Listening Theology

The Church should be inclusive because God is inclusive. Christianity is inclusive to its core. These are the claims made by this groundbreaking, timely and important book. To its critics, inclusive theology is little more than a capitulation to secular pressures, but it has always been at the heart of all Christian service. Today it is rediscovering its radical, missionary voice and its roots in the biblical values of justice and the transformative power of the kingdom. Inclusivity is not simply about whom the church excludes from its life and ministry on the basis of cultural prejudices at any given point in history. It is about the world we share and the life we lead in common with all humanity. It is a joyful affirmation that we are all created and fulfilled by the love of God, and it challenges us to reject every limitation placed on what God has made. The Inclusive God explores what inclusive theology begins to look like when fleshed out by what matters most in Christianity: creation, revelation, Jesus' life, death and resurrection, the church and, above all, the nature of God. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus standing alongside the despised and rejected, eventually becoming the despised outsider himself. The Inclusive God asks are we on his side, or not?

'Its Introduction begins with what to some could be a challenge, "The Church should be inclusive because God is inclusive." The remainder of the book is devoted to fleshing out what inclusion means, in relation to key aspects of Christian belief: creation, revelation, Jesus, and the Church. The ideas expressed in this challenging and inspiring short text have given rise to the praxis-oriented volume of inclusive prayers.' -- Pat Pinsent

Dr Hugh Rayment-Pickard is Area Dean of Kensington and author of Philosophies of History (Blackwell, 2000), Impossible God (Ashgate, 2003), The Myths of Time (DLT, 2004) and The Devil's Account (DLT, 2004). He is a regular columnist for The Church Times. Dr Steven Shakespeare is Anglican Chaplain at Liverpool Hope University and is involved with the Theology and Religious Studies Department. He wrote his PhD on Soren Kierkegaard and is author of Kierkegaard, Language and the Reality of God (Ashgate, 2001) and a number of scholarly articles.

This short, accessible and compelling book argues that an inclusive vision of God lies at the heart of Christian theology. Since the 1960s liberal theology has been driven by social justice issues and an ethic of tolerance. This has not been enough to check the rise of neoconservative theologies that now predominate in the Churches. Liberal theology now needs to stake a claim for the very identity of Christianity itself, showing how mainstream and inclusive values have always been a central strand of Christian thinking and represent the majority view.

'Its Introduction begins with what to some could be a challenge, "The Church should be inclusive because God is inclusive." The remainder of the book is devoted to fleshing out what inclusion means, in relation to key aspects of Christian belief: creation, revelation, Jesus, and the Church. The ideas expressed in this challenging and inspiring short text have given rise to the praxis-oriented volume of inclusive prayers.'

The Good Book Stall

This book is bound to get read by all parties of the Church, if for no other reason that it tackles a current, yet sometimes thorny issue. To be inclusive in any society is almost always difficult, to be an inclusive church, to reclaim an inclusive theology as the authors put it is hard for some and easier for others. This book tells us how we should be in a world of black and white, gay and lesbian, cross cultural, mixed faith. The authors try and put across the need of the gospel imperative, fundamental to our faith and belief and underlining the Pauline doctrine statements of “neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free…” We need also to realise that the need for inclusiveness is not a functional social aspect we have to live with. The authors state that the book challenges us to reject every limitation that we place on ourselves through prejudice or wrong teaching or the way we have been brought up. The content will be agreed by some, challenged by others, but the book is timely enough to be needed to be read.

Inclusive God

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