Systematic theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg, basing his discussion on more than three decades of dialogue between theologians and scientists, here poses theological questions to natural scientists that illuminate his personal position on issues dealing with theology and the natural sciences, especially physics.

Pannenberg says the scientific view of nature is incomplete and challenges scientists to incorporate the idea of God into their picture of nature. First he provides a commentary and critique of groundbreaking insights of post-World War II philosophers of science and offers insight on the sociology of knowledge, which open conversation between theologians and scientists. Then he presents theology as the "science of God," showing that the world we live in is "a creature of a creating God."

One of the more important developments in the field of theology in the past two decades has been a gradual but genuine revival of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity. This fundamental Christian doctrine had been neglected by theologians, who saw it as isolated from practical Christian faith and life. Recently, however, feminist and liberationist, as well as more traditional Catholic and Protestant theologians, have come to see the Trinity not as an abstract doctrine, but instead as dealing with the living and dynamic being and acts of God, and closely related to Jesus Christ and the resurrection as the mystery of salvation. This insight has in many ways become one of the central themes of contemporary theology. In this study, Irish Presbyterian theologian John Thompson provides a survey of the wide variety of modern thought on this important theme, examining the work of figures like Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Jurgen Moltmann, and their views on such issues as the relationship of the trinitarian doctrine to Scripture, the Church, philosophy, politics, and society.

Eve Zelle, a single mother of two, long out of work and in despair over her situation, extended her hand in a moment of desperate prayer and said to God, "If I could only touch you, if I could only touch your hand"--and when she opened her eyes, she was startled to see Jesus in front of her. "He was on his knees holding both my hands with the most compassionate warm eyes that I had ever seen, with strength behind them." Eve had this vision in the late 1980s. Of course, visions of Jesus have been experienced since the earliest days of Christianity, and have been reported throughout the ages--by Catherine of Siena, Ignatius Loyola, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, and many others. But what are we to make of contemporary instances? Are they hallucinations? The result of temporary insanity? Or are they genuine visions, comparable to the appearances of Christ recorded in the Bible? In this thought-provoking volume, Phillip H. Wiebe provides the first critical study of visions of Jesus reported in recent years. Here are intriguing accounts of visions as told by thirty people, most of them ordinary men and women without prior or subsequent experiences of this kind, who remain mystified about having had such experiences. Ernie Hollands, a career criminal born in the slums of Halifax, Nova Scotia, said Christ appeared to him while he was in his cell in Millhaven Penetentiary. Maria Martinez saw Jesus at a busy intersection in Miami, Florida, in 1964. Rose Fairs was lying in bed one morning, wide awake, when the Venetian blinds opened up and the head of Jesus materialized before her. Wiebe recounts each of the visions in vivid detail, and examines the often dramatic changes the apparitions brought about in the lives and beliefs of the subjects. He then explores why these individuals believe their visions were of Jesus, and why they typically believe them to be objective happenings, rather than hallucinations or dreams. Wiebe does weigh the possibility that the experiences could be hallucinatory, and to that end he discusses these phenomena in light of recent literature on the psychology and neurology of visual hallucinations. Additionally, he regards these occurrences from perspectives as diverse as those of biblical scholarship and parapsychology, asking such questions as: Were the subjects only imagining a figure that seemed as real as life? How do these experiences differ from dreams? Could they be imaginative visions produced by angels? How does the Church traditionally regard such phenomena? Wiebe concludes that these contemporary visions of Jesus may well represent genuine religious experiences of a mystical character, the implications of which call out for further study and analysis. The fascinating nature of these visions and Wiebe's thoughtful and evenhanded approach to these reports add up to a book that will make provocative reading for skeptics and the faithful alike.

Chapter One: Christians and Jews: Along a Theological Frontier, by A. Roy Eckhardt Chapter Two: What Do We Really Think of Judaism, by Philip Culbertson Chapter Three:nbsp; Probing the Jewish-Christian Reality, by Paul M. Van Buren Chapter Four:nbsp; Fulfillment Theology and the Future of Jewish-Christian Relations, by Isaac C. Rottenberg Chapter Five:nbsp; The Continuing Need for Judaism, by John Shelby Spong Chapter Six:nbsp; The Uniqueness and Universality of the Holocaust, by Michael Berenbaum Chapter Seven:nbsp; The Holocaust: Its Implications for the Church and Society Problematic, by John T. Pawlikowski Chapter Eight:nbsp; Evangelical Christians and Holocaust Theology, by Stephen T. Davis Chapter Nine:nbsp; The Impact of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue on Biblical Studies, by Eugene J. Fisher Chapter Ten:nbsp; Anti-Semitism and the Christologies of Barth, Berkouwer and Pannenberg, by Eugene B. Borowitz Chapter Eleven:nbsp; Christ Against the Jews:nbsp; A Review of Jon Sobrino's Christology Chapter Twelve:nbsp; A Decade of Catholic-Jewish Relations: A Reassessment, by Henry Siegman Chapter Thirteen:nbsp; A Response to Henry Siegman, by Edward H. Flannery Chapter Fourteen:nbsp; Judaism and Christianity:nbsp; A Theology of Co-existence, by Harold H Ditmanson Chapter Fifteen:nbsp; Toward a New Relationship Between Christians and Jews, by David Cairns

How can we think about God's action in a quantum world of indeterminacy? in a world that began with a Big Bang? in a world in which life evolved & is continually evolving? in a world governed by entropy & heading toward its eventual heat death? Science & Theology: The New Consonance grapples with these seeming conundrums by asking both scientists & religious thinkers to reflect upon possible solutions. Chapter authors include Nobel Prize-winning physicist & inventor of the laser, Charles Townes, along with Pope John Paul II. The resulting interplay between science & theology presses toward consonance, encouraging comparisons, crossovers, & complementarity.