The Christian Century
“Twenty-first-century Christians might feel that ‘Christian believing is deeply problematic,’ writes Douglas Ottati. Theology, he says, should not provide soothing, ready-made truths. Instead, he seeks to ‘identify the task at hand’ and respond with ‘good theology.’ He succeeds.”

“Douglas Ottati’s one-volume systematics is a major theological production. With typical clarity, learning, and insight, his writing is immersed in the traditions of Christian faith, while always remaining alert to the challenges of modernity. In exploring Christianity’s central doctrines, he seeks to furnish the church with some much-needed ‘theological acuity’ for its life and practice.”
— David Fergusson
University of Edinburgh

“A Theology for the Twenty-First Century explores Augustinian, Protestant, liberal, and humanist traditions for wisdoms relevant to twenty-first century constructive Christian theology. Structurally, the book is organized around three Trinitarian convictions which correlate claims about God with the relevant features of humans and the world. This creative theology results in deeply compelling practical wisdoms for the twenty-first century and what Douglas Ottati calls ‘hopeful realism.’”
— Mary McClintock Fulkerson
Duke Divinity School

“Rarely has the exposition of a set of theological propositions been so spiritually refreshing, so intellectually stimulating, and so ethically challenging as Douglas Ottati’s Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Like his own Reformed tradition’s approach to confessions, he gives a faithful account of Christianity for these times, consonant with the church’s scriptures, with theological tradition, and with our contemporary knowledge. He has excelled in this endeavor, and his work will endure as ‘a theology that speaks to all Christians.’”
— William Storrar
director, Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey

“It is always a wonder to witness a theologian delve so deeply into the ancient scriptures as Douglas Ottati does here. With characteristic wit and erudition, this unapologetically liberal theologian offers a systematic theology filled with wonderment and discernment. Matching his depth of engagement with Scripture is his breadth of coverage in addressing human experience in such a time as this, from the limit-questions of science to the challenges of parenting, from the ravages of racism to the ecological hope for a new creation. As vast as it is, this theological summa remains firmly grounded in the paradigm of Christ as God’s living Word and wisdom. And that, too, is a wonder.”
— William P. Brown
Columbia Theological Seminary

“Ottati has attempted something too few Christian theologians any longer feel obliged to provide—a systematically coherent account of all the major doctrines of the faith. But beyond this, he serves Christians in the twenty-first century well by attending to the unique challenges of our times: globalization, climate crisis, the resurgence of racially and ethnically defined hatreds, interfaith relations and claims to unique possession of truth, and the struggle to renew the institutions of civil society (among others). His vision, grounded in the Augustinian and Reformed traditions, is realistic yet hopeful. Highly recommended.”
— Dawn DeVries
Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

“With characteristic wisdom and candor, Ottati presents a vision of participation in God’s world that comprises a generous response to the fear, anxiety, and world denial that marks much of contemporary life today. A Theology for the Twenty-First Century is a guide for learners who long for critically reflective dialogue that remains deeply rooted in Christian faith and practice, as well as in the best impulses of the Reformed tradition to ‘seek truth wherever it may be found.’ This book will be an essential teaching tool in classrooms and congregations for many years to come.”
— Tanner Capps
St. Andrews University

“Cynically, I had assumed that institutional Christianity was in decline, that liberalism was dead, and that even evangelicalism had fractured beyond repair. Worse, I assumed that the age of systematic theologies—those comprehensive, rational, and internally coherent accounts of the Christian faith one associated with such luminaries as Aquinas, Calvin, and Barth—had come and gone. Thankfully, Douglas Ottati has proven me wrong on both counts by

Douglas F. Ottati is Craig Family Distinguished Professor of Reformed Theology and Justice at Davidson College in North Carolina. He taught for many years at what is now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and is a past president of the Society of Christian Ethics. He is also a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Among his other books are Jesus Christ and Christian Vision and Hopeful Realism: Reclaiming the Poetry of Theology.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Point of View
Part One: Method
     1. A Conception of Christian Theology
     2. The Formation and Arrangement of Theological Statements
Part Two: Creation
     3. The Constitution of the Dynamic World: Cosmic Ecology
     4. The Dynamic Continuation of the World: Cosmic Passage
     5. Created and Sustained Human Life
     6. God the Creator
Part Three: Redemption
     7. Jesus Christ and the Covenant of Grace
     8. The Truth, the Way, and the Life
     9. The Spirit and the Church
     10. Human Life: Sin and Regeneration
     11. The Fragmentation and Renewal of the World: Civil Government, Church, and Sustainability
     12. God the Redeemer
Epilogue: The Sense the Trinity Makes