Read the following Reading Assignments and follow the Assignment Description given to complete assignment. I have also attacked an example from the instructor. Keepi in mind that there is an assignment for Chapter 2 and and assignment for Chapter 3.

McGrath Reading Report Example Theology and Tradition

Instructions Please follow the format as shown below—i.e., give the heading for each paragraph. See the syllabus for explicit questions that must be discussed and included. Among those things listed, two things are very important for every reading: the writer’s place in theological history (e.g., below Cyril is a “Patristic” writer) and the main idea/thesis of the reading selection. Your discussion of the thesis can include some summary, but you need to make clear what the writer’s main argument (thesis) is. Obviously, longer selections will need a longer discussion. In addition to this material, you also have to include some evaluative material either for one of the works or all of them together. That is, tell what you agree/disagree with, why does the idea work or not work, etc. You don’t need evaluative comments on each selection (though that is welcome), you just need to have it, at least, for one or for all together. See the syllabus for further details. For my example below I give 2-3 sentences summarizing main points and then weave in my evaluative comments. Reading Report Example: 2.7 Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) on the Role of Creeds – Patristic In his instructions to new believers, Cyril provides a rationale for why learning the creed is important. Creeds provide a summary or distillation of the truth found in the Old and New Testaments. He argues that these capture “the faith in its totality”. I agree that the creed (I am thinking here of the Nicene Creed) captures the heart of the Christian faith, its essence. However, the creeds are notable for their lack of mention of the story of Israel and how God’s action through Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit serve as the fulfillment of this larger story of the history of redemption, which is necessary to understand God’s work and intention fully. Another topic which Cyril addresses is the relationship between Scripture and tradition. In my protestant tradition, scripture is often placed in opposition to tradition, but I think Cyril’s conception is more helpful. Scripture and tradition work in tandem, and the heart of tradition is a means of passing down scriptural truths to others. The creed doesn’t go against scripture, it summarizes some of it key points. According to our lectures and the textbook, creeds serve as a form of ecumenical tradition and so form a greater claim on us than other more local or particular traditions. 1.28 Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1945) on God in a Secular World – Protestant Though Bonhoeffer writes in the middle of the 1900’s, he is still battling the challenges of the Enlightenment (1650-1900). As we discussed in the lecture on Church History, reason (according to the secular Enlightenment perspective) has replaced God in society, and so now things should be considered “etsi deus non daretur (as if there were no God).” Bonhoeffer compares how deists and pantheists functionally remove an active God from the picture. Christians, however, don’t see God as removed from the picture, as the “deus ex machina,” but rather they focus on God’s action in the world through the suffering Christ. 1.34 George Lindbeck (1984) on Postliberal Approaches to Doctrine – Protestant Lindbeck . . .