Tuesday 23 September 2008

Propositions on Christian theology: a new book by Kim Fabricius!

Kim Fabricius’ delightful “propositions” are well known to F&T readers. Kim starting posting his propositions here back in early 2006 – and he went on to write dozens of posts, exploring everything from prayer and preaching to hell and heresy, from pacifism and ecumenism to Barth and baseball. Kim’s posts have always attracted a lot of attention (they are by far the most widely-read and widely-cited posts on this blog) – in fact, his writing was so popular that the folk at Carolina Academic Press approached him about turning his posts into a book.

And so I’m very happy to announce that Kim’s book will be hitting the shelves very soon: Propositions on Christian Theology: A Pilgrim Walks the Plank (Carolina Academic Press, 2008), 228 pp. It’s currently available from Amazon, or at a pre-publication discount from the publishers.

Propositions on Christian Theology comes with a foreword by Mike Higton, and it features revised versions of Kim’s various propositions, accompanied by hymns on the same themes. Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

“In this little book, a kind of contemporary enchiridion, Kim Fabricius engages some of the main themes of Christian theology in prose, poetry, and song (his own hymns). It does not aim to be systematic or comprehensive; rather it goes straight to the main contested areas in the church today, the red-button issues in doctrine, spirituality, culture, ethics, and politics. Fabricius’s imaginative vision and lively conversational style – moving freely between the interrogative and the polemical, the playful and the profound – invite us all to the vertiginous experience of faith. The book’s concise format and no-nonsense approach make it a perfect guide for inquiring Christians as well as committed disciples and an ideal discussion-starter for both church groups and college classes. The author’s passionate commitment to a self-critical faith is a provocative invitation to religion’s cultured despisers to join him – if they dare – on the plank.”

And here’s what Stanley Hauerwas has to say about it:

“With wit, wisdom, and deceptive learning, Fabricius has written the book we have desperately desired, that is, a book we can give a friend who asks, ‘What is all this Christian stuff about?’”
—Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School

15 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Kim!

I can't wait to get my hands on this book, and, more important, to put it into my students' hands. It's just the thing to get a lively conversation going in a potentially boring theology seminar.

Best wishes on the book's success.

Doug Harink

Unknown said...

To echo Doug's comments, as a teacher of theology I am delighted to hear of this publication. It takes just the right kind of stated "proposition" to get proper theological "disputation" going. Thanks, Kim, for this work.

Anonymous said...

Woo Hoo!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic!!

Richard Beck said...

Congratulations, Kim.

I remember a few years ago I did an Advent service for some friends where I cut up and handed out Kim's 10 Propositions on Being Human, parts of Walt Whitman's I Sing the Body Electric, and selected nativity passages from the gospels. The selections were randomly handed out with each person reading a proposition from Kim, a part of Whitman's poem, and a reading from the gospels. The juxtapositions of theology, gospel, and poetry that night were wonderful. So, thanks again, Kim.

Dave Belcher said...

Wonderful news, Kim! And a great comment from Stan the Man. Looking forward to re-reading these again...(or for the first time in some cases, I'm sure). Peace.

Anonymous said...

In Christian charity and with all humility, I feel I must inform Mr Myers that I have responded to this post on my blog.

Anonymous said...

Aha! Brilliant!

Erin said...

Congratulations, Kim! :)

Anonymous said...

I'll have a guess and you can tell me if I'm anywhere close? Here goes:

Ten propositions on Christian Theology
1. Mathematics proceeds by building on the work of one's predecessors, but theology proceeds by demolishing the work of one's predecessors and then seeing what one can rebuild using smaller bricks.
2. The bible tells us about God, but theology tells us about theologians.
3. Theologians are apt to use the word "Trinitarian" to mean anything which has a threesomeness about it, irrespective of whether that threesomeness is anything to do with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
4. Theology is the Queen of the Sciences, but the word "Queen" needs to be redefined before this truth can be fully appreciated.
5. Theological argumentation frequently proceeds by the employment of multitudes of polysyllabic utterances instead of by a few short words.
6. Of the making of many books about Christian Theology there is no end.
7. As fools have longed to play Hamlet so have theologians longed to write treatises about God.
8. The question of whether the greatest Christian Theologian ever believed that 'All Cretans are liars' is still unanswered.
9. A real theologian would never have written ten propositions such as these about Christian Theology.
10. There is no statement of Christian Theology which is so awesome that it cannot be enriched by a cup of tea.

How did I do?

Yours in Christ - JOHN HARTLEY.

byron smith said...

Kim - congratulations!
Ben - are your images included? (I've always assumed the images are your addition - am I wrong?)
Richard - your reply is priceless. I would have said this on your blog, but since Ben has stolen Kim, he might as well steal the comments too.

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Kim! Perhaps you could turn this into a series? You know, do a book of propositions on Social Theory, another on Classical Literature, and so on.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments now, and for all "the learned and astute comments" to my Ps. that you made when they were first posted. That's how I describe your interventions in the Introduction to the book, and why I go on to say that "My work is now the work of others too." It really was a collaborative enterprise. The book is just the smoke above the factory.

And, of course, Ben and F&T. I still feel like a camel that has somehow managed to squeeze through a needle into this kingdom of Blog.

Cheers,
Kim

Anonymous said...

If i may prod a bit, why would i buy this books when all these propositions are on F&T? I mean, what reasons other than to support Kim, which in and of itself is a worthy reason?

Are there new propositions in this Kim? I for one hope so.

David Williamson said...

Congratulations, Kim! This is fantastic. It could be the greatest thing to come of South Wales since they found coal!

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