Mysteries of Faith (The New Church's Teaching Series, V. 8)

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Summary: A down to earth eploration of theology and Christ's presence
Review: I found this in the Episcobal convent bookstore after hearing the nuns read in during dinner at our women's retreat. This book does seem to draw you into a divine presence and it felt like that as it was being read to us. McIntosh has a light style of writing that is both simple and profound. He brings complex ideas right into your heart with clarity and sincerity. For anyone who both wants to know more and to feed the faith already flowering, this is a wonderful way to continue the journey.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for Anglican students of Christian doctrines.
Review: Mysteries Of Faith introduces the Christian doctrines of creation, revelation, incarnation, salvation, and eschatology -- all held together by the fundamental doctrine of the Trinity. Mark McIntosh (Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Chicago and associate professor of systematic theology and spirituality at Loyola University) explains the language of relationship and mutuality, friendship and family ties. His central theme is our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with our neighbors, maintaining that its this mutuality that lies at the core of every one of these doctrines. Mysteries Of Faith is an ideal introduction to exploring these essential concepts by drawing on our common experiences as members of a community of faith, especially as reflected through the sacraments of baptism and eucharist, to understand how we might live them in our daily lives. Mysteries Of Faith is highly recommended reading for all students of Christian doctrine and spirituality through an Anglican perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking theologically and spiritually...
Review: The Episcopal church in the twentieth century took advantage of the general availability of publishing to good advantage, compiling through several auspices different collections and teaching series, the latest of which was only completed a few years ago. There have been 'unofficial' collections of teaching texts, such as the Anglican Studies Series by Morehouse press, put out in the 1980s, as well as an earlier teaching series. However, each generation approaches things anew; the New Church Teaching Series, published by Cowley Publications (a company operated as part of the ministry of the Society of St. John the Evangelist - SSJE - one of the religious/monastic communities in the Episcopal church, based in the Boston area) is the most recent series, and in its thirteen volumes, explores in depth and breadth the theology, history, liturgy, ethics, mission and more of the modern Anglican vision in America.

This eighth volume, 'Mysteries of Faith' by Mark McIntosh, looks at various topics that one might find easily in either a systematic philosophical theology course, or in a course on spirituality and mysticism. Various topics in the text include Christology and Trinitarianism, Incarnation, Revelation, Creation, Eschatology and Sacramentality. These terms might seem off-putting and forbidding at the start, and indeed they can be very weighty issues, but McIntosh approaches them in an interesting fashion, looking at the most practical and applicable ways for these topics to impact life in community.

McIntosh states that theology is a sharing in the mystery of God's life. Some churches are suspicious of things that fall under the term 'theology', as if it has little connection with God or scripture, and little connection to anything real. McIntosh helps readers to discover that theology is something done (not merely 'thought about') by Christians all the time, often unawares. Theology should become a habit for us, McIntosh urges, something that we have (from the Latin habere) and something that is a condition of our lives (habitus). Theology is a method for forming a relationship with God and each other. McIntosh's text here reminds me of the statement made about one of my own systematic theology professors in seminary, Clark Williamson; one of his faculty colleagues described to a reluctant theology student that he was able to make theology more than a study, but a real spiritual practice. Exploring the mysteries here really helps this to come alive.

There is no standard theology in Anglicanism to which one must adhere; McIntosh treads lightly over various doctrines and historical issues, as likely to quote a poet or mystic as a more traditionally-termed theologian to help his points come across. This is less a guide of what to think as much as it is an introduction about how to think about crucial issues. How do we begin to know who and what God is? These are things that must be worked out in community, in faithfulness, in recognition both of the tensions of paradoxes and ambiguities, and the fact that this task is a never-ending one.

Mark McIntosh is an Episcopal priest in Chicago, who has also taught systematic theology and spirituality at a Catholic University, Loyola in Chicago. He has written on the topics of Christology and Mystical Spirituality.

Each of the texts is relatively short (only two of the volumes exceed 200 pages), the print and text of each easy to read, designed not for scholars but for the regular church-goer, but not condescending either - the authors operate on the assumption that the readers are genuinely interested in deepening their faith and practice. Each volume concludes with questions for use in discussion group settings, and with annotated lists of further readings recommended.