Veli-Matti Käkkäinen ist Professor für systematische Theologie am Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Kalifornien. Er hat zahlreiche Artikel in internationalen theologischen Fachzeitschriften veröffentlicht. Seine Arbeit befasst sich mit tiefgreifenden theologischen Konzepten und untersucht deren zeitgenössische Relevanz und vielschichtigen Verbindungen innerhalb des theologischen Diskurses.
Focusing on the concept of triune revelation, Veli-Matti Karkkainen explores the nature of the triune God while engaging with Christian tradition and contemporary theology. The book also examines the diverse global context of faith, facilitating a dialogue with other major living religions. Karkkainen's work aims to construct a theology that is both relevant and inclusive, addressing the complexities of faith in today's world.
In Christ and Reconciliation Veli-Matti Karkkainen develops a constructive Christology and theology of salvation in dialogue with the best of Christian tradition, with contemporary theology in its global and contextual diversity, and with other major living faiths. Karkkainen's Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World is a five-volume project that aims to develop a new approach to and method of doing Christian theology in our pluralistic world at the beginning of the third millennium. Topics such as diversity, inclusivity, violence, power, cultural hybridity, and justice are part of the constructive theological discussion along with classical topics such as the messianic consciousness, incarnation, atonement, and the person of Christ. With the metaphor of hospitality serving as the framework for his discussion, Karkkainen engages Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in sympathetic and critical mutual dialogue while remaining robustly Christian in his convictions. Never before has a full-scale doctrinal theology been attempted in such a wide and deep dialogical mode.
This innovative book introduces main Christian doctrines and beliefs for thoughtful Christians and seekers in a manner understandable and meaningful for people living in a religiously pluralistic, complex, and secular world. Different from any other titles available, it engages not only Christian tradition and Bible but also the insights from natural sciences and four living faiths and their teachings: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. It also includes global and contextual voices such as those of women, minorities, and testimonies of the global church. Based on wide and comprehensive academic research--including the author's groundbreaking five-volume A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World (2013-17), this book is meant for a general audience, interested laypeople, lay leaders, ministers without formal academic training, and beginning theology and religion students. It is also highly useful for pastors and theologians who often find overly technical presentations less useful. The style of writing is conversational and inviting for dialogue and discussion.
This third volume of Veli-Matti Karkkainen's ambitious five volume theology project develops a Christian theology of creation and humanity (theological anthropology) in dialogue with the Christian tradition, with contemporary theology in all its global and contextual diversity, and with other major living faiths - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In constructing his theology of creation and humanity, Karkkainen uniquely engages the natural sciences, including physical, cosmological, and neuroscientific theories. He devotes particular attention to the topics of divine action in a world subjected to scientific study, environmental pollution, human flourishing, and the theological implications of evolutionary theory - with regard to both cosmos and humanity.