Saving and Secular Faith: An Invitation to Systematic Theology

What does it mean to live by faith? Answers are more elusive than ever. Beginning with a rich discussion of the Reformation legacy historian-theologian B.A. Gerrish responds that if we release our thinking from sectarian partisan lenses we find that faith denotes a multitude of impulses-trust doubt fidelity and confidence-and is a fundamental human posture. It undergirds not only saving faith but also secular varieties in other religious traditions-and even outside religions. We all literally live by faith in every phase of our lives. Gerrishs prolegomenon to theology goes on to ask what then is the use of belief? How in fact do we come to faith? And how are religious and secular faith related especially in relation to Jesus Christ? Gerrish opens up the notion of faith to encompass the discovery of personal meaning in ones existence and the theological drive to articulate the deepest drives of the human self.