Winds of the Spirit: A Constructive Christian Theology

by Peter C. Hodgson

Theology, if it is to be a dynamic force in the world and not a lifeless relic, needs to be a continual process of reinterpretation, says Peter Hodgson. This sweeping reconstruction of theology in the postmodern period is a return to the process of continual theological revisioning through a systematic theology that has seemingly been abandoned by postmodern thinkers.

Genres: Theology

440 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 1994

About the author

Peter Crafts Hodgson

Reviews

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, unabashedly liberal theology that draws on liberation theology, Feminist theology, process thought, Paul Tillich, and most of all, Hegel. Hodgson goes all in on the idea that the world affects the very being of God--e.g., he argues that the Holy Spirit is not a preexistent "person" but emerges from the interaction between God and the world. Theology needs to address the most pressing concerns of our time, which he argues are 1) the liberation of the oppressed, 2) the ecological crisis, and 3) religious pluralism. God, for Hodgson, is "the One who loves in freedom" and who empowers humanity (and all creation) to achieve greater freedom, love, and wholeness.

My own theological tendencies are more "orthodox" than Hodgson's, but he highlights some of the biggest challenges facing Christianity and provides constructive and provocative answers. I'll be thinking about this book for some time and following up on its ideas.