A Bibliography: Being Human

This represents an initial stab – things I’ve read, touched on, reviewed, been told about, and so on. I’m always up for feedback – and would love to hear your suggestions…

Regular readers will know that I am something of a fan of reading, thinking and occasionally writing about what it means to be human, and what that might mean for us in working out what humans do, how they relate to one another, and to the world around us. In common with other things I’ve invested time, money and ink in, I’ve put together a bibliography. Differing slightly from my popular (and needing to be updated soon…) Bibliography on Sex and Gender, and my Bibliography on Prayer, this is basically directly nicked from my fledgling PhD proposals, with a few other things. As ever, there are linked book reviews where appropriate/extant. It is also a little more organised!

I hope you find it valuable. To see some of the things I’ve done with this set of reading (and intended reading!) do check out my academia.edu profile, where I keep some of the conference papers I’ve done on this topic over the past few years. In the earliest of these (SST Postgraduate Conference, Oxford, Jan 2014) I explored a model or suggestion of understanding the human subject trhough a theological lens that I find helpful and fruitful.

One good overview of this topic from the specific perspective of Theological Anthropology is Marc Cortez’s “Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed“. You can also find a condensed version of this bibliography in a recent blog post.

There are/will be major works missing, but this reflects the status of my formal research – currently in hiatus!

Some Key Texts (In my opinion!)

Barth, K. (1958). Church Dogmatics: Volume III The Doctrine of Creation: Part One, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh)
Davies, O. (2013). Theology of Transformation: Faith, Freedom and the Christian Act, (Oxford University Press, Oxford) [Especially/initially ch. Living Doctrine: Transformation and Trinity] Ed. Crisp and Sanders, The Christian Doctrine of Humanity: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics, (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2018)
Grenz, S. (2001). The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of the Imago Dei, (Westminster John Knox, Louisville)
Kelsey, D. (2009). Eccentric Existence: A Theological Anthropology, (Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville) [Two volumes] (2007).
– The Human Creature, in eds., Webster, Tanner, Torrance, The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology, (Oxford University Press, Oxford) [This is a helpful introductory essay, setting the scene for Kelsey’s later work on Humanity] Kilner, J. F. (2015). Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Middleton, R. (2005). The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1, (Brazos Press, Grand Rapids) This is a brilliant book that should be widely read!
O’Donovan, O. (2013). Self, World, and Time: Ethics as Theology Vol. 1, (Eerdmans, Cambridge) [in fairness, this whole trilogy!] Pannenberg, W. (1985). Anthropology in Theological Perspective, (T&T Clark, London)
Radner, e. (2016) A Time to Keep: theology, mortality, and the shape of a human life, (Baylor University Press, Waco)
Snodgrass, Klyne R. (2018). Who God Says You Are: A Christian Understanding of Identity, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Spaemann, R. (2012). Love and the Dignity of Human Life: On Nature and Natural Law, (Eerdmans, Cambridge)
Thiselton, A. (2007). The Hermeneutics of Doctrine, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids
– (1995). Interpreting God and the Postmodern Self: On Meaning, Manipulation and Promise, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh,)
Webster, J. (2003). Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)

Theology of the Body/Incarnation

Ed. Arthur, L. B. (1999). Religion, Dress and the Body, (Berg, Oxford)
Barth, K. (1960). The Humanity of God, (Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville)
Brown, P. (2008). The Body and Society: Men, Women, & Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, (Columbia University Press, New York)
Cortez, M. (2008). Embodied Souls, Ensouled Bodies: An Exercise in Christological Anthropology and its Significance for the Mind/Body Debate, (T&T Clark, London)
Crisp, O. D. (2009). God Incarnate: Explorations in Christology, (T&T Clark, London)
Gooder, Paula, Body: Biblical Spirituality for the Whole Person, (SPCK, London, 2016)
Green, J. (2008). Body, Soul, and Human Life, The Nature of Humanity in the Bible, (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids)
Kent, E. (2010). Embodied Evangelicalism: The body of Christ and the Christian body, p. 108-123 in Ed., Tom Greggs, New Perspectives for Evangelical Theology: Engaging with God, Scripture, and the World, (Routledge, Abingdon)
Larchet, Jean-Claude, Theology of The Body, (SVS Press, 2017)
McClean, J. A Search for the Body: Is there Space for Christ’s Body in Pannenberg’s Eschatology?, p. 91-108 in ed. Holmes, S. International Journal of Systematic Theology, Vol. 14, No. 1, Jan 2012.
Meilaender, G. (2013). BioEthics: A Primer for Christians, (Eerdmans, Cambridge)
Prokes, M. (1996). Toward a Theology of the Body, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh)
Rogers, E. F. (2000). Sexuality and the Christian Body: Their Way into the Triune God, (Blackwell, Oxford)

Theology of Relationality/Trinity

Boff, L. (2000). Holy Trinity, Perfect Community, (Orbis, Maryknoll) (1992). Trinity and Society, (Burns & Oates, Tunbridge Wells)
Coakley, S. (2013). God, Sexuality, and the Self, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
Eds. Davis, S.T., Kendall SJ, D., Collins SJ, G. (2002). The Trinity, (Oxford, Oxford University Press)
Fretheim, T. E. (2005). God and the World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation, (Abingdon, Nashville)
Gunton, C. (1991). The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh)
Holmes, S. R. (2012). The Holy Trinity: Understanding God’s Life, (Paternoster, Milton Keynes)
Jenson, R. W. (1992). The Triune Identity: God according to the Gospel, (Wipf and Stock, Eugene)
Ed. Metzger, P. L. (2005) Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology, (T&T Clark, London)
LaCugna, C. M. (1993). God For Us: The Trinity & Christian Life, (Harper Collins, New York) McFadyen, A. I. (1990). The Call to Personhood: A Christian Theory of the Individual in Social Relationships, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990)
Moltmann, J. (2005). The Trinity and the Kingdom of God, (SCM Press, London)
Otto, R. E. (1992). The Imago Dei as Familitas, Journal of the Evangelical Theology Society, 35/4 (December 1992) 503-513
Smail, T. (2006). Like Father, Like Son: The Trinity imaged in our humanity, (Paternoster, Milton Keynes)
Shults, R. (2003). Reforming Theological Anthropology: After the Philosophical Turn to Relationality, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Storkey, M. (1996). The Search for Intimacy, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Tataryn M. & Truchan-Tataryn, M. (2013). Recovering Trinity in Disability: A Theology for Embracing Difference, (Orbis, Maryknoll)

Secondary Sources – General

Ahgren, G. T. W. (1999). The Human Person and the Church, (Orbis, Maryknoll)
Anderson, R. S. (1982). On Being Human: Essays in Theological Anthropology, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Bonhoeffer, D. (2009). Act and Being, (Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis)
– (1997). Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1-3, (Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis)
Gresham Machen, J. (1965). The Christian View of Man, (Banner of Truth, London)
Fulford, B. (2013). Divine Eloquence and Human Transformation: Rethinking Scripture and History in through Gregory of Nazianzus and Hans Frei, (Fortress Press, Minneapolis)
Ed., Greggs, T. (2010). New Perspectives for Evangelical Theology: Engaging with God, Scripture, and the World, (Routledge, Abingdon)
Hall, D. J. (1986). Imaging God: Dominion as Stewardship, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids) Hill, E. (1984). Being Human, (Geoffrey Chapman, London)
Kirchhoffer, D. G., Horner, R. H., McArdle, P. (2013). Being Human: Groundwork for a Theological Anthropology for the 21st Century, (Mosaic Press, Preston)
Knell, Matthew, Sin, Grace and Free Will: A Historical Survey of Christian Thought: Volume 1 – The Apostolic Fathers to Augustine, (Lutterworth Press, Cambridge, 2017)
Eds., Lints, R., Horton, M. S., Talbot, M. R. (2006). Personal Identity in Theological Perspective, (Eerdmans, Cambridge)
Lints, Richard, Identity and Idolatry: The Image of God and its inversion, (IVP, London, 2016)
Macaulay, M. & Barrs, J. (1978). Being Human: The Nature of Spiritual Experience, (Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove)
Mackey, J. P. (2006). Christianity and Creation: The Essence of the Christian Faith and Its Future among Religions, (Continuum, London)
McConville, J. Gordon, Being Human in God’s World: An Old Testament Theology of Humanity (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2016)
McFarland, I. A. (2005). The Divine Image: Envisioning the Invisible God, (Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis)
Moltmann, J. (1996). The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology, (SCM Press, London)
– (1974). Man, (SPCK, London)
Novello, H. L. (2011). Death as Transformation: A Contemporary Theology of Death, (Ashgate, Farnham)
O’Donovan, O. (1994). Resurrection and Moral Order, (Apollos, Leicester)
Palin, D. A. (1990). The Anthropological Character of Theology: Conditioning Theological Understanding, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
Polkinghorne, J. (2002). The God of Hope and the End of the World, (SPCK, London)
Eds., Polkinghorne, J. & Welker, M. (2000). The End of the World and the Ends of God: Science and Theology on Eschatology, (Trinity Press International, Harrisburg)
Eds., Porter & Malcolm. (2013). Horizons in Hermeneutics: A Festschrift in Honor of Anthony C. Thiselton, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Schwarz, H. (2013). The Human Being: A Theological Anthropology, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Stevenson, L. (1974). Seven Theories of Human Nature, (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
Thiselton, A. (2013). The Holy Spirit – In Biblical Teaching, through the Centuries, and Today, (Eerdmans. Cambridge)
– (2012). The Last Things: A new approach, (SPCK, London)
Ed. Welker, M. (2014). The Depth of the Human Person: A Multidisciplinary Approach, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids)
Williams, R. (2018). Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons, (SPCK, London)
Wright, C. (2006). The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s grand narrative, (IVP, Nottingham)
Zimmerman, J. (2012). Incarnational Humanism, (InterVarsity Press, Grand Rapids)32

Secondary Sources – Sexuality, Gender and Disability (See also my bibliography on Sex/Gender, and one on Disability)

Anderson, C. B. (2004). Women, Ideology, and Violence: Critical Theory and the Construction of Gender in the Book of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic Law, (T&T Clark, London)
Ed. Borresen, K. E. (1995). The Image of God: Gender Models in Judaeo-Christian Tradition, (Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis)
Eds., Brock B., and Swinton, J. (2012). Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader, (Eerdmans, Cambridge)
Davidson, R. M. (2007). Flame of Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament, (Hendricksen, Peabody) Eiesland, E. L. (1994). The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability, (Abingdon Press, Nashville)
Foucault, M. (1998). The Will to Knowledge [The History of Sexuality: 1], (Penguin, London)
– (1992). The Use of Pleasure [The History of Sexuality: 2], (Penguin, London)
– (1990). The Care of The Self [The History of Sexuality: 3], (Penguin, London)
Irigaray, L., Burke and Gill, trans. (1993). An Ethics of Sexual Difference”, (Athlone Press, London) Eds., Magnusson E., and Marecek, J. (2012). Gender and Culture in Psychology: Theories and Practices, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
Martin, F. (1994). The Feminist Question: Feminist Theology in the light of Christian Tradition, (T&T Clark, Edinburgh)
Reinders, H. S. (2008). Recieving the Gift of Friendship: Profound Disability, Theological Anthropology and Ethics, (Eerdmans, Cambridge)
Roberts, C. C. (2007). Creation & Covenant: The Significance of Sexual Difference in the Moral Theology of Marriage, (T & T Clark, London)
Storkey, E. (2000). Men and Women: Created or Constructed, (Paternoster, Carlisle)
Thielicke, H. trans. Doberstein, J. W. (1978). The Ethics of Sex, (James Clarke & Co. LTD., Cambridge)
Tribble, P. (1978). God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, (SCM Press, London)

Secondary Sources – Biblical Studies/Hermeneutics (This list could be infinite)

Hermeneutics/Biblical Theology

Eds., Barclay, J. M. G., Gathercole, S. J. (2008). Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment, (T&T Clark, London)
Eds. Barrett, M., Caneday, A. B. (2013). Four Views on the Historical Adam, (Zondervan, Grand Rapids)
Childs, B. S. (2001). Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christian Bible, (Fortress, Minneapolis)
Susan G. Eastman, Paul and the Person: Reframing Paul’s Anthropology, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2017)
Habgood, J. (1998). Being a Person: Where Faith and Science Meet, (Hodder & Stoughton, London)
eds., Hays, C. M., and Ansberry, C. B. (2013). Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism, (SPCK, London)
Holcomb, J. S. (2006). Christian Theologies of Scripture, (New York University Press, New York)
Kelsey, D. (1999). Proving Doctrine: The Uses of Scripture in Modern Theology, (Trinity Press International, Harrisburg)
Knowles, R. (2012). Anthony C. Thiselton and The Grammar of Hermeneutics: The Search for a Unified Theory, (Paternoster, Milton Keynes
Lakey, M. (2010). Image and Glory of God: , (Continuum, London)
Ed. Philips, R. D. (2015). God, Adam and You: Biblical Creation Defended and Applied, (P&R Publishing, Philipsburg) [My review of this is forthcoming in Churchman] Routledge, R. (2010). Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach, (Apollos, Nottingham) Smith, J. K. A. (2012). The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic, (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids)
Thiselton, A. (2005). The Two Horizons: New Testament Hermeneutics and Philosophical Description with special reference to Heidegger, Bultmann, Gadamer and Wittgenstein, (Paternoster, Milton Keynes)
– (1992). New Horizons in Hermeneutics: The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading, (Marshall Pickering, London)
Vanhoozer, K. (1998). Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge, (Zondervan, Grand Rapids)

Selected/Initial Commentaries on Genesis

Bandstra, B. (2008). Genesis 1-11: a Handbook on the Hebrew Text, (Baylor University Press, Waco)
Brueggemann, W. (1982). Genesis, (John Knox Press, Atlanta)
von Rad, G. (1972). Genesis, (SCM Press, London)
Collins, C. J. (2006). Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary, (P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg)
Cotter, D. W. (2003). Genesis, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville) [Berit Olam] McKeown, J. (2008). Genesis, (Eerdmans, Cambridge) [Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary] Reno, R. R. (2010). Genesis, (Brazos Press, Grand Rapids) [Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible] Sarna, N. M. (1989). Genesis: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, Commentary, (The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia) [The JPS Torah Commentary] Skinner, J. (1910). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis, (Scribner, New York) [International Critical Commentary] Speiser, E. A. (1964). Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes, (Doubleday & Company, New York) [Anchor Yale Bible] Wenham, G. (1998). Genesis 1-15, (Word Incorporated, Dallas) [Word Biblical Commentary] Westermann, C. (1994). A Continental Commentary: Genesis 1-11, (Fortress Press, Minneapolis)

Selected/Initial Commentaries on 1 Corinthians

Barrett, C. K. (1971). The First Epistle to the Corinthians, (A&C Black, London) [Black’s New Testament Commentary] Conzelmann, H. (1975). 1 Corinthians: a Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, (Fortress Press, Philadelphia) [Hermeneia] Fee, G. D. (1991). The First Epistle to the Corinthians, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids) [New International Commentary on the New Testament] Garland, D. E. (2003). 1 Corinthians, (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids) [Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament] Hering, J. (1962). The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, (The Epworth Press, London)
Kovacs, J. L. (2005). 1 Corinthians Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators, (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids) [The Church’s Bible] Robertson, A, and Plummer, A. (1911). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, (T&T Clark, New York) [International Critical Commentary] Thiselton, A. (2000). The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, (Eerdmans, Cambridge) [New International Greek Testament Commentary]