Theological Method, Imagination, & Inquiry
Textbook (E-Book)
is an introductory coursebook that welcomes readers with no prior background into the heart of Christian theology. Structured as a journey in three phases — Setting Out, Encounters, and Community & Repair — the book's ten chapters guide students from the first stirrings of wonder through encounters with tradition, mystery, and beauty, and finally into questions of community, worship, and repair. Each chapter is anchored by paired terms drawn from Hebrew, Greek, and other traditions, inviting readers to trace a single idea as it moves across languages and centuries. Written for the university classroom, the book assumes no faith commitment and no prior coursework in religion; it asks only that readers bring curiosity and a willingness to listen. The text opens and closes on the same word — Shema, "hear" — tracing a reader's transformation from a first hearing to a second, more attentive one. (Explore the text )
Introduction
Chapter 1: Wonder and Wisdom (Yirah [יראה], Thaumazein [θαυμάζειν])
Chapter 2: Reason in Pursuit of Truth (Hochmah [חכמה], Memra [מימרא], and Logos [λόγος])
Chapter 3: The Pilgrimage of Knowing (Derek [דרך], Halakhah [הלכה], and Methodos [μέθοδος])
Chapter 4: Bridging the Seen and Unseen (Keshet, Merkabah, and Iris Across Traditions)
Chapter 5: Service Through Transmission (Mesorah [מסורה], Shimmush [שימוש], and Diakonia [διακονία])
Chapter 6: Unveiling Mystery Through Intellect (Galah [גלה], Apokalypsis [ἀποκάλυψις], and Energeia [ἐνέργεια])
Chapter 7: The Way of Beauty (Tov [טוב] and Kalokagathia [καλοκαγαθία])
Chapter 8: Participation Across Difference (Chavruta [חברותא], Kehillah [קהילה], and Koinonia [κοινωνία])
Chapter 9: Work of the People (Avodah [עבודה] and Leitourgia [λειτουργία])
Chapter 10: The Golden Seam (Kintsugi, Lev Nishbar [לב נשבר], and Tikkun Olam [תיקון עולם])
Conclusion
Cyrus Paul Olsen III is Professor of Theology/Religious Studies and the First Year Seminar/Core Capstone Coordinator at The 麻豆原创; Affiliate Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School; Research Fellow, AI&Faith; and Adjunct Faculty, Sacred Heart University, Dingle Campus, Dingle, Ireland. His academic work brings theology into conversation with the natural sciences, medical anthropology, and social network analytics. He engages questions of belonging with his research team at Harvard Medical School for their Templeton World Charity Foundation grant titled “Buffering, Porosity, and Brain Health in Uganda” (). Cyrus Paul Olsen III, cyrus.olsen@scranton.edu