Publications - Uncommon God, Common Good

More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture

By Paul Louis Metzger

Publisher: ‎ IVP Academic (August 8, 2023)

We live in a culture of commodification. People are too often defined by what they do or own; they’re treated as means to an end or cogs in a machine. What goes missing is a deep sense of personhood―the belief that all humans are unique subjects with inherent worth and the right to self-determination in authentic communion with others.

In a world dominated by things, Paul Louis Metzger argues, we must work hard to account for one another’s personhood. We need to cultivate relational structures that honor every human’s dignity in vital interpersonal community.

Connecting Christ

How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths

by Paul Metzger

Publisher: Thomas Nelson 2012

Summary: We live in a multifaith society: an ever-growing, diverse cultural climate, where no religion is viewed as having a monopoly on truth. It is important when that Christ-followers not only share the Word of God but also listen and learn how to interact meaningfully with those of diverse perspectives as we engage in life’s most important conversations.

Connecting Christ encourages believers to be not only better communicators and witnesses but also listeners to people of other worldviews and traditions—skills that are crucial in defending against today’s negative connotations and ineffective approaches associated with Christian evangelism.

A World for All?

Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology

William F. Storrar (Editor), Peter J. Casarella (Editor), Paul Louis Metzger(Editor), Kumi Naidoo (Foreword)

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 2011

Summary: “Does global civil society offer hope of a world for all?” Reflecting on globalization, ethics, and religion, social theorists and theologians consider answers to this pivotal question. In their ecumenical, interdisciplinary dialogue, capped off by five local case studies from around the world, they contemplate a globally inclusive social vision unbounded by national and ethnic borders and examine the ongoing relationship between civil society and the church that worships a Trinitarian God. “ ‘Global civil society’ is the theme of this solid collection of essays. What is it? How might it relate to foundational Christian theology? How does it connect to important ecumenical movements of the twentieth century? What does it look like in practical cases? And can any theorizing about ‘the global’ escape the evils of Western colonial exploitation? The overall result is important dialogue on important world problems in the light of important Christian doctrines.” — Mark A. Noll University of Notre Dame

New Wine Tastings

Theological Essays of Cultural Engagement

by Paul Louis Metzger (Author) and William K. Thompson (Editor)Publisher: Cascade Books 2011

Summary: “This bottling collects a decade’s worth of Paul Louis Metzger’s distinctive engagement with the Bible, the Church and our culture. You won’t find the dreary arcanum of the academy in New Wine Tastings; these essays bristle with biblical and practical perspectives on the most pressing issues of our times. They reveal the heart and mind of a passionate, insightful and often humorous theologian who shows us all how to live into our calling as witnesses to the Gospel. The perfect compliment to your favorite beverage!”
-Robb Redman, author of The Great Worship Awakening: Singing a New Song in the Postmodern Church

The Gospel of John

When Love Comes to Town

by Paul Louis Metzger

Publisher: IVP Books 2011

Summary: In the Resonate series the stories and insights of each book of the Bible are brought into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament. In this volume, we journey through the Gospel of John with Paul Louis Metzger who wrestles with the question of what happens when God, who is love, comes to town and takes up residence among us.

Exploring Ecclesiology

An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction

by Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger

Publisher: Brazos Press 2009

Summary: In this introduction to ecclesiology, respected scholars Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger offer a solidly evangelical yet ecumenical survey of the church in mission and doctrine. Combining biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, this comprehensive text explores the church as a Trinitarian, eschatological, worshiping, sacramental, serving, ordered, cultural, and missional community. It also offers practical application, addressing contemporary church life issues such as women in ministry, evangelism, social action, consumerism in church growth trends, ecumenism, and the church in postmodern culture. The book will appeal to all who are interested in church doctrine, particularly undergraduates and seminarians.

Consuming Jesus

Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church

Summary:

Many Americans think racialization was dismantled along with the Jim Crow legislation that once sustained overt structures of segregation. Unfortunately, today we live under an updated version of segregation, through the subtle power of unchallenged norms of consumer preference. Consumerism affects even the church, reinforcing societal race and class divisions. Intentionally or unintentionally, many churches have set up structures of church growth that foster segregation, like appealing to consumer appetites. Paul Metzger here argues that the evangelical Christian church needs to take the lead in admitting this fault and making the change away from racial and consumer segregation. In addition to sensitivity to structural concerns and the restructuring of key theological themes, critical attention is given to analyzing the prevalent iconography that shapes Evangelicalism. Challenging ways that consumerism fosters ethnic and economic divisions that distort evangelical Christianity, The Consumer Driven Church offers a theologically grounded call to the restructuring of passions, practices, church polity, and priorities, and to the refiguring of the evangelical theo-political imagination around a nobler vision.

Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology

by Paul Metzger

The Word of Christ and the World of Culture

Sacred and Secular Through the Theology of Karl Barth

by Paul Louis Metzger

Summary:

This beautifully constructed work by Paul Louis Metzger explores what Karl Barth, the theological giant of the twentieth century, had to say about the relation of Christianity to modern culture.

Working from an intimate knowledge of all of Barth’s writings, Metzger shows how Barth’s theology offers a constructive synthesis of Christ and culture. Metzger first analyzes Barth’s formative theological period and what it contributed to his thinking about the world. He then focuses on how Barth’s unique doctrine of the Word enabled him to relate Christ to culture in inseparable terms while yet maintaining a distinction between them. The final section of the book traces the way Barth framed culture within his theological model even as he continued to champion the secular domain.