In spite of the fact that it is often ignored, one of the interesting features in the thought of some of the early Church Fathers, was a considerable skill at language and logical analysis. Given the basic liberal disciplines of Greco-Roman education it is not surprising that those Fathers who were fortunate enough to receive formal education were able to utilise the skills of rhetoric and logic as well as other skills of the liberal arts. Also it is ńot surprising that later great thinkers of the church informed by the liberal arts and by the writings of the earlier Fathers should make use of these skills. This is surely the case with Saint Augustine.

Our present century has seen an increasing opposition to creeds and doctrinal statements of faith. Perhaps the most significant was that of Dr W. R. Matthews, Dean of St. Paul's in his little book The Thirty-Nine Articles (1961). There he summarised his arguments for setting aside the Articles, which he had previously put forward in the columns of The Times, and which had led to much correspondence. Many feared such a proposal could lead to the disruption and disestablishment of the Church of England, and thought it better to let sleeping Articles lie. In America an attempt at a compromise was reached by the publication in 1965 of a booklet containing creeds and confessions of historic worth together with a new confession of faith.

Paul Tillich's philosophical theology is a gift which promises to enrich us if we ride with it for some time before dismounting to look into its mouth. Once we peer down its throat to investigate how loosely the existentialist fillings cover the cavities of the idealistic teeth only the background of that ride prevents us from picking holes that would give too distorted a view of the whole. Meaningful wholes are prevented from becoming mere holes in a hole. Such a background is assumed here, as are the inevitable limitations implied by this assumption. Even with all the fillings removed, Tillich's thought is too vibrant with life to be fitted artificially into a mould cast by any of the idealistic predecessors who significantly influenced him. A balanced picture of some of the major nineteenth-century theological influences on Tillich would have to include, besides the ontological idealism of Hegel, the experiential idealism of Schleiermacher and Herrmann, and the existential idealism of Schelling. Complementing the influence of idealism, both the negative influence of scientific historical research and the kerygmatic–existentialist influence of Kahler and Kierkegaard penetrate to the roots of Tillich's thought. Even so, Tillich's systematic theology reflects decisively the glory and the limitation of Hegel's comprehensive ontological philosophy. By focussing on this we are able to move beyond the many general remarks that have been made by critics concerning the Hegelian influence, or the lack of it, in Tillich's thought to a more detailed analysis and a clearer picture of some of the similarities and differences.

Word and sacrament belong together in the Christian life. It has been one of the achievements of the renewal of Christendom in the present century to overcome the deepseated sense of opposition between them. This opposition can be traced to the polarisation of theological emphases in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The divine activity in performance of the sacraments was stressed to such a degree that they appeared to be almost magical acts, encouraging a superstitious approach on the part of the people. The Protestant reaction placed all the emphasis on the word of God, appealing to the heart and the mind. There could be no operation of the grace of God in the soul except through the opening of the heart to God, through personal assent to his word and through the commitment of faith. Now it is recognised that sacramental acts have a social function in the organic life of the church, that they preach to the people through symbols and actions, so that they require (and also evoke) the proper dispositions for receiving the grace of God, and that the inclusion of scripture readings and a homily in the course of sacramental services produces a fruitful interaction between them. This recovery of the balance between word and sacrament has proved beneficial for the life of the church. It has also marked a return to the perspective of the New Testament.

In recent essays Professor John Hick has argued that serious theological consideration of the relationship of Christianity and other world faiths has become in the present generation for the first time unavoidable; that this must lead to a revolution in theological thought so radical that it can be spoken of as ‘Copernican’; and that the consequent reshaping of Christian doctrine, for which he has made a number of suggestions, cannot but change in deeply significant and quite unprecedented ways the traditional teaching of the Church. In this paper I wish to raise some questions about this ‘Copernican Revolution’, the exact nature of which is not made as clear as we might expect, as a theological response to the present situation, asking whether it is helpful in inter-religious dialogue and acceptable as an account of Christianity, of other living faiths, and of the relation between them.