I offer this list of readings for those who already know a thing or two about theology, but still don’t quite feel they’ve attained the level of fluency in the discipline they’d like. These readings will help you along in that journey — by both broadening your exposure to the tradition and sharpening your sense of theological judgment.

• Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, Rev. Ed., (UCalifornia, 2000)
• Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, (Yale, 1993).
• Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, 3rd Ed., (Oxford, 2011)
• David Kelsey, Proving Doctrine: The Uses of Scripture in Modern Theology, (T&T Clark, 1999)
• Fergus Kerr, After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism, (Blackwell, 2002)
• Gilbert Meilaender, The Way that Leads There: Augustinian Reflections on the Christian Life, (Eerdmans, 2007)
• Stephen Mulhall, “Theology and Narrative: the Self, the Novel, the Bible,” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 69, No 1, (2011), 29-43.
  
• Katherine Sonderegger, “The Identity of Jesus Christ in the Liturgy,” Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, Eds., Beverly Gaventa and Richard Hays, (Eerdmans, 2008), 285-300.
• William Placher, The Domestication of Transcendence: How Modern Thinking about God Went Wrong, (Westminster John Knox, 1996)
• Kathryn Tanner, God and Creation in Christian Theology, (Fortress, 2004)
• James Torrance, Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace, (IVP, 1997)
• Geoffrey Wainwright, Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine and Life: A Systematic Theology, (Oxford, 1984)
• John Webster, Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch, (Cambridge, 2003)
• Robert Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God, (Yale, 2005)
• Rowan Williams, “Postmodern Theology and the Judgment of the World,” Postmodern Theology: Christian Faith in a Pluralist World, Ed. Frederick Burnham, (Harper, 1989), 92-112.
• Telford Work, Living and Active: Scripture in the Economy of Salvation, (Brazos, 2001)

Ten of the Biggest Splashes in Theology Since 1990

This list is an attempt at taking the pulse of theology as it’s being practiced now. Read these and you’ll gain some sense for the field’s prevailing interests (I’m still working through it myself). But be forewarned, these aren’t for beginners. They will demand a lot from you, and you won’t agree with everything they have to say. Note that I limited myself to “systematic” theologians (meaning that I didn’t give consideration to works by biblical scholars, moral theologians, or church historians). You’ll also find that it’s biased toward Protestants and English-speakers (giving you a sense for my limits).

(so in alphabetical order by author)

• J Cameron Carter, Race: A Theological Account, (Oxford, 2008)
• Sarah Coakley, Powers and Submissions: Spirituality, Philosophy and Gender, (Blackwell, 2002)
• David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth, (Eerdmans, 2004),
• Reinhard Hutter, Suffering Divine Things: Theology as Church Practice, (Eerdmans, 1999)
• Robert Jenson, Systematic Theology, 2 Vols., (Oxford 1997, 1999)
• Jean Luc Marion, God without Being, 2nd Ed., (UChicago, 2012)
• Bruce Marshall, Trinity and Truth,  (Cambridge, 1999)
• John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason, 2nd Ed., (Blackwell, 2006)
• Miroslav Volf, Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, (Abingdon, 1996)
• John Webster, Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II, (T&T Clark, 2005)

also worth noting …

• William Cavanaugh, Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ, (Blackwell, 1997)
• Bruce McCormack, Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth, (Baker, 2008)
• Catherine Pickstock, After Writing: on the Liturgical Consummation of Philosophy, (Blackwell, 1997)

(Agree with the list? Did I omit one of your favorites? What substitutions would you make?)