James Wm. McClendon, Jr. was the most important "baptist" theologian of the twentieth century. McClendon crafted a systematic theology that refused to succumb to the pressures of individualism, grew out of the immediacy of preaching the text, and lamented the stunted public witness of a fractured Protestant ecclesiology. This two-volume set mixes previously unpublished and published lectures and essays with rare and little known works to form a representative collection of the essential themes of McClendon's work. The first volume focuses on the philosophical and theological shifts leading to McClendon's articulation of the baptist vision. The second volume specifically elucidates the more philosophical themes that informed McClendon's work, including ways in which these themes had immediate theological import. Taken together, the set provides the most comprehensive presentation of McClendon's work now available, revealing the sustained and systematic character of his vision over the course of his life. These two volumes will provide scholars, preachers, and students with McClendon's radical, narrative, and connective theology. McClendon's explorations in philosophical theology, narrative theology, dogmatics, and ethics serve as excellent introductions to the masterful works of his maturity. His works teach Catholics, Protestants, and baptists alike how to construct a lively Christian theology. -- Dr. Terrence Tilley, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Professor of Catholic Theology, Fordham University The editors have done an admirable job not only of collecting nearly four decades of McClendon’s work, but of locating those works in relation to his academic career and his developing theological and philosophical themes. New and Wright have, indeed, provided a rich resource that may, indeed, bring McClendon’s voice back into consultation. -- Amy L. Chilton Thompson ― American Baptist Quarterly The Collected Works of James Wm. McClendon, Jr. is a testament to McClendon’s stature as one of the most significant American theologians of the twentieth century. Readers familiar with McClendon’s work and those coming to it for the first time will discover in these pages an extraordinary ecumenical achievement. -- Elizabeth Newman, Eula Mae and John Baugh Professor of Theology and Ethics, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond James William McClendon, Jr. was a Christian theologian in the Anabaptist tradition and the author of several important works, including Biography as Theology: How Life Stories Can Remake Today's Theology and Making Gospel Sense to a Troubled Church . He was, at the time of his death, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Ryan Andrew Newson is Adjunct Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Campbell University. Andrew C.Wright is a Doctoral Candidate in Christian Ethics and Philosophical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and is Adjunct Professor in the Division of Religion and Philosophy at Azusa Pacific University. Nancey Murphy is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary.