Duncan B. Forrester is a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues

Centre for Theology and Public Issues

The Centre for Theology and Public Issues is a research centre based in New College, the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Founded in 1984 by Duncan B. Forrester, CTPI promotes Christian theological reflection and research on important public issues. CTPI research is global in...

 at New College

New College, Edinburgh

New College was opened in 1846 as a college of the Free Church of Scotland, later of the United Free Church of Scotland, and from the 1930s has been the home of the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh...

, University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

. He is currently Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New College.

Forrester's writings are contributions to Christian ethics

Christian ethics

The first recorded meeting on the topic of Christian ethics, after Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Great Commandment, and Great Commission , was the Council of Jerusalem , which is seen by most Christians as agreement that the New Covenant either abrogated or set aside at least some of the Old...

, missiology

Missiology

Missiology is the area of practical theology that investigates the mandate, message, and mission of the Christian church, especially the nature of missionary work...

, practical theology

Practical theology

Practical theology is the practical application of theology to everyday life. Richard Osmer explains that the four key questions and tasks in practical theology are:# What is going on? # Why is this going on?...

, and political and public theology

Political theology

Political theology or public theology is a branch of both political philosophy and practical theology that investigates the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking underlie political, social, economic and cultural discourses....

. During the 1970s his writings focused on Protestant missions in India. After founding the Centre for Theology and Public Issues

Centre for Theology and Public Issues

The Centre for Theology and Public Issues is a research centre based in New College, the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Founded in 1984 by Duncan B. Forrester, CTPI promotes Christian theological reflection and research on important public issues. CTPI research is global in...

 (CTPI) in 1984, his work increasingly emphasized the intersection between theology and politics, with special reference to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. He stepped down from the directorship of CTPI in 2000. He also published historical studies of Christian worship in Scotland.

Main Publications

• 'Indian Christians' Attitudes to Caste in the Nineteenth Century,' in Indian Church History Review 8, no. 2 (1974): 131-147.
• 'Christian Theology in a Hindu Context,' in South Asian Review 8, no. 4 (1975): 343-358.
• 'Indian Christians' Attitudes to Caste in the Twentieth Century,' in Indian Church History Review 9, no. 1 (1975): 3-22.
• Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Policies on Caste of Anglo-Saxon Protestant Missions in India (London and Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Curzon Press and Humanities Press, 1980).
• Encounter with God, with James I. H. McDonald and Gian Tellini (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1983, 1996).
• Christianity and the Future of Welfare (London: Epworth Press, 1985).
• Theology and Politics (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988).
• Worship Now. Book II: A Collection of Services and Prayers for Public Worship," compiled by Forrester et al. (Edinburgh: St Andrew, 1989).
• Beliefs, Values and Policies: Conviction Policies in a Secular Age (Oxford: Clarendon, 1989).
• Theology and Practice (London: Epworth Press, 1990).
• Christianity and Social Vision: Looking to the Future of Scotland, Forrester et al. (Edinburgh: Centre for Theology and Public Issues, 1990).
• True Church and Morality: Reflections on Ecclesiology and Ethics (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1997).
• Christian Justice and Public Policy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
• Truthful Action: Explorations in Practical Theology (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000).
• On Human Worth: A Christian Vindication of Equality (London, SCM: 2001).
• 'Lesslie Newbigin as Public Theologian,' in A Scandalous Prophet: The Way of Mission after Newbigin, edited by Thomas F. Foust et al. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002).
• Theological Fragments: Explorations in Unsystematic Theology (London: T & T Clary, 2005).
• Apocalypse Now? Explorations on Faith in a Time of Terror (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005).
• Forrester on Christian Ethics and Practical Theology: Collected Writings on Christianity, India, and the Social Order (Farnham, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010).

Edited Volumes

• Studies in the History of Worship in Scotland, edited with Douglas M. Murray (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1984, 1996).
• Scottish Churches and the Political Process Today, edited with Alison Elliot (Edinburgh : Centre for Theology and Public Issues, New College, and Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland, Department of Politics, University of Edinburgh, 1986).
• Just Sharing: A Christian Approach to the Distribution of Wealth, Income and Benefits, edited with Danus Skene (London: Epworth Press, 1988).
• Worship and Liturgy in Context: Studies and Case Studies in Theology and Practice, edited with Doug Gay (London: SCM, 2009).

About Forrester

• Public Theology for the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Duncan B. Forrester, edited by William F. Storrar and Andrew R. Morton (London: T & T Clark, 2004).