Theory is the final volume in a truly groundbreaking work by one of the world's best-known theologians. As a whole, A Scientific Theology is the most extended and systematic exploration of the relation between theology and science ever undertaken. Now complete, it will surely become a standard entry into modern Christian thought. In Theory Alister McGrath deals with the question of how reality is represented in Christian theology and the natural sciences. Building on the insights of thinkers like Martin Heidegger and Jurgen Habermas, McGrath argues that theory is to be conceived in terms of the "communal beholding of reality." Thusly understood, theory is primarily a response to an experienced reality, which, for the Christian community, demands theological expression. In the course of unpacking the implications of this perspective, McGrath addresses such subjects as the explanatory dimensions of theology, the place of metaphysics in Christian theology, and the nature of revelation itself.