Includes bibliographies and index.

The Resurrection of Jesus -- Fundamental Theology and the Resurrection of Jesus -- Traditional Fundamental Theology -- Trascendental Fundamental Theology -- A Contemporary Historical-Critical Approach -- A Reconstructive Hermeneutica of Jesus Resurrection -- Testimony and Historical Argumentation -- New Testament Testimonies -- Testimony and Ground of Faith -- Foundational Theology and Faith in Jesus' Resurrection -- The Foundation of the Church -- The Church's Foundation as a Fundamental Theological Issue -- The Emergence and Nature of the Problem -- Traditional Fundamental Theology and the Foundation of the Church -- Contemporary Fundamental Theology and the Foundation of the Church -- Historical and Theological Justifications of Post-Easter Church -- Reconstructive Hermeneutic of the Church's Foundation -- Hermeneutical Issues -- Communities and Church within the New Testament -- The Church and the Task of Foundational Theology -- Continuity and Identity -- Reception and Divine Institution -- Church: Object and Ground of Faith --Church of Disciples -- The Mission of the Church -- The Mission of the Church and Fundamental Theology -- Mission of the Church in Traditional Fundamental Theology -- Mission of the Church in Contemporary Theology -- The Foundational Problem of Religious Identity and Social Mission -- Hermeneutical Reconstruction of Religious Identity -- The Church's Mission: Reconstructive and Foundational Warrants -- From Fundamental to Foundational Theology -- The Emergence of Fundamental Theology -- The Search for Roots: Fundamental Theology and Positive Theology -- The Search for Proofs: Fundamental Theology and Apologetics -- The Search for Foundations: Fundamental Theology and the Foundation of Theology -- Fundamental Theology: Characteristics and Presuppositions -- General Characteristics -- The Independence of Fundamental Theology from Systematic Theology -- Traditional Fundamental Theology: Truth as Existencial Correlation -- Foundational Theology as a Reconstructive Hermeneutics -- The Foundational Fallacy: The Pyramid or the Raft -- Interpretation of Meaning and Truth Claims -- Experience as Hermeneutical -- Hermeneutical Reconstruction and Reflective Equilibrium

"Are there solid grounds for Christian belief in Jesus and in the church? "Among recent attempts to deal with this question. Francis Schüssler Fiorenza's is certainly one of the most satisfactory.... By suggesting that a hermeneutical model provides the best approach to grounding Christian of Jesus and of the church, the author provides a valuable complement and/ or alternative to historical or transcendental arguments for Christianity." --America