This book, first published in 1979, contains Gordon Kaufman's initial attempt to articulate his conviction that theology is, and always has been, an activity of what he calls the imaginative construction of a comprehensive and coherent picture of humanity in the world under God. While Kaufman's 1993 work,In Face of Mystery, qualifies and deepens the programmatic proposals offered in An Essay on Theological Method, the earlier book nevertheless remains a sound and accessible statement on theological method by one of America's most distinguished theologians. The Third Edition includes an extensive new Preface by the author, and an appendix on The Three Moments of Theological Construction.