The Emerging Church Movement, an eclectic conversation about how Christianity needs to evolve for our postmodern world, has been breaking traditional bounds and stirring up controversy for more than two decades. This volume is the first academic work to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding this complex and boundary-crossing phenomenon. Containing contributions by researchers from a diverse set of disciplines, this book brings together historical, sociological, ethnographic, anthropological, and theological approaches to offer the most thorough and multifaceted description of the Emerging Church Movement to date.
Contributors: Juan Jose Barreda Toscano Dee Yaccino Gerardo Marti Lloyd Chia Jason Wollschleger James S. Bielo Jon Bialecki Heather Josselyn-Cranson Xochitl Alviso Chris James Tim Snyder
In 2015 a conference on «Rediscovering the Spiritual in God's Creation» was held at the Serafino winery complex in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. The aim of the conference was not to seek consensus but to survey the landscape with a view to intentional responsible action in caring for God's creation. Delegates were challenged to recognize their own worldviews and to widen their horizons to encompass the enormity of the transcendence and immanence of God's presence in all creation. A group of leading international scholars and experts in the fields of science, ecology, theology, and ethics participated in a multidisciplinary conversation on the spiritual in creation, with the aim of discovering fresh horizons with regard to creation care, liturgy, justice, and discipleship within the Christian community. The chapters in this volume reflect the diversity of perspectives summarized in The Serafino Declaration, which was crafted towards the end of the conference. This declaration (which opens the volume) outlines a range of views relating to the presence of the spiritual in creation, views that are both traditional and radical. This volume highlights the current concern over ecological destruction and finds sources of inspiration in the deepest roots of our traditions and forms of spirituality to sustain efforts towards custodianship of the land and care for God's creation.
Contributors: David Rhoads Paul Santmire Denis Edwards Bob White Heather Eaton Ernst Conradie Vicky Balabanski Celia Deane-Drummond Mark Worthing Emily Colgan Dianne Rayson Anne Gardner Mark Liederbach Patricia Fox Anne Elvey Mick Pope
Centered upon the lives of employees at a Manhattan advertising firm, the AMC television series Mad Men touches on the advertising world's unique interests in consumerist culture, materialistic desire, and the role of deception in Western capitalism. While the subject matters of the chapters in this collection have a decidedly socio-historical focus, the authors use basic topics as starting points for philosophical, religious, and theological reflections. The authors show how Mad Men reveals deep truths concerning the social trends of the 1960s and early 1970s in American life and deserves a significant amount of reflection from philosophical, religious, and theological perspectives. Some of the chapters go beyond mere reflection and make deeper inquiries into what these trends say about American cultural habits, the business world within Western capitalism, and the rapid social changes (gender, race, and sexuality) that occur during this period. Chapters examine paradigms of masculinity and femininity as well as the presentation of motherhood, fatherhood, sexuality, and childhood. This collection shows how social change represents the undercurrent of the interpersonal dramas of the characters on Mad Men, from the staid and conventional early seasons to the war, assassinations, riots, and counterculture of later seasons.
In 2017 Christians around the world will mark the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. In the midst of many appeals for reformation today, a growing number of theologians, scholars, and activists around the world believe Reformation celebrations in 2017 and beyond need to focus now on the urgent need for an Eco-Reformation. The rise of industrial, fossil fuel-driven capitalism and the explosive growth in human population endanger the fundamental planetary life-support systems on which life as we know it has evolved. The collective impact of human production, consumption, and reproduction is undermining the ecological systems that support human life on Earth. If human beings do not reform their relationship with God's creation, unspeakable suffering will befall many–especially the weakest and most vulnerable among all species. The conviction at the heart of this collection of essays is that a gospel call for ecological justice belongs at the heart of the five hundredth anniversary observance of the Reformation in 2017 and as a–if not the–central dimension of Christian conversion, faith, and practice into the foreseeable future. Like Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, this volume brings together critical biblical, pastoral, theological, historical, and ethical perspectives that constructively advance the vision of a socially and ecologically flourishing Earth.
"We offer this collection as a token of our affection and admiration of our friend and colleague James Weldon Thompson. . . . His studies of the letter to the Hebrews and of Paul in their intellectual contexts (especially Middle Platonism) have contributed significantly to the ongoing quest for placing the New Testament in its socio-intellectual setting. Although his publications in this area date back more than thirty years, his best work is occurring now, and we may anticipate path-breaking contributions ahead. His more recent work on preaching and pastoral care in Paul both situate the Apostle in his own world and, just as importantly, offer correctives of some contemporary ministerial practices and invitations for improvements. Since 1993 Thompson has served as the editor of Restoration Quarterly, a significant venue for research in biblical studies, church history (especially of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement), and contemporary theology. His more popular works make available to a lay audience thoughtful, well-informed, and spiritually rewarding interpretations of much of the New Testament. "His achievements, however, do not end at the printing press. For more than thirty years, he has taught ministers and others at the Institute for Christian Studies (now Austin Graduate School of Theology) and Abilene Christian University. Students of the past and the present speak of him as a prepared, stimulating, and creative teacher unafraid of experimentation for a new generation of learners. At both institutions he also served as an administrator, first as President of ICS and then as Associate Dean of ACU's Graduate School of Theology. His colleagues respect his ability to enlist them for work as needed and otherwise to get out of their way, certainly a too rare set of skills in university administrators!" –from the Preface
Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research
VOLUME TWO FALL 2010
The Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research (JBPR) is a new international peer-reviewed academic serial dedicated to narratively and rhetorically minded exegesis of biblical and related texts. Potential topics include theological and pneumatological interpretation, the role of spiritual experience with authorial, canonical, and contemporary contexts, and the contextual activity of Ruach Yahweh, Ruach Elohim, and various identifications of the Holy Spirit. JBPR hopes to stimulate new thematic and narrative-critical exploration and discovery in both traditional and under-explored areas of research.
CONTENTS:
Editor's Overview of Volume 2
A. KAY FOUNTAIN
Canonical Messages in the Book of Esther
EMERSON B. POWERY
The Spirit and Political Dissent: Revisiting Mark 13:11
LYLE STORY
Zechariah's Two Sons of Oil: Zechariah 4
STEPHEN KERRY
An Exegetical Analysis of Galatians 3:1-5, with Particular Reference to Pneumatological Themes That Relate to the Onset and Continuation of Christian Identity, with Respect to Law and Gospel
LEE ROY MARTIN
"Where are all his wonders?": The Exodus Motif in the Book of Judges
Review of Scott Ellington, Risking Truth: Reshaping the World through Prayers of Lament (Walter Brueggemann)
Review of Dale B. Martin, Pedagogy of the Bible: An Analysis and Proposal (Adrian Hinkle)
Review of James Robinson, Word and Spirit in Ezekiel (Wonsuk Ma)
Review of J. Gordon McConville, God and Earthly Power: An Old Testament Political Theology, Genesis-Kings (Helene Dallaire)
Review of Rebecca Skaggs and Priscilla C. Benham, Revelation (Robby Waddell)
The most outstanding theological thinker of the twentieth century is proving to be the most pivotal theological figure of the twenty-first century as well. It is no wonder some have referred to Karl Barth as a «Father» of the Church. Karl Barth, widely acknowledged as the most influential theologian of the modern era, continues to provoke and inspire Christian theological reflection in a distinct and enduring way. His work has occasioned appreciation, critique, and rejection, but however one responds to Barth, one must reckon with him in pursuing the theological task.
This volume draws together scholars whose essays exhibit work «after Barth» in engaging the doctrine of the Trinity and its related themes. Barth's thought, as evidenced amongst his most expert commentators, allows for a variety of interpretations, the details of which are being hammered out on the pages of academic journals and volumes such as this one. It is this variety of responses to and interpretations of Barth's theology that gives such vibrancy to the essays in this volume by seasoned Barth scholars and voices new to the conversation.
Contributors include: Ivor J. Davidson, Bruce L. McCormack, John C. McDowell, Paul D. Molnar, Murray A. Rae, and a Foreword by John B. Webster.
There is an inherent connection between the Christian faith and special education. For example, both focus on the worth of the individual. Both also focus on fairness and on caring for, or helping, the weak. Similarly, both aim to equip and support others. This book helps the readers perceive this integral relationship that exists between the Christian faith and the special education discipline. This book utilizes the chapters that stem from real life professional experiences and scholarship of the contributors to model and encourage special education practice from a Christian faith angle. It is our view that special education practiced from this faith perspective will transform what is currently accepted as best practice, into a new system of special education experience that is wholesome, biblically-based, and characteristic of Shalom as wholeness (not just peace). Shalom in this sense has strong relevance in both the Christian faith and special education. The first three chapters highlight the connection between special education and Christian theology, and draw attention to the pivotal role worldview plays in being an effective special educator. The bulk of the body of the text looks at different aspects of instructional effectiveness in special education from a Christian faith perspective.
North American study of the Christian Apocrypha is known principally for its interest in using noncanonical texts to reconstruct the life and teachings of Jesus, and for its support of Walter Bauer's theory on the development of early Christianity. The papers in this volume, presented in September 2013 at York University in Toronto, challenge that simplistic assessment by demonstrating that U.S. and Canadian scholarship on the Christian Apocrypha is rich and diverse. The topics covered in the papers include new developments in the study of canon formation, the interplay of Christian Apocrypha and texts from the Nag Hammadi library, digital humanities resources for reconstructing apocryphal texts, and the value of studying late-antique apocrypha. Among the highlights of the collection are papers from a panel by three celebrated New Testament scholars reassessing the significance of the Christian Apocrypha for the study of the historical Jesus. Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier demonstrates the depth and breadth of Christian Apocrypha studies in North America and offers a glimpse at the achievements that lie ahead in the field.
In this volume, an attempt is undertaken to highlight the genesis, progress, and transformation of Asian contextual theology of minjung, introducing its historical point of departure, its development, and its transformation in light of younger Korean and Korean American scholars' endeavors. In this regard, the new Asian contextual theology, which is emerging, strives to integrate both minjung and the wisdom of World Religions into its own framework and direction, assuming the character of a public theology and remaining humble and open before God's mystery while featuring its association with minjung in a holistic way.