In 1517, Martin Luther set off what has been called, at least since the nineteenth century, the Protestant Reformation. Can Christians of differing traditions commemorate the upcoming 500th anniversary of this event together? How do we understand and assess the Reformation today? What calls for celebration? What calls for repentance? Can the Reformation anniversary be an occasion for greater mutual understanding among Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants? At the 2015 Pro Ecclesia annual conference for clergy and laity, meeting at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, an array of scholars–Catholic and Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran and American Evangelical as well as Methodist–addressed this topic. The aim of this book is not only to collect these diverse Catholic and Evangelical perspectives but also to provide resources for all Christians, including pastors and scholars, to think and argue about the roads we have taken since 1517–as we also learn to pray with Jesus Christ «that all may be one» (John 17:21).
Throughout history, Christians have found the summary of their faith in the three ancient creeds. The God We Proclaim explores that faith as it is found in the shortest of them: the Apostles' Creed. The contributors are among Britain's foremost Christian communicators and teachers. Written with an infectious enthusiasm for theology, The God We Proclaim is ideal for anyone seeking to understand the Christian faith, either individually, or in a church or student study group. It is based on a set of sermons delivered in the chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge, which surveyed the foundations of Christianity. Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) wrote in her essay «The Dogma is the Drama» that people assume that if churches are empty it is because preachers «insist too much upon doctrine,» or «dull dogma» as they disapprovingly call it. Sayers knew that the opposite is true. «It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man–and the dogma is the drama.»
Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal, established by the Arizona C. S. Lewis Society in 2007, is the only peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of C. S. Lewis and his writings published anywhere in the world. It exists to promote literary, theological, historical, biographical, philosophical, bibliographical and cultural interest (broadly defined) in Lewis and his writings. The journal includes articles, review essays, book reviews, film reviews and play reviews, bibliographical material, poetry, interviews, editorials, and announcements of Lewis-related conferences, events and publications. Its readership is aimed at academic scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, as well as learned non-scholars and Lewis enthusiasts. At this time, Sehnsucht is published once a year.
The Latino/a community continues to grow at a faster pace than any other racial or ethnic group in the country. In part because of this growth, Latino/as have begun to be recognized as bona fide contributors to American society, whether through sports, music, literary work, theology, or ministry. Largely missing from this, however, has been attention to the creative and indeed prophetic expression coming from the Latino/a pulpit–that is, the sermons being developed and preached from the Latino/a churches. This books fills that void.
Eli Valentin has gathered some of the top US Latino/a theologians and religious practitioners to contribute actual sermons that have been constructed out of the rough and tumble of the Latino/a reality.
The sermons in this book approach nitty-gritty issues that directly impact Latinos/as in the United States. What we find as a result is a message of hope that continues to emanate from the Latino/a pulpit, a hope placed in a God who promises a restored cosmos.
FEATURING:
Judith Butler Lia Chavez Katherine James D. S. Martin Thomas Nail
PLUS: What Does Where You're From Matter? * Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Power of Lament * Sing More Like a Girl * Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam * Occupied Identity * What's So Holy about Matrimony?
AND MORE . . .
"We the people . . ." So begins the familiar first line to the Preamble of the United States Constitution. But even in its initial context, in a document intended to be a manifesto of hope and freedom, the matter of who exactly was to be included in this «we» was unclear and contested. First-person pronouns (i.e., I and we) roll off the tongue-or onto parchment paper-with ease, but their common use often belies an underlying complexity. Who am I? Who are we? Who does my theology say that I am? Identity is at the same time essential to life and yet also deeply contested, problematic, and enigmatic. The world may be becoming more one and, yet, it seems also to be becoming more different, fragmented, agonistic, and isolated. In this issue of The Other Journal, we explore the valences of identity, both individual and communal, personal and public. We take up the theme of identity in multiple ways, examining its interconnections with gender and race, the dissolution and reconstitution of borders, and, yes, even the 2016 presidential campaign. The issue features essays by Derek Brown, Zach Czaia, Ryan Dueck, Julie M. Hamilton, Peter Herman, Zen Hess, Kimberly Humphrey, Katherine James, Russell Johnson, Sus Long, Willow Mindich, Angela Parker, Taylor Ross, and Erick Sierra; interviews by Stephanie Berbec and Zachary Thomas Settle with Judith Butler and Thomas Nail, respectively; poetry by T. M. Lawson, D. S. Martin, Oluwatomisin Oredein, and Erin Steinke; performance art by Lia Chavez; and photography by Jennifer Jane Simonton, Pilar Timpane, and Mark Wyatt.
The inaugural lecture is a tradition that has been practiced in western universities for centuries. These lectures originated in the great universities of continental Europe, spread to Great Britain, and then to North America. The tradition has now been appropriated further by universities around the world and especially of late in majority world countries. The inaugural lecture is a form of academic discourse, in which the recipient of a suitable academic honor–usually the bestowal of a form of professorial appointment–offers a public lecture in recognition of the event. McMaster Divinity College follows in this academic tradition by attaching public inaugural lectures to the appointment of scholars to professorial positions, and in particular to those appointed to endowed and named professorial chairs within the institution. McMaster Divinity College currently has six such endowed, named chairs held by its faculty. This volume contains the six lectures by those in these six chairs, representing the fields of preaching, theology, pastoral studies, Christian worldview, ministry studies, and Christian history. Each of these inaugural lectures is a contribution to scholarship in the field and a token of the inaugural professorial lecture.
The year 2017 marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, if that event is dated from the posting of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses. Admittedly, 2017 is an arbitrary and somewhat artificial milestone. Nevertheless, anniversaries can be special occasions that allow for an appreciation and evaluation of memorable persons and events. As a number of Reformation anniversaries approach, the historical significance of the Reformation merits increased attention. Employing a variety of historiographical methods from intellectual history to postcolonial theory, this volume demonstrates how four major traditions observed the Reformation: Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, and Roman Catholic. The foreword and preface place the essays into the contemporary and broader historical contexts in the history of reform. Commemorations of the Reformation varied in different periods, often influenced by immediate historical contexts. How are those sixteenth-century events, which caused both renewal and conflict in church and society as well as divisions between those expressions, to be viewed in the twenty-first century in a setting broader than Europe?
LGBTQ Christians read, love, scrutinize, become absorbed with, and find deep spiritual meaning in the Bible. As these testimonies show, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer Christians are inaugurating a fresh, exciting, new era in biblical interpretation. It is they whose rare insights into particular Bible stories and characters, told with poignancy and clarity, reveal a gay-friendly Bible and a gay-friendly God who cherishes and needs them just as they are. It is they who are running to the Bible with a longing for the Holy Spirit that far surpasses that of too many straight Christians. If given free rein, these inventive, challenging, and profoundly engaged evangelists may be the ones we have been waiting for to rescue biblical interpretation from those who too often are not only hurtful but dismal and boring. Thank God for them!
The art of mentoring, like all great arts, is a grace to be received, a gift to be given, and a skill that can be learned and practiced. This book explores the practice and grace of that art. The pastors in these pages share their hard-won experience of mentoring and being mentored, their wobbles and successes, insights and wisdom harvested from years in the vineyard.
He has captured the imagination of people around the world, including those who thought they were «done with» Christianity. In ways no one could have expected and no one predicted, Pope Francis has become a living example of what it might mean to be a Christian in our time and place. The modern world was not ready for Pope Francis, but as has been demonstrated–in his travels to the United States and around the world, in his calls for mercy and defense of the vulnerable–Pope Francis was ready for the modern world. New World Pope: Pope Francis and the Future of the Church explores how Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis–the ideas, experiences, influences, and passions that have formed this pastor who has inspired, challenged, encouraged, and angered people worldwide. Ten experts from around the world–scholars, journalists, church leaders, and others–provide insights into the origins and trajectories of Pope Francis' vision and hopes for the Christian community in our day. Persons intrigued by Pope Francis will find deeper insights into his witness via this exploration of the roots and trajectories of his sense of Christian mission and discipleship.