The times they are a-changin'. As such, our theology needs to adapt–to be responsive to the changing landscape. The idea for Embracing the Past–Forging the Future: A New Generation of Wesleyan Theology came from our assessment that Wesleyan theology has yet to fully adapt to this changing landscape, and that the future of Wesleyan theology requires the bringing together of old and new voices.
The difficult task of balancing between continuity and change–keeping up with the developments of our culture and staying true to the roots of our tradition–requires the dual focus of looking forward and backward simultaneously.
In this volume, we have brought together contributions by young Wesleyan scholars (graduate students and junior faculty) as a way of illustrating and articulating a new generation of Wesleyan theology. These younger voices demonstrate the desire to push Wesleyan theology in new directions. Additionally, we have included contributions from senior scholars who have been doing important work and who have already made significant contributions to Wesleyan theology. This is not simply the «old guard» but the voices of scholars who continue to make a profound impact on Wesleyan theology.
Jesus made claims about redemptive community throughout his ministry when he called people to extravagant grace. Even in the midst of the oppression of his day, Jesus preached and taught that redemptive community was possible if his followers would simply stop hoarding, hiding, and excluding. What a prophetic word for today in the midst of modern day oppression and fears of scarcity! In this edited volume, in honor of religious education scholars Jack Seymour and Margaret Ann Crain, eight of their PhD advisees–each scholars in their own right–join Seymour and Crain to lay out their vision of redemptive community. Rooted in their own scholarship, each contributor proposes ways in which Jesus' vision of redemptive community can become reality in churches and congregations, and in our larger world. In addition to essays by Jack Seymour and Margaret Ann Crain, scholars contributing to this volume include Dori Grinenko Baker, Reginald Blount, Evelyn L. Parker, Mai-Anh Le Tran, Leah Gunning Francis, Carmichael Crutchfield, Debora B.A. Junker, and Denise Janssen. The foreword by Mary Elizabeth Moore and afterword by Seymour and Crain set the volume in the larger context of the church and academy.
Ecumenical dialogue is not an end in itself. It serves as an indispensable instrument to overcome the divisive, mutual misinterpretations of the past. Ecumenical encounters pave the way toward healing painful memories and lead to a deeper understanding of the church's given unity, thus becoming a more credible witness of that truth. Mennonites in Dialogue is a collection of all conversation texts involving Mennonites on international and national levels, covering forty years of encounters with Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Baptists, and Seventh-Day Adventists, among others. The texts illustrate growth in agreement as well as identify the remaining convictions that still divide. Several texts appear here for the first time in English. An introductory essay provides an overview of the motivations for dialogue, the challenges faced–both in the processes of dialogue and in their substance–as these conversations evolved, the achievements gained, and the prospects for the future. A detailed index enables a more effective comparison of the topics and issues throughout the collection. Mennonites in Dialogue is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand the process of identity formation within the Christian tradition through encounter with the other, as well as a rich introduction to the theology of that global peace church–the Mennonites.
Answering the Call is the story of nineteen Catholic permanent deacons from the Diocese of Savannah (Georgia) whose lives underwent profound transformations as they embarked upon a journey of self-discovery which revealed to them both the awesome power of God and the holiness of everyday life. When these deacons, who come from vastly different spiritual, professional, and educational backgrounds, responded to God's call, they soon became aware of the profound impact their decision would make on their lives as husbands, fathers, and, most of all, servants of God. Any person who experiences a crisis of faith or wants to deepen his or her relationship with God, will find the theological, pastoral, and spiritual aspects of these essays informative as they will inspire further reflection and discernment. Each of the essays can be read as a guide to ministry that provides personal and experiential advice about how to minister in a God-centered and healing manner. A person considering a religious vocation, or any man discerning God's call as a permanent deacon, or is a candidate or a deacon now, will appreciate the honesty with which each deacon describes the expected and unexpected stages of his journey.
Donald Allchin was an ordained priest in the Church of England, an historian, ecumenist, and contemplative theologian. The essays, poems, and memoires in this book represent what his Christian vision has brought forth in the lives of the contributors. You will meet poets, historians, bishops, archbishops, monks, priests, lay persons, and scholars. You will taste the rich ecumenical dialogue between Donald's Anglican heritage, Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and churches of the Reformed Traditions, including Donald's friendships and correspondence with Thomas Merton and the Romanian Orthodox theologian Dumitru Stăniloae. Readers will gain insights into Donald's interpretation of the Anglican Tradition and his emphasis on the value of monastic solitude and community for the lives of modern Christians. You will enter Donald's journey into the lives, poetry, saints, and holy places of the Welsh spiritual tradition. And this is only a taste of his legacy. In Donald's words, «For the things which belong to the story of Jesus are not yet completed.»
This book and the essays contained within are dedicated to Dr. Chuck Sackett in recognition of his thirty-two years of teaching at Lincoln Christian University. He currently serves as Professor at Large but has held a variety of roles and titles during his thirty-two years there.
These essays are written by current colleagues and former students who have had the privilege of studying hermeneutics, homiletics, and ministry with Dr. Sackett. Each essay covers a topic of scholarly or contemporary interest in the fields of hermeneutics or homiletics.
Hermeneutics and homiletics remain topics of discussion in the academy and the church. These essays continue that discussion. The essays overlap the two fields. Some essays focus heavily on hermeneutical issues with an eye towards proclamation, while others start with homiletics and hermeneutical issues are echoed in the background.
The essays found in this book offer unique perspectives and approaches to interpretation and preaching. Though homiletics and hermeneutics are the fields of the study, the church remains the arena where the fruit of each discipline is observed most clearly, as Dr. Sackett instructed his students throughout his years of teaching.
It has been some time since Catholic and liberal Protestant theologians stopped writing seriously on bibliology. Meanwhile, conservative evangelical theologians guard against the introduction of new ideas. In an effort to make headway through this gridlock, Carlos Bovell has commissioned a roundtable discussion on the prospect of whether the inspiration of Scripture might extend beyond authors and texts, and if so, what this might entail for the authority of Scripture. Taken together, the essays in this volume make an invaluable contribution to contemporary literature on the inspiration and authority of the Bible.
Over the last four decades, the focus of M. Douglas Meeks' work has placed him at the center of many of the most important developments in theological reflection and education. As a political, ecclesial, and metaphorical theologian, Meeks has given witness to the oikonomia of the triune God, the Homemaker who creates the conditions of Home for the whole of creation, in critical conversation with contemporary economic, social, and political theory. The essays of this volume were written to honor Meeks, professor of theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, by addressing the theme of God's economy of salvation from biblical, historical, ecclesial, and theological perspectives. In an age of ecological devastation and economic injustice, Meeks teaches us how to place our hope–as disciples of Jesus, as members of local congregations, as stewards of institutional life, and as global citizens–in God's power for life over death through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. These essays will serve to enliven and clarify this hope for the sake of the world God so loves.
CONTRIBUTORS: Jurgen Moltmann, Timothy Reinhold Eberhart, Matthew W. Charlton, Walter Brueggemann, Josiah Young, Kendall Soulen, Patout Burns, John Cobb, Michael Welker, Nestor O. Miguez, Charles M. Wood, and Sondra Wheeler.
This book brings together a variety of perspectives on how religion can be related to violence and war–both in a destructive and constructive way. Religion can justify and mobilize violence–even terrorism or guerilla wars–just like political ideology. But how is such a link between religion and violent behavior established in the first place? How can we go further in understanding this possible connection between religion and war?
Is religious peace work just the flip side of religious support of war? Or can peace work be informed by knowing about how religion promotes violence and war? In the search for answers to the puzzle of religion and war, it is easy to focus on conflict and war situations, but maybe there is as much to learn from peace work as from war studies? Therefore, this book also analyses religious peace work from different contexts.
The multifaceted presence of religion in conflict situations–whether justifying violence or promoting peace–is illustrated in this book using a variety of situations, in an enlightening panorama of one of today's must puzzling social connections: religion and armed conflict.
Contributors include: R. Scott Appleby, Goran Gunner, Mariyahl Hoole, Mark Juergensmeyer, Anne Kubai, Kjell-Ake Nordquist, Jehan Perera, Jennifer Schirmer, Nari Senanayake, and Maria Smaberg.
Personal and communal tragedies provoke intense emotions. In Scripture such emotions were given expression in complaints or laments. Such laments are the most frequent genre of psalm and are also found in the prophets and elsewhere in the Bible. The book of Lamentations is even named for this human response to tragedy. Yet neither lament nor complaint seems to be widely practiced in churches today, except at times of extreme communal catastrophe. Bringing together biblical scholars, liturgists, and practical theologians, this book begins to provide bridges between these worlds in order to enrich our ability to respond appropriately to personal and communal tragedy and to understand those responses.