The Radical Teaching of Jesus carefully and thoughtfully invites the reader into an understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus. Both his life and teachings are radical in that Jesus intended those who observed his life and heard his teachings to make a major change in their lives by fully receiving the power and presence of God. The implications of this transformation would result in a life of loving God with heart and mind and one's neighbor without condition.
This volume underlines that to have a full understanding of the implications of the radical teaching of Jesus requires a careful reading of the history–of the Gospel records, of the circumstances in which Jesus lived, and of Jesus' sense of vocation. This understanding makes possible a more credible and nuanced grasp of the style and content of the life and teaching of Jesus and its extraordinary relevance for our rapidly changing and troubled global context.
The book speaks poignantly both to those within the Christian family who find traditional categories regarding Jesus increasingly difficult to affirm, and to those of other faith traditions or religious unaffiliated who seek an authentic spiritual way.
Everyone who provides services to older adults believes in the biomedical model that addresses the body, mind, and spirit of their clients. On the whole, service providers–be they long-term care professionals, academics, social workers, program professionals, counselors, or even clergy–are quite adept at dealing with the body and the mind. But few understand the essential role of the client's spiritual perspective, which can enhance and make their services and ministries more effective. The Essential Spirit provides such a viewpoint: 1) by exploring a definition of spirituality that is inclusive of both religious and non-religious understandings; and 2) addressing the viewpoints of professionals from a variety of viewpoints. Recognizing that the experience of spirituality is personal and qualitative, The Essential Spirit adds another voice to the ongoing dialogue among professionals and clergy.
What if adolescents aren't bored with preaching? What if they have and are interacting with preaching in complex, various ways that have escaped the attention of adult listeners and preachers? What if their own preaching informed the ways adults think about Christian faith and theories/practices of preaching? While much recent discussion in preaching revolves around underrepresented groups, the relationship between adolescent youth and preaching remains largely unexplored. Youthful Preaching brings youth into contemporary conversations about preaching by listening to their voices and by advocating for communities of faith and practice to seek ways to reimagine, renew, and strengthen the relationships between youth, adults, and preaching.
For many of us, the connection between the ecological crisis and humanity's detachment from the land is becoming increasingly clear. In biblical terms, adam (humanity) has severed itself from the adamah (soil), and we (creation) are reaping the consequences. This collection of essays, and the conference from which it took shape, calls the church to root itself more deeply in the agrarian biblical text and ecclesial tradition in order to remember and freshly imagine ways of living on and with the land that are restorative, reconciling, and faithful to the triune God's invitation to new life in Christ. When we listen attentively to and patiently learn from the biblical text, church history, and theology, the land itself can become a conversation partner, and we are summoned to recognize that the gospel is reserved not simply for humanity, but for the whole of creation.
Postcolonial Public Theology is a tour de force–theological reflection transformed by encounter with the most compelling intellectual discourses of our time. It offers prophetic challenge to the hegemony of economic globalization. Evolutionary science's encounter with life's limit questions requires an ethically responsible practice of scientific rationality, measured by sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all. Interreligious engagement compels us to take seriously the realities of cultural hybridity and social location in reimagining a polycentric Christianity. Postcolonial Public Theology makes the case for public theology to turn toward postcolonial imagination, demonstrating a fresh rethinking of public and global issues that continue to emerge in the aftermath of colonialism. This book provides students and scholars in these various fields an interesting framework from which to continue to dialogue about the relevance of this literature and, in particular, the continuing importance of Christian theology in the public arena.
Motherhood provides a crucial place for exploring human life and its meaning. Within motherhood lies a deep tension between the pain, crisis, and association with death in motherhood and the joy, transformation, and life in motherhood. Few metaphors in Scripture (or in life) stand so firmly between life and death, love and loss, and joy and deep pain. After all, motherhood's meaning in part comes again and again at these crucial crossroads. Thus, motherhood has powerful implications for our biblical and theological understanding.
Bringing together Jewish and ecumenical Christian scholars from North America, Oceania, and South America, this edited volume provides biblical and theological perspectives on understanding motherhood. The authors reflect upon a selection of biblical texts, systematic theologians, and Christian spiritual traditions to dialogue with the experience of maternity in its diverse manifestations. The purpose of the book is to provide essays that–through these biblical and theological lenses–engage the question of motherhood today, from the experience of pregnancy and birth, to raising children, to losing children and coping with grief. In this way, this volume helps to «make sense» of the complexity of motherhood.
How did Christian missions happen in the early church from AD 100 to 750? Beginning with a brief look at the social, political, cultural, and religious contexts, Mission in the Early Church tells the story of early Christian missionaries, their methods, and their missiology. This book explores some of the most prominent themes of mission in early Christianity, including suffering, evangelism, Bible translation, contextualization, ministry in Word and deed, and the church. Based on this survey, modern readers are invited to a conversation that considers how early Christian mission might inform global mission thought and practice today.
Missio Dei by its very nature requires the church to come to terms with the exercise of power, both internally and externally, as it confronts the world. Tune in to any newscast or glance at the daily newspaper and it immediately becomes clear that the use and abuse of power is a live issue. The more we focus on the twists and turns of current events, the more it appears that uncorrupted exercise of power eludes the human race. All too often we become uneasily aware that there are powers lying behind the power that any of us wields, whether it is in the family, the classroom, on the shop floor, in the boardroom, or in churches. Effective missional leadership involves creative engagement with the powers at work in the world without being debased by them. This book sets out to address the issue of the use and misuse of power from biblical, theological, and practical perspectives. The authors bring their theological, pastoral, missionary, and personal experience to their task in order to inform, challenge, and invite readers into a responsible use of the powers that God has put into the hands of each one of us to achieve his purposes in the world.
This diverse collection of essays in honor of Edward William Fudge explores the topics of hell and immortality, for which Fudge has been widely known through his magnum opus, The Fire That Consumes. Most Christians believe people will live and suffer in hell forever, but Fudge defends a view known historically as «conditional immortality.» He and a growing minority of Christians believe God will grant immortality only to those who meet the condition of being united with Christ on the Last Day, while those who do not will perish forever. Although Christians sharing Fudge's view have defended it both before and after him, conditionalists today still point to The Fire That Consumes as the seminal treatment of the topic. In July 2014, Christians from around the world gathered at the inaugural Rethinking Hell conference, to celebrate Fudge's life and work and to discuss the nature of hell in an open and respectful forum. This volume contains most of the essays presented at that conference, and several others volunteered by conditionalists since then, as a gift to Fudge for the tremendous impact he has had on them, and for the continued work he does for God's kingdom.
This book seeks to press the wisdom of Proverbs into active duty in the trenches of everyday life and put the principles of character formation in working clothes. The wisdom Proverbs describes is not designed to master life's challenges but to learn to manage them and adapt. In learning to adapt, individuals grow and mature spiritually. Relying on solid biblical scholarship, this book brings to the fore the neglected sentence literature in Proverbs 10-29 and the vital resources they contribute to the process of character formation. Contrary to popular opinion, the book of Proverbs, even though addressed to youth, is not a book solely for the young, but for those of all ages who desire to continue to grow personally and in their relationship with others and God. The wise in the book of Proverbs employ a plethora of resources to help train up young and old alike to grow into the character of God. Among others, these resources include the value of interacting with others, a healthy understanding of conflict, an appropriate perspective on wealth, a new appreciation for and reliance on the role of the neglected proverb in the education process, and the vital role of family and the faith community. Ultimately the whole process of character formation is founded upon one's relationship with God and the fear of the Lord.