While serving as Interim Pastor in the 1993-1994 church year, Kenneth Vaux announced a year-long sermon series entitled «Intimations of the Sacred.» Building on the concepts of William Wordsworth that the simple items of nature–leaves, songs, snowflakes, and gestures of kindness–hint to us the mysteries of the divine, we assemble here a selection of these «Second Sermons,» which include themes such as Bach and Mozart, Calvin, Wesley and Ghandi, Healing and Resurrection, Reconciliation and Redemption. Here, one can reenact C. S. Lewis' The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, finding a magical world as one enters into the realm within the wardrobe. Lions and Unicorns, Princes, Queens, ships and storms all rest as an in-depth screen behind the door of your schoolhouse or your grandfather's attic. The sermons seek to transpose the reader from the realm of the mundane to the supernal and back again.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a celebrated and enigmatic figure in theology. Though he is known for advocating a concrete and worldly Christianity, Justin Mandela Roberts argues that his theology is in continuity with a participatory ontology, especially as seen in the ressourcement movement and Radical Orthodoxy. While critical of such «metaphysical speculation,» Bonhoeffer displays similar inclinations that situate Truth, Goodness, and Beauty as transcendental aspects of divine being. His theology affirms the pervasive «rhetoric» of doxology, details the economy of reciprocal gift-giving, and celebrates the sacramentality of creation. Sacred Rhetoric contributes to the ongoing discussion of metaphysics, and also serves as a supplement to the debate between Karl Barth and Erich Przywara.
You're hired to be our new senior minister! Consider what you might be asking yourself: Where would you even begin? What changes will need to be addressed? How would you approach the beginning of your ministry? New Wine into Old Wineskins seeks to answer these very questions.
New Wine into Old Wineskins takes you on a journey of visiting, or revisiting, the biblical mission of the church and keeping this fundamental principal in a changing environment. If a leader's task is to help define the mission, then the leader must also implement and execute said mission. This book will help the new senior minister, New Wine, to implement a change process for the established church, Old Wineskins.
The life of Jesus is at the heart of the Christian faith, and is one of the great works of Western literature. This book presents the story in a new form, more accessible than ever before. It weaves the four separate gospel accounts into one continuous story. And it presents the story in a new translation: traditional, but clear.
Here the reader can find the episodes laid out in an understandable narrative sequence. The nativity at Bethlehem is followed by the visit of the three wise men. And for each scene the rich details are collected from all the gospel accounts, giving a complete picture of complex events like the Sermon on the Mount or Jesus' climatic encounter with Pilate.
The new language is clear as well. It is traditional scripture inconspicuously updated for modern readers, supplemented with contemporary language for difficult concepts, and using the grand and familiar language of the King James where appropriate. Low-key explanations fill in the details. Short footnotes explain the key concepts, and longer endnotes provide additional depth.
This book opens the gospels to everyone–Christians who want to better understand their faith, and general readers who want to rediscover a great work of literature.
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.