Religion

Ralph C. Wood's teaching and writing career over fifty years helped readers and students be attentive to the way literature renders the theologically abstract concretely. Wood has modeled serious theological engagement and robust literary reflection in his writing on G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Flannery O'Connor, among others. His books have shaped current and future generations of literary critics and theologians alike. Not as easily measured, Wood formed generations of undergraduate and graduate students in candid, sometimes brash, often comedic, and always critical engagements with theology and the arts. Avoiding what Flannery O'Connor deemed the two great follies of theologically oriented literature in the forms of pornography and sentimentality, Wood drew out theological themes without watering down the reality of suffering or the costly nature of the gospel. Good News Resounding honors Wood's contribution by continuing to follow in his footsteps, reflecting theologically on literature to draw out the very Good News of the gospel amidst very real suffering, evil, and sin. The collection assembles a diverse group of scholars--former students, colleagues, and friends of Wood--to demonstrate the multivalent approaches to and richness of reading literature theologically. Written for academically inclined readers of theology and the arts, Good News Resounding extends Wood's legacy and testifies to the power of the classroom to shape future generations of readers, theologians, and Christians.

From the dawn of their movement in the eighteenth century, evangelicals composed narratives of the revivals that were drawing in large numbers of new converts. As evangelicals continued to write about the achievements of their heroes at home and abroad, tensions between their theological purposes and the historical nature of their writings began to emerge, particularly as history developed into a professional academic discipline. Words praising the Lord's doings in the past might seem out of place in scholarly discourse. Non-evangelicals, recognizing the importance of the movement, added to the problem by discussing it without reference to divine involvement. Theology and history found themselves opposed to one another in accounts of the evangelical past. Was the evangelical movement to be seen as an expression of divine activity or of human culture? If it was to be seen as both, how was its Christian content related to its contexts? The Gospel in the Past brings together eleven scholars of evangelical theology and history seeking to answer questions such as these within evangelical historiography. Part 1 focuses on the historiography of selected evangelical themes and topics, such as eschatology, evangelical women, and responses to C. S. Lewis. Part 2 focuses on evangelical historiography within particular countries, such as Wales and Australia, and within particular denominations, such as Anglicanism.Each of the essays touches to a greater or lesser extent on the contrast between traditional evangelical approaches to history and more recent ones shaped by the expectations of the academy. Engaging both sides of this lively divide, The Gospel in the Past is an accessible guide to the historiography of the evangelical movement with a focus on analyzing and beginning to resolve some of the tensions within the discipline.

In this original study Khai Wager explores cosmopsychism - an approach that argues that the cosmos as a whole is conscious and that human consciousness is derived from it - and its relation to cognate views such as panpsychism, panqualityism and perennialism.The problem of phenomenal consciousness surfaces when we try to understand how it can be that our human consciousness arises from entirely non-conscious matter. Reflecting the growing interest in panpsychism, which argues consciousness does not emerge from entirely non-conscious matter, but rather that all matter is in some sense already conscious, Wager draws our attention to the combination problem: how do these small instances of consciousness combine to form larger instances? He demonstrates that cosmopsychism turns panpsychism on its head, reasoning to macro-level consciousness from a more fundamental form at the cosmic level. However, it faces its own challenge in the derivation problem: how is macro-level consciousness derived from the cosmic consciousness? This volume brings a cosmopsychism approach into critical engagement with panpsychism and investigates their respective handling of these problems, together with looking beyond these views to panqualityism and perennialism. Setting out an overall defence of cosmopsychism and attuning to enduring currents of human thought, it will be of interest to students and scholars of philosophy of mind and metaphysics as well as philosophy of religion, philosophy of psychology and cognitive science.

Embracing Exile analyzes biblical and rabbinic texts, philosophical treatises, studies of Kabbalah, Hasidism, and a multiplicity of modern expressions for a comprehensive history of Jewish responses to and justifications of their diasporas. It shows that Diaspora Jews through the ages insisted that God joined them in their exiles, that "Zion" was found in Babylon and Eastern Europe, and that, as citizens of the world, Jews could only live throughout the world. The result is a convincing assertion that lament has not been the most common Jewish response to diaspora and that Zionism is not the natural outcome of either Jewish ideology or history.

Tibetan Buddhism's Mind Training uses 59 slogans to develop wisdom and compassion. Dhirananda and Viryabodi provide commentaries and exercises to bring these teachings to life. The book inspires and challenges us to overcome limitations, shift from self-centered views to a more compassionate, liberated perspective, prioritizing others' welfare.

Analyzes the role of emotions in the religious lives of women from across Germany and Europe from the nineteenth century to the 1970s.

In an elegant sage binding, this compact soft-tone flexiback NLT Bible features British spelling, grammar and punctuation, ensuring a smoother encounter with the text for readers outside North America

Deepen your understanding of the inspiring men and women of the Bible, their families, and the historical context of their stories with The Bible’s Most Fascinating People.

We can't keep change from coming, but we can manage our reaction to it and even come to welcome it through the transformative power of God's Word. Do you feel like you are constantly battling changes that make your life feel unsteady? Many things in life change: jobs, relationships, social norms, responsibilities, people's expectations. Changes impact our lives in big, small, positive and negative ways. But even in our ever-changing world, we have hope and assurance because our God never changes. #1 New York Times bestselling author and beloved Bible teacher Joyce Meyer wants us to know that even when we feel like everything around us shakes and changes, we can stand on the promise of God's Word that He will see us through. No matter what we are going through, we have been given everything we need to embrace the changes we face. Not only that, but we can trust that God works in all changes for good in our lives, even the most painful and difficult ones. The Courage to Change shows us the importance of changing our mindset, maintaining a positive attitude toward change, and handling our emotions in ways that will help us manage the shifts in our lives through the strength from God.You don't have to live another day dreading the challenges of change!

"The work gathers, from an interdisciplinary perspective, a set of novel studies related to the origin and development of the humanist movement, especially in the context of the peninsular kingdoms. It offers a significant panorama of some of its cultural, scientific, artistic, religious and literary expressions, as well as an analysis of the scope and relevance of each of them. The different contributions are divided into three blocks: "Humanism in the Iberian Peninsula: 15th-17th centuries", "Classical tradition and Humanism in Erasmus: texts, translations and influences" and "The artistic and cultural environment in Hispania in the 15th and 16th centuries: contexts and readings""--

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) biblical text has been in print since 1989, and continues to be a trusted and accurate translation of the Bible that has been supported by church leaders and scholars.

Continue your study of 1 Kings with Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier III's second volume.David implores his son Solomon to "keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes." [1 Kings 2:3] This wisdom proves to be a struggle for the subsequent kings of Israel, as chronicled in 1 Kings. Nonetheless, the glimpses of these kings are selective, as Maier argues that 1 Kings was written more for the sake of its theology than its history. He notes the emphasis given to themes of Jerusalem as political and religious center, of God's covenant with Israel, and of each ruler's relation to God. Maier focuses especially on the issues of syncretism presented in 1 Kings, considering its disastrous effects on Israel and its dangers to the church even today.FeaturesA chronology of kingsChristological lenses of prophet, priest, and king in 1 KingsExtra-biblical texts as evidence of the events in 1 KingsAbout the SeriesThe Concordia Commentary Series: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture is written to enable pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the Biblical text.The series will cover all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, with an original translation and meticulous grammatical analysis of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek of each text. The foremost interpretive lens centers on the unified proclamation of the person and work of Christ across every Scriptural book.The Commentary fully affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture; Each passage bears witness to the confession that God has reconciled the world to Himself through the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ His Son.Authors expose the rich treasury of language, imagery, and thematic content of the Scripture, while supplementing their work with additional research in archaeology, history, and extrabiblical literature. Throughout, God's Word emanates from authors careful attention and inculcates the ongoing life of the Church in Word, Sacrament, and daily confession.