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The first five books of the Hebrew Bible spark discussions that last for centuries. From the creation stories in Genesis through the delineation of the law in Deuteronomy, these five books-- the Pentateuch-- contain deep troves of historical and spiritual treasures. In The Bible's Foundation: An Introduction to the Pentateuch, Charles Aaron Jr. looks at each book through several perspectives: ancient near-Eastern background, literary analysis, structure, important theological concepts, and compositional history. The Bible's Foundation: An Introduction to the Pentateuch accounts the academic significance of each book and the issues of faith that have marked these books as important, sacred texts. Each chapter summarizes the content of an individual book, provides careful analysis for selected representative passages, and discusses in a critical way the faith issues raised from the text.

This revised and expanded introductory text introduces students of the Bible to the layers of meaning that can be uncovered by serious study of the synoptic gospel texts. Included are two new chapters introducing ideological exegetical approaches to the gospels and a concluding chapter that helps the student synthesize the exegetical discoveries they have made using the methods taught in the book.

In Mitch Albom's popular novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Hyperion 2003), Albom presents a vision of heaven and the afterlife, but the novel is not just about what happens after we die. It also offers some pretty important insights into the lives we lead in the here and now. Using the Wisdom Traditions of the Bible as their backdrop, Gilvin and Godsey bring us into a discussion of what, as Albom suggests in his novel, might truly be important in life. Wisdom Literature, says Gilvin and Godsey, expresses the way individuals experience life. Illustrating biblical concepts with examples from Albom's novel, Wisdom from the Five People You Meet in Heaven parallels each of the characters of The Five People You Meet in Heaven with the themes and insights from a particular selection from Wisdom Literature. For individual reading or group discussion, each of the six chapters offer questions for reflection or as discussion starters.

In the spring of 2013, seventeen people gathered at the North Carolina state legislature to protest extreme legislation passed by the General Assembly attacking health insurance, unemployment insurance, labor, and voting rights. The ministers, labor, and human rights activists began praying, singing, and chanting, and were ultimately arrested. That group grew into crowds of thousands at successive "e;Moral Mondays"e; rallies, and by summer's end nearly 1,000 people had been arrested, making this sustained moral protest one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in U.S. history. The effort grew out of seven years of organizing with more than 160 groups. Rallies continued in 2014, with a "e;Moral March"e; of 80,000 people in February. Rev. Dr. William Barber II, a pastor and president of the North Carolina Conference of the NAACP, now the largest in the South, became one of the architects of the Forward Together Moral Movement. In a new book, Forward Together, Rev. Barber tells the story of a new fusion civil rights movement, a "e;big tent,"e; in which black and white, gay and straight, rich and poor, old and young, Republicans and Democrats are all welcome. Rev. Barber's sermons/speeches at the protests, many of them collected in Forward Together, became the inspiration and rallying cry for a new civil rights movement. North Carolina today is at the epicenter of the political and spiritual crisis affecting 21st-century America. What happens here, says Barber, can shift the center of gravity in the American political discourse. Similar movements are now growing in states around the country. Forward Together captures the essence of what it means to preach in the public square.

Boundaries are healthy and necessary parts of life and ministry. Staying in Bounds provides straight-talk guidance to ministers and other leaders of churches and faith-based organizations on the what, why, and how of relational boundaries. Provides guidance on identifying, implementing, and enforcing healthy boundaries, with a special focus on ministry settings. The author develops the concept of boundaries from psychological and theological perspectives, discusses the benefits of boundaries, and then explains the importance of healthy boundaries in the church.

This book develops a theology of childhood both from a theoretical basis in biblical theology (especially the gospel of Mark) and practical experience in children and youth ministry. Mercer builds on classical theologians such as Augustine, Calvin, Barth, and Rahner as well as modern feminist theologians such as Brock and Russell. She gains insights from pastoral theologians such as Capps and Couture and from contemporary cultural criticism. Mercer challenges approaches to educational and liturgical practices with children in congregations that segregate children from the rest of the church and its key practices of service, mission, worship, care, and learning. She reframes ministries with children as processes through which the church as a "e;community of practice"e; forms children into an alternative identity that resists surrounding consumerist culture and walks in the ways of Jesus. This book offers strategies for educational practices with children in congregations as it seeks to address the question, "e;What might educational practices that welcome children and contribute to their flourishing look like in the context of a faith community where children's learning happens in collaboration with experienced practitioners of faith?"e; Outlining a feminist practical theology of childhood, it explores five basic theological claims: (1) children as gifts and parenting as a religious practice of stewardship; (2) welcoming those who welcome and care for children; (3) children as already fully human; (4) children as part of the purposes of God; and (5) acknowledging and transforming the sufferings of children.

This interdisciplinary conversation combines educational theory with Bible scholarship to help teachers of the Bible move beyond conveying information to revealing the transformative power of the scripture.

Exploring theological anthropology, the doctrine of what it means to be human and to be created in God's image, Fernandez argues that our life in the image of God is damaged and frustrated by the systemic evils of society, particularly classism, racism, sexism, and naturism (destructive practices against the ecosystem). At the heart of these four evils are matters of faith and idolatry, idols that demand the sacrifice of our souls, bodies, time, and anything that we cherish most. In response, Fernandez constructs an alternative anthropology that is nonanthropocentric. He proposes an anthropology that seeks connections while respecting the integrity of the individual, that moves beyond patriarchy, and that makes possible the development of an integrated self. His alternative anthropology transgresses class privileges and restores the humanity of all; it is not "color-blind" nor indifferent to difference, but sees difference as a principle of interdependence and life.

The biblical story of Dinah has often been overlooked, until Anita Diamant's The Red Tent (St. Martin's Press, 1997), that is. With equal skill and passion, Sandra Hack Polaski unravels the biblical story of Leah, Rachel, Zil'pah, Bil'hah, and Leah's daughter Dinah, probing aspects of The Red Tent that give us insight into the text and into the lives of women in the ancient Near East. She gives us a glimpse "e;inside the red tent"e; at the families, relationships, encounters, goddesses, and God that defined their lives and that define ours.

This book was written to help congregational leaders, clergy, staff, and laypersons, plan and organize a Christian education ministry from the approach of Christian formation in a community of faith context. This book provides a model for organizing the Christian education leadership committee or team of the church, demonstrates how to use the church year as a framework for planning the Christian education ministry of the church, and gives a model for assessing the effectiveness of the educational ministry of the church and a process to help congregations move toward the Christian Education Formation approach.

Do you find that your quiet time with God is disrupted by dozens of thoughts running through your head and a restlessness, a need to get up and move? You want to have a deeper and more meaningful prayer life, but you can?t stay focused. If you are one of the millions for whom contemplative prayer is difficult, this book is for you. In Prayer for People Who Can?t Sit Still, William Tenny-Brittian, an adult who has ADHD, goes back to ancient times and into the techno-generation to share ten types of kinesthetic prayer (prayer that involve the whole body and senses, not just your mind and mouth) that will appeal to even the most fidgety as they seek to connect with God.

A theology in tune with postcolonial theory has the potential to creatively inform and transform ecclesial practice. Focusing on the relation of theology to postcolonial theory, Postcolonial Theologies brings together a wide diversity of authors, many of them fresh and exciting theological voices, in essays that are stunningly creative and prophetically lucid. All essays are theologically constructive, not merely deconstructive or critical, in their visions for Christianity. Forming a sort of doctrinal landscape, they emerge under the themes of theological anthropology shaped by ethnicity, class, and privilege; a Christology that intersects the claims of Christ and empire; and a Cosmology that imagines a postcolonial world.

Cartwright helps Disciples understand their rich heritage and unique characteristics.

"New Testament Themes" focuses on the worldview and values of the early church, tracing the development of the themes of grace, discipleship, community, and apocalypticism.