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Ray Anderson's book spoke courage and comfort to my soul.... Lewis B. Smedes, Ph.D. Author of titles including Shame and Grace, Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve and How Can It Be All Right When Everything Is All Wrong?Whether it's childhood trauma, abusive relationships, or shame, Anderson provides effective help for those who hide behind a facade of well-being and deny their own brokenness. Archibald D. Hart, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of titles including Adrenaline and Stress and Dark Cloud, Silver LiningRay Anderson, (1925-2009) was Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary and served on the faculty of the School of Theology since 1976. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament, The Soul of Ministry, Self Care, Living the Spiritually Balanced Life, and Dancing with Wolves While Feeding the Sheep: The Musings of a Maverick Theologian.

An important book, one that can truly be called seminal.--AmericaIn a popular, informal style, the Jesuit author of many theological books and articles explores the question of interpersonal commitments . . . His book should do much to clarify a great deal of muddy thinking on a critical issue.--Library JournalHaughey is not addressing one life-style, but is writing for all, since all of us are committed to someone or something. His book is carefully written and deserves careful reading.--Best SellersJohn C. Haughey, SJ, is the author of 'The Holy Use of Money' and 'Should Anyone Say Forever?'.

""Meditation transforms our perceptions of the world, the events of our lives, our own existence.-- Edmund P. ClowneyShould Christians meditate? If so, how? In other generations the answers to these questions would have been taken for granted. Yet because of the influx of various Eastern religions with forms of meditation not based on biblical principles, Christians have shied away from this time-honored tradition.These forty daily studies are meant to assist you in searching out what the Scriptures say about meditation. You will not only learn about meditation; you will also learn how to meditate. These are meditations on meditation.Tom McCormick (MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Texas) has served overseas with Wycliffe Bible Translators (Peru, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, England) and Partners International (Bolivia, Peru, India). He lives near Toronto, teaches part-time at Tyndale Theological Seminary, and serves with SIM encouraging churches to help immigrants learn English. For more than 30 years he has ministered in nursing homes and continues to help others do the same. He has recently co-authored 'Nursing Home Ministry: Where Hidden Treasures are Found'. Sharon Fish Mooney (RN, PhD, University of Rochester) lives in Ohio and teaches nursing research and gerontology on-line for Regis University, Denver, Colorado, and Indiana Wesleyan University. She is a writer and conference speaker. She has taught Parish Nursing and courses on spirituality, ritual, and healing at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her publications include books and articles on spiritual care, Alzheimer's disease, ministry to the aged, and worldview issues.

Henry Venn was born and bred among the British evangelical aristocracy at Clapham. Wilberforce, Grant, Macaulay, Stephen, and Thornton were at the height of their powers -- leading the campaign against slavery, promoting public morals, founding philanthropic and missionary societies -- at the turn of the nineteenth century.As powerful leader of the most prominent British missionary society from 1841 to 1872, Venn unhesitatingly used his connections with politicians and statesmen to further the missionary cause. He often found himself at odds with government, but he mastered the art of lobbying skillfully for his interest.Henry Venn was a man of generous hospitality who entertained countless guests in his home. Sir Leslie Stephen, his nephew, conjectured that in evangelical circles noted for their somber mood Venn must have been something of an embarrassment with his irrepressible humor.Venn was an outstanding administrator. Early on he perceived the need to provide the missionary movement with a clear theoretical framework. Out of his search for principles of missionary action emerged the indigenous church ideal that has figured prominently in all missionary thinking since.Henry Venn is perennially up-to-date. Anyone reading him who is concerned with today's Church in today's world will find echoes ringing all the time. It is good to have a comprehensive presentation of him; doubly valuable when it is from one who, like Dr. Shenk, is both a scholar and a missionary administrator himself.--Andrew F. Wallsauthor of 'The Missionary Movement in Christian History' (1996) and 'The Cross Cultural Process in Christian History' (2002)'The vision is for days yet to come,' said the prophet. It is with such a vision that this book is concerned--the vision of one of the great missionary leaders of the past, a vision which even today remains to be fully explored. The author presents a careful historical review of Henry Venn's achievements in the setting of his age. He thus enables our own generation, more than a century later, to see with Venn's eyes, to trace the steps by which he advanced toward the great aim of churches in mission throughout the world.--Hans-Werner GensichenHeidelberg UniversityWilbert R. Shenk is Senior Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. His other books include 'Changing Frontiers of Mission' (1999).

Even before American soldiers were involved in fighting in the war in Vietnam, someone observed that the United States government was spending money ""like a drunken sailor. The years since then have substantiated the truth of that observation. The exorbitant cost of war production and the fantastic waste involved in military spending has prompted more and more citizens to inquire as to just what tax funds are being spent on.Disgruntled taxpayers discover that wars and taxes invariably go together. When governments engage in wars, they immediately levy taxes on the citizens to pay for them. This pattern of taxation is firmly grounded in historical experience. In an effort to see the parallels between our times and earlier times, the author begins his study of the war tax problem by taking a brief look at the history of taxation (both ancient and modern). With this background for perspective he moves on to examine several biblical passages like ""Render to Caesar . . . , which are often used to justify an absolute, unquestioning obedience to governmental demands. Here is a ""hang-up that frequently paralyzes Christian social concern into helpless indifference.A third section of the book explores three basic arguments against the voluntary payment of war taxes. The appeal and power of these arguments are then demonstrated by reviewing only a few of the ways in which people have attempted to resolve this painful ethical dilemma.The author makes a strong case for a more radical Christian application of what it means to be a conscientious objector to war. He claims that those who are willing to refuse the government their ""warm bodies but nevertheless volunteer (however reluctantly) their ""cold cash for war taxes, are failing to make the choice of discipleship where it counts. Instead, the Christian must find in his commitment to God the kind of courage which enables him to say a decisive No! to the unreasonable demands of government, regardless of the consequences to his own life. Nothing less than this will be adequate to confront the evil and potential destructiveness of our giant ""military-industrial complex.Donald D. Kaufman has served in pastoral, clinical, and administrative positions for organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee. He is the author of 'The Tax Dilemma: Praying for Peace, Paying for War'.

No generation in the history of Jewry has been so roundly, universally condemned by posterity as that of Yohanan ben Zakkai. A crisis was taking place in Palestine - a conflict between the Romans' need for expanding their empire, trade, and strategic locale, and the Jews' need for continuing to serve God with their laws and their holy land. Beginning with the destruction by the Romans of the second temple in A.D. 70, we have a continuing picture of Pharisee Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, leader of Jewish reconstruction and founder of contemporary Judaism as we know it today: how the Torah affected Yohanan's education, war activities, social problems, and theological issues. Especially important to Jews and Christians alike is the picture of Pharisees and Pharisaism that emerges and the enlightening story of what happened to the many Jews of this first-century who did not become Christians. First-Century Judaism in Crisis is a popularized version of the author's prize-winning biography of Yohanan ben Zakkai (Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1970).Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard. He has published more than 900 books and unnumbered articles, both scholarly and academic, popular and journalistic, and is the most published humanities scholar in the world. He has been awarded nine honorary degrees, including seven US and European honorary doctorates. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1953, his Ph.D. from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1961, and Rabbinical Ordination and the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960.Neusner is editor of the 'Encyclopedia of Judaism' (Brill, 1999. I-III) and its Supplements; Chair of the Editorial Board of 'The Review of Rabbinic Judaism,' and Editor in Chief of 'The Brill Reference Library of Judaism', both published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is editor of 'Studies in Judaism', University Press of America.Neusner resides with his wife in Rhinebeck, New York. They have a daughter, three sons and three daughters-in-law, six granddaughters and two grandsons.

In 'Breaking the Fine Rain of Death', Emilie Townes focuses on the health care issues affecting African Americans and does so from a womanist perspective by paying attention to race and class as well as gender. Townes describes the lamentable history of health care in African American communities and the disease that affect African Americans disproportionately -- diabetes, hypertension, low-birthrate babies, and drug-related illnesses--as well as cultural, genetic, and socio-economic factors that account for them. Townes then offers models of care that have worked in some African American communities and that need to be used on a broader scale. She explores healing models sensitive to class and cultural context, and provides practical recommendations relevant to the needs of the Black Church and the African American community.Emilie Townes's 'Breaking the Fire Rain of Death' is an excellent study of African American health issues. Here analysis is both historical and contemporary and focuses on 'caring and hope' as we search for ways to establish justice in our unjust care system. I strongly recommend this book. -- James H. Cone Briggs Distinguished Professor Union Theological SeminaryProfessor Emilie Townes has produced a seminal work that closes the gap between town and gown with her much-needed contribution to empowering local churches to move from theology to praxis in health care. She also closes the mythological gap between soul and body by lucidly articulating a correct biblical concept of holistic health. Dr. Townes employs her interdisciplinary expertise in Bible, theology, ethics, sociology, and public health issues no only to diagnose the nature of our health care crisis but to offer prescriptions for pastors and lay leaders who are searching for answers. To God be the glory for the womanist scholarship of Emilie Townes, which help to make life more human at the dawn of the twenty-first century. -- J. Alfred Smith, Sr. Senior Pastor Allen Temple Baptist Church Oakland, CaliforniaEmilie M. Townes is the first Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale University Divinity School. She is the former Carolyne Williams Beaird Professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Townes is the author of 'Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope' and 'In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness'. She is also the editor of A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering and Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation. In 2005, Townes became the first African American woman elected vice president of the American Academy of Religion. She will assume its presidency in 2008.

This book is a continuation of the development of thought begun by the author in his Creation and Law, published in 1961. Together the two books cover most of the great themes usually considered in a work of dogmatics. Though this book is not organized and written as a dogmatics in the formal sense, the author treats in it the major doctrines of the Christian faith: the relation of law and gospel, the two natures of Christ, sin, grace, sacraments, the Word of God, etc.Running through and informing the discussion of these and other doctrines is one major theme: the relation between creation and redemption. Taking his cue from Irenaeus, Wingren defines this relation in a variety of ways. Because he takes the relation between creation and redemption so seriously, Old Testament Prehistory comes to its own. The first article of the Creed is more than that the stress on the humanity of Christ rules out all docetism: the church is understood as the body of Christ fulfilling its mission through preaching, and the parousia is not merely the end but the fulfillment of creation. In the final analysis, however, Wingren's dogmatics has an ethical thrust of profound significance for our understanding of living a Christian life in our workaday world. His careful analysis of the relation between creation and redemption, as epitomized for the Christian in baptism, prevents an unambiguous affirmation of the church as completely redemptive, or of creation as wholly good or wholly evil. The eschatological dimension of life - life lived between the beginning and the end - becomes a dominant feature of the Christian's posture in the world until Christ is all in all.Wingren here completes his argument for a due regard for the three articles of the Creed as the best key to the structure of Biblical truth and the best defense against the tendencies in contemporary theology to force it into monistic philosophical molds. The argument is impressively presented and demands serious consideration. Wingren is unquestionably one of the most vigorous participants in the current discussion of the problems of theological method and procedure. - George S. Hendry Princeton Theological SeminaryGustaf Wingren is a weighty theological thinker. He will in all likelihood become increasingly influential both in the United States and on the world scene. GOSPEL AND CHURCH is a study in combination of classical theological solidity and modern theological flexibility. Although the Lutheran tradition shapes Wingren's basic thinking, his theology is always in the grand style of ecumenical concern and creativity. - Nels F. S. Ferre Andover Newton Theological SchoolGustaf Wingren (1910-2000) was Professor of Systematic Theology at Lund from 1951-1977. His other books include 'The Living Word' and 'Creation and Law'.

Adult ministry poses a unique challenge to churches today--a challenge that many of us fail to meet adequately. The tragic result is an exodus of the best and brightest from our pews, not because these people have changed their theology or abandoned God. They just don't find much at church that seems immediately relevant or compelling. For nearly fifty years Kenneth O. Gangel has been teaching church leaders how to do adult ministry right. In this volume he has distilled his insights into an easy-to-grasp-and-apply analysis of what it takes to capture the attention and guarantee the participation of adults in your church, including: * Specific advice based on ages, genders, and circumstances peculiar to certain ministries * Proven, cutting-edge curriculum models that can revitalize your church's adult instruction * Contemporary solutions to the most common problems we encounter in ministering to today's adults Whether they know it or not, even those who are lagging in church attendance and distancing themselves from other believers still need the time-proven, heaven-given blessings only the church can offer them. As you read this book, Gangel will give you fresh ideas about how to draw these drifters back into the fold. The real-life stories he tells and the successful strategies he outlines may strike in your heart some spark of imagination and renewed commitment that will help you to bring new life to the adult ministry of the church you serve.Reading Ministering to Today's Adults is like looking at the forest through the eyes of a trained biologist. Dr. Gangel mixes decades of thinking and research about adult learners with a pastor's heart for ministry in this volume. Panoramic sweep, probing insights, and prickly questions prod the reader from one chapter to the next. I highly recommend it!--Michael Lawson, Chair,Department of Christian Education, Dallas Seminary""This work is written with a rare mix of adult learning theory and fresh ideas from the pen of a ministry practitioner who has been sharpening Christian leaders for half a century. Each chapter provides contemporary solutions for the common challenges in discipling adults--the book is a gift for all who love local church adult education.""--Miles (Skip) LewisDirector of M.A. in Ministry Programs, The Graduate School at Lancaster Bible College""A wise man once advised, 'Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.' Thankfully, Ministering to Today's Adults does not force readers to choose between their excellent education for adult ministry and memorable learning. Readers are rewarded with both. Dr. Gangel's experience, concise insights, passion, and ability to communicate practical knowledge about adults will not be quickly forgotten.""--Ronald T. Habermas,McGee Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Formation, John Brown University""This latest, refreshing volume from the prolific pen of Ken Gangel will impact scores of leaders and churches who seek to change lives and not just have adult programs. Ken's insightful presentation of adult characteristics and contexts as well as how to minister effectively to them is timely and practical. A must read for all Christian leaders."" -- Dr. Gilbert Peterson, Chancellor of Lancaster Bible College""For decades my good friend and colleague, Dr. Gangel, has been an effective teacher, due in large measure to his deep commitment to listening from within.""--Dr. Charles SwindollKenneth O. Gangel (1935 - 2009) was Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Dallas Seminary, the Scholar-in-Residence at Toccoa Falls College, and a senior consultant with Timothy Partners. He held a BA in business administration, three master's degrees from accredited seminaries, and a PhD in educational administration from the University of Missouri. The author or editor of 55 books, Dr. Gangel lectured in over forty educational institutions worldwide.

This is an exciting, informed, thoughtful, and ground-breaking book on one of the most vital--and threatening--issues facing the contemporary church. Father Burrows seeks effectively to show that the older forms of church and clerical life, developed in the West, are both irrelevant and stultifying when transferred in to the Third World--and that, as a consequence, new forms of church and clerical life, forms still within the Catholic heritage to which he affirms, must be developed if the church is long to survive in that new world. Frankly admitting that his suggestions are only the beginning and by no means final, Burrows nevertheless makes crystal-clear the need for more open attitudes towards the forms of church and the need for more open attitudes towards the forms of church and clergy if the newer churches are to become genuinely creative forces in the Third World rather than lingering embassies from the First World. I found the work exceedingly stimulating, the approach fresh and open, and his suggestions more than worthy of careful thought by all those concerned with the Church in a global context. -Langdon Gilkey, Shailer Mathews Professor of Theology, University of Chicago Divinity SchoolNew Ministries deals with topics of vital concern for the Christian churches and it does so in a way that will catch and keep the reader's interest. Burrows handles this rather explosive topic with personal sensitivity and with scholarly care. -Paul F. Knitter, Professor of Theology, Xavier

Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard. He has published more than 900 books and unnumbered articles, both scholarly and academic, popular and journalistic, and is the most published humanities scholar in the world. He has been awarded nine honorary degrees, including seven US and European honorary doctorates. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1953, his Ph.D. from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1961, and Rabbinical Ordination and the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960.Neusner is editor of the 'Encyclopedia of Judaism' (Brill, 1999. I-III) and its Supplements; Chair of the Editorial Board of 'The Review of Rabbinic Judaism,' and Editor in Chief of 'The Brill Reference Library of Judaism', both published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. He is editor of 'Studies in Judaism', University Press of America.Neusner resides with his wife in Rhinebeck, New York. They have a daughter, three sons and three daughters-in-law, six granddaughters and two grandsons.

Camery-Hoggatt understands the complex interaction between readers and biblical texts, and he has accomplished an astounding feat for biblical preachers. He has taken apart the Swiss watch of biblical interpretation, showing all the gears, levers, and flywheels and patiently explaining how each one operates. Then, even more amazingly, he has put the whole thing back together again and made it work, producing fascinating examples of the text-to-sermon process.--Thomas G. LongFrancis Landey Patton Professor of Preaching and Worship, Princeton Theological Seminary. . . This is an important resource for those concerned with the negotiation of meaning in biblical texts in the service of the people of God.--Joel B. GreenAssociate Professor of Theology, Boston COllege. . . this study demonstrates that a reader-response approach has significant implications for both exegesis and exposition. Indeed, it helps link these two moments in the pastor's overall homiletical endeavor . . .--W. Randolph TateAssociate Professor of Theology, Evangel College. . . ought to be required reading in every seminary homiletics class. Every church board would be well served by seeing that their pastor has a copy . . .--Charles HedrickProfessor of Religious Studies and Distinguished Scholar, Southwest Missouri State UniversityJerry Camery-Hoggatt is Professor of New Testament and Narrative Theology at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. He is the author of 'Irony in Mark's Gospel', 'Grapevine: The Spirituality of Gossip', and several popular stories.

This trailblazing volume juxtaposes traditions of faith from the Old Testament with themes of communion in the early church to produce rich new understandings of the Eucharist for today's worshipers. In a vivid and inviting style, Jon Berquist moves from the elements of the meal to the people who partake to the God who invites, producing fresh perspectives all along the way. Clergy and laity alike can enlarge their interpretation of communion by including motifs from the Old Testament. This book attempts to put ancient wine into new wineskins. The ancient traditions of the Old Testament are put into the new forms of the New Testament and the early church's communion. Also, the ancient traditions of all the Bible and of our communion traditions, many of which have been in place for decades and centuries, are presented in a new light, so that fresh possibilities can be found. With ancient wine and new wineskins, the best of communion is yet to come!--from the IntroductionJon L. Berquist is also the author of 'Judaism in Persia's Shadow', 'Incarnation', 'Surprises by the River', and 'Controlling Corporeality'.

Despite its title, the subject of this book is really not the denial of the Pauline authorship of seven books in the New Testament. The subject of this book is the significance of these books in themselves. The second chapter briefly reviews the religious and cultural conditions within which these books were written, thereby elucidating their origins somewhat. The non-Pauline origin of these seven books raises a host of issues for believers, the churches, and exegetes themselves. The final chapter of this book addresses itself to some of these issues. . . . My real hope is that these reflections help the reader to better understand the sacred page. To the extent that my hope is realized, the true significance of Paul the apostle for the life of the church will be appreciated all the more.--from the ForewordRaymond F. Collins is Warren-Blanding Professor of Religious Studies and Professor of New Testament at The Catholic University of America. His other books include 'The Many Faces of the Church: A Study in New Testament Ecclesiology' (2004) and '1 & 2 Timothy and Titus : A Commentary' (2002).

'Mary and Martha: Women in the World of Jesus' focuses on women as portrayed in the Johannine Gospel--the nature of their lives and their relationship to Jesus.Satoko Yamaguchi has written an excellent, even groundbreaking work . . . . This book provides a new reading of the stories of Mary and Martha in the Gospel of John, and also makes an important contribution to understanding Johannine studies, particularly the Christology of that gospel.--Joanna Dewey, Academic Dean, Episcopal Divinity SchoolThis books presents and engaging new reading of the Gospel of John from a critical feminist perspective. Satoko Yamaguchi persuasively argues for a new historical imagination. A clear style of argumentation makes this an excellent text for courses in Biblical and Women's Studies.--Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Harvard Divinity SchoolIt is such a revisioning of early Christian women which Yamaguchi suggests will expand the historical imagination of contemporary readers of the gospel in a way which can shape new spiritualities and identities for today's Christian women (and men). Yamaguchi hopes to reach the first-time readers of feminist biblical interpretation with her text and for them this work will offer a very rich fare. For those already familiar with the field, Mary and Martha will be a re-immersion and an expansion of imagination especially in relation to the two focal women -- Mary and Martha of the Johannine Gospel.--Elaine Wainwright, The University of Auckland School of TheologyI highly recommend this readable and informative text.--Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity SchoolSatoko Yamaguchi received the Bible & Archeology prize for her dissertation at the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and taught at New York Theological Seminary and the Newark School of Theology. She now teaches in Tokyo at Japan Biblical Theological Seminary (Protestant), Central Theological College (Episcopal), Keisen Women's University (Protestant), and Sacred Heart University (Catholic). She is codirector of the Center for Feminist Theology and Ministry in Japan. Her 'Mary and Martha' received the 2003 Book Award from Catholic Press Association in the US and Canada.

This volume makes a systematic theological statement in light of the unique revelation of God and humankind that has come to us in Jesus, the Messiah, as recorded in Scripture. It is the companion to the author's 'Jesus Christ Our Lord' (1987, 1990).There are chapters on Jesus Christ as the lens through which we receive theological insight, revelation, God, humanity, the Holy Spirit, the church, and last things, all understood through God's self-disclosure in Christ. From within the Anabaptist theological tradition, Kraus offers a biblically oriented alternative to rationalistic orthodoxy and to liberalism. He takes Scripture as the normative witness to the meaning of Christ, the authoritative source for theological reflection, and thus makes a thoroughly evangelical statement. Yet this evangel begins with salvation as newness of life in resurrection with Christ, not simply as juridical justification.The emphasis is on God as source of creative potential rather than on God as instigator of legal judgment. Christ, the Second Adam, the truest image of God, is both the climax of creation and the means through which humanity can attain that image and respond to God in personal relationship. Kraus views the Holy Spirit as the enlivening presence of the risen Christ, the church as the continuing saving mission of Christ, and eschatology as the victory of Christ over the powers of evil and death.Creative theologizing. . . . . I find myself constantly challenged and stimulated by these new insights. . . .--Dorothy Jean Weaver, Eastern Mennonite SocietyC. Norman Kraus, retired in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a Goshen College professor emeritus. He is the author of numerous books including 'Evangelicalism and Anabaptism' and 'Jesus Christ Our Lord.'

The Christian religion is the religion of the Incarnation: God fully in man, and man fully in God. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ was exactly that, it is our divine business to be fully human by being brought into the closest possible relationship God--a relationship allowed only by the Incarnation. There must be a divine-human blend; we dare not take one without the other. We cannot be truly man without God and his church; we cannot be truly God's by offering him only part of our humanity. We fail to offer our full selves to God by making our religion exclusively intellectual, exclusively spiritual, exclusively moral, exclusively emotional, or exclusively physical. If we want the grace of God to bear upon our whole lives and upon the world, life in its wholeness must be offered to God--by worship, by prayer and meditation, by study, by obedience, by charity, by peace, and in Christ. There must be doctrinal certainty, ecclesiastical authority, and supernatural orientation. We must know the Truth, learn the Way, and lead the Life; one, or two, without the other(s) invites damnation.Harry Blamires is one of America's best-known English authors; his educational, theological, and fictional works have brought him acclaim in all three fields, both in the USA and England. People who run after human gods of current fashion find him irksome because he insists on the value and necessity of obedience, loyalty, integrity, authority, and honesty, and above all of being Christian--really Christian. Like prophets of old, he cries out against much that passes for Christianity today. He never fails to get to the heart of things, and always has something forceful to say--if only to frighten his readers closer to God. Harry Blamires is the former Dean of Arts and Sciences at King Alfred's College, Winchester.

McCarthy is a masterful writer with an astute eye for the encapsulating anecdotes of our everyday lives. Digging in the garden of consumerist America, his spade roots out many economic and romantic assumptions, revealing the shallow but tenacious grip that many of those 'weeds' have on our lives. McCarthy invites us to cultivate a garden bearing real fruit, a fruit we often do not even realize we want, but when tasted, draws us on.--John Berkman, The Catholic University of AmericaWith style, warmth, and humor, David Matzko McCarthy challenges us to bring the gospel into our homes. His stories of spouse, children, neighbors, and friends help us remember that Christians can rise above personal foibles and social pressures to enjoy surprising generosity, love, and grace.--Lisa Cahill, Boston CollegeHow can we resist the empire's demand for our allegiance? This remains a fundamental question for Christian discipleship, and in 'The Good Life', McCarthy poses it afresh. But now the empire is not Rome but the market, and the arena of challenge is not the coliseum but Wal-Mart. He offers challenging wisdom to those of us in minivans who are trying to discern what God's disruptive grace means for our friendships, our neighborhoods, and our consumer habits.--James K. A. Smith, Calvin CollegeA splendid theological analysis of everyday life for people who live ordinary, middle-class realities. McCarthy illumines everyday life with beautiful interpretations of scripture and the creed. He is clearly the best theologian today writing on the vocation of parenting and neighborly existence.--D. Stephen Long, Garrett-Evangelical Theological SeminaryDon't let the charm of his style or his mastery or the telling detail mislead you. McCarthy's 'The Good Life' is both a sustained critique of the consumerism that enslaves and a profound account of how God's graciousness can set us free. This is theology at its best. A 'how to' book about something that matters.--Elizabeth Newman, Baptist Theological Seminary at RichmondA wonderful book. Rooted in Scripture, informed by the Christian tradition, perceptive in its analysis of contemporary American culture, 'The Good Life' is full of practical wisdom for middle-class Christians seeking to live more faithfully in their relationships to people, places, and things. Take up and read!--Steve Bouma-Prediger, Hope College'The Good Life' provides middle-class Christians a rich resource for theological reflections. McCarthy writes like a pastor and has a gift for making resistance to mainstream American culture seem both necessary and possible.--Julie Hanlon Rubio, author of A Christian Theology of Marriage and FamilyDavid Matzko McCarthy is The Father Forker Professor of Catholic Social Teaching and an associate professor of theology at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He is the author of 'Sex and Love in the Home: A Theology of the Household'.

This book is a collection of short reflections on mentoring and discipleship in honor of Scott M. Gibson. Gibson says: ""The missing ingredient in the Church today is discipleship."" This book casts a vision for all believers for what mentoring and discipleship can look like in the local church, in Bible colleges and seminaries, and in Christian friendships. We hope that you will be inspired by Scott M. Gibson's example to be selfless and intentional about mentoring and discipling others. Gibson desires to see a multiplying effect of true mentorship and discipleship rippling across congregations in North America and around the globe. He has spent his life prioritizing discipleship because he wants to look more and more like his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and he wants the same for others. Read this book and be moved to serve as a mentor and to make disciples.""Scott Gibson knows biblical preaching, and he is a teacher of teachers. If anyone desires to understand more about homiletics from a scholar and practitioner mentored by the inimitable Haddon Robinson, Scott Gibson is among the handful of today's leading professors and scholars. I trust this book will help many in their public articulation of God's Word with conviction and courage.""--Barry H. Corey, President of Biola University and author of Love Kindness: Discover the Power of a Forgotten Christian Virtue""It was my joy as President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to observe first-hand the work of Dr. Scott Gibson as teacher and mentor of homiletical skills for those preparing for ministry of the Word of God in his church worldwide. This volume is a good proof and sample of that work. In each of the chapters the reader will find truth-laden wisdom that speaks to some of the great issues of our day. I heartily commend this wonderful set of chapters to both laypersons who reflect on these same issues and to many who seek the call of our Lord in his vineyard.""--Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., President Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary""It is often that some students admire a professor in the classroom. It is less often that they find a friend and mentor during their seminary days. It is even yet more extraordinary to weigh the impact of Dr. Scott Gibson on the lives of so many for so long. Years after leaving the academy they pay tribute to an adult lifetime of mentorship. Firm, fair, faithful, and gracious has been his abiding influence in the lives of so many. Such as this grants him the promised 'abundant entrance.'""--Joel C. Gregory, Holder of the George W. Truett Endowed Chair of Preaching and Evangelism, George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor UniversityMatthew D. Kim is Associate Professor of Preaching and Ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and co-editor with Scott M. Gibson of Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today.

Theologia et Apologia gathers together eighteen essays, written by a wide range of scholars, on Reformation theology and its defense. Orthodox theology, grounded in the Scriptures, calls humanity to believe. This same theology must also be presented and defended to a world that has often not attended to its vital message. Collectively, these essays teach and defend the biblical theology articulated during the Reformation and still today. They address topics including the inspiration, canon, and interpretation of Scripture, Reformation era developments, classic and modern apologetics, and other topics. This helpful book, honoring Rod Rosenbladt, a notable theologian and apologist, is a welcome addition to the library of any thinking Christian.Rod Rosenbladt is Professor of Theology and Christian Apologetics at Concordia University Irvine. He is one of the co-hosts of the nationally syndicated radio program, The White Horse Inn.Adam S. Francisco is Assistant Professor of History at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York.Korey D. Maas is Assistant Professor of Theology and Church History at Concordia University Irvine.Steven P. Mueller is Professor of Theology and Dean of Christ College Undergraduate Studies at Concordia University Irvine. He is the author of Not a Tame God: Christ in the Writing of C. S. Lewis (2002) and editor of Called to Believe, Teach, and Confess (2005). Contributors: Eric Casteel, Alfonso O. Espinosa, Adam S. Francisco, Michael Horton, Korey D. Maas, Charlie Mallie, Jeffrey Mallinson, Angus Menuge, John Warwick Montgomery, Steven P. Mueller, Steven R. J. Parks, Craig A. Parton, Mark A. Pierson, John T. Pless, Kim Riddlebarger, Rick Ritchie, R. C. Sproul, Daniel van Voorhis

This journey book invites the reader to go with the author on her travels to dozens of congregations all over the United States, discovering their assets and strengths as well as their struggles and fears. She was not critic, nor teacher, nor consultant, but visitor. Guest. She learned from the people of God she met, appreciated them, and gave thanks. The book was written for enjoyment; it quite possibly also will challenge. The purpose of the book is to help congregations claim their identity in the body of Christ and be strengthened for their vocation in God''s public world. The key to unlocking the book is to use the questions for reflection and discussion. Stories beget stories. By focusing on issues in other contexts congregations are sometimes able to talk more easily about important questions they face in our own settings.""Norma Cook Everist through this offering of Open the Doors, echoes the ''Hephatha (be opened)'' of Jesus, inviting All the People to live out their identity as God''s people and their calling as God''s servants.""--Pastor Paul Stumme-Diers, Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island, Washington""With the skill of a quilter, Professor Cook Everist pieces together stories that lead us to reflect upon the Church and how congregations are called and equipped for God''s mission. Rather than an extensive discourse on abstract ideas, she offers engagement in the contexts of ministry, stitching through the particulars to reveal the patterns and contrasts. This book will be a great resource for congregational leaders to use together to open meetings and to encourage small group discussion regarding congregational identity and mission.""--Pastor Kathryn Gerking, Interim Senior Pastor, St. Stephen''s Lutheran Church, Monona, WisconsinNorma Cook Everist, having previously served in parishes and taught at Yale Divinity School, has been professor of church and ministry at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, for over 37 years. She is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She enjoys visiting the places where her former students, as well as many others, now serve. A widely known theologian, keynote speaker, and conference leader, she has published over a dozen books, including: The Church as Learning Community; Church Conflict: From Contention to Collaboration; and, most recently, Seventy Images of Grace in the Epistles That Make All the Difference in Daily Life (Cascade).

APTS Press is privileged to offer this festschrift honoring Dr. Kay Fountain, who for more than twenty years has served the Lord at the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS), in Baguio City, Philippines, first as a student, then as a faculty member and finally as the Academic Dean. Our hope is that this book will reflect her passion for teaching and understanding the Old Testament, which has instilled in her students that kind of passion for the ministry as well.From the Foreword In keeping with the theme of this Festschrift: The Old Testament in Theology and Teaching, the included articles predominantly provide an Old Testament focus. Significantly, most have been written by Kay's current and former students and colleagues, both Western and Asian, including one by her PhD Mentor, Dr. Tim Bulkeley. John Carter, PhD, President Emeritus, Asia Pacific Theological SeminaryWonsuk Ma--Tragedy of Spirit-Empowered Heroes: A Close Look at Samson and SaulTim Bulkeley--How Can a Man Read Esther?Jacqueline Grey--Navigating the Empire: Esther As a Model of MarginalizationTim Meadowcroft--Wise Participation in the Divine Life: Lessons From the Life of DanielTeresa Chai--Old Testament Pedagogy on MissionDave Johnson--Gideon and the Angel of the Lord: An Anthropological Perspective on Judges 6:11-40 Tham Wan--Asian Theological Education Now and Then: An Asian Pentecostal Pastor- Educator's Survey of Theological EducationLian Sian Mung--The Charismatic and Non-Charismatic Roles of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:1-5Itzhaq Shai, with Chris McKinny, Benjamin Yang and Deborah Cassuto--Illuminating a Canaanite and Judahite Town: The Archaeological Background of Tel BurnaAdelina C. Ladera--Kay Fountain: Historical-Biographical SketchThe EditorsTeresa Chai, PhD, is the academic dean at the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines and is a past president of Alpha Omega College in Malaysia. She also served for eight years as a missionary in Bangladesh and is the author of numerous articles in various publications.Dave Johnson, DMiss, has been a missionary to the Philippines since 1994. He currently serves as a faculty member at APTS as well as the managing editor of the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies and the director of APTS Press. He is the author of Led by the Spirit: The History of the American Assemblies of God Missionaries in the Philippines and Theology in Context: A Case Study in the Philippines.

Exploring nonviolent images of atonement--The ""sacrifice"" of Jesus is one of the most central doctrines in Christianity--and one of the most controversial, especially in contemporary debate (and after the appearance of films such as The Passion of the Christ). The implications of a violent parent and the necessity of innocent suffering are profoundly troubling to many people. Are they nevertheless necessary elements of Christian theology?Christian A. Eberhart makes a decisive contribution to these debates by carefully and clearly examining the Old Testament metaphors of sacrifice and atonement and the ways these metaphors were taken over by early Christians to speak of the significance of Christ. Eberhart shows that these New Testament appropriations have been misunderstood as requiring a logic of necessary violence; rather they speak to larger Christological themes concerning the whole mission and life of Jesus.Dr. Christian A. Eberhart is Professor and Program Director of Religious Studies at the University of Houston. He graduated from Harvard University, Divinity School (Cambridge, MA) and has a doctorate in Hebrew Bible studies from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) as well as a second doctorate (Habilitation) in Early Christian literature from the University of Mainz (Germany).Dr. Eberhart is a seminar founder and convener for the Society of New Testament Studies. He has published various books in English and German, among them What a Difference a Meal Makes: The Last Supper in the Bible and in the Christian Church (2016). He edited the volume Ritual and Metaphor: Sacrifice in the Bible (2011) and co-edited the volume Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity: Constituents and Critique (2017).

In the United States the conventional left/right distinction has become increasingly irrelevant, if not harmful. The reigning political, cultural, and economic visions of both the Democrats and the Republicans have reached obvious dead ends. Liberalism, with its hostility to any limits, is collapsing. So-called Conservatism has abandoned all pretense of conserving anything at all. Both dominant parties seem fundamentally incapable of offering coherent solutions for the problems that beset us. In light of this intellectual, cultural, and political stalemate, there is a need for a new vision. Localism in the Mass Age: A Front Porch Republic Manifesto assembles thirty-one essays by a variety of scholars and practitioners--associated with Front Porch Republic--seeking to articulate a new vision for a better future. The writers are convinced that human apprehension of the true, the good, and the beautiful is best realized within a dense web of meaningful family, neighborhood, and community relationships. These writers seek to advance human flourishing through the promotion of political decentralism, economic localism, and cultural regionalism. In short, Front Porch Republic is dedicated to renewing American culture by fostering the ideals necessary for strong communities.""Why reorient our lives toward local communities, economies, farmlands and forests? Because that's where you can be a citizen rather than a consumer, where you can see a need and help to meet it, where kinfolk might gather not just to visit but to live, where flesh-and-blood neighbors can offer one another aid and companionship, where public officials must answer for their actions, where you can grow food when the trucks stop rolling, where sun and wind offer free energy, and where you can protect and restore a piece of Earth. If anything in that list appeals to you, then you'll be stirred by this book--a bold reimagining of our lives and our places.""--Scott Russell Sanders, author of Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World and other books""If each of these essays is a gem--and it is--then coming upon them all in one place is what it must feel like to come upon a streak of emerald in a layer of shale. To find them embedded in one place, in a manifesto that is a paean to place itself, is a sight, and a site, for hope. Singly, they bring us--with equal parts humor, humility, and gravitas--to new vantage points from which to glimpse tantalizing glints of an alternative to today's creed of greed and gain. Together, they construct a non-military equivalent of a phalanx--with equal parts criticism, common sense, and ideals--against destruction of the particular local places and bonds that give us our lives. Only such patient words and intricately argued bridge-building can help us withstand the ravages of expansion without limits, exploitation without renewal, and social and political polarization without thoughts of perpetuity.""--Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Syracuse University, author of Race Experts: How Racial Etiquette, Sensitivity Training, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution ""Among the few remaining signs of civilization these days is this smallish salon of wonderful writers and thinkers, the Porchers, as they call themselves. In well-tuned prose, they celebrate rootedness and that elusive notion, a sense of place. Not to mention, a sense of the truly human.""--Elias Crim, editor and founder, Solidarity Hall""This is a book of serious ideas, well parsed, and rather brave considering the pervasive intellectual perversity elsewhere on the American scene. But mostly it is a lot of really good writing.""-- James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency and other books.""For over 30 years we have heard lamentations from across the political spectrum about the decay of community. Most sound quaint now, for we have lost so much more than community. We've lost contact with reality as we move through an environment of abst

Timo Eskola presents a new way of understanding Paul's soteriology as a theology of predestination: God has cosigned all people to sin and condemnation. There is no basic dualism between the good and the bad. Since everybody needs salvation, the atonement of Christ is proof of God's ultimate faithfulness. Timo Eskola is Privatdozent of New Testament in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki, and a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki. He is the author of Theodicy and Predestination in Pauline Soteriology (1998) and Messiah and the Throne (2001).

Renowned Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez opens up the riches of scriptures as they unfold through the liturgical year. Covering all three cycles (A, B and C), Gutierrez offers penetrating reflections on each of the Sunday lectionary readings. He constantly stresses the biblical themes of liberation and love, and points to the challenges inherent in living the life of faith in our own times.This book will fill a long-felt need, at a time when the authority and relevance of preaching is coming under the spotlight. It combines, uniquely, the profound thinking of a theological giant with the accessibility of a handbook. This combination will make it a key resource for anyone who preaches on Sundays, for anyone who wishes to live the liturgical year through their own scriptural reading, and for anyone who has ever asked themselves how the gospels can be good news for our troubled world today.