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Description:While the concept of partnership between churches in the Global North and South has been an ecumenical goal for well over eight decades, realizing relationships of mutuality, solidarity, and koinonia has been, to say the least, problematic. Seeking to understand the dynamics of power and control in these relationships, this work traces the history of how partnership has been lived out, both as a concept and in practice. It is argued that many of the issues that are problematic for partnerships today can find their antecedents during colonial times at the very beginnings of the modern missionary movement. For those interested in pursuing cross-cultural partnerships today, understanding this history and recognizing the use, as well as the misuse, of power is crucial as we seek genuine relationships of care and friendship in our fractured and divided world. Endorsements:"In reviewing the history of Protestant mission work, Barnes exposes major themes or issues that cause those of us from the West to continually fall short in realizing mature ecumenical relationships, and through this analysis helps us see new possibilities for these relationships in the future."--Graham Duncan, Professor of Church History and Church Polity, University of Pretoria"Power and Partnership is a salutary text on partnership within the international ecumenical scene, for at least three reasons. First, as a book tracing the contours of partnership, it provides insights into a concept that has been closely associated with the modern ecumenical movement. Second, it highlights the need for a new impetus in both theory and practice of partnership. Third, while the focus is on historical analysis, it also lifts out key issues still dogging the global ecumenical journey--notably the contestation of power within partnerships."--Des van der Water, past General Secretary of the Council for World Mission"With historical clarity, political insight, and missiological acuteness, Barnes traces the complex dynamics of cross-cultural partnerships. He provides . . . a deep, sophisticated, and accessible analysis of the achievements, struggles, and unfinished agenda for what will continue to be, at all levels of the Christian church, the most common experience of North-to-South relationships. Barnes''s work contributes to the reshaping of global denominational policy and congregational short-term mission practices."--Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, Professor of Global Christianities and Mission Studies,Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Jonathan Barnes is Executive of Mission Interpretation for Global Ministries, a common witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. He previously served Global Ministries in South Africa and Mozambique.

About the Contributor(s):Rabbi Edward Feld is the senior editor of Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010) and the author of The Spirit of Renewal: Finding Faith after the Holocaust (1994). He has served as Rabbi-in-Residence at the Jewish Theological Seminary and as Hillel Director and Chaplain to the College at Princeton University and Smith and Amherst Colleges. As the Educational Director of Rabbis for Human Rights he developed a curriculum for teaching "Judaism and Human Rights."

About the Contributor(s):Paul R. Hinlicky is the Tise Professor of Lutheran Studies at Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia, a Docent of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava, and a Professor of Systematic Theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology. He is the author of Paths Not Taken (2009), Luther and the Beloved Community (2010), Divine Complexity (2010), and with Brent Adkins, Rethinking Philosophy and Theology with Deleuze (2013).

Description:ReVisioning: Critical Methods of Seeing Christianity in the History of Art examines the application of art historical methods to the history of Christianity and art. As methods of art history have become more interdisciplinary, there has been a notable emergence of discussions of religion in art history as well as related fields such as visual culture and theology. This book represents the first critical examination of scholarly methodologies applied to the study of Christian subjects, themes, and contexts in art. ReVisioning contains original work from a range of scholars, each of whom has addressed the question, in regard to a well-known work of art or body of work, ""How have particular methods of art history been applied, and with what effect?"" The study moves from the third century to the present, providing extensive treatment and analysis of art historical methods applied to the history of Christianity and art.

About the Contributor(s):Timothy Matthew Slemmons is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Worship at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. He is the author of Groans of the Spirit: Homiletical Dialectics in an Age of Confusion (2010) and Year D: A Quadrennial Supplement to the Revised Common Lectionary (2012).

Description:There are numerous issues in the public square confronting the Western church. While there are any number of books available on each of the topics engaged in this collection of essays--just war, family planning, rest, immigration, politics, economic recession, fair trade, and health care--there is no compact guide that approaches each of these issues from an evangelical perspective. Coffee Shop Conversations does just that. The book does not aim to address each issue exhaustively; instead, it offers an evangelical approach to these topics, with the hopes that the door will be opened for further conversation. This book brings together the expertise of several evangelical scholars who are committed to serving the church through scholarship. The volume is therefore ideal for student ministry, Sunday school classes, small groups, and individuals interested in engaging the wider culture from a stance that is well reasoned and committed to biblical faith and practice.Endorsements:"Scholarly without being pedantic, helpful without being burdensome, this new work by a variety of young scholars provides discussion on a variety of needed topics. As an ethicist myself, I am always delighted to see young scholars delve into areas of needed discussion. I am excited this book has been written and that these essays might well receive a much broader audience. Of times when believers ought to be salt and light, that day is now! I commend this group for moving us from where we are to where we ought to be!"--Frank S. Page, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee"Coffee Shop Conversations is as provocative as it is informative. The authors do not presume to offer ''definitive'' answers to our generation''s most pressing ethical problems, but they will certainly get us thinking. You''ll disagree with some of it (I did) and you''ll benefit from all of it. I can''t imagine a more interesting book to use as a discussion starter with friends in any Christian setting."--Gary M. Burge, Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College and Graduate SchoolAbout the Contributor(s):Russell L. Meek is an adjunct instructor and doctoral student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as the associate editor for Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament and is an assistant book review editor for Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.N. Blake Hearson is an associate professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as a pastor of small groups at two churches and has been a member of the faculty at Columbia Evangelical Seminary.

Description:This book argues that problems with recognizing the State of Israel lie at the heart of approaches to nationhood and unease over nationalism in modern Protestant theology, as well as modern social theory. Three interrelated themes are explored. The first is the connection between a theologian''s attitude to recognizing Israel and their approach to the providential place of nations in the divine economy. Following from this, the argument is made that theologians'' handling of both modern and ancient Israel is mirrored profoundly in the question of recognition and ethical treatment of the nations to which they belong, along with neighboring nations. The third theme is how social theory, represented by certain key figures, has handled the same issues. Four major theologians are discussed: Reinhold Niebuhr, Rowan Williams, John Milbank, and Karl Barth. Alongside them are placed social theorists and scholars of religion and nationalism, including Mark Juergensmeyer, Philip Jenkins, Anthony Smith, and Adrian Hastings. In the process, debates over the relationship between theology and social theory are reconfigured in concrete terms around the challenge of recognition of the State of Israel as well as stateless nations. Endorsements:"Here is a lively study of nationhood . . . [that] will undoubtedly raise hackles, provoke discussion and dissent, and require the unpersuaded to examine her arguments and cited texts with great care. Here is swashbuckling, stimulating theology, which should be carefully studied not only by theologians, but by people of many faiths, political and social theorists, and ethicists."-Alan P. F. Sell, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom "Nationalism and the concept of nationhood is something Christian theologians have shied away from. The tragedy of the Holocaust, the European experience during the twentieth century, and the fractious state of the Middle East during the twenty-first have given us all pause for thought. On the basis of a fresh understanding of Israel, Moseley tackles negative attitudes toward the integrity of stateless nations and suggests creative ways in which current missiology and theological ethics can respond positively."-D. Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology, University of Wales Trinity Saint DavidAbout the Contributor(s):Carys Moseley studied Classics and Theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh, and has taught Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Nations and Nationalism in the Theology of Karl Barth (forthcoming).

Description:ContentsThe History of the Study of Israelite and Judean HistoryWellhausen as a Historian of IsraelThe Twelve-Tribe Israelite Amphicyony: An AppraisalThe Final Years of Samaria (730-720 BC)The History of the Form-Critical Study of ProphecyThe Usage of Oracles against Foreign Nations in Ancient IsraelAmos''s Oracles against the Nations (1:2--2:16)Restitution, Forgiveness, and the Victim in Old Testament LawCovenantCovenant and Hesed: The Status of the Discussion

About the Contributor(s):Peter H. Nafzger is the pastor of New Life Church-Lutheran in Hugo, Minnesota. He is also an adjunct professor at Concordia University in St. Paul and a guest lecturer at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

About the Contributor(s):Paul A. Scaglione is pastor of St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the former Director of Spiritual Formation at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.John M. Mulder is the former President and Professor of Historical Theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The author of many publications, his most recent book is Finding God: A Treasury of Conversion Stories (2012).

About the Contributor(s):Warner M. Bailey is the Director of Presbyterian Studies at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. He writes on the impact of biblical studies on the life of the church.

Description:With major themes like "the knowledge of good and evil," "knowing that YHWH is your God," knowing that Jesus is the Christ, and the goal of developing Israel into a "wise and discerning people," Scripture clearly stresses human knowledge and the consequences of error. We too long for confidence in our understanding, the assurance that our most basic knowledge is not ultimately incorrect. Biblical Knowing assesses what Israel knew, but more importantly, how she was meant to know--introducing a comprehensive Scriptural epistemology, firmly rooted in the Scripture''s own presentation of important epistemological events in the story of Israel. Because modern philosophy has also made authoritative claims about knowledge, Biblical Knowing engages contemporary academic views of knowledge (e.g., Reformed Epistemology, scientific epistemology, Virtue Epistemology, etc.) and recent philosophical method (e.g., Analytic Theology), assessing them for points of fittedness with or departure from Scripture''s own epistemology. Additionally, Biblical Knowing explores what proper knowing looks like in the task of theology itself, in the teaching and preaching of the church, and in the context of counseling.Endorsements:"Dru Johnson attends carefully to Scripture to elucidate the dimensions of human knowing it exemplifies throughout. He compares biblical knowing favorably with scientific epistemology in a Polanyian vein, and he contrasts it with the myopic preoccupation with propositions in Anglo-American analytic philosophy. Johnson taps his multi-disciplinary expertise to bring Christian scholars a valuable study that itself calls us to listening and participation in order to see a broader reality."--Esther L. MeekAssociate Professor of PhilosophyGeneva College"Dru Johnson''s Biblical Knowing is a superb introduction to the latest currents in scholarship seeking to elucidate the philosophical content of Scripture. Johnson focuses on biblical approaches to human knowledge, arguing that Scripture shies away from propositional affirmations in favor of phenomenal experience as constitutive of knowledge. In doing so he defends rigor and clarity as biblical values, but boldly insists that these can be no less present in biblical stories about gaining knowledge than in the discursive arguments of later traditions. This is an excellent work that deserves careful attention, opening up new horizons in both philosophy and biblical studies."--Yoram Hazonyauthor of The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture"Biblical Knowing makes a significant contribution to a fresh opening up of the relationship between Scripture and philosophy. This is no easy task, requiring the author to navigate philosophy, biblical studies, and theology. Dru does this masterfully. The result is a lucid, accessible text, and yet one that makes an original contribution. It is the sort of book that I have been waiting for when teaching epistemology and I suspect that many professors will have the same experience."--from the foreword by Craig G. BartholomewH. Evan Runner Professor of PhilosophyRedeemer University CollegeAbout the Contributor(s):Dru Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at The King''s College in New York City. He is also the Templeton Associate Research Fellow in Analytic Theology at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, Israel.

Description:These poems--selected from the award-winning poet''s output over four decades--more explicitly than any of his prior volumes address the centrality of Christian vision to his aims and aspirations. Lea looks unflinchingly at all that may challenge his faith: the cruelties of both natural and human worlds, the attractions of jolly, good-hearted secularism, the distortions of doctrinaire religiosity, the seeming pointlessness of untimely deaths; but his faith in Christian redemption shines through even the bleakest of his poems.Endorsements:""The life in Sydney Lea''s poems is entirely local, whether the locale is Italy, Montana, or his home in Vermont . . . The making of the soul that occurs in Sydney Lea''s poems is intimately connected with the place where the making occurs . . . Sydney Lea''s poems show us that all spirituality is local spirituality. He is our preeminent poet of the soul''s making among local places and people.""--Mark Jarman Author of Bone Fires: New and Selected Poems ""Sydney Lea''s heartbreaking and heartening poems look, with the utmost honesty, at ''what we may or may not be / here on earth.'' . . . [These] urgent poems give us back the depth of our existence. With intelligence, passion, and humility, Lea embraces the task he has been given: to record those ''warming recollections'' of parents, friends, wife and children, and to acknowledge how this ''splendid universe subsumes . . . his small dumb witness'' into a ''hymn of grateful praise.''"" --Robert Cording Author of Walking with Ruskin""In this book Sydney Lea invites us to take a spiritual journey . . . By the end of Six Sundays, the narrator and the reader step together into radiant light. What is so moving about Six Sundays is not only its wrestling with spiritual questions, but also Lea''s affirmation that life is a spiritual journey and that this journey is of paramount importance.""--Jeanne Murray WalkerAuthor of A Deed to the Light""From his experience of doubt to his affirmation of the Mystery, the poet''s faith shows through honest and eloquent language . . . Lea''s unique gift of language opens up the most ordinary detail of village life in northern Vermont and raises it to universal significance. His compassionate gaze at suffering and loss is balanced by his embrace of nature in all its forms and by moments of ecstatic revelation.""--Robert Siegel Author of A Pentecost of Finches: New and Selected PoemsAbout the Contributor(s):Sydney Lea lately retired after more than forty years of teaching at Dartmouth, Yale, Wesleyan, and Middlebury Colleges, as well as at several European universities. Lea was a Pulitzer finalist for his volume of poems Pursuit of a Wound, and won the 1998 Poets'' Prize. He holds the doctorate in Comparative Literature from Yale. Recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Fulbright Foundations, he founded and for thirteen years edited New England Review, one of the nation''s leading literary quarterlies. This is his tenth volume of poems; he is also author of a novel, A Place in Mind, and two collections of naturalist essays, Hunting the Whole Way Home and A Little Wildness. He is currently the poet laureate of the state of Vermont.

Description:Cultural changes and social conditions today give evidence of a growing disregard of traditional authority and an increasing distrust of institutions. Relations between pastor and people are changing. In many situations, the practice of top-down leadership appears no longer to be effective. Members Are Ministers identifies the positive change necessary to achieve greater unity and to reduce conflict within the church. This book promotes an approach that generates a greater sense of community, enables a clearer corporate and personal witness to the faith, and reduces the social distances between pastors and people. Above all, it recognizes the Word as crucial for effecting change in our emerging new culture. Paul Goetting works from a biblical base that shapes the Christian ministry of all people through their various vocations, and equips them for a clearer witness to the Christian faith and to issues of injustice. The family, the workplace, the political arena, and the church are seen as the primary contexts for authentic servant ministry of both clergy and laity. Endorsements:""Combining his decades of experience as a parish pastor and seminary professor, Paul Goetting gives us a savvy, impassioned appeal for the church to do what God continually calls it to do, turn itself upside down by striving to make the ministry of every baptized Christian effective. Why it matters and how to go about it with creative fidelity make for lively reading and faithful follow through.""-Dean LuekingGrace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Illinois""Drawing upon the theological cross-centered roots of the Reformation and his years of observation and experience in a variety of leadership roles in the church, Goetting proposes that the church utilize its core theology which manifests ''inverted leadership'' in a manner that will make use of the gifts of all the baptized, both with respect to fulfilling its vocation to proclaim the Gospel as well as caring for God''s creation and tending to justice. The book is a provocative read.""-Bishop Marcus C. LohrmannEvangelical Lutheran Church in America ""Goetting describes the nasty divorce in our congregations between Sunday and Monday. As one church member witnessed, ''No pastor has ever asked about my work.'' Goetting''s goal is to invert the pyramid of church leadership so that the people in the pew discover their callings. Goetting draws on the Reformation--along with modern leadership theories--to paint a new picture of ministry. Goetting''s real goal is to mess with our imaginations about how a congregation works. Consequently, handle with care. The calls for ''ministry in daily life'' are growing. Goetting''s contribution to these voices is an important one.""-Rick BlieseLuther Seminary""Combining theological and social analysis Goetting ably revives the theme of the ministry of the laity in its contemporary relevance.""-Richard BaeplerValparaiso UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Paul Goetting (1930-2013) was a Lutheran pastor who served the church through a very active career in three congregations and in seven interim ministries. He also became a professor at Concordia Seminary-St. Louis and Christ Seminary-Seminex. Goetting also held administrative positions for Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Council, USA, both in New York City. He spent six years in two major ecumenical research programs in Philadelphia and Chicago. He was often called to short-term service abroad, principally in India and Africa.

Johannes Scotus (c. 800-c. 877), who signed himself as "Eriugena" in one manuscript, and who was referred to by his contemporaries as "the Irishman" is the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period. He is generally recognized to be both the outstanding philosopher of the Carolingian era and of the whole period of Latin philosophy stretching from Boethius to Anselm. Since the seventeenth century, it has become usual to refer to this Irish philosopher as John Scottus (or ''Scotus'') Eriugena to distinguish him from the thirteenth-century John Duns Scotus.Myra Uhlfelder (Bryn Mawr PhD 1952) taught classical and medieval Latin at Bryn Mawr.

Description:Making a Welcome combines an engaging personal story with an examination of the meaning and possibilities of hospitality, both as a domestic practice much in need of revival, and as a fundamental Christian orientation, with emotional, intellectual and spiritual implications. Maria Poggi Johnson draws on her knowledge of the Christian tradition, and on two decades of personal experience of trying to welcome well, to consider what happens when we open our homes to others, what is involved in offering a genuine welcome, and how the skills we develop in doing so can shape our relationships with our spouses, with the society around us, with our own beliefs and commitments, and with God. Illustrated by stories drawn from Scripture, literature, film, and from the author''s own experience, Making a Welcome challenges readers to discover the life-changing practice of true hospitality, not only in their homes, but in all aspects of their livesEndorsements:""Maria Poggi Johnson knows that good stories are what guide good lives--and that we learn goodness as we place ourselves within them. She also knows that good theology begins at home, in the strange and glorious particulars of human community. In this book she reaches out by inviting us in to her own rather crazy life and home. The conversation that ensues is enlivening and theologically insightful, moved along by Maria''s extraordinary stylistic skill and humoristic flare.""--CHARLES PINCHESUniversity of Scranton ""This engaging book is a delight. With elegance and enthusiasm, and in a self-effacing loosely autobiographical style, Maria Poggi Johnson explores the core Christian practice of hospitality--the voyage of the self out into interaction with a range of significant others: visitors, strangers, one''s marriage partner, and God. There is also a profound reflection on receiving texts and ideas hospitably. A book to help the reader re-imagine everyday life in more welcoming terms.""--RICHARD S. BRIGGSUniversity of Durham, England ""Making a Welcome challenges Christians to reconsider the importance of hospitality as a practice and a witness. By hosting the reader on a tour of her life she welcomes us to her home, her marriage, her intellectual life, and her faith . . . The genuine vulnerability and honesty of her writing exposes the pretenses of the reader, while her generosity of spirit invites one to dive uninhibitedly into each new chapter. To all of this, she brings keen theological insight and refreshing wit."" --J. MICHAEL UTZINGERHampden-Sydney CollegeAbout the Contributor(s):Maria Poggi Johnson is Professor of Theology at the University of Scranton. She is the author of Strangers and Neighbors: What I have learned about Christianity by living among Orthodox Jews.

Description:The human race, along with the animals and plants that make up the creation of God, face a difficult future due to the multiple ways that the ecosystem on which they all depend is currently under stress. Temperatures are rising along with the oceans. Rain forests are falling along with the polar ice caps. Questions of the environment are now front and center in any catalog of concerns. Those who are called to preach need to include in the subjects of their sermons these environmental issues. Our Bible contains significant resources, often overlooked, as bases on which powerful environmental sermons can be preached. This book introduces the subject of preaching and the environment, offering close looks at important biblical passages that address the cosmos of God, and presenting sample sermons founded on those passages. The book calls for preachers both to name the vast problems we face and to offer the hope of the gospel of God to address them.Endorsements:""This is a ''must have'' book for every preacher who seeks to help congregations towards a faithful understanding of how human beings can join God''s purposes for the created world. John Holbert''s work is comprehensive: from the creation narratives in Genesis through the Prophets and Wisdom Literature to the less-often-considered role of creation in the Letters, Gospels, and Book of Revelation, John offers incisive (and highly quotable) exegesis and epigrammatic sample sermons.""--Ronald J. AllenProfessor of Preaching and New TestamentChristian Theological Seminary""As various pseudo-experts make hay of dubious environmental science, John Holbert offers us reliable and exegetically sound biblical theology in order to help us address a creation that human beings are ''trashing.'' Not just this, but Holbert helps the church address these ecological issues via the faith we preach.""--Rev. David N. Mosser, PhDSenior Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Arlington, Texas and author of Transitions: Leading Churches through Change (2011)""[T]his book . . . changed my thinking about what the Bible says and left me with both help to preach on the subject and the passionate desire to do so!This is a powerful book, the kind that drags you through your resistance and persuades you to enjoy the trip. . . . John Holbert offers fresh exegetical insights, compelling arguments, and examples of the kind of sermons that prime a preacher''s pump. But you will come away from this book with more than good compasses and maps, this is a book filled with hope.""--Jana ChildersProfessor of Homiletics and Speech CommunicationSan Francisco Theological Seminary""What word can preachers bring to human creatures who are putting the earth at risk? Holbert answers the question with incisive biblical interpretation, scientific knowledge, and lively sermons. He dispels the misuse of religious faith to deny or ignore the environmental crisis, and he demonstrates how to preach a scientifically informed faith that honors the Creator by redefining our role as lovers and partners of the natural order. An essential book for preachers now.""--Thomas H. TroegerLantz Professor of Christian CommunicationYale Divinity School & Institute of Sacred MusicAbout the Contributor(s):John C. Holbert is Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, where he has been a member of the faculty for thirty-two years. He is the author of seven previous books, each having to do with the relationships between the Bible and the work of preaching.

Endorsements:"Here is the work of an exceptional preacher and teacher who weaves together hard-won insights from years of study and writing. The sermons are a treasure and the lectures are filled with careful scholarship. . . . Hill leads us to a vista that sees beyond previous limited categories of analysis. He joins the earliest witnesses in suggesting this gospel is given so we might believe and have life."--Philip A. Amerson, President, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary"In a series of striking sermons Hill models the hermeneutics of preaching from John for our situation. The sermons alone are worth the price of the book. It is an extraordinary resource for those who want to preach on John, listen to sermons on John, read the text, or teach students about John."--Robert Cummings Neville, Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology, Boston University

About the Contributor(s):Jeanne Choy Tate, at age nineteen, crossed the American continent to "find my identity" and work as a live-in volunteer at the Cameron House mission in San Francisco''s Chinatown. This marked the beginning of her lifelong involvement with Chinese culture and the Chinese-American experience. Through her roles as a bilingual-bicultural early childhood educator, a Presbyterian lay pastor, and a wife and mother in a biracial-bicultural family, she discovered that the interdependent values of Chinese cultural heritage are, in many ways, closer to values held by early biblical communities than those of modern individualism. Her experience inspired her MA dissertation with Robert Bellah on Chinese and American educational values and her PhD at Graduate Theological Union on culture and caregiving.

Description:This is a book about the importance of mentors in the lives of the young. But rather than developing the theme of mentoring theoretically, Douglas John Hall demonstrates its significance quite personally, autobiographically. In his twentieth year and hoping to study music professionally, Hall met a young minister whose ""different"" Christianity both surprised and intrigued him. In the end, this friendship altered the course of his life.The book traces the story of this friendship of more than half a century, and the impact of the times upon the lives of its two principal figures.Endorsements:""Doug Hall weighs in again with his characteristic gracefulness and his mature, uncommon wisdom. He bears witness to the incarnational way of faith that impinges upon real life in the world. Hall is no saint-maker, but he knows one when he sees one!""-Walter BrueggemannColumbia Theological Seminary""More than any other person, Robert ''Bob'' Miller, as Travelling Study Secretary of the Student Christian Movement of Canada and bookman par excellence, brought home to the generation of Canadian university students of the 1950s through 1970s the religious and philosophical debates, the art and literature, and the social and political turmoil of post-second world war Europe. It is not surprising that he should have become the mentor of Douglas John Hall, Canada''s pre-eminent Protestant theologian, who here tells that story with great sensitivity and insight.""-Richard AllenMcMaster University""Above all, this book is about friendship between two prophets, both ministers of the United Church of Canada whose honor in their own country, or beyond, is impossible to assess. In The Messenger, Douglas John Hall''s tribute to his friend, the reader also learns a good deal about Canada''s foremost Protestant theologian who provides a fascinating window on what happened to postwar European theology as it made the transition to North America.""-Margaret PrangUniversity of British ColumbiaAbout the Contributor(s):Douglas John Hall is Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology in the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University in Montreal. He is the author of more than twenty-five books, including Lighten Our Darkness (1976, 2001); Why Christian? (1998); God & Human Suffering (1986); and The Steward (1990; Wipf & Stock, 2004);. He has lectured widely in Canada, the United States, Germany, and Japan, and is the recipient of many honors, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award of Union Theological Seminary, the Joseph Sittler Award for Leadership in Theology, and the Order of Canada.

Endorsements:"A novel is a novel way of entering into the world of biblical textual criticism! Fisher''s novel about the writing of the Job poem and how its message was largely silenced by locating it within the more ancient story is a likely tale that, in any case, brings to life the world of scholars at David''s court. It also shows that modern skepticism is not so modern after all!"--John Cobb, Emeritus Professor, Claremont School of TheologyAbout the Contributor(s):Loren R. Fisher retired as Professor of Hebrew Bible at the School of Theology at Claremont and as Professor of Semitic Languages and Literature at the Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of The Many Voices of Job, Tales from Ancient Egypt, The Jerusalem Academy, and the editor of Ras Shamra Parallels, vols. 1 and 2.

Endorsements:"Gift yourself with a tour of ancient worlds. Fisher is a talented scholar in ancient languages and invites the reader into the dynamic world of language and international relations. Once one has read this novel (and hopefully the two previous novels in the series) one will read Old Testament Scriptures with new eyes. Fisher helpfully presents an alternative to a belief in a punishing and rewarding deity."--Rev. Arthur Gafke, author of Strong Ministry: Strengthening Your Pastoral Leadership and Pray the SeasonsAbout the Contributor(s):Loren R. Fisher retired as Professor of Hebrew Bible at the School of Theology at Claremont and as Professor of Semitic Languages and Literature at the Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of The Many Voices of Job, Tales from Ancient Egypt, The Jerusalem Academy, and the editor of Ras Shamra Parallels, vols. 1 and 2.

Recent studies of the Christology of John''s Gospel have agreed in recognizing the centrality of the concept of messianism, but differ markedly in their interpretation of its character. Alongside the traditional understanding of messiahship in terms of a kingly role related to that of David, there is a newer understanding that is related to the role of Moses and has little or no Davidic background. Despite the broad scholarly consensus regarding the Johannine connection between crucifixion and messianism, little attention has been paid to the role of crucifixion in relation to the nature of messiahship and in particular to the possibility that this may shed light on whether or not John''s messianism is decisively shaped by the kingly or royal background. In The Kingship-Cross Interplay in the Gospel of John Mavis Leung contends that the cross motif plays a major role in authenticating the royal character of messiahship in John over against views that deny or play down this element.

Description:""I should not be writing this. I had a malignant brain tumor. I had an extremely malignant brain tumor. By all medical statistics, I should be dead. Last time I checked, dead people don''t write."" So begins Julie Anderson Love''s memoir. It is the funny, horrifying, compelling story of her battle with an extremely malignant brain tumor. The good news is, she survived; the scary news is, according to medical statistics and prognoses, she wasn''t supposed to. Her book is not just a How-To-Be-The-Patient-From-Hell, although one could read it for that; it is the story of a woman of faith who believes in a loving God, who faces the possibility of her imminent death. As one reader described it: ""This is a fully realized story of faith, the dissolution of faith, and the redefinition of faith."" As she battles the tumor, and as the reader travels the journey with her, she takes God to task. Using biblical reflections, theological and philosophical deliberations, journal writings, and sermons she''d written (she''s been a Presbyterian pastor for over twenty years), she ponders the nature of God''s power, miracles, and forgiveness. Disrupted will make you laugh and cry. It will compel you to think deeply about the nature of God, the experience of being alive, and what it means to forgive.Endorsements:""What is moving and beautiful about this book is not just the elegantly written story of a courageous struggle for life and hope, but also the way that theological wisdom is so naturally woven into the most extreme of life''s experiences. The wind of faith blows through every page, moving seemingly as effortlessly as breathing in and breathing out. Julie Anderson Love tells her own story of her battle with brain cancer with amazing candor, profound insight, and unexpected wit, and in the end we not only rejoice in her newfound strength and trust, but also in our own.""--Thomas G. LongProfessor of PreachingCandler School of Theology""In Disrupted, Julie Anderson Love breaks the niceness conventions--that code of silence under which pastors live--to tell the poignant, beguiling truth about faith, community, and wholeness. As Love trudges through the shadow of death, we learn about the abundance of life. When she analyzes betrayal, we discover the audacity of love. And when she examines illness, we realize the tenacious act of healing.""--Carol Howard MerrittPastor of Western Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC""Disrupted could be called a ''spiritual autobiography,'' but I would call it a study in wrestling with angels. Like Jacob of old, Julie Anderson Love does not walk away unscathed, yet she emerges having demanded--and received--profound blessing. Read this book and learn to make your own demands amidst life''s struggles--and walk on, blessed for having done so.""--Eric Elnesauthor of The Phoenix Affirmations and Asphalt JesusAbout the Contributor(s):Julie Anderson Love grew up in rainy Seattle and loves mountains, evergreens, and a good cup of coffee. She has had one sermon published in the Journal for Pastoral Care, and two narratives published in ""Drama Resources."" She earned her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and her MFA from the University of San Francisco. She lives in Marin County with her husband, her daughter, her dog, Corin, and her cat, Monkey.

About the Contributor(s):Allan Hugh Cole Jr. is Academic Dean and Professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Care at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas. He is the author or editor of several books, including Good Mourning (2008); The Life of Prayer (2009); A Spiritual Life (editor, 2011); and The Faith and Friendships of Teenage Boys (coauthor, 2012). He is father to two daughters.

About the Contributor(s):Robert B. Callahan Sr. founded Callahan & Associates, Inc., in 1976, a telecommunications consulting firm. He is the author of The Triune God Speaks to the Saints, Volume 1 in an eight volume expository commentary on the Apostle Paul''s epistle to the Ephesians.

Description:This volume addresses the promise and peril of post-9/11 interfaith trialogue. In fifteen clearly written and insightful essays, distinguished scholars of different faiths and divergent world views guide readers toward an informed understanding of the role of religion and the basic teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States. Acknowledging commonalities, these essays also shed light on the essential differences among the teachings of the Abrahamic traditions and raise pivotal questions regarding humanity''s future: What prompted the carnage? What has changed since then? What remains to be achieved? Dispelling ignorance about the religious other is a necessary but only a first step toward achieving a durable and effective trialogue. In an increasingly perilous and interconnected world where the effects of globalization are yet to be fully recognized, interfaith trialogue holds out the hope of genuine movement toward a more peaceful coexistence.Endorsements:"Alan Berger''s astute editorial direction brings together a seasoned group of scholars from the Abrahamic traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--to provide a stellar example of interreligious cooperation that is so needed in today''s world. Timely, incisive, challenging--these words summarize and highlight the importance of Trialogue and Terror." --John K. Roth, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College"As a prominent scholar of interfaith relations, Alan Berger provides us with essential reflections on the connection between religion, violence, and terror. No topic on religion is more urgent for us today. The book has a stellar line-up of thinkers whose . . . contributions give us a robust picture of how religions can better understand each other to foster coexistence and build a more hopeful future for the entire human family." --Rabbi Eugene Korn, Codirector, Institute for Theological Inquiry"The essays collected here focus on very different kinds of issues, sometimes going deep into theological problems, such as Catholic understanding of Judaism''s ongoing validity, and other times attending to chronic political challenges, such as how the State of Israel complicates Muslim-Jewish relations. The book is an important contribution to a vitally significant conversation in our time."--David P. Gushee, Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University"Kudos to the contributors of Trialogue and Terror for an unflinchingly sober and honest analysis of the necessity and possibility of trilateral engagement among the Abrahamic faiths. Courageously self-critical, the authors mine the resources of their traditions to provide hope and constructive pathways for the extensive interreligious dialogues so sorely needed in the post-9/11 world."--Elena Procario-Foley, Professor of Jewish-Catholic Studies, Iona CollegeAbout the Contributor(s):Alan L. Berger is the Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair of Holocaust Studies at Florida Atlantic University. Among the books he has written, coauthored, and edited are Children of Job, Second Generation Voices, and Jewish-Christian Dialogue.

This book helps Christian voters and politicians think through two perennial questions. Are we required to apply the judicial laws of the Old Testament to our present-day political contexts? And if we are required to obey these laws, how shall we do so? Against the historic Protestant consensus that posits Christians as bound to advocate and apply only the moral principles underlying these laws, Christian Reconstructionists have recently argued that obedience to and promotion of all divinely unamended Mosaic civil laws remains the Christian''s new covenant duty. After testing the most thorough statement of the Reconstructionist view-as presented by the late Greg Bahnsen in his Theonomy in Christian Ethics-against Scripture and the Westminster Confession, How Firm a Foundation? demonstrates that the Reconstructionist ethical perspective is unbiblical, unconfessional, and ultimately unhelpful, while the historic Protestant position expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith remains the biblical and useful perspective Christians need to guide contemporary uses of the Mosaic judicial laws.

Description:What if we are more multiple as persons than traditional psychology has taught us to believe? And what if our multiplicity is a part of how we are made in the very image of a loving, relational, multiple God? How have modern, Western notions of Oneness caused harm--to both individuals and society? And how can an appreciation of our multiplicity help liberate the voices of those who live at the margins, both of society and within our own complex selves? Braided Selves explores these questions from the perspectives of postmodern pastoral psychology and Trinitarian theology, with implications for the practice of spiritual care, counseling, and psychotherapy. This volume gathers ten years of essays on this theme by preeminent pastoral theologian Pamela Cooper-White, whose writings bring into dialogue postmodern, feminist, and psychoanalytic theory and constructive theology.Endorsements:""The polyvalent beauty of the titular metaphor weaves right through this powerful new contribution to relational theology--in its most currently postmodern theory and practice. Managing to remain breathtakingly readable, this text offers its manifold gifts to the whole range of theological disciplines. Braid this book into your lives, your ministries, your studies, your selves!""--Catherine KellerProfessor of Constructive TheologyDrew Theological School""Braided Selves is a remarkable collection of richly nuanced, provocative, debatable, generative, and above all, truly important essays at the intersection of psychoanalytic theory, theological anthropology, constructive theology, and pastoral theology by one who may now be the most profound and searching pastoral theologian of our time. Pamela Cooper-White writes in a fluid, interesting, and highly readable style, while probing the depths of some of the most important issues in contemporary, postmodern theological anthropology and clinical and pastoral practice. This book cannot be too highly recommended.""--Rodney J. HunterProfessor Emeritus of Pastoral TheologyCandler School of Theology, Emory University""Braided Selves is what authentic theology could be in the twenty-first century: theoretically rich without fleeing into metaphysical and rhetorical abstractions; rooted in human experience without degenerating into sentimentality and cliché. Anyone who cares about religious reflection in this troubled time should read this book. It will be a loss if Dr. Cooper-White''s text is in any way restricted only to those who have ''pastoral'' in their job description.""--James W. JonesProfessor of Psychology of ReligionRutgers UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Pamela Cooper-White is the Ben G. and Nancye Clapp Gautier Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia, and Director of the Atlanta Theological Association''s ThD program in Pastoral Counseling. In 2005 she received the American Association of Pastoral Counselors'' national award for Distinguished Achievement in Research and Writing. Cooper-White holds PhDs from Harvard University and from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago. She is the author of Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy and Theology in Relational Perspective (2007), Shared Wisdom: Use of the Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling (2004), and The Cry of Tamar: Violence against Women and the Church''s Response (1995).

Description:The first Christians immediately set about creating a social structure based on democratic control of their collective resources, which were shared freely. While this was a voluntary system, it carried great spiritual weight and was a continuation of values that were clearly encouraged in the stories of the Old Testament.This style of organizing can also be found in the modern cooperative movement, which is made up of thousands of democratically controlled businesses serving millions of members worldwide. This movement touches the lives of nearly half of Americans, and has grown into a comprehensive economic system in other parts of the world. Christians have played key roles in the development of this movement, but the theological basis for this participation is not widely understood. Holy Cooperation! is an examination of what the Bible teaches about social organizing, and an exploration of some of the cooperative ways that Christians have worked together. Through cooperation we may act as our brothers'' and sisters'' keepers, while staying true to Jesus''s teachings of liberation.Endorsements:"Holy Cooperation! is a tract for our times. For a generation that says, ''Don''t tell me what you believe until you show me how you live,'' Andrew opens up a treasure chest of experiments old and new in the truth of God''s economy. He writes with the zeal of a convert because he''s one who has found new hope in Jesus''s vision of a kingdom that overcomes Mammon one mustard seed at a time."-Jonathan Wilson-Hartgroveauthor of Free to be Bound and New MonasticismAbout the Contributor(s):Andrew McLeod is a cooperative development specialist who lives in Sacramento, California