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Description:The living embodiment of the prophecy given to Francis that holy ladies would one day glorify the entire Church by living at the monastery of San Damiano, St. Clare was among the first to adopt the Franciscan way of life.A saint as enchanting today as she was in her own time, she is the only person who perfectly embodied the vision of Francis, living out her vocation with his same poetic literalness.This delightfully drawn portrait sketches St. Clare in warm, human tones while carefully illuminating her overwhelming reputation for sanctity, her deep friendship with Francis, and her own spiritual development.Endorsements:""This beautiful book is a series of vignettes, like frescoes or stained-glass windows, that depict the ideals and life of St. Clare of Assisi. In it, you will come to know one of the most dedicated of all Christ''s followers of the last two thousand years.""--Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR""The life beautifully sketched in this book is one meant to invite people of all centuries to approach the heroic form of life to which Christ endlessly calls many who are most dear to him.""--Fr. Ronald Lawler, OFM Cap""An elegantly written biography of St. Clare as the ''little plant'' of Francis, a woman of singular purpose, iron will, and deep love and compassion. The joy that characterizes Franciscans emerges from these pages."" --Fr. Julian Davies, OFM, past editor of the Franciscan Cord

Description:Luther''s universal priesthood is, in part, a political doctrine that constitutes a revolutionary strain in Luther''s thinking--a strain that can only be described as radical. Luther''s political understanding of the universal priesthood posed a challenge to the concrete structures of his day, which were built upon a cosmological foundation that came under attack as a result of the Protestant Reformation. Thus, Luther''s universal priesthood was not simply another evangelical concept that dealt with the office of ministry. It also served as the means for reordering the concept of temporal authority and the temporal order. Understood in this way, the universal priesthood had a political dimension that must be acknowledged if it is to be fully understood.Endorsements:""In Luther''s Revolution, Montover presents a creative, compelling explication of the universal scope of Luther''s vision of the ''priesthood of all believers,'' for in living out their new life in Christ, both structures of the church and the world will be transformed. The author''s use of Luther''s 1520 treatise ''To the German Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Betterment of the Christian Estate'' offers a promising model for fruitful engagement of Luther''s evangelical theology in the twenty-first century.""--Winston D. Persaudauthor of The Theology of the Cross and Marx''s Anthropology""Luther''s Revolution is a provocative and evocative challenge to those who view Luther as someone who distanced himself from revolutionary politics. Montover offers a compelling and well-documented reading of the political implications of the early Luther''s foray into the caste system of the medieval church''s conception of the priesthood. His contention is that Luther''s call for the universal priesthood of all believers entails not only an ecclesial reformation but a conscientious yet radical subversion of dominant territorial politics and entitlements of the time.""--Vítor Westhelleauthor of The Scandalous God""In this careful analysis of Martin Luther''s ''To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,'' Nathan Montover affirms the traditional scholarly opinion that the doctrine of the universal priesthood has crucial implications for ecclesiology and the doctrine of ministry. However, he also demonstrates convincingly that Luther addressed the political realm and temporal authority in strategic ways in light of this doctrine. Luther is, therefore, presented as a creative political as well as ecclesiastical and theological reformer.""--Kurt K. HendelBernard, Fischer, Westberg Distinguished Ministry Professor of Reformation HistoryLutheran School of Theology at Chicago""How was it possible that a man deemed outlaw by the empire and heretic by the papacy could over time become portrayed as a political conservative? Nathan Montover deftly probes the silences in and conventions of Luther research to unveil an alternative figure. Luther''s concept of the universal priesthood of all believers, based on careful analysis of his writings, coheres best with a frontal assault on the pope''s claims to temporal authority and the dismantling of late medieval political cosmology. Luther emerges from this excellent study as a thoroughly political, prophetic, and revolutionary Christian engaged in the struggle for liberation, drawing radical political consequences from foundational theological claims.""--Craig L. Nessanauthor of Shalom Church and Beyond Maintenance to MissionAbout the Contributor(s):Nathan Montover serves as Pastor at St. James Lutheran Church in Bettendorf, Iowa. He also teaches Religion at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and is an Adjunct Instructor of Reformation Studies at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.

Description:This volume deals with the varied forms of shame reflected in biblical, theological, psychological and anthropological sources. Although traditional theology and church practice concentrate on providing forgiveness for shameful behavior, recent scholarship has discovered the crucial relevance of social shame evoked by mental status, adversity, slavery, abuse, illness, grief and defeat. Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists have discovered that unresolved social shame is related to racial and social prejudice, to bullying, crime, genocide, narcissism, post-traumatic stress and other forms of toxic behavior. Eleven leaders in this research participated in a conference on "The Shame Factor," sponsored by St. Mark''s United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE in October 2010. Their essays explore the impact and the transformation of shame in a variety of arenas, comprising in this volume a unique and innovative resource for contemporary religion, therapy, ethics, and social analysis. About the Contributor(s):Robert Jewett taught for 20 years at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and is currently a Guest Professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is the author of Mission and Menace: Four Centuries of American Religious Zeal, and is Theologian in Residence at St. Mark''s Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.Wayne L. Alloway Jr. is Senior Pastor of St. Mark''s United Methodist Church in Lincoln and is also a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.John G. Lacey is Executive Pastor of St. Mark''s United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a lifelong student of the Bible with a passion for teaching and writing about the Scripture.

Description:Amazing Grace in the Midst of Grief describes the grief process as well as providing insights and stories about many of the ways God''s grace is at work in the midst of our grieving. The closer one has been to the person who has died, the more intense and lengthy the journey through grief will be. This book describes ways God''s grace accompanies and aids us as we move through the dark valley of grief. When we accept the gifts of grace, we are able to affirm life and our lives, even when life and our lives are not the way we want. God''s grace is with us in our grief, pushing and pulling us through. Because of this grace, we have the strength to face life and the power to move on.Endorsements:"This little book is a masterpiece by a veteran pastor who tackles the issues related to grief with deep empathy and profound wisdom." -William J. AbrahamPerkins School of TheologySouthern Methodist University"Very readable, filled with stories, alert to the dynamics of grief, and embraced by a lived out understanding of God''s amazing grace, this book addresses the difficult problem of grief with the sensibilities and wisdom of a pastor''s heart and the honed intellect of one who has thought long and deeply about these matters. I recommend this book without hesitation or qualification."-Tex SampleRobert B and Kathleen Rogers Professor Emeritus of Church and Society,The Saint Paul School of TheologyAbout the Contributor(s):James L. Mayfield is a retired United Methodist pastor. While serving as pastor he also taught at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and served one year as Chaplain of the Senate of the State of Texas.

Description:In this second volume of Master Kierkegaard, the fictional German maidservant Magda continues to record her relationship with Scripture, literature, and her elusive yet compelling master. Three journals set in the fall, winter, and ""peoples"" spring of 1847 and 1848 reflect the precariousness of Magda''s position in the household and the rapidly changing social landscape, at the same time as Kierkegaard began, revised, or completed several of his most existential and prophetic works. Endorsements:""Through the changing of the seasons in a year of revolutions, a maidservant reflects on the Bible . . . and the anguish and hope of her master, the Danish philosopher S├╕ren Kierkegaard. Ellen Brown has crafted an understated, heartfelt, and moving meditation on the enigmatic man, religion, the position of women in society, and a life of exile and liberation.""--Marshall Brown, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, editor of Modern Language Quarterly, and author of The Shape of German Romanticism""Readers of Magda''s diary from the summer of 1847 will be delighted with these journals, which continue her life story alongside her continuing reflections on Scripture, literature, and life. Like the first volume, this collection is filled with spiritual insight and wisdom. The life story takes a surprising turn, or was it to be expected? Magda''s characterization of Kierkegaard is poetic and convincing.""--Adela Yarbro Collins, Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School About the Contributor(s):Ellen Brown lives in Connecticut. Her publications prior to Master Kierkegaard include essays on Percy Shelley''s Prometheus Unbound and Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein.

Description:Master Kierkegaard is a diary kept by a fictional servant in the house of S├╕ren Kierkegaard. The strong-willed but faithful Magda, a well-educated and ""fallen"" woman from Berlin, considers herself fortunate to have found domestic work in Copenhagen and yet is plagued by her own demons. Two journals set in the summer of 1847, while Kierkegaard wrote his Works of Love, record Magda''s reflections on Scripture, literature, and life, focusing on her sporadic yet intimate interactions with her master, Denmark''s premier writer, theologian, and philosopher. Endorsements:""Master Kierkegaard is a masterpiece of fiction and spirituality. Reading it evoked for me a feeling of serenity and thoughtfulness.""--Adela Yarbro CollinsBuckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School, and author of Mark: A CommentaryAbout the Contributor(s):Ellen Brown is a writer living in Connecticut. Her previous publications include essays on Percy Shelley''s Prometheus Unbound and Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein. She is currently at work on two additional volumes of Master Kierkegaard.

Description:At the center of Christianity is Jesus of Nazareth--whose maleness is used by many to justify the subordination of women and to emphasize that men, rather than women, better represent Jesus. This raises a number of questions that are the subject of this book. What is the significance of Jesus'' maleness? Does it reveal the character of God? Is it foundational for the gospel? Is Jesus'' maleness associated with an ongoing created order of male priority? Our answers will affect Christianity''s task of love, justice, and reconciliation in a world that is characterized by the global marginalization, oppression, and abuse of women. Endorsements:Questions concerning the maleness of Jesus and the implications of this for women have been the subject of interesting theological conversation. Is Jesus'' male personhood central to his meaning as the Christ or not? In this welcome volume Neil Williams provides a thorough discussion of this significant theological question and carefully draws out its implications for the church and the world demonstrating that the advent of Jesus is good news for all people.John R. Franke Clemens Professor of Missional Theology, Biblical Seminary, Hatfield, PAThis book is highly informative--but even more so--a mind opener. You will surely have to stretch your mind, whatever your present views are. Williams deals with the vast field of the problem in a very responsible and innovative way.Adrio K├╢nigHead of Department of Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics (retired)University of South AfricaIn this provocative and carefully nuanced book, Neil Williams tackles one of the most controversial issues among conservative Christians. His exploration of the theoretical and practical relevance of the maleness of Jesus balances serious theological analysis with a sensitivity to the pastoral challenges that surround this debate. Williams shows the similarities between the hermeneutical trajectory that characterizes arguments on this topic and other biblical themes, such as slavery and the Sabbath. Moreover, his attention to the larger matrix of theological issues--including the Incarnation and the Trinity--makes an important contribution that ought to be appreciated by all of those involved in this ongoing evangelical dialogue.F. LeRon ShultsProfessor of Theology and Philosophy, University of Agder, NorwayAt first glance, it might seem that the question of the necessity of the maleness of Christ to the incarnation is an abstract theological issue. Williams shows just how important the issue is, not just for our understanding of redemption but also for our understanding of gender relationships. His book not only deftly addresses the question of Jesus'' gender, but is a model for how to think through important theological and ethical issues with intelligence and civility.Tremper Longman IIIRobert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies , Westmont CollegeThis is a breathtaking book. Williams offers not only an invaluable excursus on the Sonship of Jesus and its implications for gender, role differentiation, marriage, and patriarchy, but it also offers a way of doing theology that invites many disparate voices and theological debates to the table. And rather than increasing cacophony, Williams judiciously draws out the competing views of each voice/view to a stunning symphonic shalom. For some, this work will be spurned as an accommodation to culture''s shifting sands--but if so, Williams counters with a steady and gracious critique of all positions, including his own. There is no one path that is problem free. The way forward in this conversation on gender is with the kind of scholarship, wisdom, and grace offered by this courageous labor.Dan B. Allender, Ph.D.Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding President, Mars Hill Graduate SchoolAuthor, Sabbath and The Wounded HeartWilliams combines uncommon common-sense and interdisciplinary synthesis to address a perennial c

Description:In this collection of inspirational and challenging essays, Methodists from around the globe reflect on the practice of disciple-making in their own contexts. From their own perspectives, they address questions like: What are the challenges you face? What biblical images shape your missional practice? What examples of Christian authenticity inspire your communities? What gifts related to mission and evangelism do you offer the global community of faith? Churches on every continent have their own stories of struggle and faithfulness. Indeed, each distinct community within any given region has a voice of its own that deserves to be heard. The voices included in this volume belong to women and men alike. Likewise, they resound with the accents of Africa and Asia, Latin and North America, Europe, and Oceania. Each voice is distinct, but all articulate a vision of faith made effective through love.In a world characterized variously by poverty and violence as well as prosperity and peace, the church must reclaim its central mission ""to make disciples of Jesus Christ."" In their effort to articulate a vision of mission and evangelism, the contributors to this volume bear witness to the fact that we can no longer do this work in isolation from one another. To be the ambassadors of the gospel, we need each other and we need to pay attention to the voices that sound different from our own. This volume takes a large step in that vital direction.Endorsements:""This is a first-rate collection of essays that takes the debate about discipleship to a whole new level. It is indispensable reading for all who are interested in the survival and flourishing of Christianity in an increasingly hostile world. Both scholars and church leaders should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest its riches without delay.""-William J. AbrahamPerkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.""Inspiration and hope emerge as one reads Paul Chilcote''s new collection of essays. Images, stories, ideas, and perspectives regarding the global context and reality of evangelism spring from the voices of the writers. Insights about evangelism described in multifaceted realities propel one to read the next sentence and paragraph with the expectation of finding yet another perspective-shifting angle of view.""-Karen GreenwaldtGeneral Secretary, General Board of DiscipleshipThe United Methodist ChurchAbout the Contributor(s):Paul W. Chilcote is Professor of Historical Theology & Wesleyan Studies and Director of the Center for Applied Wesleyan Studies at Ashland Theological Society in Ohio.

Description:Here for the first time in print is the story of a small group who dared to confront Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich with the love of Jesus Christ. Avoiding covert resistance on the one hand and complicity and compromise on the other, the Rh├╢n Bruderhof, under the courageous leadership of Eberhard Arnold, boldly witnessed to the politics of the Kingdom of God in Nazi Germany. Although "less than a gnat to an elephant," in Arnold''s words, they believed that as God''s ambassadors love could overcome hatred-even of Adolf Hitler himself. This is an amazing account of a community who stayed true to the nonviolent way of the Cross, and how, despite relentless Nazi opposition, God protected and victoriously led them along the way.Endorsements:This meticulously documented story of faith serves as a handbook of heroism for believers today. God knows, we too are "besieged" by forces of untruth and duplicity. May we, like the Bruderhof, be found faithful.-Daniel BerriganScripture tells us that we are to be a counter-cultural community, living out the radical teachings of Christ. This book sets a pattern for those who want to live faithfully in opposition to the dictatorial consumeristic culture of our age.-Tony Campolo, Eastern University, St. Davids, PAIn An Embassy Besieged, a small community of Christians courageously and graciously refuses to compromise their faith in the face of the worst human evil. Their witness has much to teach us today in a world so riddled with prejudice, so tired of militarism, so starved for grace, and so desperate for imagination. -Shane Claiborne, author, activistSeeking to embody the Sermon on the Mount and articulating a clear Anabaptist theology of church and state, the early Bruderhof movement gives a courageous testimony to nonviolence in a harsh totalitarian state. Emmy Barth tells a compelling and well-crafted story that is hard to put down. -Donald B. Kraybill, author of The Upside Down KingdomAbout the Contributor(s):Emmy Barth is senior archivist for and member of Church Communities International (formerly known as the Bruderhof Communities). Her earlier book No Lasting Home (2009) tells the story of the Bruderhof''s first year in Paraguay when they were forced to leave Europe during World War II.

Description:Lighten up! Most of us take ourselves too seriously. Christian leaders, in particular, are tempted by the position they hold, or the power they wield, to lose touch with their humanity, become arrogant, and alienate their followers. But what about our tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot, time and time again? Can we laugh at ourselves? David McKenna, a Christian college president, brings a lifetime of learning to this question. By confessing his own foibles and laughing at the ludicrous, he finds that God is laughing with him--not to ridicule, but to give the special grace that saves us from ourselves. The lessons are humbling when the laugh is on us, but they can lead to the discovery that a sense of humor is a partner with the witness of a joyful spirit. McKenna shows us by example how to lighten up and find God as we laugh at ourselves.Endorsements:""Just as we suspected, and with impeccable timing, we find in Dr. McKenna''s When God Laughs with Us, evidence that God not only has, but encourages a bountiful sense of humor and offers a written respite for leaders who often take ourselves far too seriously. Thanks David for insight into yet another delightfully creative dimension of our Heavenly Father.""--Sandra C. GrayPresidentAsbury University""In sharing many lighthearted and humorous experiences, often directed at himself, David McKenna reveals how a person can keep balance and perspective while making important decisions."" --Norman L. EdwardsSeattle, Wasthington""When God Laughs with Us highlights encounters, at once serious and funny, each with its opening and insight into a deeper reality of our life with God. Dave''s capacity to peel back the veneer that encases so many leaders and prod us to look deeper into our soul so that we can bear the weight of leadership more lightly is provocative . . . You will enjoy the combination of personal and professional anecdotes and be drawn into reflecting on the intersection of your own personal and professional ''life lessons.'' You''ll love the book.""--Gayle D. BeebePresident, Westmont College""Dave McKenna, always in for a good laugh, has the gift of seeing the funny side of just about anything. And the comedic comes through, inevitably, in any leadership setting, especially for college presidents working with students who think up the most astonishing ways to pull pranks and have fun. Read this delightful little volume and I promise you laughter, joy, and healing for the soul.""--Donald DemarayProfessor Emeritus of PreachingAsbury Theological Seminary ""In When God Laughs with Us, David McKenna treats us to priceless moments of personal gaffes, awkward moments, cultural tensions and, at times, hilarious slapstick type situations which rival the Three Stooges. Whether it is being drenched in water before a speaking engagement or arriving at the pulpit of the wrong church, McKenna allows us to see that leadership can be fun when we learn to laugh at ourselves. Indeed, McKenna''s humorous stories wonderfully remind us of the truth of Reinhold Niebuhr''s quip that, ''Humor is the prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.''"" --Timothy C. TennentPresidentAsbury Theological Seminary""What a terrific and timely book. For all of us in leadership, without question we take ourselves too seriously, to our detriment, I might add, limiting our effectiveness as Christians and as leaders. Dave McKenna comes to the rescue. Out of his long and storied career, and as a skilled storyteller, he hammers home a wise insight: We''ve simply got to lighten up a bit. In story after story, we find Dave leading and modeling a way for us."" --Philip W. EatonPresidentSeattle Pacific University "When you need a cup of coffee and a good humor break, take time to read When God Laughs With Us. Once again David L. McKenna has captured through his prolific pen those humorous times of life when God smiles with us. Through insightful life stories of w

Description:David Simon''s The Wire lays out before us a city in which people struggle under the weight of poverty, political corruption, economic despair, educational collapse, and the drug trade. This volume explores the various theological, ethical, and philosophical challenges presented by The Wire. As each season of The Wire unfolds, the moral complexities of life in the city deepen, as the failures of one system have unforeseen effects in other corners of the city. Fleshing out the ongoing tension between the ""earthly city"" and the City of God, Corners in the City of God is a theological companion to David Simon''s masterpiece, inviting the reader to wrestle with the implications of belonging fully to the cities of the world, in all of their splendor and tragedy.

Description:Left Behind and Loving It is a cheeky critique of popular writings about the end times. Rather than presenting a steroid-buffed Jesus wrapped in an American flag and ""coming again in clouds of gunfire,"" Left Behind and Loving It invites readers to approach some of the most controversial and scary portions of the Scriptures with the utter confidence that ""God''s steadfast love endures forever."" Rather than asserting a hope premised on a few chosen ones escaping the world, Left Behind and Loving It argues that if it is Jesus who is to return (and not his evil twin), then the second coming has redemption written all over it. Many today cannot accept the escapist, violent, end-of-the-world scenario envisioned by ""Left Behind"" theology. Left Behind and Loving It invites readers not to fear but to trust in God''s steadfast love and look at the finitude of the world with hope in an infinitely loving God. Endorsements:""Rapture theology has become a great chuffing beast, feeding on fear, imperial aspirations, and our growing sense of alienation from God''s good creation. Mark Davis aims a few well-chosen arrows at the beast, and lo, the rapture business turns out to be nothing more than a lot of hot air. This book points us toward our home on this earth, where God, whose steadfast love endures forever, dwells with us.""-Stanley P SaundersColumbia Theological Seminary""In this book filled with wit and great wisdom, Mark Davis takes on the Left Behind series and exposes it for what it is: fearmongering nonsense that makes a travesty of the gospel. Davis provides a way of reading the Bible that is historically sensitive and theologically acute. And as he ably demonstrates, a faithful reading of Scripture has its own share of surprises! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned, or confused, about the apocalypse.""-William P. BrownColumbia Theological Seminary""Does the subtitle of D. Mark Davis'' book imply that his analysis is imprudent? Absolutely not. Judiciously, he delineates in lucid prose diverse strategies fostering a faithful, non-literal reading of ''scary'' apocalyptic biblical texts. Ably demonstrating that such multilayered texts are flattened when practitioners of ''Left Behind Theology'' view them through the lens of ''homotextuality,'' Davis engages in a ''heterotextual'' reading susceptible to the extraordinary power of poetic speech. Rather than yielding ominous predictive truth, such image-filled disclosures in Davis'' investigation attest God''s enduring love.""-J. Kenneth KuntzThe University of IowaAbout the Contributor(s):D. Mark Davis is the pastor of Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, Iowa. He is the author of Talking about Evangelism (2007).

Description:This book discusses the relationship between theology and the humanities and their shared significance within contemporary universities. Taking up this complex question, twelve scholarly authors analyze the connections between theology and philosophy, history, scholarly literature, sociology, and law. Cumulatively, these essays make a case for the importance of reflecting on what binds the humanities and theology together. By meditating on ultimate, theological questions, this book brings the issue of the meaning and purpose of university education into a new light, exploring its deep significance for academic pursuits today.Endorsements:""As debate about the social role and economic value of universities intensifies in the developed world, this collection is timely. The papers within it are a refreshingly lively reminder that these concerns have a history and that to address them requires serious and intellectually generous engagement with underlying philosophical and theological questions. This is altogether a most appropriate provocation.""-Susan Frank ParsonsEditor, Studies in Christian Ethics""In this collection of high-octane essays, many of the papers seek to dig deeper into the causes and cures of our cultural malaise, of which the crisis in identity afflicting university education is a symptom. The authors also move beyond doing ''theology and culture'' to attempting a ''theology of culture''. There is a concern for dialogue and the observation of otherness. A common thread is that the humanities need theology for a proper account of the creature, and that theology is both wonderfully useful and properly useless (high minded) at the same time.""-Mark W. ElliottUniversity of St Andrews""In universities these days, there is a great deal of talk-much of it dull and overly abstract-about the loss of purpose in the university and especially about the malaise afflicting the humanities. Who would have thought that the introduction of theology into the discussion would be precisely what is needed to move from remote, arid speculation to concrete, inspiring proposals and examples? The learned and lively essays in Theology, University, Humanities: Initium Sapientiae Timor Domini advance the conversation about university education in surprising and welcome ways.""-Thomas HibbsBaylor UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Christopher Craig Brittain is Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. He is the author of Adorno and Theology (2010) and is writing a book entitled Religion at Ground Zero.Francesca Aran Murphy is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Her books include God is Not a Story (2007) and a commentary on I Samuel (2010).

Description:W. E. B. Du Bois was editor and principal author of The Negro Church, first published in 1903. A groundbreaking study, this volume is the first in-depth treatment of African-American religious life. It is the first sociological book on religion in the United States. It is the first empirical study of religion conducted by Black scholars. It is a landmark historical text on African-American religion and mores of a century and more ago. A new introduction provides the contextual backdrop for understanding the religious scholarship and faith of Du Bois. The appearance of this text for a new generation of students, scholars, researchers, and communities of faith is cause to celebrate. Recognition of The Negro Church is long overdue and justly deserved.Endorsements:""The entire scholarly community and all concerned Americans welcome the reprint of The Negro Church. W. E. B. Du Bois, the most brilliant intellectual ever produced by the United States, penned this social scientific study in 1903. Not only is this the first academic engagement with the black church and black religion. It is also the first text on sociology of religion in American history. Thus Du Bois understood the centrality of black people to the US narrative. Similarly, he understood the centrality of the black church for black communities. Here is scholarship at its best--engaged, theoretical work making a difference in everyday lives. Alton B. Pollard III has offered a masterful introduction for the twenty-first-century reader.""-Dwight N. Hopkinsauthor of Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion""No one can have a respectable knowledge of African American Christianity who has not read Woodson''s The History of the Negro Church (1921) and Du Bois''s earlier sociological study of the same subject, The Negro Church (1903). Now we have a much anticipated new edition of the latter book by one of the late C. Eric Lincoln''s brightest protégés, Alton B. Pollard, the dean of the Divinity School of Howard University. Pollard''s explanatory and expansive introduction is alone worth the price of the book, making Du Bois''s path-blazing opus live again as an indispensable guide to understanding the scope, depth, and paradoxes of classic Black religion and theology today.""-Gayraud S. Wilmore ITC, Honorably Retired""In editing and providing commentary on The Negro Church, Alton B. Pollard III has provided a valuable and accessible resource for Du Bois scholars and students that is also of interest for general readers.""-Carol B. DuncanWilfrid Laurier UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):W. E. B. Du Bois is a towering figure in African-American and US twentieth-century social, cultural, political, and intellectual life. He was a pioneering social scientist, leading literary light, political progressive, and precursor to the modern Black-led movement for freedom in the African Diaspora and on the African continent. DuBois''s spiritual disciples and descendants among the world''s communities of African descent are numerous. Alton B. Pollard III is Dean and Professor of Religion and Culture at Howard University School of Divinity and is the author of Mysticism and Social Change: The Social Witness of Howard Thurman.

Description:If radical postmodernism offers nothing more than arbitrary fictions and modernism is coldly but meaninglessly objective, where is reality? Apologizing for God argues that reality rests in the lives we live in history. In other words, it argues that living as understood on the basis of the incarnational nature of Christianity is an appropriate response to our current cultural situation. Partly philosophical, partly theological, and deeply Christian, Apologizing for God explores the importance of living in the presence of God as revealed in the autobiographies of our lives. Although not autobiographical in the strict sense, this book is an apologetic for the truth of Christianity explained through one Christian philosopher''s understanding of our relationship to history in which God is revealed. Endorsements:""This book is playful, disturbing, passionate, light-hearted, accessible, and profound-all at the same time. McLeod-Harrison engages the depths of our lives and does so with a hard-won grace--a grace that God gives on the other side of our suffering and striving. This book will delight its readers and gently lead them further into life with God.""--Jonathan R. WilsonPioneer McDonald Professor of TheologyCarey Theological College""Apologizing for God is a remarkable achievement on two counts. First, through drawing on the resources of his own academic and personal journey, McLeod-Harrison narrates into existence a hospitable and much needed space between the epistemological extremes of the modernism and postmodernism. Second, through a series of word studies--rich in literary allusion and philosophical exploration--he invites readers to encounter a God who is much more relevant than the valid conclusion of a sound argument. The book may surprise at points. It will not disappoint.""--Shirley A. MullenPresident and Professor of HistoryHoughton CollegeAbout the Contributor(s):Mark S. McLeod-Harrison is Professor of Philosophy at George Fox University. He is the author of Make/Believing the World(s), Repairing Eden, and Rationality and Belief in God. He is an Anglican priest.

Description:For those who are called to it, pastoral ministry can be a source of deep joy. But there are also challenges. An increasing number of pastors seem to be burning out under the load. Congregations may not be aware of the many and conflicting demands placed on a pastor''s time and energies, nor the pastor''s need for rest and personal support. That Their Work Will Be a Joy was written to encourage mutual understanding between pastors and congregations about the stresses of ministry. The authors present five principles that will help ministry remain more of a joy than a burden. Every chapter contains practical recommendations targeted specifically for pastors, congregational leaders, and even seminarians preparing for ministry. A dozen personal responses to the book, written as letters from people in ministry, have been collected together at the end.The book is helpful as a ministry preparation text, a guide for those serving as pastors, or as a discussion starter for pastors support groups. It will help church committees smooth a pastoral transition, or calm seminary graduates anticipating their first placement. The hope is that stressed-out pastors will recover their sense of vocation, and congregations will begin to fulfill their calling as the body of Christ.Endorsements:""With biblical wisdom, Spirit-filled sensitivity, and cultural awareness, seasoned pastor-teachers Lee and Fredrickson offer a timely book. Personally acquainted with the joys and dangers of ministry, their practical insights will lead seminarians, pastors, and congregations to discover themselves and each other anew as the called people of God."" --Jaco J. Hamman, Western Theological Seminary""This book masterfully unveils to congregants the joy and challenges for pastors as they work within the church as the body of Christ. If congregants enact even a few of the book''s practical suggestions to support their pastor and church, everyone will be healthier and stronger for it."" --Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, Duke Clergy Health Initiative and Duke Global Health Institute""The work of a pastor is both a joy and a burden, a calling and plain hard work. No one understands this better than the authors of That Their Work Will Be a Joy. They have taught and encouraged many pastors who have succumbed to burnout or stress, and also guided many through the maze of challenges that face all people-healers . . . I strongly recommend it as a must-read for all seminary students as well.""--Archibald D. Hart, Fuller Theological Seminary""A practical guide for living an authentic life in the ministry. Lee and Fredrickson generously share from their own experiences and introduce the major areas of life in ordained ministry. That Their Work Will Be a Joy is a wise companion for ministers and the congregations who love them.""--Jeanie M. Thorndike, Presbytery of Los Ranchos""Anyone who has served as a pastor knows there is joy in serving the Lord in the local church. The authors underscore the joys, but also paint a realistic picture of the challenges: relational demands, conflict, expectations, overwork, burnout, and other critical issues . . . Not only is the book realistic; it is also practical. It provides insights and sound advice about how pastors can exercise self-care, and how congregations can effectively undergird their pastors.""--Reggie Thomas, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary""Out of the tension between the ideal and the actual, the authors have forged five principle-based habits or patterns that, if shared by pastors and their congregations, would create new life and effectiveness in any church. Each chapter''s postscripts--written for pastors, congregants, and seminarians--are alone worth the cost of the book."" --Michael B. Ross, The Pastors Institute""Written in accessible language for congregational leaders, pastors, and seminarians alike, this book is full of tangible content, concepts, and insights that will spark

Description:In Augustine and the Fundamentalist''s Daughter, Margaret Miles weaves her memoirs together with reflections on Augustine''s Confessions. Having read and reread Augustine''s Confessions, in admiration as well as frustration, over the past thirty-five years, Miles brings her memories of childhood and youth in a fundamentalist home into conversation with Augustine''s effort to understand his life. The result is a fascinating work of autobiographical and theological reflection. Moreover, this project brings together a rare combination of insights on fundamentalists'' convictions and habits of mind, as well as on differences among fundamentalists. Such reflections are especially urgent in this time in which fundamentalism is prominent in political and social discourse.Endorsements:""For over thirty years we have read and heard Margaret Miles on Augustine, and her insights on this spectacular ancient have been compelling. Now we read Miles in Augustine''s Confessions, and her self-disclosure is as compelling as Augustine''s. This is a soul-rending book that opens the world of Augustine to the world of a fundamentalist''s daughter. We have known for a long time that scholarly study reflects the life experience of the scholar, but Miles has taken this both to new heights and new depths. This book reveals both Augustine and the world of a fundamentalist, and it is simply stunning in its depth of disclosure and revelation--all what we have come to expect from Augustine and now from Miles.""-Richard ValantasisCo-director, Institute for Contemplative Living, Santa FeCanon Theologian for Formation and Education, Diocese of the Rio Grande""Augustine and the Fundamentalist''s Daughter is a revealing, lively, and deeply engrossing conversation among many speakers, from Saint Augustine to modern poets to the multiple voices age and insight have given Professor Miles on her own journey from fundamentalism to wisdom. In this book, we meet the rich tapestry of life''s defeats, fears, delights, and changes in the vignettes of memories narrated from either Augustine''s new state of restful faith or Margaret Miles''s hard-won place of gracefully honest reflection. Find a quiet room, pull up a chair, and listen to this superb scholar and teacher talk with her longtime mentor, Augustine, about life, love, sex, faith, and family. It is a conversation not to be missed.""-Mary Ann Tolbert George H. Atkinson Professor of Biblical StudiesVice President of Academic Affairs and DeanPacific School of Religion, BerkeleyAbout the Contributor(s):Margaret R. Miles is Emerita Professor of Historical Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She is the author of A Complex Delight: The Secularization of the Breast, 1350-1750 (2008).

About the Contributor(s):Benjamin Myers teaches theology at Charles Sturt University''s School of Theology in Sydney. He is author of Milton''s Theology of Freedom and Christ the Stranger: The Theology of Rowan Williams. He also writes at Faith & Theology, one of the world''s most popular theology blogs.

The church is in major decline in the Western world. We cannot continue to use past evangelistic models to reach out to our modern world. Art and Soul explores ways of generating missional conversations in the community through the medium of art, offering theological reflections as well as practical strategies on how to connect with people outside of the church.This book surveys several approaches, including ""Art and Soul,"" a course that teaches people who suffer from depression and anxiety to paint, and introduces youths, refugees, prisoners, and other at-risk people to art in order to better connect with their own personal narrative. Readers will learn about ""Art for Justice,"" or how to use art in the marketplace to begin conversations in their local community. Art and Soul's initiatives for connecting with people through art will inspire and encourage Christ followers to step out and create places to engage with their community.

Description:Learning in a Musical Key examines the multidimensional problem of the relationship between music and theological education. Lisa Hess argues that, in a delightful and baffling way, musical learning has the potential to significantly alter and inform our conception of the nature and process of theological learning. In exploring this exciting intersection of musical learning and theological training, Hess asks two probing questions. First, What does learning from music in a performative mode require? Classical modes of theological education often founder on a dichotomy between theologically musical and educational discourses. It is extremely difficult for many to see how the perceivedly nonmusical learn from music. Is musicality a universally human potential? In exploring this question Hess turns to the music-learning theory of Edwin Gordon, which explores music''s unique mode of teaching/learning, its primarily aural-oral mode.This challenge leads to the study''s second question: How does a theologian, in the disciplinary sense, integrate a performative mode into critical discourse? Tracking the critical movements of this problem, Hess provides an inherited, transformational logic as a feasible path for integrating a performative mode into multidimensional learning. This approach emerges as a distinctly relational, embodied, multidimensional, and non-correlational performative-mode theology that breaks new ground in the contemporary theological landscape. As an implicitly trinitarian method, rooted in the relationality of God, this non-correlational method offers a practical theological contribution to the discipline of Christian spirituality, newly claimed here as a discipline of transformative teaching/learning through the highly contextualized and self-implicated scholar into relationally formed communities, and ultimately into the world.Endorsements:""This book tackles a vitally important field-the relation between music and theological education. Hess pushes us to think hard about what theology in a ''performative'' mode might look like. An adventurous and bold book.""--Jeremy BegbieDuke University ""Lisa Hess challenges us to ponder how music and learning actually work to transform our lives. This provocative study draws on diverse sources from history, philosophy, education, and music theory to construct a promising new approach to doing theology in a performative mode. What Hess offers us in this symphonic masterpiece is nothing less than insight, which she identifies as ''music''s primary gift.''""--Arthur HolderGraduate Theological Union""Lisa Hess introduces her book with three significant questions: how do we learn, do theology, and build a unified community of diverse peoples through music? These questions are intriguing and urgent in a world where the process of knowing and the work of theology both demand full participation of all our human senses. Hess dives deeply into these questions, and she surfaces with a vibrant picture of music as a living, embodied, relational set of practices that simultaneously express, question, and illumine theology. Her presentation is richly textured and integrative, drawing deeply on the fields of history, ethnomusicology, education, music, spirituality, and aesthetics. What lingers after reading Hess''s book is a bounty of knowledge composed into the performative mode of music, beckoning readers back into the pages to sing and play with the harmonies until we truly understand the new possibilities that she presents.""--Mary Elizabeth MooreBoston University""Christian theology, like musicology, uses words to describe realities and experiences that resist explanation. Lisa Hess explores how theologians could better attend to the performative, embodied nature of spirituality in all its various forms. This book is a helpful reminder of how elusive the subject of theology is, and points readers to a variety of voices and questions that are often neglected in th

Description:As God''s eternal life flows through us, we learn to let go of our pretensions of control and rest into the new life offered in Jesus Christ. This book is an invitation for you to become nonresistant to this movement of God''s love for you and the world. Through a variety of sermons and meditations, Sider and Villegas bear witness to a grace that disarms our guardedness and makes room for us to fall into the love of God. Preaching becomes a dispossessive practice, as each person is invited to give and receive God''s transforming power. The proclamation of the gospel, Villegas and Sider say, should display the priesthood of all believers. Thus, the call to preach belongs to the whole congregation and its conversation rather than to the lone preacher and her (or his) sermon. Presence: Giving and Receiving God draws on the Mennonite tradition of the Zeugnis (""conversation"") to explore how the preached Word echoes through all of our voices.Endorsements:""This is more than a collection of sermons. It is a conversation between two friends, a window into the life of a particular congregation, and a list of bracing questions to take away when you put the book down: Paul as a rogue organizer? Church as a place we learn what we really desire? Love as a protest? Read it for personal devotions, small group discussions, or on your way to a political demonstration or the community garden.""-Nancy R. HeiseyUndergraduate Academic DeanEastern Mennonite University""This is the finest reflection that I''ve read on the place of the Word of God in the believing community. In our harried times, the invitation by the authors to ''relax'' into the Word is truly good news. This is an impressive collection that covers a wide range of pertinent topics, moving between text and context in a truly engaging way. It will make you hunger for authenticity and a more intimate walk with God.""-Stanley W. GreenExecutive DirectorMennonite Mission Network""There''s a lot of bad theology out there. The answer to bad theology is not no theology but good theology. Here are some good sermons-read them in a quiet place, shout them on a street corner, or share them around a campfire . . . they are like candy for the soul.""-Shane Claiborne author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical""Here are a couple of humble, faithful voices whose proclamations will feed your faith and expose your flimsy excuses for marginalizing the good news. These sermons reveal a community viscerally engaged with the Scriptures, and surprised by revelations of God''s graceful work in our world.""-Jennifer Davis Sensenig Lead PastorCommunity Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VirginiaAbout the Contributor(s):J. Alexander Sider is assistant professor of religion at Bluffton University.Isaac S. Villegas is pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship.

Description:You are invited to a feast for the senses and the spirit! Thirty-four adventurous writers open their kitchens, their recipe files, and their hearts to illustrate the many unexpected ways that food draws us closer to God, to community, and to creation. All bring a keen eye and palette to the larger questions of the role of food--both its presence and its absence--in the life of our bodies and spirits. Their essays take us to a Canadian wheat farm, a backyard tomato garden in Cincinnati, an organic farm in Maine; into a kosher kitchen, a line of Hurricane Katrina survivors as they wait to be fed, a church basement for a thirty-hour fast; inside the translucent layers of an onion that transport us to a meditation on heaven, to a church potluck, and to many other places and ways we can experience sacramental eating. In a time of great interest and equal confusion over the place of food in our lives, this rich collection, which includes personal recipes, will delight the senses, feed the spirit, enlarge our understanding, and deepen our ability to "eat and drink to the glory of God."Featuring the writings ofRobert Farrar Capon, Wendell Berry, Lauren Winner, Luci Shaw, Andre Dubus, Jeanne Murray Walker, Brian Volck, and many others,INCLUDING ORIGINAL RECIPIES!Endorsements:"I''m trying to resist the temptation to pun--describing this as a rich feast of essays, or essays one will relish with delight, or essays that one should savor, and so forth--but I can''t. This collection is a meal for the mind."--Mark GalliSenior Managing EditorChristianity Today"This is a gift to the Body of Christ--delicious prose and glistening dishes to assist the necessary recovery of our whole persons. As Saint John Chrysostom proclaims: ''The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.'' Taste and see, indeed."--Scott Cairnsauthor of The Compass of Affection"From the sheen on the belly of a fresh-caught salmon to the reassuring heft of homemade bread straight from the oven, this new collection by thirty-four outstanding writers opens by celebrating the sheer joy of eating, then ushers us into the realm of holy sacrament. The Spirit of Food, edited by Leslie Leyland Fields, is not only rich in wisdom gained the hard way--through the gathering, growing, and preparing of what winds up on our multifarious tables--but shines with luminous gratitude at the abundant graciousness of God." --Paula Hustonauthor of Forgiveness: Following Jesus into Radical Loving"Leslie Leyland Fields has done those of us interested in The Spirit of Food a great service by collecting thirty-four wonderful essays and recipes. Her careful choices remind us of the many ways God can be present in the human experience of eating. The essays on fasting, feasting, and the Lord''s Supper join others which recall the experiences of grace or the call for justice which occur in everyday meals."--Shannon Jungauthor of Food for Life: The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating"I loved reading all these wise, honest, and funny people writing about eating--the conundrums and efforts and delights involved in our relationship to food, and God, and God-as-food. It''s a beautiful and inspiring collection of essays. I''ve been praying and eating better since reading it."--Debbie Blueauthor of Sensual OrthodoxyAbout the Contributor(s):Leslie Leyland Fields is the author of seven books, including Surviving the Island of Grace: A Life on the Wild Edge of America and "Parenting is Your Highest Calling" . . . and 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt. She teaches in Seattle Pacific University''s Master of Fine Arts Program and lives in Kodiak, Alaska.

Description:This study is the first comprehensive history of the impact of the modern missionary movement on the understanding of and work toward Christian unity. It tells stories from all branches of the church: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant in its many types (conciliar, evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent).Part 1, ""Historical,"" highlights the contribution of modern missions to Christian unity, from William Carey and his antecedents and peers to present-day missions.Part 2, ""Ten Models of Unity,"" takes an inductive approach to history, asking not ""how should Christians cooperate?"" but ""how has the missionary movement helped Christians to work together at the local, national, regional, and global level?""Part 3, ""Wider Ecumenism,"" broadens the evidence to include how the missions movement has helped not only institutional churches but also broader society to have concern for the unity of the entire human family. Included here is the story of how the Protestant missionary movement influenced the forming of the United Nations as well as the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The study also covers the movement''s impact on Christian attitudes toward, and relations with, persons of other faiths.Mission and Unity is the standard reference work in the field for persons studying modern history, modern church history, missions, and ecumenics. Endorsements:""Flowing from a lifetime of scholarship and activism, this timely book on a classic theme could only be written by Norman Thomas. His panoramic yet thorough treatment of ''missions and unity'' will help to restore this subject to the central place it deserves in mission praxis. This useful book belongs on the shelf of everyone who cares about the continued relevance of Jesus'' visions for his followers.""--Dana L. RobertTruman Collins Professor of World Christianity and History of MissionBoston University School of Theology ""It is often remarked that missionary work and efforts of Christian unity are vitally linked. What Norman Thomas has shown in these pages is how very true this is. I don''t know of any other source that treats the topic of missions and unity with comparable depth, clarity, and careful scholarship. This books is a gift to missiology.""--Stephen Bevans, SVDLouis J. Luzbetak, SVD Professor of Mission and CultureCatholic Theological Union""Common participation in mission has consistently been the most powerful solvent of the historic divisions between churches. Yet Christians have frequently disagreed about the appropriate means of mission, and may struggle to agree even about the goals of mission. The twin themes of mission and unity are thus intertwined in complex and ambiguous ways throughout the history of the Church. Norman Thomas''s book is a timely and helpful reminder of that ambiguous yet inescapable relationship.""--Brian StanleyProfessor of World ChristianityUniversity of Edinburgh""This book is quintessentially Thomas. I know of no one more aptly experienced or academically capable of writing this immensely useful historical assessment of the interstices of world missions and the ecumenical movement. This will become a standard reference on the theme.""--Jonathan J. BonkExecutive DirectorOverseas Ministries Study CenterAbout the Contributor(s):Norman E. Thomas is Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He is the editor of Classsic Texts in Mission and World Christianity (1995) and of the International Mission Bibliography: 1960-2000 (2003).

Description:The Heterodox Yoder provides a critical rereading of Yoder''s corpus through his own conviction that discipleship is, most basically, ethics. Tracing the development of Yoder''s theological foundations through to their final role in redefining Jewish-Christian and ecumenical relations, this volume explains why the appropriation and use of the language of politics eventually constrains Yoder''s ethical vision to the point that it reframes Christianity within the limits of social ethics alone. Because this vision self-consciously excludes or, at best, relativizes many of the claims of orthodox Christianity (including but not limited to the ecumenical creeds), Martens concludes that Yoder''s Christian ethic is best described as heterodox.Endorsements:""[T]here has been an influx of recent books on Yoder that has ensured that the significance of his work will continue to be engaged. Most of those books try to help us better understand Yoder. Martens tries to help us understand what may be some troubling trajectories associated with Yoder''s work. He has, therefore, written a book that all who are concerned with the significance of Yoder''s work must take seriously. I confess I remain unconvinced by some of Martens'' criticisms. Nonetheless, this is a book that should be taken seriously.""--Stanley HauerwasGilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological EthicsDuke Divinity School""[S]ince his death, the swell of interest in John Howard Yoder''s contributions to Christian ethics--as seen in the many constructive appropriations of his work--has shown no signs of dissipating. Dispersion, however, is finally surfacing with Paul Martens'' rather unorthodox reading of Yoder. . . . By carefully identifying and critically examining in Yoder''s corpus a trajectory toward practices and politics and away from beliefs and creeds, Martens offers a provocative-and I think helpful-argument that should stimulate and inform future waves of scholarship about or indebted to Yoder.""--Tobas WinrightAssociate Professor of Theological EthicsSaint Louis University""Among the excellent studies of Yoder published in recent years, this one stands out for its controversial yet well-argued thesis. Like Yoder himself, Martens conceals his considerable knowledge in a lively style and dislodges fixed assumptions with a light touch. This book ensures that in his legacy Yoder will remain as resistant to assimilation as he was in his lifetime, and no one with a stake in that legacy can afford to ignore it.""--Gerald McKennyAssociate Professor of Christian Ethics, TheologyUniversity of Notre Dame""This is a soul-wrenching book . . . for its author above all. John Howard Yoder measured his Church and our world with unyielding measures of reason and of witness. In The Heterodox Yoder, Paul Martens holds the words of his beloved John Yoder up to the same measure. No reading or discussion of Yoder will remain untouched by the results.""--Peter OchsBronfman Professor of Modern Judaic StudiesUniversity of Virginia""Building on a persuasive account of key shifts in John Howard Yoder''s thinking, Paul Martens advances a provocative and refreshing thesis: Yoder''s account of the particularity of Jesus Christ as ethical is, ultimately, heterodox. Yet, rather than reject him, Martens asks how critical engagement with Yoder might nevertheless help Christians resist the many temptations of modernity. The Heterodox Yoder is a lively and important book.""--Jeremy M. BergenAssistant Professor of Religious Studies and TheologyConrad Grebel University College, University of WaterlooAbout the Contributor(s):Paul Martens held a postdoctoral research fellowship at The University of Notre Dame and currently teaches Christian Ethics at Baylor University. He has co-edited several works by John Howard Yoder, including Nonviolence: A Brief History and Revolutionary Christianity: The 1966 South American Lectures (Cascade Books, 2012).

Description:Limbo has traditionally been viewed as a place between heaven, on the one hand, and purgatory and hell, on the other, to which the patriarchs, who lived under the old law, and babies who died before being baptized into the Christian faith have been consigned. Like purgatory, it is a dark place but not deprived of grace. Now that the Roman Catholic Church has declared that limbo is not an official church teaching, the idea of limbo has been freed from ecclesiastical constraints and available for reflection on the human condition on this side of the grave.Living in Limbo by Donald Capps and Nathan Carlin focuses on the acute limbo situations that are an integral part of human life, including the vicissitudes of growing up, of forming committed relationships, of finding employment and staying employed, of undergoing life-threatening illnesses, and of experiencing dislocation and doubt. Using cases and examples of real-life persons, the book identifies the forms of distress likely to occur throughout the duration of the limbo experience, and it also identifies the internal and external resources that individuals draw upon as they cope with the stresses and uncertainties of living in limbo.Drawing on the traditional view, especially reflected in Christian art, that Christ descends into limbo to comfort and liberate its occupants, Living in Limbo comes down on the side of hope versus despair. In reading about other limbo dwellers, readers will meet themselves-or someone they love and care about-and will be encouraged by the very fact that they are not alone. Although it is not a pleasant place to be, limbo is not a place of solitary confinement, and one derives strength and resilience from the presence of the others.Endorsements:""In this stimulating work we are invited to look at the margins of our lives for those disorienting experiences that often remain unexplored. By identifying common limbo experiences and their core elements the authors assist us in navigating a dimension of life that is very often neglected. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a concrete understanding of these complex life experiences.""--Phil C. ZyllaAcademic Dean and Associate Professor of Pastoral TheologyMcMaster Divinity College""With a trove of compelling and vivid narratives of lived experience, Donald Capps and Nathan Carlin illustrate quite powerfully the possibility of cultivating a spirit of hopefulness and resilience even when our lives are most acutely in a state of confusion and disorientation. Through the creative application of the resources of the Christian faith, this book effectively addresses, with compassion and humor and wisdom, the many different states of ''limbo'' familiar to all of us."" --Kirk A. BingamanAssistant Professor and Director of Pastoral Care and CounselingFordham University ""This book breathes new psychological and religious life into the ancient theological doctrine of ''Limbo,'' recently disowned by the Catholic Church. Readers will find new sources of hope, insight, and solidarity in the limbo situations of people struggling to find their way along this journey we call life.""--Thomas R. ColeMcGovern Chair in Medical HumanitiesUniversity of Texas--Houston Health Science Center Medical SchoolAbout the Contributor(s):Donald Capps is Professor of Pastoral Psychology (Emeritus) and Adjunct Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Child''s Song (1995), Agents of Hope (2001), Fragile Connections (2005), A Time to Laugh (2005), Jesus the Village Psychiatrist (2008), and The Decades of Life (2008).Nathan Carlin is Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He has coauthored many articles with Donald Capps.

Description:Do ""eschatology"" and ""peace"" go together? Is eschatology mostly about retribution and fear--or compassion and hope?Compassionate Eschatology brings together a group of international scholars representing a wide range of Christian traditions to address these questions. Together they make the case that Christianity''s teaching about the ""end times"" should and can center on Jesus''s message of peace and reconciliation. Offering a peace-oriented reading of the Book of Revelation and other biblical materials relevant to Christian eschatology, this book breaks new ground in its consistent message that compassion not retribution stands at the heart of the doctrine of the last things.Besides its creative treatment of biblical materials, Compassionate Eschatology also makes a distinctive contribution in how several essays engage the thought of René Girard and his mimetic theory. Girard''s project is shown to reinforce the biblical message of eschatological peace. Endorsements:Compassionate Eschatology is an extraordinary book that reveals the biblical teaching of the non-violent, peace-filled, non-judgmental, and ecological end of the world. Influenced by the thought of René Girard, the authors chorus: in the midst of the dragon and beasts, the lamb of God will prevail over their vicious power of exploitation, disruption, vengeance, violence, and destruction with the incesstant love of God. This eschatology does not deny all human efforts in history, but fulfills them with God''s grace and compassion. Reading this book uplifts me to face today''s challenges with tomorrow''s strength. This hope-filled book is a must read for all pastors and lay people.-Andrew Sung ParkProfessor of Theology and EthicsUnited Theological Seminary, Dayton OH""A fascinating, stimulating collection from a diverse group of scholars, filled with exciting insights. Compassionate Eschatology interweaves close readings of the Bible-with Revelation as its central text-theology and current events to shed light on the ''times of the end.'' The authors reveal, each from their own angle of vision, how God''s ultimate purpose is not destructive vengeance, but the healing into harmony of all creation."" -Wes Howard-Brookauthor of ""Come Out, My People!"": God''s Call Out of Empire in the Bible and BeyondAbout the Contributor(s):Ted Grimsrud is Professor of Theology and Peace Studies at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. His most recent books include A Pacifist Way of Knowing (co-editor, 2010), Theology as If Jesus Matters (2009), and Embodying the Way of Jesus (2007).Michael Hardin is Executive Director of Preaching Peace, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is author of The Jesus Driven Life (2010), and co-editor of Peace Be With You (2010) and Stricken by God? (2007).

Description:Although Emily Dickinson is sometimes seen as a religious skeptic, she never gave up on God, struggling with issues of faith and doubt throughout her life. Many of her poems depict such struggles, sometimes with humor and sometimes with despair. Reading and reflecting on these poems can be a powerful way to listen to and experience God through the arts.Mending a Tattered Faith presents, first, an accessible introduction to the mysteries of Dickinson''s life and poetry, considering her relationships to her family and the church, the significant poetic strategies she employed, and the dramatic family struggle over publishing her poetry that began soon after her death. It then offers twenty-nine carefully selected poems by Dickinson, each with an accompanying meditation. By helping readers unpack Dickinson''s intense but brief poems, supplying absorbing historical background and information, and relating some personal stories and reflections, this book encourages readers to embark upon their own meditative journey with Dickinson, whose engaging struggles with faith and doubt can help illuminate our own spiritual questions, sorrows, and joys.Endorsements:""Who''s afraid of Emily Dickinson? Not me, when I''ve got Susan Emily VanZanten at my side. Precise, elegant, and evocative, VanZanten guides the reader through the spiritual tangles of Dickinson''s verse in ways that enlighten and refresh the soul. This is a book to keep and to treasure.""--Paul J. Willisauthor of Rosing from the Dead: Poems""I''ve never read a book quite like this, and I''m hoping it will inspire a new genre: engaged reading, slow reading, deeply informed by scholarship but inviting to all.""--John WilsonEditor, Books & CultureAbout the Contributor(s):Susan VanZanten is Professor of English at Seattle Pacific University. She is the author of Truth and Reconciliation: The Confessional Mode in South African Literature (2002), the editor of Postcolonial Literature and the Biblical Call to Justice (1994), and co-author (with Roger Lundin) of Literature through the Eyes of Faith (1989).

Description:Ought we conceive of theological ethics as an activity that draws from a community''s vision of human goodness and that has implications for the kind of person each of us is to be? Or, can students of the discipline map the ethical implications of what Christians confess about God, themselves, and the world while remaining indifferent to these claims? Habituated by modern moral theories such as consequentialism and deontology, Mark Ryan argues, we too often assume that Christian ethics makes no claim on the character of its students and teachers. It is rather like yet another department store within the shopping mall of ideas and ideologies to which advanced education provides access. By arguing that theological ethics is an activity by nature ""political,"" the author endeavors to show us that to do Christian ethics is to be habituated into ways of talking and seeing that put us on a path toward the good.The author thus affirms the claim that theological ethics is a life-changing practice. But why is it so? This book endeavors to display a philosophical basis for this claim, by articulating the political character of practical reason. Through rigorous conversation with G. E. M. Anscombe, Charles Taylor, Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Jeffrey Stout, Ryan provides an account of practical reasoning that enables us to rightly conceive theological ethics as a discipline that ought to change our lives. Endorsements:Drawing on Elizabeth Anscombe''s significant account of practical reason, Mark Ryan illumines not only my work but how theologians must reason to make clear the truthfulness of the claims we make as Christians. This is an extremely important book, which hopefully will receive the attention it deserves. Few are able to negotiate these philosophical waters with such clarity.""-Stanley HauerwasGilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological EthicsDuke Divinity School""This book is as discerning as its title. By way of a critical study of Jeffry Stout''s Democracy and Tradition, author Mark Ryan offers a surprising defense of the theopolitical thinkers Stout often criticizes: Hauerwas and MacIntrye. The defense is surprising because it takes its measure not from postliberal theology but from the claim of analytic philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe: that ethics is mere speculation unless it speaks to the realities of human desire. By this measure, argues Ryan, Hauerwas''s Christian ethics may win reason''s trust and philosophic ethics may lose it.""-Peter OchsBronfman Professor of Modern Judaic StudiesUniversity of Virginia""We have long lacked a guide for the philosophical background of Hauerwas''s thought, especially as it comes from the work of idiosyncratic anglophone philosophers like Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, and Charles Taylor. Now Mark Ryan has offered us one such guide, and a generous and insightful one at that. The book represents a new step into philosophical seriousness for those of a Hauerwasian persuasion. Offering a ''non-reductive understanding of politics'' as the context in which to see how practical reason becomes what it aims to be, Ryan shows us how Hauerwas''s ethics is actually also a politics. His provocative but charitable critiques of Charles Taylor, Gloria Albrecht, and Jeff Stout help flesh out how Hauerwas''s work is both engaged with and distinct from some of his sharpest interlocutors.""-Charles MathewesAssociate Professor of Religious StudiesUniversity of Virginia""Mark Ryan''s The Politics of Practical Reason is a thoughtful, insightful, and timely book, patiently illuminating the importance of formation as a central yet overlooked aspect of ethical deliberation. Ryan highlights the virtues of Hauerwas''s embodied, storied, and social approach to ethics by reading him as taking up Anscombe''s challenge. By incisively articulating the limitations of Stout''s and Taylor''s alternatives, this book deepens the character of conversation regarding practical reason in religi

Description:Who is the God in whom Christians believe? Is he just a figment of the human mind as critics of religion claimed in the nineteenth century and as crusading atheists assert again today? Since the beginnings of rational thought the brightest minds among humanity have attempted to assert that God does indeed exist. But even the so-called proofs for God''s existence always started with the assumption that there is someone to prove. As soon as we move beyond that which is within space and time mere proofs or disproofs no longer suffice. Both believers and unbelievers live to a certain degree by faith. Yet religion is inextricably connected with human history.When we journey through the landscape of religion and witness its gradual unfolding we soon realize that not all religions are equal. Though they may be witnesses of the same God, the way they talk about God is so different that this not only leads to very different concepts of God but also to different approaches to life on this earth. At the end of this long journey we finally arrive at the Judeo-Christian tradition which witnesses to the God in whom Christians believe. This book seeks to show how this belief matured and what difference this belief still makes today. Endorsements:""Building upon decades of interreligious and ecumenical engagement, Hans Schwarz establishes the parameters for serious deliberation of the God question in our time. Taking seriously diverse views and counterarguments against religion, The God Who Is invites readers to examine biblical claims for the God who is revealed in history and whose ultimate self-disclosure occurs in Jesus Christ. The longings of theomorphous humanity meet the infinite compassion of the one, true God most adequately and completely in the Christ event.""--Craig L. NessanAcademic Dean and Professor of Contextual TheologyWartburg Theological SeminaryAbout the Contributor(s):Hans Schwarz is Professor of Systematic Theology and Contemporary Theological Issues at the University of Regensburg, Germany. His most recent books include theology in a Global Context (2005), Creation (2002), and Eschatology (2000).

Description:Who are we? What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of our existence? In our time these continue to be urgent questions. The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought deeply about these questions out of a desire to understand the importance of Christ and the incarnation for modern culture. His conviction that Christ died for a new humanity is at the core of his theological anthropology. Bonhoeffer''s Christ-centered, Trinitarian theology establishes the intrinsic sociality of humanity as made in the image of God.Being Human, Becoming Human assembles a distinguished and international group of scholars to examine Bonhoeffer''s understanding of human sociality. From the introduction of his dissertation, Sanctorum Communio, where he notes ""the social intention of all the basic Christian concepts,"" to his final writings in prison, where he describes Christian faith as being for others, the theme of human sociality runs throughout Bonhoeffer''s works. This theme links Bonhoeffer with contemporary concerns in theology, philosophy, cultural studies, and science regarding human reason, human nature, and their socio-cultural expressions.Vital reading for Bonhoeffer scholars as well as for those invested in theological debates regarding the social nature of human being, the essays in this volume examine Bonhoeffer''s rich resources for thinking about what it means to be human, to be the church, to be a disciple, and to be ethically responsible in our contemporary world.Endorsements:""This collection of essays by distinguished scholars provides new insights into the meaning of Christian humanism that avoids the pitfalls of individualism on the one hand and collectivism on the other hand. An excellent book for all who seek to affirm the human in an increasingly dehumanizing global context.""--Ralf K. WüstenbergProfessor of Religious Studies, University of Flensburg, Germany""This collection, written by leading Bonhoeffer scholars, deals with an element of Bonhoeffer''s anthropology which, in our times of individualistic thinking, is more relevant than ever: how Christ is the foundation for a life in responsible relations.""--Christiane TietzChair for Systematic Theology, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät, University of Mainz, GermanyAbout the Contributor(s):Jens Zimmermann holds a Canada Research Chair at Trinity Western University. He is author of Recovering Theological Hermeneutics (2004) and coauthor of The Passionate Intellect (2006).Brian Gregor holds a PhD in philosophy from Boston College. He is the author of several articles on philosophy of religion, ethics, and aesthetics, and the coeditor (with Jens Zimmermann) of Bonhoeffer and Continental Thought: Cruciform Philosophy (2009).