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In recent years, the flow of Christian theology has been channeled in diverse streams represented by such trends and movements as black theology, liberation theology, feminist theology, and womanist theology. To survey this abundance and diversity of current Christian theology, this book examines the theologies of representative theologians. Particularly to help students navigate the sea of information, the editors have identified various routes for reading, and have traced several threads or issues common to many of the essays, thus demarcating such recurrent concerns as the ways in which the theologians consider the sources and goals for theology, their variant assumptions and conclusions about the nature of God, their divergent approaches to understanding the person and purpose of the Christ, and their distinct expectations for the destiny of history and faith.
Learn new approaches for strengthening the religious bonds of our aging population! Through Scripture, studies, and the personal experiences of religious leaders and congregants, Practical Theology for Aging offers new concepts for ministering to our older population. Each chapter looks at a different concern for the elderly and addresses it with the assurance that aging is part of God’s great work. From scientific models and case studies to passages from both the Old and New Testaments, this volume illuminates the power of faith in keeping the elderly whole and well. Practical Theology for Aging reveals several barriers to the spiritual wellness of our elders. These include society’s st...
Although the doctrine and work of the Holy Spirit is no longer being ignored in theology (as was often the case in centuries past), the authority of the Spirit remains essentially undefined. The need for such a definition, however, is urgent. Some dangerous trends in the contemporary understanding of the Spirit have developed (trends that can only be exposed through careful exegesis of Scripture and theological clarification). Indeed, some contemporary models often leave us with a nonauthoritative "Spirit" predisposed toward universalism, experientialism, or panentheism. This work will attempt to show that the nature of the Holy Spirit's authority can be clearly defined through biblical and ...
The future of the church does not look bright in North America and Europe. This is documented by many recent surveys. The church is riddled with scandals, be it sexual abuse or financial misappropriation. This led to a loss of trust which is very difficult to regain. We also live in an aging society in which younger people have been brought up with a consumer attitude which does not stop at the church doors. Moreover, we live in a secular society in which individualism runs contrary to the communal aspect of the church. While religiosity has not vanished, the Christian faith is perceived by many as an "old time religion" whose tenets have lost their luster. Yet we should not give up on the church too quickly. The church has something to offer which the world needs and which it cannot secure by itself. This uniqueness of the church shows in the pronouncement of law and gospel and in the sacraments. The church is also instrumental for our self-understanding by serving as guardian of the past, as the heart of the present, and as a reminder of a meaningful future. In conclusion some directions are given toward a viable church.
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This work brings the fields of Christian theologies of atonement and reconciliation and Liberal Quaker theology into dialogue, and lays the foundation for developing an original Liberal Quaker reconciliation theology. This dialogue focuses specifically on the metaphorical language employed to describe the relationship of interdependence between humans and God, which both traditions hold as integral to their conceptions of human and divine existence. It focuses on these areas: the sin of human division and exclusion; atonement and reunification of humans and God as a response to sin; and the metaphors Liberal Quaker use to describe this interdependent relationship, specifically the metaphor of Light. This unique approach develops an original model of reconciliatory interdependence between humans and God that is rooted in both Christological and Universalist Liberal Quaker metaphorical and theological categories and utilizes the Liberal Quaker language of God as interdependent Light towards a new theology.
What is death? Why do we die? and what happens after we die? Over the centuries, philosophers and theologians of the world’s religions have offered answers to the dilemma of death, yet this subject is rarely given the detailed attention it deserves in the contemporary Christian church. As Christians, how does our view of death impact the communication of the gospel in today’s pluralistic societies? In this study, Dr Bobby Bose not only develops a solid biblical theology of death, he also reviews the teachings of contemporary and historical Christian theologians around the world, and examines the “state-after-death” beliefs of Hindus, Muslims and Secular Humanists. The author shows that “state-after- death” was a central component of conversation in the early church, and is also a major component of God’s mission to rescue humanity. As the East converges with the West, it is vital that Christians develop a missiological approach to “state-after-death” that will encourage positive engagement with people of other faiths and beliefs.
"The editors have performed a great service in making widely available a documentary history of the interpretation of the Eve and Adam story." —Publishers Weekly "This fascinating volume examines Genesis 1-3 and the different ways that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpreters have used these passages to define and enforce gender roles. . . . a 'must' . . . " —Choice "Wonderful! A marvelous introduction to the ways in which the three major Western religious traditions are both like, and unlike one another." —Ellen Umansky, Fairfield University No other text has affected women in the western world as much as the story of Eve and Adam. This remarkable anthology surveys more than 2,000 years of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim commentary and debate on the biblical story that continues to raise fundamental questions about what it means to be a man or to be a woman. The selections range widely from early postbiblical interpretations in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha to the Qur'an, from Thomas Aquinas to medieval Jewish commentaries, from Christian texts to 19th-century antebellum slavery writings, and on to pieces written especially for this volume.
C.S. Lewis, himself a layperson in the Church of England, has exercised an unprecedentedly wide influence on the faithful of Anglican, Roman Catholic, Evangelical and other churches, all of whom tend naturally to claim him as 'one of their own'. One of the reasons for this diverse appropriation is the elusiveness of the church-in the sense both of his own denomination and of the wider subject of ecclesiology-in Lewis' writings. The essays contained in this volume critically examine the place, character and role of the Church in Lewis' life. The result is a detailed and scintillating picture of the interactions of one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century theology with the contemporaneous development of the Church of England, with key concepts in ecclesiology, and with interdenominational matters.
Most people, even non-Christians, know that Christians gather for worship once a week, and that they are right there to support each other when there is a baptism or a wedding or a funeral. But what about other poignant, vulnerable, or life-changing times? How does the church help people handle changes that in the past, in Christendom, were considered "secular"? Does the church have a role at retirement when one's ministry changes, or when a family's children leave home and familiar patterns seem to grind to a halt? Is there any rite possible for someone who is called to Christian ministry but not to ordination? Or to someone whose vows are broken in divorce? Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process asserts that baptism marks the beginning of a process of participation in Christ's ministry, so that no part of life can finally be considered secular. Susan Marie Smith shows how every passage, healing, and ministry vocation is "holy," and she lays the groundwork needed for every church to create the rituals necessary to lament and celebrate the endings and beginnings that happen in every Christian life.