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In Care-full Preaching, G. Lee Ramsey, Jr., offers a new vision for how sermons can energize all members of a congregation to care for one another. Using fresh images and sermons from Fred Craddock, James Forbes, Gina Stewart, Barbara Brown Taylor, and himself, Ramsey demonstrates in practical ways how sermons can create a caring community.
The spirit of the Reformation is often expressed in the well-known slogan that Reformed churches are always being reformed according to God’s Word, ecclesia reformata semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei. Over the last century, the spirit of this slogan motivated someone like Dietrich Bonhoeffer to argue that the visible form and life of the church should reflect the truth and message of the church. Already in his doctoral dissertation called Sanctorum Communio, the communion of the saints, the young Bonhoeffer combined theological claims and traditions with social theory and analysis, in this spirit, in an innovative way, to study the nature and integrity and witness of the church. At th...
Making the Bible Your Book provides an informative guide to the people, places, events, and content of the books of Bible. It asks the fundamental questions as one approaches the study of scripture: who? what? where? when? and why? It also provides initial guidance on how to interpret the Bible. The author does not assume that the reader has a great deal of knowledge about the Bible, and therefore the book is an excellent starting resource for basic knowledge. It can assist the beginning Bible student as well as those who need to refresh their knowledge and understanding. It is an ideal resource for individuals, study groups, seminarians, and even pastors and priests who desire to address the problem of biblical illiteracy in their churches.
Designed for readers who have no familiarity with the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, this introduction provides a complete overview of its development and its continuing interpretation. Each chapter follows the same four-part format: "Content" summarizes the biblical book being treated; "Growth" explains the process behind the book's composition according to the most up-to-date scholarship; "Context" describes the historical, literary, and social settings that were at work in the book's production; and "Interpretation" explores the various ways in which the book has been and continues to be understood in scholarly and religious communities. The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content is an ideal classroom resource because, even though it presents the biblical books in their canonical order, it can be read in any sequence to meet the needs and aims of a given course.
Achieve faith and understanding when dealing with the loss of a loved one or a major change in your life! Losses in Later Life: A New Way Of Walking with God, Second Edition, focuses on seven major losses: loss of youth, loss of family, loss of parents, loss of work, loss of spouse, loss of health, and loss of identity. This second edition has been reworked with new research to include updated information about the loss of independence and several additional losses not discussed in the previous edition. You will explore the path to becoming a spiritually mature person who has faith and is able to grieve, let go, and release what is lost in order to live a mentally healthy and rewarding life....
Significant interest has always existed about the origin of Classic Greek culture, but despite the long-standing attention, scholars continue to disagree on where this amazing civilization got its start. The Mycenaeans were the earliest Greek-speaking people on the mainland, but the country entered a Dark Age following the end of the Trojan War, and in the Archaic Age which followed, the fundamentals of Greek political and literary thought suddenly emerged, without a clear source of derivation. Historians have sometimes given credit to the Egyptians, Phoenicians, or other Eastern civilizations for this evolution, but no serious consideration has been given to the ancient Hebrews, despite the...
In the past twenty-five years, liberation theology has emerged as one of the most influential, challenging, and controversial movements in modern theology. Whether in its Asian, African, Latin American, or African-American forms, liberation theology has undertaken to reexamine the dimensions of Christian faith from the perspective of the marginalized and oppressed. Here, at last, is a collection of readings from a cross-section of the world's leading exponents of liberation theology, designed to offer an overview of liberation theology and its central themes. Topics included are methodology, christology, ecclesiology, and spirituality. Each chapter includes a helpful introduction and questions for discussion, making this an ideal introductory text for students, as well as scholars and other general readers. Contributors: Maria Pilar Aquino Tissa Balasuriya Dominique Barbe Clodovis Boff Leonardo Boff Ernesto Cardenal Chung Hyun Kyung James H. Cone Jean-Marc Ela Ivone Gebara Gustavo Gutierrez Mary Hunt Sallie McFague Mary John Mananzan Carlos Mesters Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike Sun Ai Park Jon Sobrino Charles Villa-Vicencio Yong Ting Jin
A careful analysis of Paul's letters shows that in every church there were two main groups of converts: those who were baptized and those being instructed for baptism. Such analysis also makes it possible to determine which parts of each letter were directed towards which group. Baptism was the rite by which converts were forgiven their past sins and became members of a renewed community of God, from which any who continued to sin were expelled. The Morality of Paul's Converts argues that Paul was always more concerned with how converts behaved than with what they believed about Christ. Paul remained a Jew even after he accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Paul eventually developed beliefs about Jesus as the Son of God in order to win Gentile converts to faithfulness, but this careful analysis of his writings reveals that his primary concern was always the morality of converts. His message always remained focused on faithfulness toward God and moral probity.
Opening the Qur'an can be a bewildering experience to non-Muslim, English-speaking readers. Those who expect historical narratives, stories, or essays on morals are perplexed once they pass the beautiful first Surah, often shocked and then bogged down by Surah 2, and even offended by Surah 3’s strictures against nonbelievers. Walter H. Wagner “opens” the Qur’an by offering a comprehensive and extraordinarily readable, step-by-step introduction to the text, making it accessible to students, teachers, clergy, and general readers interested in Islam and Islam’s holy Book. Wagner first places the prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, and the early Muslim community in their historical, geograph...