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What words from our Christian vocabulary would you miss if you could no longer use them? If you pronounced them and no one understood? If you spoke and people gave them a meaning at odds with your conviction? What words do you fear are falling into misuse? If you could save some word or phrase from disuse or misuse what would it be? Saving Words is a collection of personal, provocative essays by lay people, clergy, poets, theologians, musicians, and scholars on words they want to preserve and proclaim, urgent and important reflections on the language we need for the facing of these days. Open this volume and find saving words that matter.
Can theology be expounded almost entirely in jokes? This is an attempt to do so. But it is also a record of how one person recovered from fundamentalism, and found a different, more positive spirituality within Christian faith. It seeks to speak to those who only know an exclusive and dogmatic version of Christianity, and who feel the need for something more universally compassionate and friendly to informed scientific thought. Ward argues that we need to escape from the image of a vindictive, wrathful, judgmental God, who saves just a few people from endless torture for no obvious reason. He proposes instead a view of the universe as evolving towards a goal, guided by a supreme cosmic consciousness, which manifests its nature in this historical process. Jesus is the human image of this consciousness, an image of universal self-giving love and a foreshadowing of the transformation of human lives by their union with the divine. The jokes are there because Christian faith should be really joyful, hopeful, and positive good news for everyone—that there is a spiritual basis and goal of the universe which wills everyone without exception to share in its unlimited wisdom and love.
Dr. Beasley-Murray has made a special study of the Revelation, the notorious difficulties of which have challenged and fascinated him for many years. An essential key to the understanding of its enigmatic character is the realization that it comes within the category of apocalyptic literature, in which acknowledged symbols were used to disguise the real meaning. According to the author, that which "to the uninitiated modern reader appears grotesque imagery spoke with power to John's fellow-Christians . . ."Due weight is also given to the Christology of the book, which the author sees as inseparable from its eschatology.
The Levitical Day of Atonement was a day of penitence, confession, and judgment for Israelites of loyal character and a day of covenant renewal for the nation of Israel. On this day, sin was removed from the tabernacle through the application of sacrificial blood to its altars and compartments, as well as by the dismissal of the goat for Azazel, which carried all the community’s sin to a “barren land.” As it became ingrained in the veil of Jewish consciousness, the Day of Atonement underwent a “process of abstraction” over many centuries leading up to Second Temple times, when the Most Holy Place lay devoid of the ark of the covenant and its mercy seat. Continuing to reverberate in the Jewish imaginaire, the Day of Atonement was received by the authors of the New Testament, including John of Patmos, to whom its sacrificial typology provided irresistible motifs which they used to proclaim “the Christ event.” By utilizing a coherent intertextual approach, this book explores how John wove the Day of Atonement into the colorful literary tapestry of Revelation.
The Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968) was one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century. This book shows how German and European history of that century—the First World War, the rise of Hitler, the German church struggle—resonates in the theological work of Barth. He opposed National Socialism and criticized the naturalness with which the West got carried away in the Cold War rhetoric after the Second World War. A beautiful, accessible overview work for anyone who wants to get to know Barth better.
Robert Klitgaard is a world-renowned advisor to governments and international organizations as they face upheavals and make transformative decisions. Here he turns his attention to our "big choices." Moving across history, literature, philosophy, psychology, and everyday life, he shows how heroes can help us make transformative decisions about careers, romance, family, emigration, joining or leaving a religion or a political movement, and more. We see how to experiment with different callings, how to find and use big insights, and how to share and serve with compassion. We all confront upheavals and big choices, especially in these times of pandemics, economic turmoil, and dehumanization. We seek ideas and inspiration, not formulas or condescension. Prevail is full of twists and surprises and fascinating characters. In a world of skim-milk self-help, this is a book to savor and come back to, again and again.
"But will the island not be saved if I return to bring word of trouble?" On the precipice of manhood, Mossy longs to join the other boys in The Week of Knights. Yet when an evil army threatens to destroy all he knows and loves, the future king of Cab Nilres is pressed to decide not only his own fate, but also the fate of his home. Will Mossy fulfill the ancient prophecies? Will all be lost if he fails? Journey with Mossy as he discovers the depths of his roots, the origins of his namesake, and his place within the kingdom.
This reading guide to some of the philosophical and theological literature on universalism offers practical help in providing informed material on a topic that is often treated in a superficial and unenlightened manner. The reader may be surprised to learn that universalism was the predominant belief in the early centuries, and that it has always been present in the Christian tradition. Spurred on by Von Balthasar's book, Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved? Robert Wild's guide provides current studies that support Von Balthasar's arguments that universalism is a legitimate hope for the Christian.
This book explores the deep and abiding human need for contemplation, for coming to terms with and standing in awe of the nature and character of the God revealed in the Scriptures. When so much is wrong in the world, when our lives are troubled by so many threats, both real and imagined, we must learn to look to God and to see all things, including ourselves, in the light of who he is. A life of faithful contemplation begins to free us from the bad desires, false expectations, and corrupting illusions that bind us against our will and keep us from the fullness promised in the gospel.
Peter stands at the beginning of Christian theology. Christianity’s central confessions regarding the person of Jesus, the cross, salvation, the inclusive nature of the people of God, and the end of all things come to us through the apostle who was not only the church’s leader but also its first theologian. Peter is the apostle for the whole church and the whole church resonates with his theology. We sing his song, though we may not have glanced at the bottom of the page in the hymnbook to see who wrote the words and composed the tune. Peter is the “lost boy” of Christian theology, a person overlooked as a theological innovator and pillar, but his rightful place is at the head of the table. If we look closely, however, we may recognize that he has been seated there all along.