Weak Elements, Weak Flesh: reading Galatians in conversation with Philo and Greek medical discourse by
In Weak Elements, Weak Flesh, Ernest Clark reinvigorates an ancient interpretation overlooked since the fourth century. Clark argues that when Paul writes "we too were enslaved under the elements of the world," he means that the elements that compose the cosmos also compose and compromise the flesh, allowing sin to enslave human persons through their bodies (Gal 4.3). This book demonstrates that early Jews introduced the phrase στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου to refer to the material elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Greek medicine understood these elements to mediate the bodily stimuli and desires which enslave the soul. In his philosophy according to the cosmic elements, Philo promotes the law of Moses as the effective way to be "redeemed from slavery" to the flesh and to attain righteousness. Paul's epistle to the Galatians opposes this sort of "redemptive nomism." Paul accepts that weak elements compose the weak flesh and that they mediate sinful stimuli and desires that lead to the actions of the flesh. However, he denies that the law can make people alive or righteous. Instead, Paul prescribes crucifixion with Christ and new life with the Spirit as the cure for sin's infection of the flesh made of weak elements.
Modern Jewish Theology: the first one hundred years, 1835-1935 by
Modern Jewish Theology is the first comprehensive collection of Jewish theological ideas from the pathbreaking nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, featuring selections from more than thirty of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the era as well as explorations of Judaism's identity, uniqueness, and relevance; the origin of ethical monotheism; and the possibility of Jewish existentialism. These works--most translated for the first time into English by top scholars in modern Jewish history and philosophy--reveal how modern Jewish theology developed in concert with broader trends in Jewish intellectual and social modernization, especially scholarship (Wissenschaft des Judentums), politics (liberalism and Zionism), and religious practice (movement Judaism and the struggles to transcend denominational boundaries). This anthology thus opens to the English-language reader a true treasure house of source material from the formative years of modern Jewish thought, bringing together writings from the very first generations, who imagined biblical and rabbinic texts and modern scientific research would produce a synthetic view of God, Israel, and the world. A general introduction and chapter introductions guide students and nonspecialists through the key themes and transformations in modern Jewish theology, and extensive annotations immerse them in the latest scholarship.
We Are All Priests: the ecclesiological boundaries and horizons of Martin Luther's common priesthood by
In this book, Roger Whittall argues that Luther's teaching on the common priesthood (the "priesthood of believers") was a persistent element of Luther's ecclesiology and closely related to his understanding of the church as the communion of saints. Whittall's focus is the common priesthood's activity in the Christian community, moving beyond its contested relationship to the church's ordained ministry, or the views that limit its appearance to Luther's early polemical writings. Rather, the common priesthood stands alongside the public ministry. They are equal partners in the church's mandate to receive and speak God's word, to respond in prayer, praise, and joyful service of God's world and all its people. This wide-ranging investigation features later material not often considered in relation to the common priesthood. For Luther "priesthood" was a biblical expression of Christian spiritual life, worship, and service, forming both the personal faith of individual Christians and the corporate nature of the Christian community. Whittall also examines Luther's use of key biblical texts to link church and priesthood through the themes of unity and community, equality, and participation. Understood in this way, this priesthood still speaks powerfully to the identity and mission of the church today.
The life of solitude = (De vita solitaria) by 
De vita Mosis, I : an introduction with text, translation, and notes by 
Music in Medieval Rituals for the End of Life by
"Medieval documents reveal that for centuries of European history, singing for a person at the moment of death was considered to be the ideal accompaniment to a life's ending. Rituals for the dying were well developed, practiced widely, and thoroughly integrated with music. Indeed, these rituals reveal that music, rather than the Eucharist, held a privileged position at the final breath. Music in Medieval Rituals for the End of Life examines and recovers, to the extent possible, the music sung for the dying during the Middle Ages. The book offers a view of the plainchant repertory through the sources of individual institutions. The first four chapters contain a series of "case studies": close readings of rituals from diverse communities, each as they appear in a single source. The rituals' chants are transcribed into modern notation and analyzed, both for their relationships between text and melody and for their functions within the rituals. Created for the powerful and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, women and men, monastics, clerics, and laity, these manuscripts offer a glimpse into the religious practices that distinguished communities from one another and bound them together within a single tradition. The book provides the first editions of the rituals' chants and considers the functions of the music. Why was music given such a prominent position within the deathbed liturgies? Why did communities gather and sing when a loved one was dying? The manuscripts reveal a lost art of comforting the dying and the grieving"
Turning Points in American Church History: how pivotal events shaped a nation and a faith by
"An excellent resource for those eager to learn more about the evolution of American Christianity."--Publishers Weekly "Well-informed and highly readable."--Christianity Today (5-star review) American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. This engaging introduction provides a brisk and lively yet deeply researched survey of these intertwined forces from the colonial period to the present. Elesha Coffman tells the story of Christianity in the United States by focusing on 13 key events over four centuries of history. The turning points are as varied as the movements they track, including a naval battle, a revival, a schism, a court case, an outpouring of the Spirit, an act of terrorism, the election of a bishop, and the election of a president. Coffman highlights women and men from a range of traditions and shows how, throughout these events, Christians endeavored to discern what it meant to live faithfully in the diverse and rapidly changing place that became the United States. This book helps readers understand their own faith and the landscape of American religion. Each chapter includes a hymn, a prayer, relevant historical images, excerpts from primary sources, and resources for further reading. Foreword by Mark A. Noll.
In Sheep's Clothing : the idolatry of White Christian nationalism by
From Megyn Kelly's claim that Jesus is white to former President Trump's claim that he is the "chosen one" or the "King of Israel," there is serious trouble in paradise. Contemporary manifestations of white Christian nationalism are deeply entangled in political issues from women's political rights over their own bodies to the rejection of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Carrying Christian signs and crosses, protestors at the Capitol insurrection on January 6th were not only fighting with a sense of white nationalist duty but fighting with a religious zeal, making this a pressing moment in the current timeto which this volume speaks. This edited collection invites scholars share frustration, anger, interrogation, and conceptual clarity with readers regarding this toxic form of Christianity that fights not in the name of love, but in the name of political domination and out of deep fear and hatred. Attention is also brought to Christianity's counter-voice, one predicated upon love, and its effectiveness to resist not just deep political pro-white forces at work, but also its capacity to focus emphasis upon Christian love. The text is designed to speak to the contemporary moment with respect to the explicit and implicit ways in which white nationalism and white Christianity continue to be entangled and reinforce one another. Contributors are asked to articulate what is behind this racially, politically, ideologically, psychically charged whiteness of Christianity in the US, and to articulate what is beyond the whiteness of Christianity for both Christians and non-Christians alike concerned with the rise of white Christian nationalism.
Selected Essays, Volume I: Studies in patristics by
Taken together, these two volumes collect seventy-five essays written by Professor Andrew Louth over a forty-year period. Louth's contribution to scholarship and theology has always been significant, and these essays have been collected from journals and edited collections, many of which are difficult to access, and are here made available over two thought-provoking and wide-ranging volumes. Volume I focuses on a variety of topics in Patristics, or early Christian studies. In these essays, Louth discusses early Christian thinkers from the early second century through to Photios of Constantinople in the east (in the tenth century) and Thomas Aquinas in the west (in the thirteenth century). Constant figures who appear at the heart of these volumes are Maximos the Confessor (c.580 - 662) and John of Damascus (676-749).
Illuminating the Word in the Early Middle Ages by
"This richly illustrated study addresses the essential first steps in the development of the new phenomenon of the illuminated book, which innovatively introduced colourful large letters and ornamental frames as guides for the reader's access to the text. Tracing their surprising origins within late Roman reading practices, Lawrence Nees shows how these decorative features stand as ancestors to features of printed and electronic books we take for granted today, including font choice, word spacing, punctuation and sentence capitalisation. Two hundred photographs, nearly all in colour, illustrate and document the decisive change in design from ancient to medieval books. Featuring an extended discussion of the importance of race and ethnicity in twentieth-century historiography, this book argues that the first steps in the development of this new style of book were taken on the European continent within classical practices of reading and writing, and not as, usually presented, among the non-Roman 'barbarians'."
Imagining Heaven: depictions of the afterlife in world art across the millennia by
"Over the centuries, humans have conjured images-the stuff of dreams, convictions, and ardent desire-to describe our afterlife. The vision of heaven eye can appear as simple as a place among the stars or as complex as a universe filled with a multitude of busy souls. Positioned at the intersection of art, religion, and culture, this book sheds new light on human creativity in its portrayal of the afterlife. Beginning with prehistoric burial objects that help with one's heavenly needs, it travels through history to probe ancient texts, examines enigmatic carvings, dissects the meaning of paintings, and discusses contemporary perspectives in film and media. The author demonstrates that humans around the world have always had the capacity to confront the "final frontier" in spirited, hopeful, and beautiful ways"
Silenced : the forgotten story of progressive era Free Methodist women by
In Silenced: The Forgotten Story of Progressive Era Free Methodist Women, Christy Mesaros-Winckles delves into the gender debates within the Free Methodist Church of North America during the Progressive Era (1890-1920). This interdisciplinary work draws on narrative research and gender studies to reconstruct the lives of forgotten women who served as Free Methodist evangelists and deacons, examining their writings and speeches to illustrate how they promoted and defended their ministries. Mesaros-Winckles argues that the history of Free Methodist women is a microcosm of the struggle for recognition and acceptance faced by women across numerous evangelical traditions, especially amidst rising fundamentalism at the turn of the twentieth century. This book provides an important contribution to the fields of American history, theology, media studies, and gender studies, and will also be of interest to rhetorical history and communication theory scholars.
Born in Crisis and Shaped by Controversy, : the relevant history of Methodism Volume 2 by
This second installment of the Methodist story, Shaped by Controversy, examines eight of the major controversies that epitomize aspects of Methodism's inter-family dialogue and trauma. These theological, ecclesial, and ethical controversies tried the values, tested the patience, and strained our familial relationships. Ultimately they divided the Methodist movement. Ironically, controversy was often rooted in something that was good and right about the Methodist movement--a commitment to addressing what had somehow gotten out of balance and become destructive. Internal struggles over matters related to class, economic status, gender, and race shook Methodism precisely because the inclusion of all people from diverse backgrounds and walks of life was a foundational aspect of the early Methodism.Contentious controversies have revolved around matters like: 1) the nature of spiritual life, faith, and good works; 2) predestination and the nature Christian assurance of salvation; 3) the difficulties of living out Christian Perfection in a world full of imperfect people; 4) the pain and trauma of ecclesiastical separation; 5) women's leadership in the church; 6) the debilitating effects of racism and segregation; 7) governance and shared leadership; and 8) the affirmation and full inclusion of LGBTQ people. These controversies within the church family have challenged and pained Methodists deeply. They have also forced Methodists to examine their own priorities and clarify what matters most to them. How the Methodists responded to these controversies, for good or for ill, has shaped the identity of the Methodists as people of faith. Hopefully, both guidance and encouragement can be found in this history because the past is often like a distant mirror that reflects very clearly upon lives lived today.
Preaching to Nazi Germany : the pulpit and the Confessing Church by
Preaching to Nazi Germany explores the history of Confessing Church preachers' engagement with the Nazi regime through an analysis of their sermons. William Skiles argues that clergy expressed various messages that aimed to limit Nazi interference in church affairs and at times even to undermine the Nazi state and its leaders and policies. Skiles demonstrates that pastors had limited freedom to publicly criticize the Nazi regime, its leaders, and its ideology, and that pastors often used Christian symbols to code their criticisms to remain inconspicuous to the Gestapo or Nazi informants. This book demonstrates how pastors used a sacred text and applied it to the problems of the churches in Nazi Germany.
The Intellectual World of Late Antique Christianity : reshaping classical traditions by
The Intellectual World of Late-Antique Christianity explores new perspectives on early Christian epistemology in relation to the changing discourses, institutions, and material culture of late antiquity. Early Christian modes of knowing and ordering knowledge involved complex processes of appropriation, reproduction, and reconfiguration of Jewish and classical epistemologies. This helped Christians develop cultures of interpretation and argument as textually oriented religious communities within the Roman Empire and beyond. It laid an intellectual foundation that would be built upon and modified in a variety of later contexts. Encompassing Greek, Latin, and Syriac Christianity, and an historical arc that stretches from the New Testament to Bede, this volume traces how diverse theological commitments resulted in distinctive Christian accounts of knowing. It foregrounds the myriad ways in which early Christian epistemology was embedded in earlier intellectual traditions and forms of life, and how they established norms for communal life and powerful ways of acting in the world.
Receptions of Paul During the First Two Centuries : exploration of the Jewish matrix of early Christianity by
Receptions of Paul during the First Two Centuries: Exploration of the Jewish Matrix of Early Christianity examines the historical context of Paul and the way Paul's Jewish heritage was received. Contributors take into consideration the aftermath of the Jewish War and its impact on the development of the Jesus movement and early Christian-Jewish relations in the following period. The chapters come to the conclusion that after the Jewish War, the reception of the authentic Paul was transformed more and more into the tradition about Paul, based and established by the second and third generations of Jesus-believing Gentiles, which perceived Paul as a convert from what is labeled "Judaism" (Ἰουδαϊσμός) to the complete opposite of it, "Christianity" (Χριστιανισμός).
Visible Image of the Invisible God : a guide to Russian and Byzantine icons by
A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide to Russian icons -- the "beating heart of the Christian East" Religious icons have been at the spiritual heart of the Christian East for nearly two thousand years. Their mysterious, peaceful quality and almost magnetic power can stop us in our tracks and draw our gaze, without us even knowing why. The sophisticated composition and symbolism of icons emphasize that their subjects are inhabitants of another, transcendent, world. They are not simply the art of the Christian East, but the expression and pulse of its spirituality. And on a personal level for many Christians of all backgrounds, icons are not only objects of admiration, but a deep wellspring of meditation, reflection, and veneration. A docent at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts, for many years, Dennis J. Sardella now offers an inviting guide to the most famous icons in the collection. This vibrantly illustrated book will: * Introduce you to icons and instill a desire for a deeper appreciation of them * Teach you about their origin, their historical evolution, their complex symbolic language, and their role in the spiritual and liturgical life of the Eastern Churches, both Orthodox and Catholic * Answer your questions about when and where the first icons were created * Show the physical and spiritual steps in their creation * Explain the different types of icons, the symbolism that is key to deciphering them, as well as their role in Eastern Christian spirituality and liturgy. Those who are knowledgeable about Russian icons and Byzantine icons, as well as newcomers, will find Visible Image of the Invisible God to be a treasured resource.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory : American evangelicals in an age of extremism by
"Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing -- and least understood -- people living in America today. In his seminal new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, journalist Tim Alberta, himself a practicing Christian and the son of a Presbyterian pastor, paints an expansive and profoundly troubling portrait of the American evangelical movement. Through the eyes of televangelists and small-town preachers, celebrity revivalists and everyday churchgoers, Alberta tells the story of a faith cheapened by ephemeral fear, a promise corrupted by partisan subterfuge, and a reputation stained by perpetual scandal. For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom -- a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings and traditions, explaining how Donald Trump's presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated historical trends that long pointed toward disaster. Reporting from half-empty sanctuaries and standing-room-only convention halls across the country, the author documents a growing fracture inside American Christianity and journeys with readers through this strange new environment in which loving your enemies is "woke" and owning the libs is the answer to WWJD. Accessing the highest echelons of the American evangelical movement, Alberta investigates the ways in which conservative Christians have pursued, exercised, and often abused power in the name of securing this earthly kingdom. He highlights the battles evangelicals are fighting -- and the weapons of their warfare -- to demonstrate the disconnect from scripture: Contra the dictates of the New Testament, today's believers are struggling mightily against flesh and blood, with eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for a power that is frivolous and fleeting. Lingering at the intersection of real cultural displacement and perceived religious persecution, Alberta portrays a rapidly secularizing America that has come to distrust the evangelical church and weaves together present-day narrative of individual pastors and their churches as they confront the twin challenges of lost status and diminished standing. Sifting through the wreckage -- pastors broken, congregations battered, believers losing their religion because of sex scandals and political schemes -- Alberta asks: If the American evangelical movement has ceased to glorify God, what is its purpose?"
By Faith Alone : the medieval church and Martin Luther by
Lev Shestov's By Faith Alone confronts Eastern and Western European conceptions of faith through Russian literature, ancient and medieval philosophy, and Christian theology. Written from 1910-1914, this first English-language translation brings together important early writings on the medieval church and Martin Luther. Shestov reconciles the Greek notion of rational truth with Biblical revelation by drawing on a wide range of ancient, medieval, philosophical and theological sources from Plato to Hegel, Tertullian to Saint Augustine , and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux to William of Ockam. He argues that rational truth has skewed Christian belief by determining knowledge and truth in ways that prize the mind over the world. This approach marks a turning point in the evolution of Shestov's existential thought. It establishes a basic division that became central to Shestov's later work, between Athens as reason and Jerusalem as faith. By Faith Alone provides a crucial piece of the puzzle in the genesis of Shestov's later and better-known writings on medieval philosophy.
Christianity after Christendom : heretical perspectives in philosophical theology by
"Bringing into conversation seven unorthodox or 'heretical' continental philosophers, including Jan Patocka, Jean-Luc Nancy, Gianni Vattimo and John D. Caputo, Martin Koci re-centres the debates around philosophy's so-called return to religion to address the current 'not-Christian, but not yet non-Christian' culture. In the modern context of increasing secularization and pluralization, Christianity after Christendom boldly proposes that Christians must embrace the demise of Christianity as a meta-narrative and see their faith as an existential mode of being-in-the-world. Whilst not denying the religion's history, this 'after' of Christianity emancipates the discourse from the socio-historical focus on Christendom and introduces new perspectives on Christianity as an embodied religious tradition, as a way of being, even as a faithfulness to the world. In dialogue with a broad range of philosophical movements, including deconstruction, phenomenology, hermeneutics and postmodern critiques of religion, this is a timely examination of the present and future of post-Christendom Christianity."
Martin Luther und Die Reformation: Traditionen, Kontexte, Umbrüche by
This collection of eight essays, grounded in public lectures, presents the protean and enigmatic Martin Luther from exemplary and representative perspectives (by members of different scholarly disciplines: bibliography, theology, history of law, history, cultural history, neo-Latin philology, German philology and English philology). The heuristic categories of "traditions, contexts and radical changes" allow to focus on individual selections from the enormously rich and different details of the Luther-cosmos, to concentrate on the analysis of Luther's influences as 'reformator' on the one hand and on the other hand to analyze and critically evaluate his deep anchorage in the broader contexts of central Europe's cultural history.
Religious Enlightenment in the Eighteenth-Century Nordic Countries: reason and orthodoxy by
This book explores the concept of religious Enlightenment in the Nordic countries during the long eighteenth century. It argues that Lutheran confessional culture became intertwined with Enlightenment ideas and practices in this European region. In the book's three parts, specialist historians explore themes central to students of the early modern era - historical writing, material culture, ecclesiastical and legal reform, censorship, cameralism and innovative medical practices. It offers a timely reconsideration of a complex period in European history from a northern perspective.
Medieval Polyphony and Song by
What characterises medieval polyphony and song? Who composed this music, sang it, and wrote it down? Where and when did the different genres originate, and under what circumstances were they created and performed? This book gives a comprehensive introduction to the rich variety of polyphonic practices and song traditions during the Middle Ages. It explores song from across Europe, in Latin and vernacular languages (precursors to modern Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish); and polyphony from early improvised organum to rhythmically and harmonically complex late medieval motets. Each chapter focuses on a particular geographical location, setting out the specific local contexts of the music created there. Guiding the reader through the musical techniques of melody, harmony, rhythm, and notation that distinguish the different genres of polyphony and song, the authors also consider the factors that make modern performances of this music sound so different from one another.
The Substance of Our Faith: foundations for the history of Christian doctrine by
"A noted historian introduces essential foundations for the history of Christian doctrine, including the role of Gods spirit in guiding our instruction, the authority of Scripture in clarifying what the Spirit wants from disciples, and the global composition of the church and the difference this should make in the way Christians are taught the faith"--
One God, One People : oneness and unity in early Christianity by
From ancient times to the present day, utopian social ideas have made the unity of humankind a central concern. In the face of the threats to civic peace and harmony caused by misrule, factions, inequality, and moral weakness, philosophical and religious traditons in antiquity gave considered attention to the attainment of oneness both as an idal and as an embodied practice. In this olume, scholars of ancient history, early Judaism, and biblical studies come together to show that ideas of unity and practices of oneness were grounded in larger conceptions of worldview, cosmic order, and power, with theological ideas such as the oneness of God laying an important foundation. In particular, contributors focus on how early Christians, with their inherited Jewish, Greek, and Roman traditions, reinterpreted oneness in light of their new identity as "members of Christ" and how they put it inot practice.
Compelling Lives : five Methodist abolitionists and the ideas that inspired them by
What motivates people to work for justice? Recent studies have moved away from an emphasis on specific principles and toward an understanding of social and cultural forces. But what about times in history when distinct ideas were critical for positive change?The pre-Civil War abolitionist movement represents one such time. During an era when race-based slavery was buttressed by the machinery of civil law, many people developed arguments for freedom and equity that were grounded in divine law. There were Methodist witnesses for justice who lived by this distinction between civil and godly authority. While Methodism, as an institution, betrayed its founding opposition to slavery, many within the movement expressed a prophetic vision. A vibrant counterculture borrowed from Scripture and modern philosophy to argue for a "higher law" of justice.The world-changing ideas that overcame slavery in America were not disembodied and ethereal. They were mediated through the lives of multidimensional individuals. Sojourner Truth, Luther Lee, Laura Haviland, Henry Bibb, and Gilbert Haven were very different from one another. Yet they were animated by similar ideas, grounded in faith, and shaped by a common commitment to human rights.
Enjoy the latest articles (some by Luther Sem's own Faculty), from Word & World, most recent issues (43.4), accessed via Luther Library's subscription to ATLA -Religion Database. Here's a few samples:
Admiraal, Lucas J. “The Sacramentality of Scripture in the Writings of Johann Gerhard.” Lutheran Quarterly 37, no. 4 (Wint 2023): 407–23.
Leaver, Robin A. “The First Lutheran Hymnals of 1524.” Lutheran Quarterly 37, no. 4 (Wint 2023): 373–406.
Strom, Jonathan. “How the Priesthood of All Believers Became American.” Lutheran Quarterly 37, no. 4 (Wint 2023): 424–58.
McGowan, Andrew Thomson Blake. “Barth, Van Til and Torrance -- Evangelical Reception of Karl Barth.” European Journal of Theology 32, no. 2 (2023): 244–59. doi:10.5117/ejt2023.2.005.mcgo
Stenschke, Christoph W. “The Task of Theology: ‘… Bringing out of Our Treasures What Is New and What Is Old.’” European Journal of Theology 32, no. 2 (2023): 171–79. doi:10.5117/ejt2023.2.001.sten
Frykholm, Amy Johnson. “Julian the Theologian: We Ignored Her for Hundreds of Years. Then We Reduced Her to a Slogan.” The Christian Century 140, no. 5 (May 2023): 58–62.
Haines, David. “Thomas Aquinas on Total Depravity and the Noetic Effects of Sin.” Themelios 48, no. 2 (August 2023): 366–80.
Mayes, Benjamin T G. “Creation Accommodated to Evolution: Hermann Sasse on Genesis 1–3.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 87, no. 2
Moldenhauer, Aaron. “A Lutheran Perspective on the Filioque.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 87, no. 2 (April 2023): 151–72.
The West African Revival: Faith Tabernacle Congregation on the Guinea Coast, 1918-1929 by
In eleven short years, from 1918 to 1929, Faith Tabernacle Congregation, a small divine healing church in Philadelphia, spread over the Guinea Coast, garnering over 250 branches and nearly 11,000 members without ever sending missionaries from the United States. Communications were made solely through the exchange of literature, letters, money, and the occasional radiogram across the Atlantic. This rapid expanse constituted a great revival: the West African Revival. In The West African Revival, Adam Mohr compiles historical documents from Faith Tabernacle's archive in Philadelphia as well as several other churches that branched from Faith Tabernacle in West Africa (mainly Ghana and Nigeria) and the United States such as the First-Century Gospel Church, the Apostolic Church, the Christ Apostolic Church, and the Church of Pentecost. Writing for an audience of scholars from the fields of African Christianity, Global Christianity, and African Studies, Mohr engages literature from the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919, African Traditional Religion (predominantly anti-witchcraft cults), the relationship of capitalism to Christianity, political and social conflict, and early Pentecostalism in West Africa. Significantly, the West African Revival was the predecessor to Pentecostalism in West Africa--Ghana and Nigeria particularly. Mohr's findings compel scholars to rethink the historical relationship of African indigenous churches to Pentecostalism in West Africa in addition to the historical relationship between South African Zionism and Nigerian Aladura.
Reformation and Everyday Life by
The European reformations meant major changes in theology, religion, and everyday life. Some changes were immediate and visible in a number of countries: monasteries were dissolved, new liturgies were introduced, and married pastors were ordained, other more hidden. Theologically, as well as practically the position of the church in the society changed dramatically, but differently according to confession and political differences. This volume addresses the question of how the theological, liturgical, and organizational changes changes brought by the reformation within different confessional cultures throughout Europe influenced the everyday life of ordinary people within the church and within society. The different contributions in the book ask how lived religion, space, and everyday life were formed in the aftermath of the reformation, and how we can trace changes in material culture, in emotions, in social structures, in culture, which may be linked to the reformation and the development of confessional cultures.
Venice and the Radical Reformation: Italian Anabaptism and Antitrinitarianism in European context by
The Republic of Venice was the only Catholic territory where an Anabaptist community was formed in the 16th century. The history of Venetian Anabaptism, little known in Reformation Studies so far, is at the heart of this book. On the basis of a large amount of archival material Riccarda Suitner reconstructs the lives of the Anabaptists of the Republic and inquisitorial repression they suffered, and analyses the doctrinal specificities of the Radical Reformation of that territory. Venetian events are presented within a broader comparative framework with particular attention to the development of the Reformation in the German states, Switzerland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, Tyrol, and the Kingdom of Naples. It will emerge that its Venetian history, too, cannot be ignored for a true understanding of the Radical Reformation as a whole, as well as of many significant developments of the European Reformation.
Essays on Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity in Honour of Oded Irshai by
Leading scholars in the study of Late Antiquity discuss the religious landscape of the eastern Roman Empire, with expert discussion of the theological, political, and social issues which confronted Jews and Christians in late Roman Palestine and surrounding regions. Individual chapters analyse in depth the rabbinic, patristic, and archaeological evidence to produce a sophisticated account of religious lives in provincial societies in which rabbinic Judaism took root within a Roman world increasingly dominated from the early fourth century CE by competing Christian power structures, particularly within Palestine. Detailed studies investigate, among other topics, rabbinic speculation about the origins and nature of the Roman state; the implications of the sharing of urban space by different religious traditions and the sharing of religious iconography; competition both within Judaism and Christianity and between Jews and Christians in light of the political pressures exerted by the Christian Roman state; and both similarities and differences in speculation by Jews and Christians about the nature of the expected end of days.
The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch by
The letters of Ignatius of Antioch portray Jesus in terms that are both remarkably exalted and shockingly vulnerable. Jesus is identified as God and is the sole physician and teacher who truly reveals the Father. At the same time, Jesus was born of Mary, suffered, and died. Ignatius asserts both claims about Jesus with minimal attempts to reconcile how they can simultaneously be embodied in one person.This book explores the ways in which Ignatius outlines his understanding of Jesus and the effects that these views were to have on both his immediate audience as well as some of his later readers. Ignatius utilizes stories throughout his letters, describes Jesus with designations that are at once traditional and reinvigorated with fresh meaning, and employs a dizzying array of metaphors to depict how Jesus acts. In turn, Ignatius and his audience are to respond in ways befitting their status in Christ because Jesus forms a lens through which to look at the world anew. Such a dynamic Christology was not to cease development in the second century but continued to inspire readers in creative ways through late antiquity and beyond.
The Church's Unholy War : Russia's invasion of Ukraine and orthodoxy by
How did religion contribute to Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Heated disputes and alienation among Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia contributed to Russian aggression in Crimea and Donbas in 2014, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This book examines attempts from the early twentieth century to the present day to liberate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russian control. It explores the causes of bitter alienation, Russia's use of soft power to maintain control, the development of hate speech used to discriminate against independent-minded Ukrainians, and the transition from soft to hard power from 2014 to the present.
A Burning House: redeeming American evangelicalism by examining its history, mission, and message by
American Evangelicalism is ablaze. This is an inevitable result of divisions along ethnic and cultural lines, which have long tarnished the movement's witness. Doctrinal identity unites black and white evangelicals, but rifts afflict the camp, so the movement is waning. In A Burning House, Brandon Washington contends that deliberate and sacrificial integration is the sole solution to bolster evangelicalism's foundation. In the 1950s and '60s, with desegregation on the horizon, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I've come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house." As with the country, if we hope to move toward integrating the American Evangelical church, we must do so as firefighters. Washington is not calling American Evangelicalism to become something new. Rather, he challenges the movement to realize what it has always been in Christ. The selfless integration of Evangelicalism will result in a holy witness to humanity and a greater understanding of Shalom--peace, justice, wholeness--in the world. These are the inevitable fruits of espousing and preaching a comprehensive gospel message.
The Substance of Our Faith: foundations for the history of Christian doctrine by
"A noted historian introduces essential foundations for the history of Christian doctrine, including the role of Gods spirit in guiding our instruction, the authority of Scripture in clarifying what the Spirit wants from disciples, and the global composition of the church and the difference this should make in the way Christians are taught the faith"--
I Am Joseph! : Luther's last lectures on the last chapters of Genesis by
This book focuses on Luther's very last lectures, which interpret the Joseph story in the final chapters of Genesis. Scholars have frequently neglected the later Luther and the Genesis Lectures, making this an important new contribution to the field. Luther's lectures are not a modern scientific commentary, but enarrations, as Kenneth Hagen calls them, filled with public proclamation, expanded narrative, and a performative sense of language. The author furthers Oswald Bayer's performative interpretation of Luther's theology with a more sophisticated linguistic philosophy, while continuing Bayer's theological direction. The book is an important new contribution to Luther studies and will be of interest to seminarians as well as to students of hermeneutics, homiletics, the relevance of the performative in proclamation, and philosophy of language. "Peter D. S. Krey offers a theologically expansive and polyvalent reading of Luther's lectures on the last chapters of Genesis, the story of Joseph and his family in Egypt. Composed at the end of his days, the lectures were fully informed not only by Luther's mature theology, but also by his own lifelong struggles with hopelessness and fear. Krey's writing is lively, at times moving, his scholarship capacious. His book calls renewed attention to this most important work just when our own deeply troubled world needs it most." --Christine Helmer, Peter B. Ritzma Chair of Humanities, Professor of German and Religious Studies, Northwestern University "Dr. Peter Krey takes the reader on an energetic ride, as he examines Luther's reading of the Joseph Story through a variety of intriguing interpretive lenses. With his unique and empathetic approach, Krey has accumulated an original examination of a key section of Luther's Genesis lectures. Luther is alive on these pages that lay out the complexity of his theological language in ways that resonate with both mind and heart." --Rev. Dr. Brooks Schramm and Rev. Dr. Kirsi Stjerna, Editors/Authors of Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People
Dutch Reformed Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire, c.1550-1620 : a Reformation of refugees by
"Examines the diverse experiences of Reformed Protestant religious refugees fleeing war and persecution in the Netherlands for cities and towns in the Holy Roman Empire in the late sixteenth century. Starting in the mid-sixteenth century, widespread persecution and war forced tens of thousands of Reformed Protestants in the Netherlands to flee their homes for new communities in England and the Holy Roman Empire. This book follows those refugees who escaped to large cities and small towns to the east and southeast, up the Rhine River watershed. The comprehensive approach taken here examines these forced migrations from political, intellectual, social, cultural, religious, and linguistic perspectives, including using a large prosopographical database to track refugees' movements and experiences. It challenges scholars' claims that Reformed Protestants developed more doctrinal, volunteeristic, and well-organized churches particularly capable of surviving the challenges of persecution and exile. Instead, the authors show, refugees proved remarkably willing to compromise and adapt, even as they built new relationships with the unfamiliar people they met abroad. Based on an extensive collaboration between two senior scholars with different training and intellectual backgrounds and the team of researchers they led, this book challenges conventional wisdom about refugees and forced migrations in early modern Europe. This book is based on research conducted as part of a project funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), titled "The Rhineland Exiles and the Religious Landscape of the Dutch Republic, c.1550-1618. This title is available under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-ND"-
Women and the Christian Story: a global history by
"This is a story about Christian women. It is a story of martyrs, mystics, missionaries, leaders, preachers, theologians, saints, and prophets." For most of its two-thousand-year history, Christianity has told its stories from the perspective of men, mostly powerful men, and almost always men in control of the "official" narrative. These masculine narratives tell only part of the story because they obscure the rich and essential contributions, large and small, of Christian women throughout time. If the stories of women have been overlooked generally, stories of women from outside the Western tradition have been even more seriously overlooked. In this exciting, readable, and fresh new history of Christianity, Jennifer Hornyak Wojciechowski foregrounds the story of Christian women for a new era. Be they powerful or nameless, saintly or flawed, women across two millennia and six continents are lifted up and allowed to speak fully to their part in the spread of the faith. Wojciechowski's book works perfectly as a classroom text while welcoming general readers of all backgrounds and interest levels.
Everyday religiosity and the politics of belonging in Ukraine by 
Sacred rivals : Catholic missions and the making of Islam in nineteenth-century France and Algeria by 
Gods, spirits, and worship in the Greco-Roman world and early Christianity by 
Found Christianities : remaking the world of the second century CE by 
The Oxford handbook of religion and Europe by 