Righteousness by
The first volume of this three-volume work reviews the history of efforts to define biblical righteousness. Modern views are engaged and critiqued, from the seminal article (1860) by Ludwig Diestel (God's righteousness as the agreement of his will and purpose) to others in the theological stream known as the "New Perspective." Scholars discussed include Walther Eichrodt, Gerhard von Rad, Elizabeth Achtemeier, James D. G. Dunn and N. T. Wright. Other perspectives are also engaged, including H. H. Schmid's definition of righteousness as conformity to the created order (Weltordnung), John Piper's view that God's righteousness is God's concern for his own glory, and the traditional view, championed by C. L. Irons, that God's righteousness is his iustitia distributiva. The author examines these views, all of which have been supported by inductive studies, in light of a proposed alternative: that righteousness is conformity to God's Being and doing. That definition will be explored further in Volumes II (OT) and III (NT). Unlike previous studies, the present work proceeds deductively and experimentally, and thereby seeks to avoid the pitfalls of a dogmatic approach. Extra-biblical, patristic, medieval, and reformation views of righteousness are also considered as background to the modern study of righteousness.
The Disappearance of Ethics: the 2021 St. Andrews Gifford lectures by 
Holy Hell : a case against eternal damnation by 
Of Prayers and Tears : essays on political theology by
Eschatology is generally understood to be the doctrine of last things, but understood rigorously eschatology actually speaks of the inauguration of a new, redeemed world to come and of the coming of God himself. To speak of eschatology in this way is to speak of the very possibility of the future in the radical sense, the future that is not a mere attenuated variation of presence. Eschatology speaks of a coming that comes only to pass away into a past; rather it speaks of the coming of the Holy itself, which is the very origin of time and is thus the event par excellence. This book attempts to make manifest the question that eschatology itself poses: that eschaton has something essential to do with the beginning. This work intervenes in contemporary debates on "postsecularism" and "the return to religion." By introducing the question of eschatology anew, this book reintroduces the problem of transcendence that effectively calls into question the logic of sovereign power and rethinks the place of ''religion'' as an affirmation of what lies beyond, which does not function as the legitimizing principle of sovereignty in today's world of mass consumption.
Sanctifying Theology : at the intersections of Wesleyan theology, dogmatics, and practice : a festschrift in honour of Thomas A. Noble by
Sanctification is not merely a "practical" and isolated doctrine but should permeate the whole horizon of theology: dogmatics, ethics, practics, as well as the sciences and the arts. The essays are collected under the twin convictions that theology can be sanctified and sanctifying. The whole of theology is inflected by holiness, and so theology should aim to share in God's sanctifying work. Sanctifying Theology contributes new possibilities in Wesleyan-holiness theology and explores their contribution to various Christian doctrines and contemporary issues. Written in honor of the work of Thomas Arthur Noble, the essays in this book are attentive to the streams of theology that have most influenced him: the fathers, the Wesleys, and the Torrances. Both constructive and exploratory, the topic of the essays cover, among other things, (1) consideration of how Wesleyan-holiness theologies contribute to ecumenical theological discussions, (2) readings of Wesleyan-holiness theology through the lens of the church fathers and the Torrances, and (3) explorations of how these conversations and sources might shape contemporary practical and ethical concerns. The essays work both for the Wesleyan tradition and from the Wesleyan tradition for the church catholic, showing how recent trajectories in Wesleyan-holiness theology might contribute to broader discussions.
Justified Faith Without Reasons?: a comparison between Søren Kierkegaard's and Alvin Plantinga's epistemologies by
This study intends to show that the answer to the question whether faith can be justified without proofs can be resolved by importing ideas from Søren Kierkegaard's and Alvin Plantinga's affirmative take on the matter. There is a deep similarity between the way they understand belief in God and belief in Christianity. The authors share the modern idea that there is an objective truth, combining it with the postmodern stance that no method exists which would guarantee access to it. One can see at both authors not only a deep commonality of ideas, but also a remarkable way in which their understandings augment each other. Whereas Kierkegaard comes to the provocative conclusion that, if a person wants to live authentically, she will meet Christ on her life's journey without needing any proof, Plantinga's inquiry contributes to the rational plausibility of this ,,Justified Faith without Reasons" project.
Pope Francis and Mercy: a dynamic theological hermeneutic by
This theological study examines how Pope Francis lives out mercy in his own Petrine ministry and calls for it to be lived out by the people of God. The centerpiece of Pope Francis's pontificate from the very first days has been his proclamation of the importance of the mercy of God. While facing global problems of climate change, terror, political destabilization, refugees, and dire poverty, the Holy Father has articulated the mission of the Church through mercy, love, and forgiveness to reveal the compassion of God for all and particularly for those most vulnerable existing on the margins of society. In this compelling study, Gill Goulding, CJ, examines for the first time the critical and determinative role of mercy in Francis's papacy using his homilies, allocutions, encyclicals, and addresses as primary sources. Goulding traces the theme of mercy in Francis's thought, attending to its Ignatian foundations and its Christological, Trinitarian, and ecclesiological significance for the Church today, particularly the impact of his reappropriation and elevation of the discourse of mercy on the work of the Curia in Rome. Goulding enters into dialogue with other theologians, including Romano Guardini, Walter Kasper, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, to demonstrate a continuity between Francis and his predecessors, especially Benedict XVI, in this area of mercy. In addition, Goulding argues that the influence of St. Ignatius Loyola, in particular his Spiritual Exercises, needs to be taken into account, paying special attention to Francis's call for the practice of discernment. Throughout Pope Francis and Mercy, Goulding lays the groundwork for future research and suggests a wider appreciation of the necessary tools to enable an engagement with mercy in our contemporary world.
Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body : a theological engagement by
The field of biomedical technology has experienced rapid growth in recent years. New technologies promise to diagnose, treat, and prevent human diseases. Increasingly, however, the ability of these technologies to "enhance" normal human functioning beyond what is necessary to restore or sustain health has raised considerable debate about the proper limits of biotechnology. Whereas the public-facing proponents of bioenhancements tend to come from privileged positions in society, Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body seeks to analyze the nuances of bioenhancement from the perspective of those who are often marginalized in bioethical discussions. Any moral assessment of technology must consider its effects on all people, principally those who have not benefited equally from technological advancements. From the premise that minority perspectives yield new insights into biomedical enhancements, this volume centers the bodies of persons who are vulnerable to health disparities--particularly persons with disabilities and persons of color. Contributors critically examine bioenhancement technologies with two key questions in mind: What does it mean to be human?, and What does it mean to be vulnerable? Each chapter uses distinct Christian theological methods and ontological suppositions to reflect on the distinctiveness of human creatureliness in relation to technology and what difference bioenhancement might make for our conceptions of vulnerability. Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body is aimed primarily at Christian scholars and graduate students already conversant in bioethics but will also appeal to contextual theologians and others not well-versed in these debates.
Baptists and the Kingdom of God: global perspectives by
Throughout the history of Christianity, the concept of the "kingdom of God" has been constructed and understood in a multiplicity of ways. From direct identifications of the kingdom with the church to purely eschatological notions to competing revolution-inspiring views of God's reign, differing understandings of the kingdom engendered a rich variety of ideological frameworks, social arrangements, and historical actions. The Baptist faith, with substantial worldwide numerical, cultural, social, and political power, has been the site of a number of approaches to the idea of the kingdom that informed its trajectory. Issues that transcended Baptist circles, such as slavery, foreign missions, and social activism, have significant connections to Baptist notions of God's will and work in the world. The essays in Baptists and the Kingdom of God, written by scholars from several countries and disciplinary perspectives, approach the question of the kingdom under four major themes: ecclesial, eschatological, social, and providential. Considered as a whole, the volume illuminates historic and contemporary views of Baptists wrestling with ideas surrounding the kingdom concept, providing a unique resource for students and scholars of Baptist heritage and thought.
Awake in Gethsemane : Bonhoeffer and the witness of Christian lament by 
An Augustinian Christology : completing Christ (2023) by
"Drawing upon an underappreciated resource in the history of Christian thought, St. Augustine of Hippo's theology of the "whole Christ", Joseph Walker-Lenow advances a striking christological thesis: Jesus Christ, true God and true human, only becomes who he is through his relations to the world around him"-
Christianity and the Problem of Free Will by
"Central to the teachings of Christianity is a puzzle: on the one hand, sin seems something that humans do not do freely and so cannot be not responsible for, since it is unavoidable; on the other hand, sin seems something that we must be responsible for and so do freely, since we are enjoined to repent of it, and since it makes us liable to divine condemnation and forgiveness. After laying out the puzzle in more depth, this Element considers three possible responses--libertarian, soft determinist, and free-will skeptic--and weighs the costs and benefits of each."
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"-
Human Flourishing in a Technological World: a theological perspective by
"Human Flourishing in a Technological World addresses the question of human identity and flourishing in the light of recent technological advances. The chapters in Part I provide a philosophical-theological evaluation of changing major anthropological assumptions that have guided human self-understanding from antiquity to modernity: How did we move from a religious and mostly embodied anthropology of the person to the idea that we can upload human consciousness to computing platforms? How did we come to imagine that machines can actually be intelligent, or even learn in human fashion? Moreover, what metaphysical changes explain our mostly uncritical embrace of a technological determination of being and thus of how reality "works"? In Part II, the focus turns to the practical implications of our changing understanding of what it means to be human. Covering some of the most pressing current concerns about human flourishing, these chapters deal with the impact of technology on education, healthcare, disability, leisure and the nature of work, communication, aging, death, and the nature of wisdom for human flourishing in light of evolutionary biology. The volume includes the text of a lecture by virtual reality engineer and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, and a discussion between Lanier and other contributors."
Human Dignity in an African Context by
This book is a contribution to African philosophy, by philosophers focusing specifically on the concept of human dignity in ethical theory. The concept of human dignity denotes the intrinsic and superlative worth associated with human beings in virtue of which we owe them utmost moral regard. Although dignity is a foundational concept for African philosophy, there remains scant literature in African philosophy dedicated to critical and systematic reflection on the concept of human dignity. This volume responds to this lacuna by bringing together chapters that offer philosophical exposition, defense (or even rejection) and application of the concept of human dignity in light of intellectual resources in African cultures, such as ubuntu, personhood, and serithi.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a theology of the exception (2024) by
"Examines the idea of the exception for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which is a moment in history that befalls a person whereby God liberates them for a free response that participates in the emergence of new political and moral formations beyond the determinations of this age"
The Family and Christian Ethics by
In this book, Petruschka Schaafsma offers an innovative appraisal of family. Eschewing the framework of worry and renewal that currently dominates family studies, she instead explores the topic through the concepts of 'givenness' and 'dependence'. 'Givenness' highlights the fact that family is not chosen; 'dependence' refers to being intimately included in each other's identities and lives. Both experiences are challenging, especially in a contemporary context, where independence and freedom to shape one's own life have become accepted ideals. Schaafsma shows the impasses to which these ideals lead in several disciplines - theology, philosophy, sociology, social anthropology and care ethics. She moves constructively beyond them by tapping literary, artistic and biblical sources for their insights on family. Grounded in a theological approach to family as 'mystery' rather than 'problem', she develops an understanding of the current controversial character of family that accounts for both its ordinary and transcendent character. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Within Judaism? Interpretive Trajectories in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the First to the Twenty-First Century by
This book charts the shifting boundaries of Judaism from antiquity to the modern period in order to bring clarity to what scholars mean when they claim that ancient texts or groups are "within Judaism," as well as exploring how rabbinic Jews, Christians, and Muslims have negotiated and renegotiated what Judaism is and is not in order to form their own identities. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah was seen as part of first-century Judaism, but by the fourth or fifth century, the boundaries had shifted and adherence to Jesus came to be seen as outside of Judaism. Resituating New Testament texts within first- or second-century Judaism is an historical exercise that may broaden our view of what Judaism looked like in the early centuries CE, but normatively these texts remain within Christianity because of their reception history. The historical "within Judaism" perspective, however, has the potential to challenge and reshape the theology of contemporary Christianity while at the same time the long-held consensus that belief in Jesus cannot belong within Judaism is again challenged by the modern Messianic Jewish movement.
Karl Barth and Liberation Theology by
This volume puts Barth and liberation theologies in critical and constructive conversation. With incisive essays from a range of noted scholars, it forges new connections between Barth's expansive corpus and the multifaceted world of Christian liberation theology. It shows how Barth and liberation theologians can help us to make sense of - and perhaps even to respond to - some of the most pressing issues of our day: race and racism in the United States; changing understandings of sex, gender, and sexuality; the ongoing degradation of the ecosphere; the relationship between faith, theological reflection, and the arts; the challenge of decolonizing Christian thought; and ecclesial and political life in the Global South.
Of Moral Conduct : a theory of obligation, reasons, and value by
In this book Robert Audi presents an original ethics of conduct, spanning moral theory, practical ethics, and theories of obligation and value. Conduct is determined not just by what we do, but also by why and how we do it. To integrate these dimensions of conduct, Audi clarifies the relation between intention and obligation, explains the difference between moral rightness and moral worth, and describes myriad manners of human actions. He also clarifies major moral standards such as justice, fidelity, beneficence, and liberty, and explores ethics from the perspectives of the theory of action, the epistemology of moral principles, the metaphysics of normative properties, and the value of human experiences. His concluding chapters offer a theory of reasons and values and propose an original theory of value.
Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: pluralism in a postsecular age by
Expanding the scope of religious rhetoric Over the past twenty-five years, the intersection of rhetoric and religion has become one of the most dynamic areas of inquiry in rhetoric and writing studies. One of few volumes to include multiple traditions in one conversation, Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century engages with religious discourses and issues that continue to shape public life in the United States. This collection of essays centralizes the study of religious persuasion and pluralism, considers religion's place in U.S. society, and expands the study of rhetoric and religion in generative ways. The volume showcases a wide range of religious traditions and challenges the very concepts of rhetoric and religion. The book's eight essays explore African American, Buddhist, Christian, Indigenous, Islamic, and Jewish rhetoric and discuss the intersection of religion with feminism, race, and queer rhetoric--along with offering reflections on how to approach religious traditions through research and teaching. In addition, the volume includes seven short interludes in which some of the field's most accomplished scholars recount their experiences exploring religious rhetorics and invite readers to engage these exigent lines of inquiry. By featuring these diverse religious perspectives, Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century complicates the field's emphasis on Western, Hellenistic, and Christian ideologies. The collection also offers teachers of writing and rhetoric a range of valuable approaches for preparing today's students for public citizenship in our religiously diverse global context.
Glorification and the Life of Faith by
"Two renowned theologians address the key soteriological theme of glorification, showing students how to integrate theology into the life of faith and how the practices of Christian worship influence theological thinking"--
Standing under the Cross: essays on Bonhoeffer's theology by
Standing Under the Cross focuses on Bonhoeffer's rich theological and ethical thinking. It places Bonhoeffer in conversation with a wide range of modern theologians, including Karl Barth, Franz Rosenzweig, Jürgen Moltmann, and James Cone. The book gives particular attention to hermeneutics, the body, and Bonhoeffer's rich reflections on community and discipleship. Mawson attends to the complex ways in which these aspects of Bonhoeffer's thinking work together, and shows how they can assist us in responding to some of the challenges confronting us today.
Resurrection, Time, and Justification: referencing Karl Barth, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Robert Jenson by
Resurrection, Time, and Justification: Referencing Karl Barth, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Robert Jenson delves into the enigmatic concept of time and its relation to Christian theology, with a particular focus on the future's impact on time. Rather than attempting to solve the mystery of time, this book aims to provide an insightful reflection that will deepen our understanding of time in light of Christian theology. The book poses several thought-provoking questions, such as whether the future is completely shrouded in mystery or whether it provides a glimpse of itself that beckons us toward it. Additionally, the book explores whether the future retroactively affects the present and how time flows. Sang Hoon Lee examines Christian theology's distinct perspective on time, which is informed by its doctrines of the resurrection, the last event, and justification. In the process, the book explores the concept of retroactivity, which is derived from the implications of the resurrection and its power over history and time. Ultimately, the book seeks to unpack the power of the resurrection over time and history and to assert that Jesus as the risen is the center of history.
Divine Generosity: the scope of salvation in reformed theology by
"An exploration of the wideness of God's mercy in Reformed theology"-- Provided by publisher."A brief, accessible inquiry into the wideness of God's mercy in Reformed theology How broad is the scope of salvation? To explore this question, Richard J. Mouw draws on Scripture and a rich heritage of Calvinist theology. Mouw brings voices like the old Princeton theologians, Kuyper, and Bavinck into conversation with more recent voices such as David Engelsma on pertinent topics, including: The salvation of unbaptized infants God's wrath and love for sinners Problems with universalism The number of the elect Learned yet approachable, Mouw explains how Christians can affirm God's justice while holding hope for the wideness of his saving mercy. Congregations today face pressing questions about how to reconcile orthodoxy with empathy in increasingly pluralist neighborhoods and communities. For Reformed pastors, students, and interested laypeople, Divine Generosity serves as a biblically based, doctrinally sound guide. "-
The Oxford Handbook of Christian Fundamentalism by
Christian fundamentalism is a significant global movement which originally took its name from The Fundamentals, a series of booklets defending classic evangelical doctrines, published in the 1910s. The Oxford Handbook of Christian Fundamentalism traces the roots of fundamentalism from the late nineteenth century and explores the development of the movement up to the present day. Since its inception, fundamentalism has proved a highly contested category. By some the label is recognised as a badge of honour, by others a term of abuse. This volume does not offer a simple definition of fundamentalism. Rather, it acknowledges its many interpretative and definitional complexities, and allows multiple identities to jostle together under the 'fundamentalist' label. The boundaries are porous between fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism, so the Handbook includes analysis of some conservative expressions of Christianity which show fundamentalist characteristics, even in groups which refuse to define themselves as 'fundamentalist'. The relationship of fundamentalism to Pentecostalism and charismatic renewal is also explored in detail. Research-led chapters cover significant historical developments, key doctrines such as biblical inerrancy, creationism and separatism, and an extensive range of moral and cultural issues to which the contribution of fundamentalism has been significant, including popular music, alcohol, sport, and family life. Contributors also chart the evolution of the movement globally--far beyond its North Atlantic origins. Recognising the prominence of fundamentalism beyond the Church, the Handbook explores its contribution to public debates concerning political influence, education, human genetics, civil rights, business, global warning, sexuality, Israel and the Middle East, the shaping of contemporary culture, and much else. Christian fundamentalism, this Handbook ultimately shows, is one of the most significant movements operating in today's world.
God and the Problems of Love by
Religious believers are often commanded to love like God. On classical accounts, God seems a poor model for human beings: an immutable and impassable being seems incapable of the kind of episodic emotion (sympathy, empathy) that seems required for the best sorts of human love. Models more conducive to human love, on the other hand, are often rejected because they seem to limit God's power and glory. This Element looks first at God and then divine love within the Abrahamic traditions--Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It will then turn to love and the problem of hell, which is argued as primarily a problem for Christians. The author discusses the kind of love each tradition asks of humans and wonders, given recent work in the relevant cognitive and social sciences, if such love is even humanly possible. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
God and human genetic engineering by
Science and Religion have often intersected on issues. However, no set of current scientific advances is more promising and problematic for religious (or non-religious) individuals than those that fall under the heading of Human Genetic Engineering, as these advances have the potential not only to cure human disease, remove undesirable human traits, and enhance desirable human traits but to pass on these modifications to future generations. This Element is an introductory overview of these advances, the ethical issues they raise, and the lines of reasoning, including religious lines of reasoning, used to support or challenge these advances. The author's goal is to suggest a way of assessing these advances that will give us, whether religious or not, a solid basis for deciding these issues for ourselves and engaging in respectful, constructive dialog with others.
On the Historicity of Jesus : why we might have reason for doubt by
The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Carrier re-examines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct. He lays out extensive research on the evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity and poses the key questions that must now be answered if the historicity of Jesus is to survive as a dominant paradigm. Carrier contrasts the most credible reconstruction of a historical Jesus with the most credible theory of Christian origins if a historical Jesus did not exist. Such a theory would posit that the Jesus figure was originally conceived of as a celestial being known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture; then stories placing this being in earth history were crafted to communicate the claims of the gospel allegorically; such stories eventually came to be believed or promoted in the struggle for control of the Christian churches that survived the tribulations of the first century. Carrier finds the latter theory more credible than has been previously imagined. He explains why it offers a better explanation for all the disparate evidence surviving from the first two centuries of the Christian era. He argues that we need a more careful and robust theory of cultural syncretism between Jewish theology and politics of the second-temple period and the most popular features of pagan religion and philosophy of the time. For anyone intent on defending a historical Jesus, this is the book to challenge.
The Scandal of Pentecost: a theology of the public church by
Through a systematic analysis of the conflicts emerging when the public church encounters the public world, The Scandal of Pentecost argues that the public advent of the church stands in continuity with the public scandal of the incarnate and crucified Christ. The book traces the contours of this scandal in the confrontation of the dominant ruling hermeneutic of authority with a Christian hermeneutic of resistance. This highlights the brokenness of the human condition manifested by the church in the drunkenness of the disciples, the speaking in other tongues, the baptism with the Spirit, the empowerment of the flesh, and its public witness to a scandalized world. The effects of the scandal transform both the disciples' individual and communal witness and their public recognition as the church. Through the lens of a symbolic hermeneutic, the public witness of the church at Pentecost reveals a Christian scandal of anthropological proportions: with the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh the church emerges as the symbol of humanity.
Reparations and the Theological Disciplines : prophetic voices for remembrance, reckoning, and repair by
Historically, many churches and theologians defended and supported race-based slavery and subsequent forms of racial hierarchy and violence. The essays in Reparations and the Theological Disciplines argue that it is urgent that the theological disciplines engage the issue of reparations by revisiting Scripture and our theological traditions. The time is now for remembrance, reckoning, and repair.
Refiguring Resurrection: a biblical and systematic eschatology by
In Scripture, a number of individuals are raised from the dead prior to Jesus Christ. Whereas these were once interpreted as prefigurations of that climactic event, a series of challenges in the modern period led to the dismissal of the accounts of the widow's son at Nain, Lazarus, and others as irrelevant to a theology of resurrection. For "they would die again," as scholars as diverse as Karl Barth and N. T. Wright have argued. With Refiguring Resurrection, Steven Edward Harris contests this position by drawing on recent literary and theological interpretation of the Bible, as well as the deep wells of premodern exegesis and theology, to demonstrate how Scripture itself views these events as dialectical signs, shadows, or figures of Christ's resurrection--and humanity's own future. Furthermore, Harris develops a comprehensive eschatology in which the figural character of these earlier resurrections is taken into account while considering the four last things of Christ's return, final resurrection, last judgment, and new creation. An eschatology thus emerges that sets a new direction for theology in several areas of recent discussion: inaugurated eschatology, the figural reading of Scripture, puzzle cases regarding resurrection in analytic theology, whether believers can properly be said to "go to heaven" when they die, and the debate between narratival and apocalyptic interpretations of the apostle Paul. Refiguring Resurrection offers a robust, canonically holistic "figural eschatology" that has not been defended in three centuries. By being more faithful to Christian Scripture, this is an approach more theologically promising than any offered in the modern era, including the twentieth century "rediscovery of eschatology.
No Sense of Entitlement: on the makings of a feminist theologian by
"How might we keep alive the interests and concerns of protest theologies and the constructive contributions they make? Feminist, liberation, and postcolonial theologies offer guiding questions for this task: "What is the purpose of theology?" "Whose interests are being served?" "What might be the public effects of this theology?" This book attends to these questions through a collection of publications over the lifetime of one feminist theologian. Growing up in Australia as these new protest theologies were emerging, Thomson recalls the influences that went into forming her as the theologian she became. She specialized in hermeneutics, looking for stars and compasses that might guide her theology into these new territories, with a willingness to listen to the Christian tradition for its life-giving words, and a willingness to critique it for the ideologies it carried. This double hermeneutic can be seen throughout her work. The chapters in this book are divided thematically into five parts: Theology and Teaching, Public Theology, The Church, The Atonement, and Being Human. Her interests in feminist and liberation theologies inform each theme, so that she might pass on theology better than she received it."
Kant on Proofs for God's Existence by
History and theory of the cosmos : the role of God in Kant's universal natural history and theory of the heavens (1755) / Craig Bacon, Konstantin Pollok -- Kant's panentheism : the possibility proof of 1763 and its fate in the critical period / Andrew Chignell -- Proof and belief : The critique of pure reason on the existence of God / Paul Guyer -- The practical proof in Kant's critique of practical reason / Oliver Sensen -- Kant's moral proof of the existence of God in the third critique / Lara Ostaric -- Kant's moral arguement and the problem of evil : authentic theodicyand the sincerity of faith / Lawrence Pasternack -- Reason's need for God's actual existence in Kant's religion / Stephen Palmquist -- Kant on proofs of God's existend in the Opus postumum (1796-1804) / Eckart Förster -- Kant on divine artistry in nature. Variants of teh physico-theological argument / Ina Goy -- Kant on 'the cosmological argument' / Graham Oppy -- Kant on the ontological proof / Uygar Abaci -- Kant;s moral argument for the belief in God / Allen W. Wood
Perfect in Weakness: disability and human flourishing in the new creation by
One of the central and novel convictions of the early Christian movement compared to the existing Greco-Roman beliefs was the dogma of bodily resurrection. The Stoics esteemed temperance, disciplining the body to curb the flesh; the Epicureans embraced pleasure, indulging their worldly desires. However, Paul?s letters to the Corinthians convey a countercultural idea: what you do with your body matters because it will still be with you in the resurrection. But when many contemporary Christians consider the new creation, they imagine the new Jerusalem filled with unblemished people living with normalized and idealized resurrected bodies: "healing" is assumed as a fundamental reality of the resurrection. In Perfect in Weakness, Maja I. Whitaker develops the proposition that people with disabilities might retain their diverse embodiment in the new creation?that the resurrected body might still be "disabled." This theological claim is based in the accounts of the resurrected Christ appearing with the stigmata, and it is supported by the intuitions of those persons with disabilities who consider that their unique embodiment is identity-forming and entirely unproblematic in itself. If the human person is an essentially embodied metaphysical unity, then there may be features of our particular bodies that must be continuous through the transformation of resurrection for personal identity to be secured. However, this "retention view" has faced conceptual objections on the grounds of theological anthropology, continuity of identity, and biblical conceptions of flourishing human life. Whitaker confronts these objections, integrating philosophical, biblical, and theological methodologies in order to present a reasonable and coherent defense of the retention view. The possibility of persons with diverse embodiment enjoying fullness of life in the new creation can expose negative attitudes towards disability and unlock a critique of ableist bias in Christian thought and practice in the modern church. Moreover, it can function as an eschatological parable to subvert the powers of this age that idolize success, mastery, and autonomy to the neglect of theologies of weakness, limitation, and dependency. In this way, Perfect in Weakness is important not only in the realm of disability studies but also in the wider Christian community that is mired within the cultural ideologies of our time.
Is This God's Country?: religion and democracy in America by
"Our founding documents are one source of this idea-they certainly reinforce the idea that God has a special mission for America. "America the Beautiful," as the song calls it, is often conceived as a great representative of democracy, a citadel on a divinely blessed hill. The Declaration of Independence says we are "endowed by our Creator" with "unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1864 announces, "It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year... and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household." In line with the divine endowment view, our currency displays "In God We Trust," and the Pledge of Allegiance calls us "one nation, under God." Many Americans also have a sense of America as having a mission, a kind of evangelism for democracy that is reminiscent of the Biblical commandment to make disciples of all nations. Our "founders"-authors of the Declaration and the Constitution-were mainly theists, and they considered the Bible the paradigm of divinely inspired writing and America the exemplar of an enduring union of Biblical ideals and democratic practices"
Theology and Ethics for the Public Church : mission in the 21st century world by
How might the Christian church effectively engage today's politically charged, profit-motivated world while remaining faithful to its biblical and theological roots? The contributors in this book argue that public theology provides a promising pathway forward. The public theology emerging from these pages has been influenced by the theological interests and commitments of Gary M. Simpson, Lutheran pastor and systematic theologian. His approach to public theology is intersectional and global; he artfully weaves together Lutheran theology and the civil society arena of Critical Social Theory. These essays provide three angles of vision on faith active in twenty-first century public contexts: contextual, ethical, and theological. While not mutually exclusive, these distinct strands of thought engage and challenge the church to substantial reflection on the challenging and often bewildering circumstances of the twenty-first century social world. Some reflect on God's activity within particular global contexts, others offer new perspectives on Lutheran confessional traditions, still others step boldly into innovative theological assertions. As the Christian church is ever forming and reforming, this book urges it to grapple with the "publicness" of its timely and timeless mission.
Marriage, Bible, Violence: intersections and impacts by
"Drawing on both biblical studies scholarship and practitioner experience, this book explores the disjuncture between complementarian accounts of biblical marriage and intersections of marriage and violence in texts from Jewish and Christian Scriptures. This volume challenges authoritative complementarian claims to the Bibles allegedly clear and unequivocal directions on marriage. It refutes these claims with analysis of the muddled and often violent depictions of marriage in the Bible itself. Regular reminders show why such an exploration matters: that is, because recourse to the authority and plain meaning of the Bible has had and continues to have impact on real peoples lives. Sometimes this impact is violent and traumatic: notably, when the Bible is weaponised to justify intimate partner violence. This book explores a wide range of biblical texts and interpretations. Particular focus is placed on the influential pronouncements on biblical marriage by the US Family Research Council and Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Textual analysis includes close focus on Genesis 1-3, Malachi 2, and Ephesians 5. This book will appeal to students of biblical studies and theology, as well as anyone interested in research-based activism and in how sacred texts are directed towards modern day-to-day life. It investigates marriage, the Bible and violence, all of which play significant roles in public discourses and popular culture"--
Creation and Christian Ethics: understanding God's designs for humanity and the world by
"A leading ethicist surveys the creation story and creation themes throughout Scripture as a foundation for Christian ethics, demonstrating how these themes offer guidance for a host of contested ethical issues today"--
Kingdom Come : the politics of faith and freedom in segregationist South Africa and beyond by
In Kingdom Come, Tshepo Masango Chéry charts a new genealogy of early twentieth-century Black Christian activists who challenged racism in South Africa before the solidification of apartheid by using faith as a strategy against global racism. Masango Chéry traces this Black freedom struggle and the ways that South African church leaders defied colonial domination by creating, in solidarity with Black Christians worldwide, Black-controlled religious institutions that were geared toward their liberation. She demonstrates how Black Christians positioned the church as a site of political resistance and centered specifically African visions of freedom in their organizing. Drawing on archival research spanning South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Masango Chéry tells a global story of the twentieth century that illuminates the formations of racial identity, state control, and religious belief. Masango Chéry's recentering of South Africa in the history of worldwide Black liberation changes understandings of spiritual and intellectual routes of dissemination throughout the diaspora.
Casting Indra's net : fostering spiritual kinship and community ; wisdom from Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and more by 
Augustine and Ethics by
Augustine and Ethics examines the topic of ethics in the life and works of Augustine of Hippo. Adopting a global perspective on ethics as a field of philosophical and theological investigation, this volume includes reflections on virtue and vice, love and sin, and the political outcomes to which certain ethical stances tend to give rise. For Augustine himself, ethics was never merely theoretical. Ethical concerns are concrete; and ethical solutions should be practical. Accordingly, this volume gives Augustinian ethical arguments realization by connecting them to modern anxieties about ministry, health care, diet, and incarceration. Divided into five sections, the essays collected here highlight the ongoing relevance of Augustine's work even in settings quite distinct from his own era and context. The first section lays down the groundwork for Augustinian ethics by examining the foundations of his thoughts on morality, self-formation, domination, and abuse. The next three sections are oriented around the themes of love, sin, and politics. The final section makes clear the consequences of Augustinian ethical thinking today, with a view to how pastors preach, how physicians heal, how prisoners suffer, and even how we should approach the ethics of eating.
Bodies Inhabiting the World: Scandianvian creation theology and the question of home by
Bodies Inhabiting the World: Scandinavian Creation Theology and the Question of Home offers a multidimensional investigation of how houses, bodies, communities and the whole universe may be conceived and refigured as places where we belong--where we are at home in God's creation. In this way, revisiting the tradition of Scandinavian creation theology provides profound resources to make theological affirmations of God's omnipresence in the human condition we all share. The emergence here of an exciting new theological program can be recognized--beyond the limitations of other contemporary agendas' cul-de-sacs, blind spots and diffidence. What it is to have a home is a universal question closely connected to what it means to be human and to live a good, flourishing, life. But the negative experiences of homelessness, broken homes, statelessness and alienation always lurk in the background of the universal quest to find one's home in the world. This book contains fourteen essays exploring the dynamics of the human experience of finding, losing and finding again a home.
Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century : American evangelical public opinion on Israel by
In Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century authors Motti Inbari and Kirill Bumin draw on three original surveys conducted in 2018, 2020, and 2021 to explore the religious beliefs and foreign policy attitudes of evangelical and born-again Christians in the United States. They analyze the views of ordinary churchgoers and evangelical pastors to understand the religious, social, and political factors that lead the members of this religious community to support the State of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through rigorous quantitative analyses and careful textual study of ordinary evangelicals' written comments, Inbari and Bumin aim to rectify misconceptions about who evangelical and born-again Christians are, about their sympathies toward Israel, Jewish people, and Palestinians, and about the sources of their foreign policy attitudes toward the conflict. Inbari and Bumin demonstrate that a generational divide is emerging within the evangelical community, one that substantially impacts evangelicals' attitudes toward Israel. They also show that frequent church attendance and certain theological beliefs have a profound impact on the evangelicals' preference of Israel over the Palestinians. Throughout, the authors aim to add nuance to the discussion, showing that contemporary evangelical and born-again Christians' attitudes are much more diverse than many portrayals suggest.
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.