LITMIR.BIZ

The book represents a personal quest in what Anselm referred to as faith seeking understanding. The primary focus centers on proposing an interpretation of the nature and function of the human spirit and its relationship to the divine spirit and the living of a godly Christian life. Thus the book has a dual concern; namely, an academic one and a spiritual one. The undergirding premise is that apart of the human spirit the divine spirit is personally unknowable.
This premise contains the following supporting concepts: First, the core of human personhood resides in the human spirit and constitutes the unique capacity for personal self-relatedness. Second, as the result of humanity's idolatrous displacement of God, a radical reversal occurred with the human spirit. When restored to its original relationship with the divine spirit, the human spirit, as James Loder writes "is called out of its futility and perversity into the light (and truth) of the divine spirit.

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Son of Mary offers new solutions to some persistent exegetical problems in the interpretation of three of the most puzzling passages in the Gospel of John, and does so in a way that illuminates the social-cultural context to the New Testament world. Old Testament resonances are heard here afresh: The miracle at Cana is seen in the light of God's people living without the wine of God's blessing, and Jesus' interaction with his brothers is placed alongside the story of Joseph.
Margaret Wesley explores the world of kinship relationships in First Century Palestine, discovering how an understanding of family expectations and obligations can illuminate Jesus' words and actions and guide our relationships within the church as sisters and brothers of one another and as daughters and sons of God. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are understood in a fresh way as the creation of a new family.
Margaret demonstrates a mastery of current research while drawing on a wide range of primary patristic sources. She shows a respectful yet firm and assertive spirit when dealing with controversy.

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How do religious educators meaningfully engage adult learners? How do they invite adults to begin a learning journey and inspire them to stay on it? In an era of «spiritual but not religious,» how can religious educators, and clergy in particular, respond to the yearnings of adults for connection, wholeness, and purpose? Open Minds, Devoted Hearts offers the examples of three outstanding congregational rabbis whose teaching answers that call to action. Through innovatively incorporating biographical portraits and educational scholarship the book provides a comprehensive exploration of how the themes of narrative, transformation, and spirituality bring adult religious educators and learners into a powerful interactive educational process. The portraits and accompanying analysis reveal how constructing personal meaning and building sacred community through study situates adult learning as a dynamic centerpiece of an energized congregational life.

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Should we allow performance-enhancing substances in competitive athletics? The first book of its kind, Well Played answers this question by urging us to a deeper appreciation for the purpose of sport. Giving special reference to performance-enhancing substances, Shafer challenges the incompleteness of the ethical arguments and contributes a Christian voice to the discussion. He initiates a theological conversation that is both scholarly and accessible, arguing that a distinctively Christian understanding of sport will have far-reaching implications for how we treat ethical issues like doping. The values, beliefs, and practices within the Christian tradition show an alternative that prioritizes humility and friendship, grace and gratitude over the «win at all costs» mentality that drives the use of performance-enhancing substances for a competitive advantage. This groundbreaking book ventures into new theological territory as it explores the intersections of theology, philosophy of sport, and the ethics of doping. Theologians, ethicists, and pastors, as well as coaches, athletes, and sports fans will benefit from this book's thoughtful reflection on how Christians can play well in the modern sports culture.

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If theology at its best is knowing God and all things in the light of his reality, what is the nature of that knowledge? Of what can we be sure? Are there boundaries we must respect in pursuit of such understanding? To what extent can we know God, and what is the impact of that knowing?
Little attention has been given in recent scholarship to the work of Emil Brunner (1889-1966), a Swiss pastor, professor, missionary, and theologian whose name is classed among the neo-orthodox thinkers of the last century. This lacuna is misleading, however, for his influence on modern theology persists. In Believing Thinking, Bounded Theology, Cynthia Bennett Brown explores the nature of and limits to theological thinking in Brunner's own work. What results from this study is an encounter with a thoroughly biblical, warmly pastoral, carefully intellectual, and insistently christocentric exposition of the Christian faith that remains relevant for theology and life today.

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All signs point to Christian education having lost its theological location and prominence in the life of the Western Protestant church. The Emerging Church movement, as an intentionally postmodern approach to ministry in the contemporary context, may, however, offer insights to reinterpret Christian education. This significant movement in today's church gives Christian education a new interpretive framework that is theologically located at an intersection of doxology and doctrine. In her examination of postmodern faith formation, Wendi Sargeant explores the importance of the Christian worshipping community as the most appropriate setting for Christian education. Practitioners and students will benefit from the ready-to-use teaching and learning matrix, and all those with interest in the formation of faith in themselves and others will draw much from the way Sargeant situates worship as the basis for enhancing Christian formation and ethos.

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Ecumenical dialogue is not an end in itself. It serves as an indispensable instrument to overcome the divisive, mutual misinterpretations of the past. Ecumenical encounters pave the way toward healing painful memories and lead to a deeper understanding of the church's given unity, thus becoming a more credible witness of that truth. Mennonites in Dialogue is a collection of all conversation texts involving Mennonites on international and national levels, covering forty years of encounters with Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Baptists, and Seventh-Day Adventists, among others. The texts illustrate growth in agreement as well as identify the remaining convictions that still divide. Several texts appear here for the first time in English. An introductory essay provides an overview of the motivations for dialogue, the challenges faced–both in the processes of dialogue and in their substance–as these conversations evolved, the achievements gained, and the prospects for the future. A detailed index enables a more effective comparison of the topics and issues throughout the collection. Mennonites in Dialogue is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand the process of identity formation within the Christian tradition through encounter with the other, as well as a rich introduction to the theology of that global peace church–the Mennonites.

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There is not, and never was, a monolithic masculinity; there are, and always have been, multiple masculinities. Today diversity with regard to gender and sexuality is beginning to be recognized and celebrated even while many religious denominations still resist these cultural changes.
This book offers pastoral interpretations of these social shifts in light of psychological principles, applying them to topics such as the moral disapproval of masturbation; the efforts of some churches to convince homosexual men to adopt a heterosexual orientation; the dynamics of male envy of female longevity; the homosexual tendencies of King James of England and Scotland; and biblical portraits of God's body, gender, and sexuality.
The authors make a special use of the psychoanalytic concept of sublimation–that is, the redirection of sexual desires that are considered unacceptable or unworthy toward interests and aspirations that are considered acceptable and worthy. While the use of psychoanalytic hermeneutics here is likely to raise various red flags for potential religious readers (especially for those who have been informed that Sigmund Freud was hostile toward religion), this book presents a rather different Freud by focusing on religious sublimation.

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How God reveals himself is an important matter for Christians, especially evangelicals. For too long, Carisa Ash contends, evangelicals have rightly affirmed that God reveals through the created world, but then they functionally neglect such revelation. In this monograph Ash offers a corrective to this practice by presenting a theology of revelation that explores the commonalities between various forms of revelation (world, written and spoken word, and Incarnate Word). Particularly aimed at theologians interested in theological method, Ash's study will also benefit people interested in faith and learning or interdisciplinary integration. Ash argues that evangelicals must strive to align more closely their affirmations and their practice. Her critique of current practices in theological method and integration, along with the proposed theology of revelation, are designed to help move the conversation forward.

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Through close readings of Karl Barth's theological work from 1916 to 1929 this book offers an exposition of Barth's doctrine of sanctification in his earlier theology–arguing that from his earliest writings after 1915 the doctrine of sanctification was one of the key theological components used in describing the encounter between God and man in a positive and concrete manner. This book both fills an important gap in Barthian scholarship and responds to the appeal by other recent interpreters of Barth's theology for a more balanced and careful exposition of his work. Throughout the course of this exposition the force of Eduard Thurnyesen's wonderfully insightful comments about Barth show themselves to be fruitfully borne out within his work from early on. That is, «Karl Barth's theological thinking was from the beginning directed to the life of man . . . the life of man, on the one side, and on the other the Word of God that meets this life, lays hold of it, and transforms it.»

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