LITMIR.BIZ

Identification of the Royal Psalms by Herman Gunkel indicates that the history and genre of the Royal Psalms must be distinguished from the Enthronement Psalms that are written to celebrate Yahweh's Kingship from those written to celebrate Davidic kingship. In reference to this, Joachim Becker argues against the presence of messianic Davidic Psalms in the Old Testament and posits that the initial hope in Davidic kingship died out during the exilic period and consequently centered Israelite faith in Yahweh alone. It may thus be concluded that Yahweh's Kingship effaces the place of the Davidic Messiah. Against this claim, The Messianic Kingship of Jesus argues that the early Christian use of Psalm quotations in particular suggest that the Royal and Enthronement Psalms were viewed as one entity which suggests that Yahweh's reign and Davidic kingship in Jewish-Christian thinking were not antagonistic but mutually complementary. Within the synoptic tradition, Matthew's emphasis on Davidic heritage supports this notion as he applies 'Son of David' to the 'Son of God' and also 'Son of Man.' Therein lies 'paradoxical tension' in the use of the old Jewish Scripture as early Christians, on the one hand, sought to preserve their Jewish legacy but, on the other, creatively employed the Old Testament to support their christological message and the divine attributes of Jesus expressed in the Gospel. The entire process of quotation by Matthew generates one of the major characteristics of Judeo-Christian religiosity; namely, the manifestation of divine redemptive activity in the history of Israel.

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As the world hurtles towards urbanization at an ever-increasing pace, there arises the need for further theological reflection on the city. Globalization, international immigration, and densification in cities are having a transformative impact on the urban landscape. Urban mission is at the forefront of many denominations, church planting networks, ministries, and mission organizations yearning for citywide transformation. How are we to think biblically and theologically about the city? View from the Urban Loft will take readers through the development of cities throughout history, act as a guide to navigating the current forces shaping urban environments, and seek to uncover a theology of the city that gives Christians a rationale and a biblical understanding of the meaning and purposes of the city and then how to live in it for the glory of God.

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In this volume noted Evangelical historians and theologians examine the charge of the supposed «ahistorical nature of Evangelicalism» and provide a critical, historical examination of the relationship between the Protestant evangelical heritage and the early church. In doing so, the contributors show the long and deeply historical rootedness of the Protestant Reformation and its Evangelical descendants, as well as underscoring some inherent difficulties such as the Mercersburg and Oxford movements. In the second part of the volume, the discussion moves forward, as evangelicals rediscover the early church-its writings, liturgy, catechesis, and worship-following the «temporary amnesia» of the earlier part of the twentieth century.
Most essays are accompanied by a substantial response prompting discussion or offering challenges and alternative readings of the issue at hand, thus allowing the reader to enter a conversation already in progress and engage the topic more fully. This bidirectional look-understanding the historical background on the one hand and looking forward to the future with concrete suggestions on the other-forms a more full-orbed argument for readers who want to understand the rich and deep relationship between Evangelicalism and the early church.

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Who was the real founder of Christianity as it is known today–Jesus or Paul? What, if any, was the connection between them? These and other questions about the two historical figures have occupied biblical scholars and the Christian church for many years up to the present time. This book proposes new ways of framing the questions as well as new approaches to answering them.
Neither Jesus nor Paul spoke of a new world religion, separate from Judaism, that would envelop the planet and last for millennia. This study seeks to locate both figures in their respective places in the first century, in Jewish contexts and within the larger Greco-Roman society. The aim is to transcend the language and thought patterns of later generations of theologians in order to hear more clearly the prophetic voices of Jesus and Paul on their terms and in their social locations. By so doing, Shillington lays the groundwork for a more authentic translation of their vision and mission into modern alternatives, including better Jewish-Christian relations.

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This book seeks a more comprehensive understanding and appreciation for the Letter to the Hebrews by examining it from the viewpoint of its prominent theme of worship. It aims to demonstrate the topic of worship in all of its rich and varied dimensions provides the major concern and thrust that embraces Hebrews from start to finish. The author of Hebrews encourages his audience to hold on to the letter he has written to them as «the word of the encouragement» (Heb 13:22). In a very carefully concerted and masterfully artistic way, the letter persistently encourages the members of its audience with regard to their worship. Indeed, Hebrews was intended to be presented orally in a public performance as a liturgical or homiletic letter, an act of worship in itself, heard by its audience gathered together as a worshiping assembly. Hebrews exhorts the members of its audience not only with regard to their liturgical worship in which they engage during their communal gatherings, but also with regard to their ethical or moral worship in which they engage by the way they conduct themselves outside of their communal gatherings. This close examination of Hebrews through the lens of worship is intended to inform and enrich the worship of Christians today. Hebrews presents important and unique points about worship not found in any other New Testament writing. The goal is to illustrate and illuminate these points for the benefit of those who desire to deepen their worship as Christians by deepening their understanding of the magnificent literary masterpiece that the poetically lively letter to the Hebrews articulates for all Christians.

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Burning Center, Porous Borders articulates what the church is and is called to be about in the world, a world now globalized to the point that the local is lived globally and the global is lived locally. The church must respond creatively and prophetically to the challenges-economic disparity, war and terrorism, diaspora, ecological threat, health crisis, religious diversity, and so on-posed by our highly globalized world. It can do so only if the church's spiritual center burns mightily. Conversely, it can burn mightily in the spirit of Christ only if its borders are porous and allows the fresh air/spirit of change to blow in and out. While there is much rhetoric about change, the most common response to change is to continue doing business as usual. This is particularly the case in the face of perceived global threats. In spite of the hoopla and euphoria of the global village, walls of division and exclusion are rising, hearts are constricting, and moral imagination shrinking. In response to this context, Burning Center, Porous Borders proposes alternative ways or images of being a church: burning center and porous borders, wall-buster and bridge-builder, translocal (glocal), mending-healer, radical hospitality, community of the earth-spirit, household of life abundant, dialogians of life, and community of hope. In Burning Center, Porous Borders congregational vitality and progressive praxis kiss and embrace!

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Throughout Walter Brueggemann's career, he has repeatedly found his way back to the David and royal traditions. From some of his earliest articles and essays to monographs, commentaries, and sermons, he has explored this rich field in literary, social, and theological depth. As he has said, «My preoccupation with David rests on the awareness that David occupies a central position in the imagination of ancient Israel and in the rendering of 'faith and history' by that community. As the genealogies locate David, he stands mid-point between the rigors of Mosaic faith and the destruction of Jerusalem; as a consequence he becomes, in the artistry of Israel, the carrier of all the ambivalence Israel knew about guarantees and risks in the world YHWH governs.» This volume brings together some of Brueggemann's key essays on the David traditions, as well as their interrelationships with traditions in the book of Genesis. –from the Foreword

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When asked about his work for social change, one Presbyterian elder and activist sighed, «You always have the feeling that you're attacking an iceberg with an ice pick. . . . But still, some people do listen, and it does some good. As they say, even glaciers move every now and then.» The work for social change is long, arduous, and yields only the smallest of results. What sustains religious social activists while they chip away at social change? This book examines the practice of social activism from the inside out, exploring how activists are affected by their participation in the public sphere. Drawing on the fields of practice theory, social movement theory, and theologies of sin and hope, this book presents an interdisciplinary look at a complex phenomenon, and concludes with proposals for the nourishment of social activism within the church.

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A great deal of attention has been given over the past several years to the question: What is secularism? In On Diaspora, Daniel Barber provides an intervention into this debate by arguing that a theory of secularism cannot be divorced from theories of religion, Christianity, and even being. Accordingly, Barber's argument ranges across matters proper to philosophy, religious studies, cultural studies, theology, and anthropology. It is able to do so in a coherent manner as a result of its overarching concern with the concept of diaspora. It is the concept of diaspora, Barber argues, that allows us to think in genuinely novel ways about the relationship between particularity and universality, and as a consequence about Christianity, religion, and secularism.

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Paul proclaimed he was in prison because he was Christ's prisoner. Why? Because he proclaimed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ uncompromisingly without fear of retribution. He served the living Christ and succumbed neither to the wiles of Satan nor to the demands of the secular world. He gives all the glory to God and in so doing proclaims: the grace of God; knowledge in the mystery of Christ, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, . . . and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. He became Christ's minister by God's grace and His effective power working in him. God does this to enlighten and to strengthen each individual professing faith in Christ and endeavoring to walk with Jesus along life's pathway while enjoying blessings and gifts, as well enduring trials, tests, and temptations. Paul was the ultimate pastor and teacher in expounding Christ's teachings. He was a God server, not a man server. May those who preach and teach follow in Paul's footsteps by proclaiming God's entire Word faithfully.

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