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In 1975, Arthur F. Holmes published The Idea of a Christian College. At the time he could not have imagined his book would gather such a large following. This work's thoughtful yet accessible style made it a long-standing choice for reading lists on Christian college and university campuses across the country and around the world. Countless numbers of first-year students have read and discussed his book as part of their introduction to the Christian college experience. However, enough has changed since 1975 in both the Church and Academy to now merit a full-scale reexamination. In this book, Todd C. Ream and Perry L. Glanzer account for changes in how people view the Church and themselves as human agents, and propose a vision for the Christian college in light of the fact that so many Christian colleges now look and act more like research universities. Including topics such as the co-curricular, common worship, and diversity, Ream and Glanzer craft a vision that strives to see into the future by drawing on the riches of the past. First-year students as well as new faculty members and administrators will benefit from the insights in this book in ways previous generations benefitted from Arthur Holmes's efforts.

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Tasty Jesus deals with key cultural, philosophical, and theological representations of Christ that find expression in the North American church. Each of these respective cameos of Christ has colored the Christological understanding of many believers in the local assembly. We live in a society deeply embedded in a mindless individualism that is more concerned with a malleable Christ that suits their present taste than the Jesus of both the Bible and historic Christian orthodoxy. This book is at once a critique, a call, and a consideration. It is a critique of particular visions of Jesus that are embraced by specific subcultures, philosophical camps, and theological perspectives. It is a call to the local church, both its attendees and leadership, intended to awaken them to the problems with these various portraits in hope of stirring them to respond appropriately. It is a consideration of the primary ideological counterpoints to each view of Jesus, and a postulation of the best manner in which to equip believers in the local assembly to respond to each distortion of Jesus and live under the lordship of the real Christ. It is time to get Jesus out from under the tyranny of our personal tastes!

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How indigenous was the Evangelical Free Church movement in Tsarist Russia? Was it simply a foreign import? To what extent did it threaten the political stability of the nation and encroach upon the existing Russian and German churches? On the Edge examines the efforts of the regimes to suppress the movement and how the movement not only survived but also expanded. To what extent did the movement bring upon itself unnecessary opposition because of aggressiveness and tactics? Albert Wardin describes the contributions the movement made to the religious life of Russia and examines its numerical success.

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To experience the gospel message as first-century people heard it is to move into an oral world, one with very little reliance on manuscripts. The essays in this book explore this oral world and the Gospel of Mark within it. They demonstrate the oral style of Mark's gospel, which suggests that it was composed orally, transmitted orally in its entirety by literate and nonliterate storytellers, and survived to become part of the canon only because it was widely known orally. Women's storytelling also thrived during the first centuries of Christianity. With the transition to manuscript authority beginning in the middle of the second century, women's voices were often minimized, trivialized, or completely omitted in written versions. Further, when the Gospel of Mark was one of four written Gospels these voices were quickly ignored. An ancient audience hearing Mark performed, however, enjoyed a vibrant experience of the gospel message and its urgent call to follow.

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The ritual of eating and drinking together is one of the most important Christian events. Often called Eucharist, Lord's Supper, or Communion, this sacrament is about the presence of Christ transforming not only those who participate in it but also the world. In this book, the author engages this Christian liturgical act with movements of people around our globalized world and checks the sacramental borders of hospitality. The author calls our attention to the sacramental practices of Reformed churches and, from this liturgical practice, challenges Christian churches to expand the borders of hospitality. Engaging several critical lenses around the notion of the sacrament–namely, Greco-Roman meals, Calvin's theology, and feminist and Latin American theologies–the author challenges theological and liturgical understandings of the Eucharist. He fosters an interreligious dialogue around the table and ends up using ritual theory to expand the circles of traditions, vocabularies, and practices around the sacrament. Proposing a borderless border eucharistic hospitality, the author encourages readers to ask who and where we are when we get together to eat and drink, and how this liturgical act around Jesus' table/meal can transform the lives of the poor, our communities, societies, and the world.

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Some have called it the essence of sin, others the depth of salvation. Regardless of one's evaluation of it, however, deification throughout Western history has been a part of human aspiration. From the ancient pharaohs to modern transhumanists, people have envisioned their own divinity. These visionaries include not only history's greatest megalomaniacs, but also mystics, sages, apostles, prophets, magicians, bishops, philosophers, atheists, and monks. Some aimed for independent deity, others realized their eternal union with God. Some anticipated godhood in heaven, others walked as gods on earth. Some accepted divinity by grace, others achieved it by their own will to power. There is no single form of deification (indeed, deification is as manifold as the human conception of God), but the many types are united by a set of interlocking themes: achieving immortality, wielding superhuman power, being filled with supernatural knowledge or love–and through these means transcending normal human (or at least «earthly») nature.

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A thorough and insightful commentary on Paul's letter to his coworker Timothy, which the Apostle wrote before and during Nero's persecution. Spencer carefully examines each part of the letter and relates it to the overall flow of the argument and in light of the larger biblical, historical, social, and cultural contexts. How Paul's writing related to the ancient communities is highlighted in the light of original data gleaned from her explorations on location in Ephesus and throughout Greece. In addition, Paul's rhetorical and ministry strategies, especially as they relate to women and their role in the church, are explored. Throughout, Spencer presents an in-depth exegesis in a readable format enhanced by forty years of ministry.

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For centuries, Baptists have regarded the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, as «merely symbolic» rather than as sacramental. Historically speaking, Baptists have also participated in the practice of the Supper less frequently than other Christian groups, all the while lodging complaints about a lack of ecclesial unity. In response to these trends, this book argues for a sacramental understanding of the Eucharist and focuses on the way in which the Eucharist conveys grace by drawing the church together as the body of Christ. It focuses especially on the theology of James Wm. McClendon Jr., who was Baptist but nonetheless illustrated that through the Eucharist God «re-members» the church as the body of Christ. Together with Lutheran theologian Robert Jenson and Catholic theologian Cardinal Henri de Lubac, McClendon's work has had an enormous impact on contemporary free church discussions about the Supper and ecclesial unity. In a final chapter, therefore, the study examines a number of contemporary Baptists dubbed the «new Baptist sacramentalists.» These men and women are influenced by McClendon, Jenson, and de Lubac, and they offer a fresh approach to the ongoing puzzle of the church's disunity through the Eucharist.

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In Integrating the New Science of Love and a Spirituality of Peace, the contributors explore the intersection between the science of attachment theory and the vision of Anabaptism. What emerges is a deeper sense of what it means to be human and a hope for a different tomorow, inspired by the kingdom of God as preached by Jesus of Nazareth.

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"Have you seen such men–peculiar, raving, foam-mouthed, and straitjacketed–throwing themselves mercilessly at white padded walls . . . ?" Such men are said to be insane. But there is more to insanity than the images depicted in film and planted in our minds by popular media. Insanity is a condition that affects us all. Unsoundness of mind disrupts our ability to think clearly and to form knowledge about the world. Our understanding is dangerously incomplete and our minds are corrupt. We are all insane. How then can we ever hope to know our world? Is it possible to form justified true beliefs about anything? What possibility, if any, do we have of escaping this condition of madness that keeps us from the light of knowledge? In Insanity, Jonah Haddad explores these very questions by introducing the main problems of the theory of knowledge and by offering a response to our madness–a response grounded in God, the ultimate Knower.

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