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Wesleyans and Wesleyan theology have long been interested in the sciences. John Wesley kept abreast of scientific developments in his own day, and he engaged science in his theological construction. Divine Grace and Emerging Creation offers explorations by contemporary scholars into the themes and issues pertinent to contemporary science and Wesleyan Theology. In addition to groundbreaking research by leading Wesleyan theologians, Jurgen Moltmann contributes an essay. Moltmann's work derives from his keynote address at the joint Wesleyan Theological Society and Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting on science and theology at Duke University. Other contributions address key contemporary themes in theology and science, including evolution, ecology, neurology, emergence theory, intelligent design, scientific and theological method, and biblical cosmology. John Wesley's own approach to science, explored by many contributors, offers insights for how two of humanity's central concerns–science and theology–can now be understood in fruitful and complementary ways.

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Evangelicals are supposed to be experts at telling their story. From an early age you are expected to have a «testimony,» a story of how God saved you from a life of sin and sadness and gave you a new life of joy and gladness. What happens if you don't have such a testimony? What if your story just doesn't fit the before-and-after mold? What are you supposed to do if your voice is not one usually heard?
In these offbeat, witty, and often bittersweet essays, up-and-coming writers tell the truth about growing up female and evangelical. Whether they stayed in the church or not, evangelicalism has shaped their spiritual lives.
Eschewing evangelical cliches, idyllic depictions of Christian upbringing, and pat formulas of sinner-to-saint transformation, these writers reflect frankly on childhoods filled with flannel board Jesuses, Christian «rap» music, and Bible memorization competitions. Along the way they find insight in the strangest places–the community swimming pool, Casey Kasem's American Top 40, and an Indian mosque.
Together this collection of essays provides a vivid and diverse portrait of life in the evangelical church, warts and all.
List of Contributors:
Jessica Belt Paula Carter Kirsten Cruzen Anne Dayton Kimberly B. George Carla-Elaine Johnson Megan Kirschner Anastasia McAteer Melanie Springer Mock Audrey Molina Victoria Moon Shauna Niequist Hannah Faith Notess Andrea Palpant Dilley Angie Romines Andrea Saylor Nicole Sheets Shari MacDonald Strong Stephanie Tombari Heather Baker Utley Jessie van Eerden Sara Zarr

Аннотация

What does the Bible say about the American future? Does it contain an apocalyptic vision in which conflicts are to be resolved by war? Or does it contain a vision of coexistence under some system of conflict management? While both visions have biblical foundations, the apocalyptic alternative has dominated public discussion in the past generation. Most people are not even aware that another vision can be derived from the same Bible and that it transcends the usual definitions of liberal, conservative, or evangelical politics. The essays in this book, written by distinguished scholars from various sectors of the theological spectrum, throw surprising new light on these questions. They were presented as lectures at an extraordinary theological conference sponsored by a large Methodist church in Lincoln, Nebraska, in October 2009. In contrast to the usual shouting matches between partisans, this conference–and this book–featured liberal and conservative Protestant and Catholic scholars who calmly unearthed new insights about the Bible's relevance for the future of America and the world. Readers will be astonished to see these differing viewpoints on the pages of a single book, and even more amazed at the new common ground that is prepared by these fresh and profound furrows.

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Open Theology offers an advantageous framework for engaging the sciences. With its emphasis upon creaturely freedom, relationality, realist epistemology, and love, Open Theology makes a fruitful dialogue partner with leading fields and theories in contemporary science. In Creation Made Free, leading proponents of open theism explore natural and social scientific dimensions of reality as these dimensions both inform and are informed by Open Theology. Important themes addressed include evolution, creation ex nihilo, emergence theory, biblical cosmology, cognitive linguistics, quantum theory, and forgiveness.

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The hidden seeds of the Christian renewal in China today include the outstanding Chinese Christians in Salt and Light 2, a dozen new life stories with lively anecdotes and photographs. These reformers made lasting contributions that shaped modern China. Working out of the limelight in their professions, they had quiet but powerful influence on early twentieth-century civil society. Motivated by their faith, they modeled essential virtues. This series helps recover a lost Christian heritage linked closely to a legacy of East-West cooperation in an earlier global era.

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The apostle Paul was a man of many journeys. We are usually familiar with the geographical ones he made in his own time. This volume traces others–Paul's journeys in our time, as he is co-opted or invited to travel (sometimes as abused slave, sometimes as trusted guide) with modern and recent Continental philosophers and political theorists. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Benjamin; Taubes, Badiou, Zizek, and Agamben–Paul journeys here among the philosophers. In these essays you are invited to travel with them into the regions of philosophy, hermeneutics, political theory, and theology. You will certainly hear the philosophers speak. But Paul will not remain silent. Above the sounds of the journey his voice comes through, loud and clear.

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This book records a set of dialogues between scientists, theologians, and philosophers on what can be done to prevent a global slide into ecological collapse. It is a uniquely multidisciplinary book that exemplifies the kinds of cultural and scholarly dialogue urgently needed to address the threat to the earth represented by our super-industrial civilization. The authors debate the conventional account of nature conservation as protection from human activity. In contrast to standard accounts, they argue what is needed is a new relationship between human beings and the earth that recovers a primal respect for all things. This approach seeks to recover forgotten resources in ancient cultures and in the foundational narratives of Western civilization contained in the Bible and in the culture of classical Greece.

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This volume of ecumenical documents, key texts, and critical essays is the first collection of its kind exclusively dedicated to Pentecostalism and its contributions to Christian unity. In the first part, a cadre of internationally renowned scholars addresses the ecumenical heritage and perspectives of the Pentecostal movement since the early twentieth century. Part 2 offers a collection of final reports from international dialogues with Pentecostal participation. The final part contains programmatic essays in response to The Nature and Mission of the Church, a major study on the doctrine of the church published by the World Council of Churches. Most of these essays were first presented by the ecumenical-studies group of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, currently the only organized ecumenical think tank among Pentecostals in North America. Since its formation in 2001, the group has encouraged Pentecostal participation in ecumenical concerns, has hosted Roman Catholic-Pentecostal conversations at the annual meeting of the Society, has invited international scholarly debates on ecumenical matters, and has engaged in the study of ecumenical consensus statements. The essays and documents in this collection model the dedication and commitment among Pentecostals today that engage the challenges and opportunities of Christian unity from the perspective of a tradition that has often been falsely accused of being anti-ecumenical. This collection presents an invaluable resource for teachers, scholars, and pastors interested in engaging the global Christian arena from the worldwide and ecumenical image of Pentecostalism.
Contributors Carmelo E. Alvarez Harold D. Hunter Douglas Jacobsen Veli-Matti Karkkainen Frank D. Macchia Raymond R. Pfister Cecil M. Robeck Jr. Paul van der Laan Wolfgang Vondey

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This collection of essays was originally presented at the St. Margaret's Consultation on Doctrine, Liturgy, and Preaching held at St. Margaret's Anglican Church in Winnipeg, Canada in 2008. They consider human sexuality and marriage from a distinctly theological rather than polemical standpoint, aiming to avoid frequently polarized debates. The interesting commonality indicated in the articles is that sex and marriage are not about self-fulfillment, but are outwardly directed, aimed toward the other person, toward growth, maturity, and deepened spirituality, for the benefit of the church, for productive good, and for children. The first section explores theological and ethical issues surrounding human sexuality and aims toward understanding the nature of relationships in these contexts. The second section explores the spiritual nature of marriage and the history of thinking on marriage and family within Christian theology. For those interested in pursuing truly theological engagement with marriage and sexuality, this collection is required reading.

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Michael Haneke is one of Europe's most successful and controversial film directors. Awarded the Palme d'Or and numerous other international awards, Haneke has contributed to and shaped contemporary auteur cinema and is becoming more and more popular among academics and cinephiles. His mission is as noble as it is provocative: he wants «to rape the audience into independence,» to wake them up from the lethargy caused by the entertainment industry. The filmic language he employs in this mission is both highly characteristic and efficient, and yet his methods are open to criticism for their violence toward and manipulation of the audience. The aim of this book is to analyze critically Haneke's aesthetics, his message, as well as his ethical motivation from an interdisciplinary and intercultural perspective. Contributors to the book come from a variety of academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds-European and North American.