As Protestant denominations are fracturing over whether to ordain gays and lesbians, this work looks at The United Methodist Church's conversations about the issue, in light of Methodism's historic contests over the leadership of African Americans and women, to see what can be learned from these earlier periods of change. Using the uniform context of the Methodist General Conference, where denominational policy is set, the book analyze ...
The global world debates secularism, freedom of belief, faith-based norms, the state's arbitration of religious conflicts, and the place of the sacred in the public sphere. In facing these issues, Britain, India, and South Africa stand out as unique laboratories. They have greatly influenced the rest of the world. As single countries and together as a whole, the three have moved from the colonial clash of antagonistic religions (of your god ...
Women have been adding their voices to the proclamation of the gospel for as long as there has been a gospel to proclaim, but only in the last half-century have these voices become part of the official catalogue of Christian preaching. Diagnosing the distinctiveness of women's voices and exploring the richness they convey about the presence of God requires a detailed look at the meaning-making strategies used by those who preach and those w ...
"Dearborn provides us with the gift of deep insight into the heart of God and the ways of the Spirit to open our eyes, our hearts, our homes, and our lives to God and others. Through profound theological reflection interwoven with compelling stories, this book draws us into God's healing love and new creation. I pray God uses this great book to release the vision of Amos to which I've dedicated my life." –John Perkins author of ...
Paul L. Holmer influenced the development of the so-called Yale School and several generations of students by seeing common logical and ethico-religious themes in the works of Soren Kierkegaard and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Holmer is perhaps the preeminent interpreter of Kierkegaard with his analysis of the logic of Kierkegaard's «truth as subjectivity» and «the morphology of the life of Christian belief.» In his polemical and constructive work ...
David Bebbington–one of the most influential historians working today–is widely acknowledged as a world authority on religious history. He is also recognized for having devised the Bebbington Quadrilateral as the standard definition of evangelicalism, one of the most important global religious movements of the twenty-first century. In this lively study, Eileen Bebbington–who first met her husband as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridg ...
Meet Me at the Palaver makes the case for a particular approach to pastoral counseling as a response to the destructive impact of colonial Christianity on indigenous African communities. The book opens with stories of destructive change brought to indigenous contexts (such as Zimbabwe, Africa), wherein the culture, values, religion, and humanity of African peoples were often marginalized. Mucherera demonstrates that therapy or counseling as taug ...
This book demonstrates that Latin American liberation theology continues to produce substantial biblical exegesis, absorbing theological reflection, and a sharp social critique that enhances the worldwide church. In Jesus Goes to McDonald's, Rossi asserts that the book of Job protests against the devastating effects of imperial Persian rule in postexilic Judah–effects seen as the stimulus for the theology of reward so severely criticized ...
Fear works its way into our lives on a daily basis, but it does not define us. God's loving power undergirds us, even when we are blinded by our worries. The experiences of the men and women whose stories are included in this book offer encouragement for our anxious times, reminding readers that God works in the darkest moments to bring about healing and wholeness. ...