The Gospel of Matthew opens with a patrilineal genealogy of Jesus that intriguingly includes five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, «she of Uriah,» and Mary. In a gospel that has a strongly Jewish and male-orientated outlook, why are women incorporated? In particular, why include these four Old Testament women alongside Mary? Rejecting traditional as well as feminist views, Anne Clements undertakes a close literary reading of the narratives to ...
What has Star Trek to do with eternal life? It provides the perfect metaphor for understanding the main Christian views concerning what happens to us when we die. In this book, Silas Langley uses the Star Trek transporter beam to explain five main Christian views about life after death. Each of us lives with some personal answer to the universal question of what comes after death. Even among Christians, views differ as to what exactly happens w ...
What is justice? How do we know justice? How is justice cultivated in society? These are the three questions that guide this critical dialogue with two representatives of the Catholic and Protestant traditions: Karl Barth and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II. Though the two thought leaders are shaped within divergent theological traditions and historical contexts, they both appeal to Christian anthropology as a starting point for justice. Their explor ...
Modern art can be confusing and intimidating–even ugly and blasphemous. And yet curator and art critic Daniel A. Siedell finds something else, something much deeper that resonates with the human experience. With over thirty essays on such diverse artists as Andy Warhol, Thomas Kinkade, Diego Velazquez, Robyn O'Neil, Claudia Alvarez, and Andrei Rublev, Siedell offers a highly personal approach to modern art that is informed by nearly twenty ...
But will it preach? The only good answer to this question often asked about a Christian theology is to preach it, which is to say, to preach according to it, to what it indicates, reflectively and critically, valid Christian preaching ought to be. This volume of selected sermons and homilies documents a career-long attempt to do exactly that. Concerned at once to be faithful to the Christian witness and to speak intelligibly and credibl ...
The original recipients of the Letter of First Peter inhabited a radically different social context from our own. We do not live under Roman imperial rule. Slave labor is not the driving force of our economy. Women are not under patriarchal domination in our culture as they once were. Society has changed, but what is beyond dispute is that Western culture remains antithetical to God's will and hostile to the Jesus way. The imperial Caesar h ...
Where does God live? This is not an idle question. Does God dwell there near us or away from us? Does he live in one place or is he willing to relocate? Is it possible to visit his house–and in this case what are the entrance requirements? Does he live in a closed place, totally, forbidden for any human visit? Answering these questions is the subject of God of No Fixed Address. The tone used is very accessible, and sometimes even distur ...
This collection of essays considers topics in pastoral theology, pastoral care and counseling, pastoral leadership, and social work, and attends to challenges and opportunities pertaining to the support and care of persons in need. Of interest to ministers, chaplains, pastoral counselors, and social workers, these essays focus particularly on human experiences, needs, or concerns that relate to matters of mental health and religious faith or spi ...
This unique phrase-by-phrase exposition reads the Lord's Prayer as Jesus' description of God. Our heavenly Father is the perfect parent beyond our dreams who loves, provides, forgives, and ultimately protects. Finding our parent, we discover who we really are and enter a kingdom without boundaries. The Prayer of Jesus is not a somber duty; it is the essence of the gospel's happy news. «If laughter is forbidden in heaven,» said Mar ...
