Despite growing up in a poor family during the 1930s and '40s, Van Seters eventually excelled at the University of Toronto and earned a PhD at Yale University in ancient Near Eastern and Hebrew studies. Before Van Seters became a teacher, he and his wife spent three-quarters of a year in Palestine, becoming familiar with the whole region. Later in his career Van Seters assisted in archaeological expeditions in Jordan and Egypt. Visits to th ...
How do persons come to faith in our time? Are they active seekers or brought in by others? Is it a journey? Or is it a more sudden conversion? Are spouses, relatives, and friends most important to the process? Do clergy matter? What sorts of values, practices, and lifestyles tend to change for those who newly come to faith? What are the differences among the various religious traditions in how one comes to faith? This book presents the ...
In the first comprehensive proposal for revisionist theology's deployment of historical Jesus research, Inventing Christic Jesuses rejects positions that insulate theology from Jesus research. By setting out theological methods, warrants, and rules, in dialogue with an analysis of the Jesus historians of the Third Quest (c. 1980-2010), the study charts a path toward a quested christology positioned between categorical rejection and uncritic ...
This collection of fifteen sermons by one of the leading pentecostal theologians today provides insight into the form, style, and content of preaching in the pentecostal tradition while also being suggestive of normative homiletical theory and practice. The Kergymatic Spirit argues that Spirit-empowered preaching is apostolic not only with regard to being rooted in the scriptural traditions but also with regard to connecting the that of the earl ...
Classical Christian theologies came to expression at a time when the universe seemed relatively fixed and unchanging. The otherworldly spiritual instincts of many religions reflected a static, vertical, and hierarchical understanding of the natural world. Today, however, especially because of developments in the sciences, it appears that the universe is still coming into being. The writings offered in this book reflect their author's belief ...
Popular culture continues to search the depths of the poetic imagination concerning heaven. It seems to be a constant theme in literature, film, and music, spanning genres throughout the Western world. Yet, some contemporary scholars suggest that all of these narratives are somewhat misguided and remain, at best, only partial constructions of a proper eschatology. The creative imagination in popular culture, especially in relation to the arts ha ...
In many places in the Western world, churchgoing is in decline and it cannot be assumed that people have a good grasp of the Bible's content. In this evolving situation, how would «the person on the street» read the Bible? Reading the Bible Outside the Church begins to answer this question. David Ford spent ten months at a chemical industrial plant providing non-churchgoing men with the opportunity to read and respond to five different bi ...
This book addresses the problem of toxic leadership in Christian contexts. Toxic leadership behaviors of narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive leaders will be emphasized. To counteract toxic Christian leadership, this book proposes a leadership development model, called formational leadership, which is based mostly on Wesleyan spirituality, but also includes monastic and Pentecostal spiritualities. Formational leadership is an eclectic leadershi ...
"Everyone loves a good story, and So Tell Me a Story offers wise counsel to preachers and teachers who want to improve their storytelling skills. Farris, an experienced and skilled speaker, provides instruction, encouragement, and advice on how to avoid pitfalls that face storytellers. The book moves beyond the realm of the how-to manual, however, with an extensive collection of stories and reflections on Christian life that will spirituall ...
