Since being elected to the Chair of St. Peter on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis has given unique shape to the meaning of the new evangelization. With his emphasis on the concept of encounter, and his stunning expression of pastoral ministry in Evangelii gaudium, the present pontiff has breathed new life into the Christian vocation to evangelize. This book brings together the voices of fifteen American Catholic scholars around the theme of Pope Fra ...
Over the centuries, Baptists have labored to follow Christ in faithful devotion and service. More recently, they have occasionally partnered with fellow Christians from other traditions in these efforts while learning from each other along the way. In Thinking With the Church, Derek Hatch argues that Baptists need to follow the same pattern when it comes to their theological reflection, engaging the wisdom of all Christian pilgrims across time. ...
Today a variety of theological approaches offer fresh and enriching insights, yet much of contemporary religious thought can be disorienting for the beginning student of theology. This accessible introduction presents aspects of the thought of Fr. Bernard Lonergan SJ, (1904-1984) in a way that makes his vital contribution to contemporary theology accessible to the beginning student. The author minimizes technical terms and explains basic ideas w ...
Political theology as a normative discourse has been controversial not only for secular political philosophers who are especially suspicious of messianic claims but also for Jewish and Christian thinkers who differ widely on its meaning. These essays mount an argument for a «Messianic Political Theology» rooted in an interpretation of biblical (especially Pauline), Augustinian, and Radical Reformation readings of messianism as a thoroughly polit ...
John Gerstner (1914-96) was a significant leader in the renewal of Presbyterian and Reformed evangelicalism in America during the second half of the twentieth century. Gerstner's work as a church historian sought to shape evangelicalism, but also northern mainline Presbyterianism. In order to promote evangelical thought he wrote, taught, lectured, debated, and preached widely. In pursuing his aims he promoted the work of the great colonial ...
In 2012, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina declared its independence from the Episcopal Church. It was the fifth of the 111 dioceses of the Church to do so since 2007. A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina is the sweeping story of how one diocese moved from the mainstream of the Episcopal Church to separate from the church. It examines the underlying issues, the immediate causes, and the initiating events as well as th ...
The Catholic Apostolic Church combined liturgical worship, charismatic experience, ecumenical vision, and eschatological expectation. Philip Schaff commented that the claims made for its apostles, if true, commanded every Christian's attention. Historians and liturgists alike have been fascinated by the Church, but deterred from researching it because of the notorious difficulty of access to material. This account of the church's growt ...
Laypeople have a special mission in the church the way they have a special mission in society. In popular devotions the laity created a form of spirituality that lasted for over a millennium. Popular religiosity is alive in Latin America and in US ethnic subcultures. Vatican II redirected lay spirituality toward the liturgy as «the source and summit.» We will visit a parish where this ideal is put into practice, but in the wider church the role ...
Five hundred years ago Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses, inaugurating the Protestant Reformation, and with it exemplified an unflinching devotion to return to the Word of God as the ultimate authority. Today, the church is also in desperate need for reformation–a new reformation to correct her shortcomings and meet the challenges of the day. Some might see everything as fine, some might see everything as hopeless, and others might simp ...