The presence of the Divine is everywhere. That is both a comfort and a challenge. We are consoled to know that God is with us, but being human we need a sign, something to touch, see, hear, taste, smell. We need something of the ordinary to name the non-touchable, invisible, unable-to-be-heard, tasteless, odorless God's presence with us. So, we employ metaphors, figures of speech which literally denote one kind of object in place of another ...
Christian theology and ethics have wrestled with the challenge to apply Jesus's central message of nonviolence to the injustices of this world. Is it not right to defend the persecuted by using violence? Is it unjust if the oppressed defend themselves–if necessary by the use of violence–in order to liberate themselves and to create a more just society? Can we leave the doctrine of the just war behind and shift all our attention toward the w ...
Therapeutic preaching is badly in need of rehabilitation. Administering mini-doses of psychological self-help from the pulpit simply will not do. Therapeutic preaching that is theocentric draws listeners more deeply into God's healing love. It involves setting up a creative conversation between divine and human therapy. In a novel and deeply insightful way, Neil Pembroke shows how metaphors and analogues drawn from psychotherapy can be empl ...
"In this rendering, the Psalms become once again what they were for Christian believers from the very beginning: the hymnal of the Church. They remain, certainly, the songs of Israel: from its cries of lamentation to its shouts of exultation. But for the Christian reader, they become as well hymns of petition and praise that express both the joy and the longing of those who live 'in Christ' . . . At the same time their very langua ...
The Gospel of John and the Religious Quest argues that at its origin the Fourth Gospel was part of a dialogue with various religious traditions, and that to this day it is being used in active dialogue with those who live in traditions other than the Christian. In the first part of the book, Johannes Nissen analyzes a number of texts selected both for their central importance to John's theology and for their special relevance in to ...
In Portrait of an Apostle Greg MaGee explores the claim that Colossians and Ephesians are works of forgery that use Paul's authoritative status to gain a hearing. This hypothesis is so often restated in recent scholarship that it is arguably the default position in the field, even though the theory is relatively untested. MaGee argues that such a view does not stand up to close scrutiny. Unsuccessful attempts to imitate Paul usually flounde ...
This book introduces Christian readers of the Bible to the otherworldly way in which the rabbis of ancient times interpreted sacred texts. You will discover how the rabbis sought to keep their congregations engaged by telling tales, parables about the Bible. Sometimes they made up whole new background stories that do not appear in Scripture but shed light on it. They were gifted storytellers, and sometimes–almost like Doc in Back to the Future–c ...
Throughout the Bible, divine interaction with humanity is portrayed in almost embarrassingly human terms. He sees, hears, thinks, feels, runs, rides chariots, laughs, wields weapons, gives birth, and even repents. Many of these expressions, taken at face value, seem to run afoul of much classical theology, including divine simplicity, transcendence, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and especially immutability. Traditionally, these ...
"God our Savior desires everyone to be saved" (1Tim 2:4). Does God get what God wants? «Yes, but–» depending on how we read the Bible. The Bible is universal: One God, Sovereign Creator of everything, especially humanity in God's image, God's partner to manage creation. Science and evolution say humanity evolved, gradually acquiring superior capabilities. We have yet to transcend animal nature and acknowledge oneness of creation ...
