Are meaning and purpose still possible in life? The age of philosophy and its pursuit of the good of happiness came to an end with nihilism. The philosophers equated the good with intellect, which led to divided descriptions of this value. Philosophy is divided by divided loves–Plato's love of pure intellect and Aristotle's love of nature and constructs of value–which is why it led to nihilism in the end. But it is possible to ...
The desert fathers wanted to get away from a church co-opted by empire and a Christian faith grown cold and listless. They retreated to the desert to do battle against demons and against their own worst desires. They had no intention of being famous; yet ironically their Sayings have inspired millions of imitators over the centuries. This guide is meant to accompany a reading of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, in hopes that readers with lives ...
Historical Jesus research remains trapped in the positivistic historiographical framework from which it emerged more than a hundred and fifty years ago. This is confirmed by the nested assumptions shared by the majority of researchers. These include the idea that a historical figure could not have been like the Gospel portrayals and consequently the Gospels have developed in a linear and layered fashion from the authentic kernels to the elaborat ...
The Epistle of Jesus to the Church is a commentary on the book of Revelation that assumes Jesus was the author and John the reporter of the words and events described. Here one will not find an explanation of an anti-Roman message written by John in hidden codes and apocalyptic motifs to fool Roman authorities. John the apostle and prophet was the faithful scribe, who did not create the message but faithfully and accurately described all that he ...
In this new introduction to the Apostle Paul and his gospel, written especially for lay readers, for beginning students, and for those unsure about what to make of Paul, Michael J. Gorman takes the apostle seriously, as someone who speaks for God and to us. After an overview not only of Paul's radical transformation from persecutor to proclaimer but also of his letter-writing in the context of Paul's new mission, Reading Paul explores ...
While some of the chapters focus on systemic issues, others probe the depths of individual Gospel passages. The author's keen eye for textual detail, archaeological data, comparative materials, and systemic overviews make this volume a joy for anyone interested in understanding Jesus in his own context. The volume is organized into three interrelated parts: 1) political economy and the peasant values of Jesus, 2) the Jesus traditions within ...
In Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary, theologian Stanley Hauerwas and political theorist Romand Coles reflect about possibilities and practices of radical democracy and radical ecclesia that take form in the textures of relational care for the radical ordinary. They seek to shift political and theological imaginations beyond the limits of contemporary political formations (such as global capitalism, the mega-state, and empire), w ...
Long before Moses wrote Genesis, the world's first astronomers invented star signs to illustrate a prophecy: a God-man would come to repair the breach between us and the Creator. Those starry figures were pirated, however, and used to advance a false religion which spread all over the world. Faithful men from Noah to the magi of the Christ child stood against that error, yet the true star signs all but vanished for millennia. Adam's ...
Various thinkers have attempted to explain the Earth-altering (even ecocidal) features in modern life. Jacques Ellul, for instance, a French intellectual, became famous for his exposition of «technique.» But «technique» does not adequately address the institutional incubation out of which «technique» itself arises. In these essays, Paul Gilk stands on the shoulders of two American scholars in particular. One is world historian Lewis Mum ...
