We live in a strangely fragmented lifeworld. On the one hand, abstract constructions of our own imagination–such as money, «mere» facts, and mathematical models–are treated by us as important objective facts. On the other hand, our understanding of the concrete realities of meaning and value in which our daily lives are actually embedded–love, significance, purpose, wonder–are treated as arbitrary and optional subjective beliefs. This is because ...
The questioning of religion is the beginning of a flood, one that cannot be contained and will soon drown every theological, political, economic, and cultural orthodoxy that pledged its allegiance to a sinking cause. We are in just such an era of revolt, and those with eyes to see are learning to interrogate motives. When we are told of an idea that cannot possibly be true, the most immediate question is this: does the speaker so very foolishly ...
My So-Called Biblical Life gives fresh perspectives to stories from the Bible, imbuing them with powerful, honest emotion. The editor's translation of biblical passages grounds twelve original narratives, which engage the reader and invite a personal response. Imagine sending away your precious daughter to be a concubine. Suppose your family's survival depended on the sacrifice of your brother's life. Picture Jesus looking you in ...
We live in precarious times and are seeking to make a lasting impact through immediate solutions. But in our haste we often make decisions to fix problems and persons, forgetting that we are not called to fix but rather to reconcile. In this wide-ranging collection of essays we explore what it might look like if we were to live in the world first with the purpose of reconciling and then allow that vision to guide our actions. Each essay engages ...
Though many Old Testament scholars prefer no longer to speak of the Elohist source in the Pentateuch, Gnuse seeks to defend the existence of this pentateuchal tradition by responding to scholarly critics, isolating texts belonging to the source and offering a theological assessment of these texts. Dream reports in ancient Near Eastern texts from the seventh and sixth centuries BCE bear striking familiarity with the biblical dream reports in the ...
Sociologist Anthony Blasi analyzes early Christianity using multiple social scientific theories, including those of Max Weber, Georg Simmel, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Max Scheler, Alfred Schutz, and contemporary theorists. He investigates the canonical New Testament books as representative of early Christianity, a sample based on usage, and he takes the books in the chronological order in which they were written. The result is a series of «sti ...
Sociologist Anthony Blasi analyzes early Christianity using multiple social scientific theories, including those of Max Weber, Georg Simmel, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Max Scheler, Alfred Schutz, and contemporary theorists. He investigates the canonical New Testament books as representative of early Christianity, a sample based on usage, and he takes the books in the chronological order in which they were written. The result is a series of «sti ...
Questions of identity continue to intrigue theologians in Africa, and African intellectuals often note communal emphases in African thought. This raises the question, How do ecclesiologies in Africa engage with identity concerns, and how do they envision the Christian identity? Stephanie Lowery argues in this book that theologians in Africa provide theological and biblical arguments regarding Christian identity that are relevant to individual Ch ...
Today, people from various parts of the world who are interested in helping fellow human beings impacted by famine, epidemics, wars, and poverty are uniquely positioned. They are interconnected due to globalization's impact, which also has implications for intercultural work and global missions. The ability to help people is a constructive asset, which calls for the need to build friendships and partnerships across the globe. Helping well d ...
