[EPI] «. . . just as one cannot not communicate, you do not have the option of not using power.» [/EPI] For every definition of leadership, you can find a definition of power that makes the same statement. Hence, every act of leadership is an act of power, and the better we understand power, the better we understand leadership. And we misunderstand power, scholars lament, in part by under-understanding power. We equate it merely with co ...
As an interdisciplinary forerunner of the new literary approaches to gospel narratives over the last four decades in New Testament scholarship, the revised and expanded monograph by David Wead makes a timely contribution to the advancement of those studies. Rooted in comparative analyses of contemporary Hellenistic and Jewish literary techniques, and drawing from the best of Continental scholarship, Wead not only points Johannine scholars to rel ...
This book interprets Mark's gospel in light of the Roman-Jewish War of 66-70 CE. Locating the authorship of Mark's gospel in rural Galilee or southern Syria after the fall of Jerusalem and the temple, and after Vespasian's enthronement as the new emperor, Kimondo argues that Mark's first hearers–people who lived through and had knowledge of the important events of the war–may have evaluated Mark's story of Jesus as a con ...
The thesis of the book may be stated simply: it is an argument based upon the four prophetic texts of Jer 23:5; Zech 3:8; 6:12; and Isa 4:2 as a foundational pattern for the four Gospels. These four prophetic texts, it will be argued, mention a King Branch, a Servant Branch, a Man/Priest Branch, and a Lord God Branch. This study seeks to show how Matthew presents Jesus as the King Branch, Mark as the Servant Branch, Luke as the Priest/Man Branch ...
Have you ever been puzzled by contradictions in the Bible? Or wondered why there are four Gospels, three sets of Ten Commandments, or two creation stories at the beginning of Genesis? Beginning with the first pages of Genesis, the Bible tells most of its stories through multiple versions, which contain both similarities and disagreements. The inherent arguments in Scripture did not seem to bother the Jewish faith. A practice called midrash dev ...
Christians generally believe that in prayer they are free in their act to petition God. Christians also believe that they pray to a God that is sovereign and omniscient. Kyle DiRoberts maintains that explanation as to how one affirms these two truths is dependent upon one's account of divine providence, which determines how motivated the person is to offer petitionary prayer in the divine-human relationship. The theories of providence and t ...
When we think of the ministry of discipleship (or what I call «disciple investing»), we often conclude that the focus of discipleship involves one individual intentionally helping only one other individual (often called «one-to-one» ministry). We think we have to choose one person to whom we must give our attention. However, as we observe the Apostle Paul's ministry, the reality is that he devotes time and effort with all sorts of people, b ...
Throughout history, Western esoteric movements have provided meaning and power for what the Rosicrucians of the early modern period called the quest for «Universal Reformation»–the utopian restructuring of religion, science, the arts, and human society. Yet Western esotericism has been roundly ignored as a source of reflection in mainstream Christian theology, including the radical theologies of liberation that might otherwise see in esotericism ...
New Creation introduces readers to the thrilling, biblically-based vision of a whole world created by and to be redeemed by God. Written at an eminently accessible level, it shows how endings (or eschatologies) animate our lives. It rehearses the biblical story from an eschatological angle, emphasizing that Christian eschatology entails a politics. It then delves into how eschatology affects the priesthood of all believers, peace-making, prayer, ...
