Religious issues and debates Books

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Book SynopsisMark Amstutz offers a groundbreaking exploration of the rise, evolution, and crucial impact of Evangelicals on American foreign affairs. In the nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries spearheaded global engagement by serving throughout the world. They gained fluency in foreign languages, developed knowledge about distant societies, and increased cross-cultural awareness. They also played a vital role in advancing human dignity by teaching and modeling values, building schools and clinics, and creating institutions that nurtured civil society. In view of their important role in global affairs, Amstutz argues, Evangelicals can be regarded as America''s first internationalists. When modernists gained control of Protestant denominations at the turn of the twentieth century, traditional Protestants responded by creating a Fundamentalist movement that gave precedence to spiritual life but neglected social and political concerns. Four decades later, orthodox believers sought to restore thTrade ReviewAn excellent overview of the often surprising and unexpected multidimensional paths of evangelica perspectives on US foreign Policy. * M. S. Hill, Choice, *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; PART I ; 1. Christianity and Foreign Policy ; 2. The Nature and Rise of Evangelicalism ; 3. The Genesis of Evangelical Global Engagement: The Missionary Movement ; 4. The Political Ethics of Evangelicals ; PART II ; 5. Evangelicals and Global Poverty ; 6. Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Israel ; 7. The Rise of Evangelical Foreign Policy Advocacy ; 8. Shortcomings of Evangelical Foreign Policy Advocacy ; 9. Towards a More Effective Evangelical Global Engagement ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisMuch time and attention is currently devoted by Christian writers to the notion of discipleship. Many of the courses and local church programmes are, however, focused on the gathered church or on gathering. Roger Walton challenges the church to ''train and release'' reflective and creative disciples by giving attention to the presence of God in the life of the world and engaging with the divine in the ordinary. This is a challenging resource for all involved in church leadership and training new Christians.

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Book SynopsisRobert Song’s book advances a theological account of marriage and sexuality which appeals to the central biblical theme of the fulfilment of creation in Christ, but is also open to the possibility of same-sex relationships.Trade ReviewRobert Song knows he has written a book that will make no one or any side of the debates about gay marriage happy. But then, that is why this is such a good and necessary book. Song will make you happy because drawing on the wisdom of the Christian tradition he frames the arguments about gay relationships in a way that makes us think hard about why, for example, Christians do not have to have children to be Christian. Song, with wit and clarity, has opened up a new space for discussions and questions surrounding the erotic that we so sorely need. Hopefully, after reading Song, those who are sure they know what side they are on will be a little less sure. -- Stanley HauerwasRobert Song’s timely and helpful contribution to ecclesial discernment about faithful, lifelong relationships is truly scholarly in that it brings into the room a cloud of witnesses that offer light and hope, deeply pastoral in that it never loses the good shepherd’s heart for those in danger of being lost, rejected, or consumed by their own righteousness, appropriately prophetic in that it believes the question is not what scripture says but what scripture requires us now to say, and wonderfully wise in its judgements and proposals. If our prayer in the midst of conflict is not that ‘our’ side will ‘win,’ but that articulating tensions thoughtfully will bring out the best in all of us, then that prayer has been answered in this reverent, responsible and seriously thoughtful book. -- Sam WellsThis is a rare phenomenon: a genuinely fresh contribution to a well-worn debate. With rich theological insight, Robert Song reframes the issues, placing the key Christian distinction not between heterosexual and homosexual but between procreative and non-procreative relationships. This is provocative, beautifully argued, and a must-read for all seeking a way out of our present theological quagmire. -- John BarclaySong comes to support same-sex marriage but by a rather complicated route. Readers who follow his argument will find it intellectually stimulating. -- Paul Richardson * Church Newspaper *Whether one agrees with Song's argument or not, this volume is an elegant irenic, creative, and accessible work that is as valuable for the way it addresses its issues as much as, if not more than, for its specific conclusions. it is a model of how such debates should be carried out. -- Robert MacSwain * Anglican Theological Review, 98.2 *

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Book SynopsisThis important collection of essays addresses the question of why scholars can no longer do without class in religious studies and theology, and what we can learn from a renewed engagement with the topic. This volume discusses what new discourses regarding notions of gender, ethnicity, and race might add to developments on notions of class.Trade ReviewTimely and indispensable for working to change the plight of the 99 percent, this provocative text probes the intersection of religion, theology, and class through the lenses of global capital, gender, blackness, migration, and alternative economies. I highly recommend it. - Kwok Pui-lan, Professor, Episcopal Divinity School, USA By gathering provocative analyses from international thinkers into one volume, Joerg Rieger raises embedded assumptions about social class and theology into a much-needed, critical light. Religion, Theology, and Class: Fresh Engagements After Long Silence provides a space for substantive conversations among scholars in religious studies, particularly as we consider building just relationships. - Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of South Carolina, USATable of ContentsIntroduction: Why We Can Do No Longer without Class in Religious Studies and Theology; Joerg Rieger PART I: BASIC DEFINITIONS AND CHALLENGES 1. Religion and Class; Richard D. Wolff 2. Classes, Other Distinctions, and Their Theological Values; Néstor Míguez 3. Save Us from Cynicism: Religion and Social Class; Jung Mo Sung 4. Class, Sin, and the Displaced; Vítor Westhelle PART II: HISTORICAL CONTEXTS 5. Religion and Class in the Construction and Deconstruction of the Myth of American Exceptionalism; Sheila D. Collins 6. Protesting Classes through Protestant Glasses: Class, Labor, and the Social Gospel in the United States; Ken Estey PART III: ONGOING STRUGGLES: GENDER, POVERTY, RACE, AND CLASS 7. Poverty and Poor People's Agency in High-Tech Capitalism; Jan Rehmann 8. Inequality, Class, and Power in Global Perspective; Pamela K. Brubaker 9. Black Reconstruction: Thinking Blackness and Rethinking Class in Late Capitalist America, Corey D.B. Walker 10. Instigating Class Struggle? The Study of Class in Religion and Theology and Some Implications for Race and Gender; Joerg Rieger

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Book SynopsisThis book uses ethnography as theological practice, yielding a theology constructed at the intersection of church, academy and everyday life. Drawing on the author's research in her Baptist church, the resulting 'ethnographic theology' produces creative theological insights, while also proposing fresh alternatives for Christian thought and action.Trade Review“The volume is addressed to other academic theologians, particularly those who desire to produce knowledge not about or for but through those who empower their work. … I found her ways of weaving dense theory and theology through ethnography a pleasure to read.” (Rebecca Spurrier, Shorter Reviews, Vol. 70 (4), October, 2016)Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I: ETHNOGRAPHIC THEOLOGICAL THEORIES AND METHODS 1. Making Space: Making the Theological Field 2. Making Theologians: Deploying a Theological Habitus PART II: CONSTRUCTIVE THEOLOGIES 3. Cogs in the Machine: A Reflexive Theology of Ecclesial Change 4. The Slump of a Shoulder: A Carnal Theology of God 5. My Mother's Hips: A Performance Theology of Sanctification Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIntroductory Remarks PART I: EPISTEMOLOGY 1. Disagreement, Opinion and Expertise 2. Belief, Faith and Evidence 3. Debate, Reason and Argument PART II: METAPHYSICS 4. Science, Nature and Transcendence 5. Mind, Body and Spirit 6. Cause, Freedom and Responsibility PART III: ETHICS 7. Flourishing, Virtue and Happiness 8. Trust, Violence and Power 9. Meaning, Understanding, and Narrative Postscript References and Further Reading IndexTable of ContentsIntroductory Remarks PART I: EPISTEMOLOGY 1. Disagreement, Opinion and Expertise 2. Belief, Faith and Evidence 3. Debate, Reason and Argument PART II: METAPHYSICS 4. Science, Nature and Transcendence 5. Mind, Body and Spirit 6. Cause, Freedom and Responsibility PART III: ETHICS 7. Flourishing, Virtue and Happiness 8. Trust, Violence and Power 9. Meaning, Understanding, and Narrative Postscript References and Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisFrances Timbers is a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Victoria, Canada. She holds a PhD from University of Toronto.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. For the Uninitiated 2. Magic, Manhood and Masculinity 3. Scrying and Subversion 4. Swords, Sex and Sacrifice 5. Fairies and Fantasy 8. Magic and Honour Conclusion

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Book SynopsisNo church is immune to the problems that can arise when parishioners behave in difficult ways. Responding to such situations with self-awareness and in a manner true to one’s faith tradition makes the difference between peace and disaster. In this must-read book, Boers shows how a better understanding of difficult behavior can help congregational leaders avoid the trap of labeling such parishioners and exercise self-care when the going gets rough.

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Book SynopsisThis is a landmark book that will renew our understanding of what the gospel - literally 'the good news about Jesus' - is for today's cultures. It begins with a key challenge - do we believe God speaks in the cultural context, or only in the Christian tradition? Part One - Listening to God in the cultural context explores the radically changing culture in which the church exists today, the rise of new spiritualities, the secularisation of society and religion's increasingly dubious public image. Part Two - Listening to God in the Christian tradition looks at key periods in Christian history as responses to cultural changes, from the ancient pagan world to modernist faith. What can we learn from the lessons of the past? Part Three moves from theory to practice and tells great stories where innovative evangelism is taking place - from supermarkets to festivals to the internet.

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