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The Political Crisis and Christian Ethics addresses themes in political philosophy in the context of a crisis in democracy after the denial of the 2020 election by the Republican candidate for president. The refusal to accept the results of the election divided the electorate and drove the president’s followers to fail in their attempted coup attempt in January of 2020. Democracy is defended in Reinhold Niebuhr’s writing on politics and in Barack Obama’s use of the theologian’s thought. It is developed further in the political theory of Paul Tillich. The themes of just peacemaking are reviewed in Paul Tillich’s critique of John Foster Dulles’ work and in the author’s critique o...
A comprehensive introduction to the particular challenges and opportunities of congregational ministry in urban settings.Urban ministry has long been a part of seminary curricula, but a basic and definitive understanding of what students should know as they prepare for congregational ministry in the city has remained elusive. Too often it is assumed that the theological resources developed for ministry in other settings are adequate for urban ministry, but these resources fail to account for the unique challenges and opportunities of the urban setting. Ronald Peters clarifies the nature of urban ministry as a theological discipline by showing how its core values of love, justice, community, and reconciliation (among others) engage the issues of economics, education, family life, public health, ethnic relations, and religious life in the urban environment. Arguing that the city has always served as an arena of God's activity, Peters articulates a theological rationale for urban ministry that is both hopeful and yet realistic, affirming that God loves the city and its people and encouraging practitioners to do the same.
Keefe's analysis dismantles the androcentric and theological assumptions which have determined the dominant reading of Hosea's metaphor of Israel as the adulterous wife of God. It shows how the projection of symbolic associations of women with nature, sexual temptation and sin have anachronistically determined this metaphor as referring to Israel's apostasy in a lurid 'fertility cult'. Against this reading, Keefe's study considers Hosea 1-2 in the context of the association of sexual transgression and social violence in biblical literature; in this light, Hosea's symbol of Israel as an adulterous woman is read as a commentary upon the structural violence in Israelite society which accompanied the eighth century boom in 'agribusiness' and attendant processes of land consolidation.
This edited book is a collection of essays presented at the 2nd annual Integrity of Creation Conference at Duquesne University, USA, and thus represents the 2nd Conference Proceedings of an annual endowed series. The title of this conference was “Protecting Our Common Home,” adopted in the title of this volume. The concept of Integral Ecology conveys the indispensable inter-relation of topics, expertise, and specialties in the quest to protect the planet whose environment may face catastrophic threat. A leitmotif throughout the book is the ecological encyclical of Pope Francis called Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, published in 2015. Indeed, the title of the volume refers to the phrase “integral ecology” and the challenge to “protect our common home” in the encyclical. Although the inspiration for the title comes from a religious leader, the analysis engages both secular and religious perspectives on crucial issues that threaten the ecology of our planet. The sections of the book are divided into the context of the problem, environmental science, social science, religion and ethics, and advocacy.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the war between Iran and Iraq underline the grim thesis of this book. Howard Bucknell argues that our dependence upon foreign oil poses an unequaled threat not only to our security as a nation but also to the fabric of our society. He issues a call for confronting this imminent crisis, for conservation and for the urgent development of new sources of energy.
The Urgency of Climate Change addresses a pivotal challenge for the sustainability of our planet. This topic was selected for the inaugural conference in 2015 of an annual series on the Integrity of Creation. The essays in this collection were selected in a peer-reviewed manner and appeal to a general audience. The chapters move from general to more specific points of view, with a discussion at the end of each section addressing the global impact of climate change. The first section sets the Context for the discussion, explaining that the climate is an indispensable common good. The part on Science emphasises that empirical reality must guide any analysis of the climate as a matter of basic ...
This title collects Berry's signature views on the interconnectedness of both Earth's future and the Christian future. He ponders why Christians have been late in coming to the issue of the environment.
The purpose of this book is to help postmodern Westerners understand what the Bible has to say about wealth and possessions, its acquisition and protection, deprivation and slavery, corruption and hedonism, and even relations between management and labor. Focusing on Torah (the Pentateuch), it interprets this "great text" against other "great texts" in its literary-historical environment, including some epic poems from Mesopotamia, some Jewish texts from Syro-Palestine, and some Nazarene parables from the Greek New Testament.
The Fortress Commentary on the Bible: Old Testament and Apocrypha presents a balanced synthesis of current scholarship, enabling readers to interpret Scripture for a complex and pluralistic world. The contributors bring a rich diversity of perspectives to the task of connecting solid historical critical analysis of the Scripture with sensitivity to theological, cultural, and interpretive issues arising in our encounter with the text. The contributors represent a broad array of theological commitmentProtestants, Catholics, Jews, and others. The introductory articles and section introductions in the volume discuss the dramatic challenges that have shaped contemporary interpretation of the Old ...