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The HIV pandemic has caused serious challenges for the Church as well as for theology. The pandemic has brought enormous human suffering to individuals and has affected families and entire societies. In this context, churches need to listen and to learn, and not least to respond, to thereby mold their own actions and futures. In so doing, this book aims to enable churches to become more HIV and AIDS competent. Vulnerability, Churches, and HIV includes two kinds of contributions. First, researchers present their thoughts about theology, the church, and HIV. A pastoral letter from the bishops of the Church of Sweden provides a second perspective. The letter makes recommendations to decision-making bodies, patent holders, and decision makers in the pharmaceutical industry. The letter also guides parishes and church workers.Contributors: editor Goran Gunner, Musa W. Dube, Susanne Rappmann, Kenneth R. Overberg, Edwina Ward, and the bishops of the Church of Sweden. The book is the first volume in the Church of Sweden Research Series.

Pittsburgh Theological Monograph - New Series General Editor - Dikran Y. Hadidian

Pittsburgh Theological Monograph - New Series General Editor - Dikran Y. Hadidian

Pittsburgh Theological Monograph - New Series General Editor - Dikran Y. Hadidian

The recurring economic crises, or near crises,...have slowly impressed the public mind that we have moved into an era signaling the end of affluence. The source as well as the visible symptom of these crises has been shortages of energy, which have made the average American realize that his habitual, wasteful lifestyle of uninhibited consumption is rapidly becoming impractical. At the same time, much has been written about the economic factors and problems associated with dwindling energy supplies, and there has been a good deal of off-handed speculation about imminent changes in social arrangements that must accompany the slowdown in economic growth. Yet theological reflection concerning the impact of diminished wealth on religious attitudes and values, and the social expectations underlying them, has been minimal; or at least it has not been done in a sustained and comprehensive way.... In [this book] the author assumes the task of such sweeping reflection.

For many of us, the connection between the ecological crisis and humanity's detachment from the land is becoming increasingly clear. In biblical terms, adam (humanity) has severed itself from the adamah (soil), and we (creation) are reaping the consequences. This collection of essays, and the conference from which it took shape, calls the church to root itself more deeply in the agrarian biblical text and ecclesial tradition in order to remember and freshly imagine ways of living on and with the land that are restorative, reconciling, and faithful to the triune God's invitation to new life in Christ. When we listen attentively to and patiently learn from the biblical text, church history, and theology, the land itself can become a conversation partner, and we are summoned to recognize that the gospel is reserved not simply for humanity, but for the whole of creation.

The proposed Anglican Covenant impinges not only upon the future of the Anglican Communion but upon global Christianity as well. Pro Communione: Theological Essays on the Anglican Covenant is the first volume that considers the completed text of the Covenant and its congruity with the Anglican tradition. Contributors across the Anglo-American world appraise the Covenant within a holistic framework defined by liturgical, historical, and ecumenical perspectives. These essays transcend current debates by illuminating abiding theological themes within Anglicanism. Creative and edifying, rigorous and hopeful, Pro Communione envisions a revival of the Anglican imagination within the context of a covenanted Anglican Communion.Contributors:Jeff Boldt, Neil Dhingra, Andrew Goddard, Benjamin M. Guyer, N. J. A. Humphrey, Nathan G. Jennings, Evan Kuehn, Edmund Newey, Matthew S. C. Olver, Ephraim Radner, and Christopher Wells

The best writing is relevant for every age. C. S. Lewis reminded us that we must always read books from different eras, to avoid our own generation's blind spots. That is why these articles by Professor T. F. Torrance, Scotland's world famous theologian, merit reading. These particular articles focus on the topics of church and ministry in light of the gospel of Christ. They have been selected, first, because they illustrate how ""TF"" understood his work as an academic theologian to be the calling of an evangelist to the church and to the intellectual life of the day, and, second, because they are on the whole more accessible to the average reader.The Introduction by Jock Stein relates the different chapters to the overall work of ""TF,"" the development of his thought, and to the events of his time.

System and Story is intended to develop a means for bridging the gap between critics of system and those who may find value in doing systematics from a Biblically oriented context. Narrative theologians have rightly identified and critiqued the development of system in academic theology. Unfortunately, they have not identified the ways in which systematic elements have always played a role in theological knowledge. This study demonstrates the inherent systematic tendencies that still exist in narrative approaches to theology, while at the same time acknowledging the appropriateness of aspects of the narrative critique of system. The reaction against Enlightenment modernism is examined from the perspective of the heightened role of system in religious epistemology. The work of Stanley Hauerwas serves to carry much of the conversation regarding the critique of system and a narrative alternative as it is discovered in communal formation. After "summarizing" Hauerwas' theology, if such a thing is possible, the final chapters explore the ecclesiological concerns of narrative theologians according to a more systematic rendering of pneumatology. A Biblical rendering of pneumatology from the perspective of the Spirit's role in ecclesiology allows for a modest (i.e., pre-modern) systematic presentation commensurate with narrative communal formation. Thus, the narrative attempt to once again "do" theology for the church is seen as compatible with a Scriptural (i.e., modestly systematic) theology of the Spirit.

The Light of Discovery is a Festschrift honoring Dr. Edwin Yamauchi and it focuses on the Mediterranean world. The collection is ambitious in terms of time (from ancient Egypt to Late Antiquity) and wide-ranging in topic (from astrology and Gnosticism to the Van Kampen Collection of manuscripts in Orlando).Yamauchi is Professor of History at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio where he has taught since 1969. He received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1964 working under Cyrus Gordon. He teaches in the areas of ancient history, biblical archaeology, and early church history. He has authored and edited seventeen books including Greece and Babylon, Persia and the Bible, The Archaeology of New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor, Harper's World of the New Testament, Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean Origins, and Pre-Christian Gnosticism. A coedited work, Peoples of the Old Testament World, received a prize from the Biblical Archaeological Society. He has recently edited Africa and Africans in Antiquity. His writings have been translated into a dozen languages.

""'Deification' refers to the transformation of believers into the likeness of God. Of course, Christian monotheism goes against any literal 'god making' of believers. Rather, the NT speaks of a transformation of mind, a metamorphosis of character, a redefinition of selfhood, and an imitation of God. Most of these passages are tantalizingly brief, and none spells out the concept in detail. ""Deification was an important idea in the early church, though it took a long time for one term to emerge as the standard label for the process. That term was qe/wsij, theosis, coined by the great fourth-century theologian, Gregory of Nazianzus. Theologians now use theosis to designate all instances where any idea of taking on God's character or being ""divinized"" (made divine) occurs, even when the term qe/wsij is not used. And of course, different Christian authors understood deification differently."" ""While some articles in this collection discuss pre-Christian antecedents of theosis, Greek and Jewish, most focus on particular Christian understandings. The article by Gregory Glazov examines OT covenant theology, with an emphasis on divine adoption, and on bearing the fruit of knowledge or attaining the stature of a tree of righteousness in Proverbs, Isaiah, and Sirach. The article by Stephen Finlan on 2 Pet 1:4 ('You may become participants of the divine nature') examines the epistle's apparent borrowings from Middle Platonic spirituality, Stoic ethics, and Jewish apocalyptic expectation. The epistle stresses 'knowledge of Christ,' which means cultivation of godly character and growing up into Christ."" --from the Introduction

Dr. Norman L. Geisler has been called the ""father of evangelical Christian philosophy."" He has written more than one hundred books and taught at universities and top seminaries for some fifty-six years. He was the first president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the founder and first president of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. He has spoken or debated in more than two dozen countries and held pastoral/pulpit ministries in four states. Many view him as a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Billy Graham. No one has done more to communicate the modern challenges of the Faith to the ""average"" Christian, to the church, and to the academy. This volume offers creative and constructive essays from twenty-three contributors, all notable in their own right, who preserve and propagate Dr. Geisler's ideas and express appreciation for his influence. Those who know him best say he is ""true, faithful, and blessed by God!""

FRAMEWORKS is a series dedicated to interdisciplinary studies on the integration of faith and learning. Given Jesus' command to "love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength," the time is ripe for confessional scholarship and education across the disciplines. We implore God's Spirit to change us through the great works of history and literature alongside developments in science, psychology, and economics--and all of this--through intense engagement with the Scriptures. We want to celebrate God's work across the disciplines. We seek the likes of psychologists in conversation with philosophers, ethicists with historians, biblical scholars with rhetoricians, scientists with economists, environmentalists with neurologists. As these conversations continue across the disciplines, the "framework" from which to draw our individual and collective testimonies will only enlarge. We invite you to think, behave, preach, sing, pray, research and indeed to live this multi-faceted journey with us. If indeed our stories are never complete, we invite future contributors and readers to join us in pursuit of deeper personal and collective transformation.

This two-volume set is part of a growing body of literature concerned with the history of biblical interpretation. The ample introduction first sets key players into the story of the development of the major strands of biblical interpretation since the Enlightenment, identifying how different theoretical and methodological approaches are related to each other and describing the academic environment in which they emerged and developed. Volume 1 contains fourteen essays on twenty-two interpreters who were principally active before 1980, and volume 2 has nineteen essays on twenty-seven of those who were active primarily after this date. Each chapter provides a brief biography of one or more scholars, as well as a detailed description of their major contributions to the field. This is followed by an (often new) application of the scholar''s theory. By focusing on the individual scholars and their work, the book recognizes that interpretive approaches arise out of certain circumstances, and that scholars are influenced by, and have influences upon, both other interpreters and the times in which they live. This set is ideal for any class on the history of biblical interpretation and for those who want a greater understanding of how the current field of biblical studies developed.""In the first of two volumes dealing with modern biblical interpretation, the contributors examine the work of leading scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of whom are surprisingly little known. With the benefit of hindsight and historical distance, they can assess the importance of the work that each of these men did and indicate how that has come to influence subsequent generations. This is an important addition to our understanding of a key period in the development of biblical studies, and will be of great use to students and teachers alike.""--Gerald Bray, Research Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School, Samford UniversityStanley E. Porter is President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, as well as holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has written widely on most topics in New Testament studies, including the history of interpretation. His latest book is When Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Got Lost in History.Sean A. Adams is Lecturer in New Testament and Ancient Culture at The University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. He has written widely on the relationship between the New Testament and Greek literature and is the author of The Genre of Acts and Collected Biography and Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah.

Should society care about Christian morality? Are Christians out of touch with complex moral decision-making? Christian Morality: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Thinking about Contemporary Moral Issues provides readers with a framework for identifying and applying Christian moral principles to divisive issues. First, readers learn of the theological and philosophical foundations of Christian ethics. Two additional chapters explain how personal and social factors influence our capacity to think critically and Christianly about morality. Second, readers will learn about forming Christian moral judgments by seeing how different thinkers address six contemporary moral issues: abortion, same-sex relationships, equal treatment of men and women in the workplace, sex education, and racial bias in incarceration polices.""As a rhetorician, I repeat often to students that 'how we talk about things matters.' What Sutton and Schmidly have provided in this text is an admonition to readers that how we think about things matters. Drawing from both the philosophical and psychological study of morality, the editors and contributors challenge the reader to consider how we think about morality, but also how to apply a moral framework to the issues and situations that we encounter in our homes, churches, and society. How we talk about these issues and moments matters, but if we are to speak in a way that allows us to demonstrate real influence we must first consider the thought with which we engage to formulate our response. This is a book that is both meaningful and accessible to the scholar, pastor, and lay person alike and a must-read for anyone who seeks to speak into the world as a voice of redemption."" --Joy E. A. Qualls, Chair, Department of Communication Studies, Biola University""Books on moral theory and applied ethics abound. They are readily available in bookstores everywhere as well as online. What makes the present volume distinctive is its interdisciplinary approach to moral concerns. Here we have Christian scholars, representing a variety of academic disciplines and professional backgrounds, engaging foundational questions as well as contemporary moral issues. The Christian community is indebted to Drs. Sutton and Schmidly for bringing this volume to us."" --Michael D. Palmer, Professor of Philosophy, Regent University School of Divinity""Christian Morality is a timely and accessible resource that provides the reader with the language, the categories, and the concepts that help us talk responsibly and respectfully to each other about the topics that matter most to us. The cultural and moral climate today begs for resources like this one."" --Heather Kelly, Professor of Psychology, Evangel University, Springfield, MOGeoffrey W. Sutton is a psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. He is the author, coauthor, editor, or coeditor of a hundred publications, including Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Restoration (2010) and A House Divided (2016). Brandon Schmidly is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. He teaches on a broad range of topics in philosophy. His interests and specializations are in ethics and political philosophy, specifically as they relate to family relationships.

The last few decades seem to have ushered in new levels of violence, challenging the notion that our globalized, interconnected world offers increased prospects for cooperation and peace. Many philosophers and theologians have offered various reasons for why this might be so, but none has come so close as the French philosopher Jacques Ellul to providing a comprehensive explanation for many of the pitfalls inherent in increasing levels of technological advance. The chapters in this book explore the phenomena of violence, terrorism, and war through the lens of Ellul''s thought. Readers unfamiliar with Ellul will find as much to consider in these chapters as those who have studied Ellul extensively, and for both the novice and the expert, this book offers an opportunity to both evaluate and reevaluate Ellul''s extensive thought on matters of importance to contemporary society.""Jacques Ellul on Violence, Resistance, and War brings together insightful essays by leading scholars on Ellul''s relevance and foresight. In these times we owe it to ourselves to consider Ellul''s wisdom. This is a thoughtful collection that will help us interpret, understand, and apply his profound ideas."" --Jacob E. Van Vleet, Diablo Valley College ""Jacques Ellul was one of the twentieth century''s most prolific and influential public intellectuals. That his work inspired both pacifism and violent protest is a sign of its power and complexity. In this volume, Jeffrey Shaw and other thoughtful contributors explore the implications of Ellul''s work as it relates to our contemporary world, awash as it is in violence. Anyone who wants to understand Ellul--or wants Ellul to help them understand the world--should read it.""--Noah Toly, Wheaton College""This book is a literary gem, with its readability index a number 10. The history is deep and the theoretical work crystal clear, the sociology is impeccable and the news events live. Relevance may be overvalued in publishing, but here it is pure gold: terrorism, police atrocities, cybersecurity, economic brutality, high-tech weapons of war, ruthless dictators--readers are absorbed and ideas emerge to help provide context to the violence. Ellul''s writing and reflections on violence and war give the book cohesion, and an all-star cast of Ellul scholars examines contemporary events through the lens of his thought, providing a new book that is stunning in its inclusiveness."" --Clifford Christians, University of Illinois-UrbanaJeffrey M. Shaw is the author of Illusions of Freedom: Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul on Technology and the Human Condition (Pickwick Publications, 2014). He teaches Strategy and Policy at the Naval War College. Timothy J. Demy is a Professor of Military Ethics at the Naval War College. He also serves as the American managing editor of the Journal of Military Ethics.

Description:Although preachers often question their effectiveness, no task of the church is more important than proclamation. Only the gospel liberates sinners from guilt, despair, and death and grants them freedom, hope, and new life. Few have grasped this truth better than Martin Luther. This volume features contributions by contemporary theologians whose work is shaped by Luther''s conviction that God''s justification of the ungodly comes through preaching: Gerhard Forde, Oswald Bayer, and their students and friends. Taken from the pages of Lutheran Quarterly, these essays in historical and theological perspective bring the doctrine of justification to bear on contemporary preaching. For Luther, the whole creation has its life out of God''s ""pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of ours at all!"" Luther''s insight to center creation around God''s justifying work accents the cosmic scope of the doctrine. Justification is at the core of God''s creative and saving activity with respect to all that has been, is, and will be. God''s justification of the ungodly is the heart of all Christian theology and mission, and inescapably shapes the character of both. Preaching Christ as the justifier of sinners, in contrast to the accusing directives of the law, does nothing other than establish God''s deity over and for the world, and brings an end to sinners'' own self-deifying quests, re-creating them as fully human, fully free. Theologians and preachers gain their compass, purpose, and courage from this truth.Endorsements:""Justification Is for Preaching is refreshingly radical . . . because it goes to the root of God''s own design for preaching, the bestowal of a promise that creates faith in Christ Jesus. Preaching is not about transformation of character or political advocacy but God''s own declaration of righteousness for the ungodly. In essays from both sides of the Atlantic, theologians in the tradition of Luther carry out his approach to the renewal of the church, that is, . . . the preaching of Christ crucified. Seminarians as well as seasoned preachers will be invigorated and challenged by . . . this fine book.""--John T. PlessAssistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry & Missions / Director of Field EducationConcordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana""Good preaching is dependent on good theology. Central to effective proclamation of the Christian faith is the proper understanding of God''s fashioning of the relationship between himself and his human creatures. Thompson has assembled fourteen essays by eight leading Lutheran theologians from the US and Germany who give preachers a host of insights into how to deliver Scripture''s central message of the restoration of sinners to a right relationship with God.""--Robert KolbProfessor of Systematic Theology EmeritusConcordia Seminary, Saint Louis, MissouriAbout the Contributor(s):Virgil Thompson currently teaches the New Testament at Gonzaga University. Previously he served as pastor to congregations of the Lutheran Church for over thirty years. For the past twenty-five years he has served as Managing Editor of Lutheran Quarterly.

Description:Thoughtful Christians are legitimately perplexed by a number of issues relating to the church''s belief and practice. They are perplexed partly because they recognize that the issues themselves are thorny, and partly because they are not sure how to test the mutually inconsistent theories and explanations affirmed by diverse voices speaking with equal assurance. Most Christians find relatively little occasion or encouragement to address their perplexities with intellectual candor and integrity. If they dare to acknowledge their theological perplexities at all, they are too often told that these perplexities are unimportant, or that they can be answered very simply, or that they should be left to the experts. Guide for the Christian Perplexed, written by members of the faculty of Wycliffe College, Toronto, aims to explore a diversity of issues and questions to do withoour knowledge of Jesus othe meaning of sufferingothe function of doctrineothe understanding of Scriptureothe place of other religionsothe challenge of atheismothe pleasures and complications of sexualityothe nature of worship othe way to evangelizeounderstanding who our neighbor is locally and globallyodiversities of spirituality Here you will find thoughtful reflections and answers to the questions around these issues. A study guide is included for individual and group use.Endorsements:""It''s risky to offer oneself as guide as one isn''t sure the reader will end up where you had in mind. These writers know that, for that is their profession. They also know this: that for answers to have meaning they must be found, and inquiry into the mystery of God involves more than writers as guide.This is a marvelous grouping of paths for the pilgrim on which they point out turns, junctions and dead ends.""--Brian C StillerGlobal Ambassador, World Evangelical AlliancePresident Emeritus, Tyndale University College and SeminaryAbout the Contributor(s):Thomas Power is Theological Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Church History at Trinity and Wycliffe Colleges at the University of Toronto.

Description:Around the turn of the twentieth century, revivalist Protestantism in America splintered into multiple pieces. Few persons of that era knew as many of the central figures of the splinter groups as Aaron Merritt Hills. Originally a Congregationalist who studied under Finney at Oberlin, Hills was a dyed-in-the-wool postmillennial revivalist until his death in 1935. While a Congregationalist, he befriended Reuben A. Torrey and made an enemy of Washington Gladden. In 1895 he joined the Holiness Movement after his experience of Spirit baptism. For the next forty years he founded colleges, held holiness revivals in both America and Britain, and wrote voluminously.While Hills himself is a lesser-known figure in the story of American Christianity, because of the many embroilments of his life, his story offers a unique window into the relationship between the Holiness Movement, Fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, American liberalism, and the Social Gospel Movement.Endorsements:""A lack of prominence in history books may not mean a corresponding lack of significant impact on that history. Jon Branstetter illustrates this with his well-researched story of A. M. Hills. This lesser-known revivalist offers an unusual window for getting a clearer view of the American Holiness Movement, Fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, liberalism, and the Social Gospel Movement in the early twentieth century. This reconsideration of Hill throws fresh light on Finney, Torrey, Harvard, Yale, Keswick, postmillennialism, religious higher education, revivalism, and more--a virtual parade of the major players in a fractured period of American religious history.""--Barry L. CallenEditor, Wesleyan Theological Journal and Anderson University PressProfessor Emeritus, Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana""It has been some time since A. M. Hills''s contribution to the Wesleyan-Holiness theological tradition has been brought forward for public review. Dr. Branstetter has filled this need with thorough research and reading ease. For the professional and layman alike, this work provides a welcome reminder of the impact Dr. Hills had on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century theological development.""--Loren P. GreshamPresident, Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, OklahomaAbout the Contributor(s):C. J. Branstetter is Research Director of the Public Theology Institute of Daybreak: Asia in Beijing, China.