Books in the McMaster Divinity College Press General series

Most accounts of Canada and the First World War either ignore or merely mention in passing the churches' experience. Such neglect does not do justice to the remarkable influence of the wartime churches nor to the religious identity of the young Dominion. The churches' support for the war was often wholehearted, but just as often nuanced and critical, shaped by either the classic just war paradigm or pacifism's outright rejection of violence. The war heightened issues of Canadianization, attitudes to violence, and ministry to the bereaved and the disillusioned. It also exacerbated ethnic tensions within and between denominations, and challenged notions of national and imperial identity. The authors of this volume provide a detailed summary of various Christian traditions and the war, both synthesizing and furthering previous research. In addition to examining the experience of Roman Catholics (English and French speaking), Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Mennonites, and Quakers, there are chapters on precedents formed during the South African War, the work of military chaplains, and the roles of church women on the home front.

Description:This book--an edited compilation of twenty-nine essays--focuses on the difference(s) that a Christian worldview makes for the disciplines or subject areas normally taught in liberal arts colleges and universities. Three initial chapters of introductory material are followed by twenty-six essays, each dealing with the essential elements or issues in the academic discipline involved. These individual essays on each discipline are a unique element of this book. These essays also treat some of the specific differences in perspective or procedure that a biblically informed, Christian perspective brings to each discipline.Christian Worldview and the Academic Disciplines is intended principally as an introductory textbook in Christian worldview courses for Christian college or university students. This volume will also be of interest to Christian students in secular post-secondary institutions, who may be encountering challenges to their faith--both implicit and explicit--from peers or professors who assume that holding a strong Christian faith and pursuing a rigorous college or university education are essentially incompatible. This book should also be helpful for college and university professors who embrace the Christian faith but whose post-secondary academic background--because of its secular orientation--has left them inadequately prepared to intelligently apply the implications of their faith to their particular academic specialty. Such specialists, be they professors or upper-level graduate students, will find the extensive bibliographies of recent scholarship at the end of the individual chapters particularly helpful.Endorsements:Downey and Porter present a unique contribution to the perennial question how faith interacts with the academic disciplines. Numerous factors contribute to this book''s significance: the common conviction that one''s Christian beliefs ought to shape the contents of one''s teaching, the variety of perspectives and opinions, and the wide range of academic disciplines under discussion. The essays--originating among the excellent faculty of Trinity Western University--will deservedly be much used in undergraduate colleges and universities.--Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology, Regent CollegeFew faculty, Christian or otherwise, understand what their colleagues in other departments are doing or why. This collection of essays is not only an excellent introduction to the whole scope of academic enterprises but to the unique and important relationship between each discipline and the Christian faith. An important book not only for the entire range of faculty but for students yearning to understand both their Christian faith and what is being taught in the classroom.--James W. Sire, author of The Universe Next Door and, with co-author Carl Peraino, Deepest Differences: A Christian-Atheist Dialogue.Christian Worldview and the Academic Disciplines is a book long overdue. It will serve as an outstanding textbook for interdisciplinary courses. But this book is more than that. Christian Worldview and the Academic Disciplines is a book that everyone concerned with Christian thought, especially in the context of the academy, will want to read. I highly recommend it. --Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia About the Contributor(s):Deane Downey is retired Associate Academic Vice President and Professor of English at Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia. Stanley E. Porter is President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario.

The centenary of America's declaration of war in 1917 is a fitting time to examine afresh the reaction of the American churches to the conflict. What was the impact of the war on the churches as well as the churches' hoped-for influence on the nation's war effort? Commenting on themes such as nationalism, nativism, nation-building, dissent, just war, and pacifism, this book provides a window into those perilous times from the viewpoint of Mainline and Evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Mennonites, Quakers, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Also included are chapters on developments among American military chaplains in the First World War and the reaction of the American churches to the Armenian Genocide.

The stories of the women have often stayed in the shadows of Canadian Baptist history. The writers of this book have sought out neglected primary source materials to reveal the lives and work of an array of Baptist women in Canada''s history. Read here about the Acadian Mary Lore hungrily reading her French Bible and welcoming the message of Baptist missionaries in Lower Canada, Jane Gilmour leaving her home in Britain to minister with her husband in Montreal and the wilds of Upper Canada, a group of remarkable black Baptist women in southern Ontario in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Isabel Crawford from Niagara becoming an advocate for the Kiowa people of Oklahoma, Miriam Ross from Nova Scotia ministering in the Congo, Lois Tupper, pioneer female Baptist theological educator, and, more generally, the work of Baptist women in the Maritimes in the nineteenth century and western Canada in the first half of the twentieth century. Empowered by their Baptist faith, these Canadian women did remarkable things, and their stories deserve to be told and read.""This volume of inspiring and sometimes startling essays contributes to the ongoing task of expanding and deepening the historical portrait of the Canadian religious experience. Dr. Bowler and her authors trouble the waters of male-dominated institutions and narratives as they introduce us to robust and faithful women who crossed multiple boundaries to help shape the church and the many contexts in which they lived, thought, prayed, and worked."" --Sandra Beardsall, Professor of Church History and Ecumenics, St. Andrew''s College, Saskatoon ""This collection of stories of Canadian Baptist women inspires. The recapturing of women''s lives, previously lost to historical memory, brings depth and breadth to our understandings both of Baptist denominational history and of the broader history of the church in Canada. Readers will be captivated by these women who challenged gendered norms as they confronted institutional boundaries and crossed ethnic and geographic lines.""--Lucille Marr, Adjunct Professor, McGill University, School of Religious Studies; President, Canadian Society of Church History""The long-neglected contribution of women to Canada''s Baptist movement is addressed in this eclectic collection of essays. As editor Bowler explains, the volume is neither exhaustive nor encyclopedic, yet it contributes substantially to rectifying this glaring gap. As a seminary educator, I am thankful for the mass of useful information this volume provides as I rewrite some courses."" --C. Mark Steinacher, Assistant Professor of Christian History, Tyndale SeminarySharon M. Bowler (EdD, University of Toronto) is a Chaplain with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches. Her research centers around the study of Section 2a Freedom of Conscience, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Baptists who have contributed publicly in some way to its development and continuation. Sharon was a contributor to the first volume of the CBHS series, Baptists and Public Life.

How should Christians respond to terrorism and terrorists in their midst? Terrorism is a global problem, and no society on earth faces it alone. The mainly Christian society of Kenya has suffered more than most as it attempts to counter the threat of al-Shabaab. Some pastors have asked for permission to carry guns. Many Christians support government military action, while others recommend pacifist stances, and strive for dialogue and reconciliation with the Muslim community. In this book, ten Kenyan Christian thinkers and practitioners share their experiences and insights. A response section from seven others, including a Kenyan Muslim scholar, enrich the discussion.

The inaugural lecture is a tradition that has been practiced in western universities for centuries. These lectures originated in the great universities of continental Europe, spread to Great Britain, and then to North America. The tradition has now been appropriated further by universities around the world and especially of late in majority world countries. The inaugural lecture is a form of academic discourse, in which the recipient of a suitable academic honor--usually the bestowal of a form of professorial appointment--offers a public lecture in recognition of the event. McMaster Divinity College follows in this academic tradition by attaching public inaugural lectures to the appointment of scholars to professorial positions, and in particular to those appointed to endowed and named professorial chairs within the institution. McMaster Divinity College currently has six such endowed, named chairs held by its faculty. This volume contains the six lectures by those in these six chairs, representing the fields of preaching, theology, pastoral studies, Christian worldview, ministry studies, and Christian history. Each of these inaugural lectures is a contribution to scholarship in the field and a token of the inaugural professorial lecture.""Following the tradition of the great universities of Britain and Europe, McMaster Divinity College has not only featured its endowed chairs by holding inaugural lectures, but thanks to Stanley Porter, these recent lectures have been gathered into a helpful collection that will serve the church, the academy, and society. These state-of-the-art essays bring to bear the finest of theological and biblical scholarship upon contemporary issues of the day. Readable and profitable, this is an impressive collection, indeed!""--Paul N. Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies, George Fox University""Inaugurations provides windows into the soul of one of Canada''s most prestigious theological institutions. Each chapter offers insights into the minds and hearts of the senior faculty of McMaster. Stanley Porter''s practical approach to Christian worldview, Steven Studebaker''s warm-hearted systematics, and the call for creative ministry by Lee Beach are fine examples of the ''real world'' scholarship so desperately needed by the church today. Open and read. You will like what you see!""-- J. Kent Edwards, Professor of Preaching & Leadership, BIOLA UniversityStanley E. Porter is President and Dean, Professor of New Testament, and holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada. He is the author of 28 books and the editor of over 90 others. He is a recognized expert in numerous New Testament and related fields, including hermeneutics and Christian worldview. His latest book is When Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Got Lost in History (2016).

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were a number of smaller religious bodies that sought to develop religious and national identity on the margins--something especially difficult when the nation was at war in South Africa. This book examines rich and varied extant sources that provide helpful windows into the wartime experience of Canada''s religious minorities. Those groups on the margins experienced internal struggles and external pressures related to issues of loyalty and identity. How each faith tradition addressed those challenges was shaped by their own dominant personalities, ethnic identity, history, tradition, and theological convictions. Responses were fluid, divided, and rarely unanimous. Those seeking to address such issues not only had to deal with internal expectations and tensions, but also construct a public response that would satisfy often hostile and vocal external critics. Some positions evolved over time, leading to new identities, loyalties, and trajectories. In all cases, being on the margins meant dealing with two dominant national and imperial narratives--English or French--both bolstered respectively by powerful Anglo-Saxon Protestantism or French Quebec Catholicism. The chapters in this book examine how those on the margins sought to do just that.""Gordon Heath displays strong historical insight in his recognition of the historical value of the responses of Canadian minority religions to British military imperialism in South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century. Heath has gathered important studies of the Canadian religions on the margins of the British Empire and how they overcame their natural pacifism to believe that British dominion in South Africa would spread civilization and culture to the benefit of all nations.""--Terence J. Fay SJ, Toronto School of Theology, University of TorontoGordon L. Heath is Professor of Christian History and Centenary Chair in World Christianity at McMaster Divinity College. He is the author of two other books on religion and the Boer War: The British in Our Nation: The BACSANZ Baptist Press and the South African War, 1899-1902 (2017), and A War with a Silver Lining: Canadian Protestant Churches and the South African War, 1899-1902 (2009).