Books in the Series in Philosophy of Religion series

Indigenous People and the Christian Faith: A New Way Forward provides detailed historical, cultural and theological background and analysis to a very delicate and pressing subject facing many people around the world. The book is "glocal": both local and global, as represented by international scholars. Every continent is represented by both Indigenous and non-indigenous people who desire to make a difference with the delicate problematics and relationships. The history of Indigenous people around the world is inextricably linked with Christianity and Colonialism. The book is completely interdisciplinary by employing historians, literary critics, biblical scholars and theologians, sociologists, philosophers and ordained engineers. The Literary Intent of the book, without presuming nor claiming too much for itself, is to provide practical thinking that will help all people move past the pain and dysfunction of the past, toward mutual understanding, communication, and practical actions in the present and future.

Atheism and the Christian Faith is an anthology of the proceedings from a conference of the same name which convened at Concordia University of Edmonton in May 2016. The book represents a wide diversity of subtopics--primarily from a philosophical perspective--including submissions from atheists, agnostics and theists. This combination of topics and perspectives makes the book totally unique. There are arguments for and against theism. The foreword to the book is by Professor Richard Swinburne, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Oxford University, who contributes two chapters to the book: "Why Believe That There is a God?" and "Why God Allows Suffering." The book includes a chapter from renowned astrophysicist, and former student of Stephen Hawkins, Professor Dr. Don Page from the University of Alberta "On the Optimal Argument for the Existence of God." Atheism and the Christian Faith advances arguments around serious philosophical issues of direct relevance to contemporary society. It will be of interest to a broad range of scholars in philosophy, theology and epistemology.

In this monograph, I argue that Satan was not perceived as a universal malevolent deity, the embodiment of evil, or the "ruler of Pandaemonium" within first century Christian literature or even within second and third century Christian discourses as some scholars have insisted. Instead, for early "Christian" authors, Satan represented a pejorative term used to describe terrestrial, tangible, and concrete social realities, perceived of as adversaries. To reach this conclusion, I explore the narrative character of Satan selectively within the Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, the Nag Hammadi texts, and the Ante-Nicene fathers.I argue that certain scholars' such as Jeffrey Burton Russell, Miguel A. De La Torre, Albert Hernandez, Peter Stanford, Paul Carus, and Gerd Theissen, homogenized reconstructions of the "New Testament Satan" as the universalized incarnation of evil and that God's absolute cosmic enemy is absent from early Christian orthodox literature, such as Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, and certain writings from the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Using Jonathan Z. Smith's essay Here, There, and Anywhere, I suggest that the cosmic dualist approach to Satan as God's absolute cosmic enemy resulted from the changing social topography of the early fourth century where Christian "insider" and "outsider" adversaries were diminishing. With these threats fading, early Christians universalized a perceived chaotic cosmic enemy, namely Satan, being influenced by the Gnostic demiurge, who disrupts God's terrestrial and cosmic order. Therefore, Satan transitioned from a "here," "insider," and "there," "outsider," threat to a universal "anywhere" threat. This study could be employed as a characterization study, New Testament theory and application for classroom references or research purposes.

Technology is growing at an exponential rate vis-à-vis humanity's ability to control it. Moreover, the numerous ethical issues that technology raises are also troubling. These statements, however, may be alarmist-since Telus would tell us "The Future is Friendly".The Modernist vision of the future was utopic, for instance Star Trek of the 1960s. But postmodern views, such as are found in Blade Runner 2049, are dystopic. Theology is in a unique interdisciplinary position to deal with the many issues, pro and con, that technology raises. Even theologians like Origen in the third century and Aquinas in the thirteenth century made forays into Artificial Intelligence and surrounding issues (they just didn't know it at the time). Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Transhumanism raise questions about what it means to be human. What is consciousness? What is soul? What are life and death? Can technology really save us and give us eternal life?Theology is in a unique position to handle these questions and issues. This book also has practical applications in terms of ecclesiology (church) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic-both in terms of what it means to be a church and in terms of the sacraments or ordinances. Is there such a thing as a "Virtual Church" or must we gather physically to constitute one? Are Baptism and Communion legitimate if one is not physically in a church building but are "online"? This book struggles with these and many other questions which will help the scholar or reader make up their own minds, however tentatively.