Books published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers

Cornelis Bennema presents a new theory of character in the New Testament literature. Bennema observes that there is still no consensus regarding how character should be understood in contemporary literary theory or in biblical studies. Many New Testament scholars seem to presume that characters in Greco-Roman literature are two-dimensional, Aristotelian figures, unlike the well-rounded, psychologized individuals who appear in modern fiction. Bennema offers a full, comprehensive, and non-reductionist theory for the analysis, classification, and evaluation of characters in the New Testament

When Scholars have set Jesus against various conceptions of the messiah and other redemptive figures in early Jewish expectation, those questions have been bound up with the problem of violence, whether the political violence of a militant messiah or the divine violence carried out by a heavenly or angelic figure. Missing from those discussions, Simon J. Joseph contends, are the unique conceptions of an Adamic redeemer figure in the Enochic materialconceptions that informed the Q tradition and, he argues, Jesus own self-understanding.

Revision of author's thesis (Th. D.)--Duke Divinity School, 2012.

Naturally Human, Supernaturally God seeks to open a small window upon an interesting case of theological convergence between three of the most important theologians of the pre-Conciliar period of Catholic theology, Rginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P., Karl Rahner S.J., and Henri de Lubac S.J., each of whom played a vital role in the Second Vatican Council. The differences between these three figures sometimes seem to run so deep as to defy resolution. Yet Cooper argues they were strangely united in a shared conviction of the doctrine of deification.

That Christian missionary efforts have long gone hand-in-hand with European colonization and American imperialist expansion. The role played in those efforts by the Great Commission the risen Christs command to teach all nations has more often been observed than analyzed. With the rise of European colonialism, the Great Commission was suddenly taken up with an eschatological urgency, often explicit in the founding statements of missionary societies; the differentiation of teachers and nations waiting to be taught proved a ready-made sacred sanction for the racialized and androcentric logics of conquest and civilization.

The dilemma of early Christology, Kaiser observes, concerns the early Christian claims to have seen the Lord and beheld his glory that in early Judaism would have pointed unequivocally to visions of Israels God. The shift of those claims onto the figure of Jesus is explained either as a result of the resurrection of Jesus, or on the influence of pagan polytheism. Kaiser examines the phenomenon of kyriocentric visions in Second Temple Judaism, asking whether such traditions are sufficient to account for the shape of early claims regarding the divinity of Christ.

Irony (as used here) is a rhetorical and literary device for revealing what is hidden behind what is seen. It thus offers the reader a superior understanding by means of the distinction between reality and its shadow. The book provides a history of different definitions of irony, from Aristophanes to Booth; discusses the constitutive formal elements of irony and the functions of irony; then studies particular aspects of the Matthean Passion Narrative that require the reader to recognize a deeper truth beneath the surface of the

In Silence and Praise, Ryan Leif Hansen begins with the premise that cosmology is a central focus in Johns Apocalypse. However, Johns intention in reflecting theologically on the nature, existence, and destiny of the created world is not in order to explicate a stable system. Rather, Johns cosmological thought is employed for persuasive purposes as an ethical and political critique of Roman imperial cultic discourse. Hansen seeks to read the contours of Johns rhetorical cosmology and to understand the theological and political implications of its strategy.

Toward the end of his career, Karl Barth made the provocative statement that perhaps what Schleiermacher was up to was a theology of the third-article and that he anticipated in the future that a true third-article theology would appear. Many interpreters took that to indicate not only a change in Barths perception of Schleiermacher but also as a self-referential critique. The author investigates this claim and argues for a Barthian pneumatologya doctrine of the Holy Spirit grounded in the scriptural witness and connected to Barths vital Christological and dialectical theology.

Re-Visioning the Church, the outcome of nearly two decades of research, applies a social scientific and historical outlook to the emergence, development, and ongoing mission and ministry of the church. Establishing a critical framework for understanding the structures of the church, the work explores the religious, cultural, and social dimensions of what it means to be the church and what structures and ministries form the foundation of ecclesial life.The heart of the project is a detailed account of the history and development of the church that takes the story from the apostolic band to the Second Vatican Council.

Artistic representations were of significant value to early Christian communities. In Christ the Miracle Worker in Early Christian Art, Lee Jefferson argues that images provided visual representations of vital religious and theological truths crucial to the faithful and projected concepts beyond the limitations of the written and spoken word. Images of Christ performing miracles or healings functioned as advertisements for Christianity and illustrated the nature of Christ. Using these images of Christ, Jefferson examines the power of art, its role in fostering devotion, and the deep connection between art and its elucidation of pivotal theological claims.

Demetrios Toniass Abraham in the Works of John Chrysostom is the first comprehensive examination of John Chrysostoms view of the patriarch Abraham. By analyzing the full range of references to Abraham in Chrysostoms work, Tonias reveals the ways in which Chrysostom used Abraham as a model of philosophical and Christian virtue, familial devotion, philanthropy, and obedient faith.

What does it mean for Jesus to be deified in early Christian literature? Early Christians did not simply assert Jesus divinity; in their literature, they depicted Jesus with the specific and widely recognized traits of Mediterranean deities.Relying on the methods of the history of religions and ranging judiciously across Hellenistic literature, M. David Litwa shows that at each stage in their depiction of Jesus life and ministry, early Christian writings from the beginning relied on categories drawn not from Judaism alone, but on a wide, pan-Mediterranean understanding of deity.

Adrienne von Speyr was one of the most important mystical theologians of the last century. However, her work has been eclipsed in many ways by her personal connection to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Heaven Opens provides one of the first comprehensive accounts of von Speyrs theology.Matthew Lewis Sutton argues that the eternal, immanent relations of the Triune God ground the mystical theological vision of von Speyr. Here, von Speyrs work is for the first time given an independent hearing, expositing its content, features, and connections, and assessing its contribution to contemporary Catholic theology.

On its release, the seven volume A Peoples History of Christianity was lauded for its commitment to raising awareness of the ways in which ordinary Christians have lived throughout more than twenty centuries of Christian history. Now, the essential material from that important project is available for classroom use.This one volume edition contai

On its release, the seven volume A Peoples History of Christianity was lauded for its commitment to raising awareness of the ways in which ordinary Christians have lived throughout more than twenty centuries of Christian History. Now, the essential material from that important project is available for classroom use.Each volume contains careful s

On its release, the seven volume A Peoples History of Christianity was lauded for its commitment to raising awareness of the ways in which ordinary Christians have lived throughout more than twenty centuries of Christian History. Now, the essential material from that important project is available for classroom use.Each volume contains careful s

One of the most persistent, if vexing, issues facing not just theology but also political theory, sociology, and other disciplines, is the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For theology, the problem is especially nettlesome on account of the church s shared history and tradition with Israel. Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians, bear the brunt of suffering and dispossession in the current situation, yet are burdened even more by Christian political appropriation of Zionism. Through an analysis of Palestinian refugee mapping practices for returning to their homeland, Alain Epp Weaver takes up the troubled issue of Palestinian dispossession and argues against the political theology embedded in Zionist cartographic practices that refuse and seek to eliminate evidence of co-existence. Instead, Alain Epp Weaver offers a political theology of redrawing the territory compatible with a bi-national vision for a shared Palestinian-Israeli future.

Although several scholars have written about how Luke portrays Jesus and the apostles as prophets, no one has yet provided a comprehensive theory as to why Lukes protagonists resemble the prophets.McWhirter shows that Luke uses these biblical prophets as precedents, seeking to legitimate the apostles teachings in the face of events, such as the destruction of Jerusalem and the deaths of Peter and Paul, which seem to contradict those teachings. In order to show that all this was part of Gods plan, Luke compares Jesus and his witnesses to Israels prophets who were rejected by their own people.

The twentieth century witnessed renewed interest in a Roman Catholic theology of the word. The contributions of Karl Rahner and sacramental theologian Louis-Marie Chauvet demonstrate the Roman Catholic conviction that the word is fundamentally sacramental: it has the capacity to bear Gods presence to humanity..Rhodora Beaton examines the work of Rahner and Chauvet to articulate the relationship between word and sacrament within the context of language, culture, and an already graced world as the place of divine self-expression, and analyzes the implications for Trinitarian theology, sacramentality, liturgy, and action.

There are two philosophical commitments requisite to Christian belief: that God is the ultimate mystery and that God is present and active in the world. Attempting to avoid the trappings of a radical distantiation and the immanent collapse of God and world, Frank Kirkpatrick argues for a theory of agency and action that preserves the mystery of God while providing a philosophically robust account of divine action in created time and space. Kirkpatrick proposes a way around the stalemates that have stymied thought on divine agency and enters into conversation with significant figures in systematic theology.

Rebecca Todd Peters argues for an ethic of solidarity as a new model for how people of faith in the first world can live with integrity in the midst of global injustice and shape a more just future.Addressing the economic and social structures of our globalized context, Peters shows how a concrete ethics rooted in the Christian tradition of justice and transformation is deeply informed by solidarity and relationality. Utilizing these theologically rich resources, an ethics of relational reflection, action, and construction is provided as an avenue for building viable strategies for social transformation.