Books published by Cascade Books

Over the past two centuries the Christian faith has spread to all continents. Although more global than ever, Christians are religious minorities in most societies. Religious freedom is hardly universal. In the past fifty years, millions of people have been uprooted from their traditional homelands in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Some have emigrated to Western Europe and North America. The West has become the scene of cultural, linguistic, and religious variety on a scale unimagined in 1900. Today, the full range of faiths and religious practices from all continents are present in Europe and North America. Christians are challenged to come to terms with this changed situation. These developments have intensified religious plurality. Christians all over the world are being urged to understand and engage with this new situation. This volume highlights this new reality and specifies some sources for engagement, not least among them the Judeo-Christian scriptures--fundamental to all ""Christianities""--that emerged out of religious plural contexts. On the basis of their faith in the Triune God disclosed in this text, all followers of Jesus Christ must interact with these opportunities in today''s radically context-sensitive world.""While the relativistic ideology of religious pluralism has been rightly subject to critique for the last generation, evangelical theology has yet to come to grips with the fact of religious plurality and its implications for Christian theology and witness in the present time. Shenk and his colleagues here provide historical, missiological, and global perspectives on this phenomenon, not only showing what we can learn from how others before us have responded, but also indicating how the plurality of our neighbors can be a source of our own revitalization. The cases covered in this book will never be dated!""--Amos Yong, author of Hospitality & the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor (2008)""It takes a plurality of theologians to deal with the complexity of the world''s plurality of religions. Wilbert Shenk and Richard Plantinga have assembled an all-star cast, and they have delivered wisdom that we all need to hear, read, and act upon. A must-read for anyone interested in Christian mission in the twenty-first century.""--Terry C. Muck, scholar of religion (with research interests in Theravada Buddhism); comparative missiologist; professor, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1990-2000) and Asbury Theological Seminary (2000-2012)""Considering that Western Christianity is increasingly confronted with religious plurality, it was an excellent idea of my colleagues Shenk and Plantinga to publish a collective volume on the encounter with religious belief systems such as primal religions, Hinduism, and Islam, taking into account phenomena such as diversity and migration. The volume excels in combining scholarly expertise with faith commitment. It challenges people in church and society, and helps Christians in the West and East to rethink missions in a rapidly changing global setting.""--Jan A. B. Jongeneel, Professor Emeritus of Missiology, Utrecht UniversityWilbert R. Shenk, Senior Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture, Fuller School of Intercultural Studies, Pasadena, California. Among his publications are Changing Frontiers of Mission and Enlarging the Story: Perspectives on Writing World Christian History. Richard J. Plantinga, Professor of Religion, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Among his publications is Christianity and Plurality.

Philip Turner''s contributions as a leader and thinker in Christian missions and social ethics are here engaged by an array of friends and colleagues. Turner''s scholarly and clerical career spans a key era of transition in American and world Christianity, and his thinking and teaching about the intersection between ecclesial and civil life have encouraged several generations of Christian theologians and ministers. The essays in this collection touch on key topics in which Turner has been involved: cross-cultural missions, social relations in terms of family and procreation, ecclesiology, scriptural interpretation, the nature of the public good, and the character of a human life before God. Turner has been a pioneer, within the Anglican world especially, in promoting what has been called a ""generous orthodoxy,"" and these essays by prominent theologians from America and the United Kingdom extend his witness in lively and fruitful ways.""This book contains theology inspired by life, not simply the life of a particular modern saint, but the lives of saints, of the communities that saint indwelled. It is a life rooted in the Bible, spiritual disciplines, the learning and transmitting of wisdom from and into the world. The book explores the issue of the sufficiency of the gospel of love, played out in the issues of public debate. Themes include: the Old Testament as speaking realistically of the impoverished church, the reflection on experience in a biblical key, e.g. that repentance includes knowledge as it seeks objectivity, to know what, and how, and why wrong was done. The gracious reply by the honorand itself embodies the virtue of communal and ecclesial theology.""--Mark W. Elliott, Professor of Historical and Biblical Theology, School of Divinity, University of St. Andrews""Philip Turner is an extraordinary missionary, priest, and scholar. His high-caliber theology of mission, rooted in Uganda and the Scriptures, ricocheted around North America. This book of honorable Anglican theology, tuned in friendship, is nourishing for all.""--Graham Kings, Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion, and Honorable Fellow of Durham University""This impressive set of essays does justice to the far ranging interests of the subject here celebrated. Philip Turner is, as Ephraim Radner notes in his Introduction, ''a Christian missionary, Anglican priest, scholar, and . . . [a] prophet of the Gospel."" A central theme of the essays is what Turner identifies in his Afterword as ''a red thread that connects the moral reflection to which I have devoted myself over the years''--''the necessary connection between the Gospel of Christ and the way in which we are called to live both ""in Christ"" and within the societies of which we are a part.''""--Robert W. Prichard, Arthur Lee Kinsolving Professor of Christianity in America, Virginia Theological Seminary""Philip Turner has been the teacher of a generation of pastors and theologians on two continents, inspiring many of us in our ministries through his intellectual engagement with the Christian tradition and his willingness to grapple with the implications of the Gospel. This fine collection of essays is a reminder of his continuing influence, and a sign of hope for the church."" --John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of TennesseeEphraim Radner is Professor of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. His recent publications include A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church (2012), Time and the Word: Figural Reading of the Christian Scriptures (2016), and A Time to Keep: Theology, Mortality, and the Shape of a Human Life (2016).

If we see ourselves as Earth rather than Earth as existing for us our perspective is transformed. A variety of religious, philosophical, cultural, and political self-perceptions that dominate our sense of human identity are deeply challenged by this shift in perspective. John Locke''s doctrine of Earth as human ""property"" has been central to current presuppositions about our selves: justified on the grounds of our possessing unique, divinely bestowed, rational abilities. But today, the effects of that doctrine on Earth''s resource base and on its other-than-human creatures directly challenge such assumptions. At the same time contemporary scientific findings about the evolution of earthly life demonstrate that while we belong to Earth and nowhere else, Earth does not belong to us. Exploring this role reversal raises fundamental questions about current theological, philosophical, scientific, and economic presuppositions that underpin the ""business as usual"" viewpoint and human-centered aims of contemporary policies and lifestyles. It takes us beyond hierarchical Christian and philosophical doctrines toward a deeper, Earth-focused and peace-based understanding of what it means to be human today.""Exploring Earthiness is an inspiring call for a fundamental change in how we relate with the ecology and spirit of our planet. At its core, Anne Primavesi asks us to shift from the dying, yet pervasive, worldview that nature belongs to humanity and move toward a sense of ourselves as people who come from the soil, air, and water of our home: Earth. A sustainable future for human and more-than-human communities requires nothing less.""--Tim Leduc, author of Climate, Culture, Change: Inuit and Western Dialogues with a Warming North""With relentless clarity Anne Primavesi bares the historical, cultural, and religious roots of our ecological crisis. . . . Increasing injustice as well as climatic and other dangerous global change reveal the inescapable need to scrutinize and transform our human self-understanding, and to disabuse us from the fatal misconception of owning the earth. With critical acuteness . . . she encourages us to convert this insight into alternative, sustainable life and thought styles.""--Sigurd Bergmann, Founder, European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment""The earth is one, a living entity. Our survival as a species depends on earth''s well-being, yet today the devastating global impact of human consumption threatens all life on earth. In this brilliant analysis, Anne Primavesi exposes the mental categories that undergird and justify the Western anthropocentric worldview, arguing persuasively for the need to embrace rather than transcend our earthliness. This is a critically needed book to change minds.""--Dan Spencer, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Montana""Anne Primavesi has written an important, thoughtful, and timely book. . . . Our context as thinking creatures does not give us justification for thinking ourselves apart from the planet, but rather [it] urges us to think about how our thoughts emerge from the planetary community and return to affect that community. Primavesi helps us think about our ''earthiness'' as bodies among other bodies on an evolving, living planet.""--Whitney Bauman, Assistant Professor of Religion and Science, Florida International University""Another gem! Anne Primavesi''s gift is her ability to show us how and where our thinking about our relationship with earth went wrong. In this new book she helps us see that the earth is not our property to use and exploit. She reminds us we are earthlings, whose destiny is intimately connected to the health of a living earth.""--Carol P. Christ, author of She Who Changes and Green Party Candidate, GreeceAnne Primavesi is presently a Fellow of the Westar Institute and Jesus Seminar, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, and has authored Sacred Gaia (2000); Gaia''s Gift (2003); Making God L

First-timeTranslation in English- - - The relationship between Christians and Jews has often been very tense, with misunderstandings of Paul''s teachings contributing to the problem. Jacques Ellul''s careful exegesis of Romans 9-11 demonstrates how God has not rejected Israel. The title is taken from the verse, ""Is there some injustice in God?"" The answer is a clear ""no."" God''s election simply expanded outward beyond Israel to reach all peoples of the earth. In the end, there will be a reconciliation of Jews and Christians within God''s plan of salvation.Written in 1991, three years before Ellul died, An Unjust God? brings a new understanding to a section of Scripture known for its conventional and limited interpretations. One significant feature of the book is Ellul''s personal experience of the suffering of Jews under the Nazi regime; and this has direct bearing for the way he links the sufferings of Israel with the sufferings of Jesus. Ellul is then bold enough to say that a major reason why the Jewish people have not accepted Jesus as Messiah is because the Christian Church has not done well to emulate the Jewish Savior of the world.""Unfazed by the deeply rutted and predictably interpretive pathways established in Romans 9-11, Ellul is massively open to hearing what God might actually be saying.""--From the Foreword by David W. Gill, President of International Jacques Ellul Society""Jacques Ellul reads the Scriptures closely, consequently getting surprising--and brilliant--insights that stun us. I don''t always agree with his conclusions, but he always stimulates me to contemplate afresh. May this book propel us all to cherish Israel and its biblical task more wholly.""--Marva Dawn, editor and translator of Sources and Trajectories: Eight Early Articles by Jacques Ellul that Set the StageJacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French sociologist and lay theologian, was Professor Emeritus of Law and of the History and Sociology of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux. He wrote more than forty books, including The Technological Society, The Humiliation of the Word, and Technological Bluff.

The various studies presented in this anthology underscore the foundational matter of translation in biblical studies as understood from the specific perspective of Biblical Performance Criticism. If the assumption for the biblical messages being received is not individual silent reading, then the question becomes, how does this public performative mode of communication affect the translation of this biblical material? Rather than respond to this in general theoretical terms, most in this collection of articles offer specific applications to particular Hebrew and Greek passages of Scripture. Almost all the authors have firsthand experience with the translation of biblical materials into non-European languages in communities who maintain a vibrant oral tradition. The premise is that the original Scriptures, which were composed in and for performance, are being prepared again for live audiences who will receive these sacred texts, not primarily in printed form, but first and foremost in community by means of oral and visual media. This volume is an invitation for others to join us in researching more intensely this intersection of sound, performance, and translation in a contemporary communication of the Word.""This wonderful introduction to biblical performance criticism draws on recent work in oral cultures and translation studies to show how the Bible as performed opens up new understandings of the Bible and audience, offering important perspectives on questions of fidelity and community. Each of the contributions advances the thesis; together they situate the discussion in widely divergent, intercultural settings to offer a helpful and engaging discussion.""--Paul A. Soukup, Professor of Communication, Santa Clara University""This is a captivating introduction to the power of performance criticism in the areas of biblical interpretation and translation. It offers a balance between the highly theoretical and the eminently practical. Biblical scholars should take the risk of reading this most stimulating book that, no doubt, will enrich the established fields of biblical hermeneutics and translation.""--Esteban Voth, Head of Translation, United Bible Societies""Books abound on translation of the biblical text. The essays in this book take the conversation in critical, new directions by exploring the dynamic relationship between translation and performance. It represents essential reading for anyone interested in, not only these two areas, but the nature of the biblical text and communication theory."" --Holly E. Hearon, Professor of Christian Traditions, Christian Theological Seminary""Well written, authoritative, and suitable for classroom use, this fine collection of essays on biblical performance criticism belongs on the bookshelf of every serious Bible scholar and translator. Editors James Maxey and Ernst Wendland, together with their learned contributors, deserve our thanks for again making it plain that without an understanding of the Bible''s original oral and scribal culture, our learned elevator goes only halfway to the top.""--Robert Hodgson, Jr., Dean Emeritus, Nida Institute""This is a welcome contribution to understanding the complex interaction of sound, performance, and communication strategies in the attempt to effectively translate Scripture for contemporary audiences. Read and be challenged!""--Bryan Harmelink, International Coordinator, SIL International TranslationJAMES A. MAXEY is Translations and Biblical Scholar at the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship at American Bible Society. He is Dean of Admissions for the Nida School of Translation Studies and Managing Editor of the journal, Translation. His first book, From Orality to Orality, is published by Cascade Books in the Biblical Performance Criticism series.

No Longer Bound is about the intersection of reading comprehension and interpretation that leads to the development of a powerful and transformative sermon. Reading facilitates the interpretive process, which is the essence of any sermon. The sermon is an interpretation of an interpretation and as such presents itself as a new gospel message. The ability to write and preach a sermon is an exercise in freedom. The book is grounded in a narrative theological form that begins with the author''s experience and filters that experience through the lens of hermeneutic philosophy and theology. Reading and preaching constitute the thread that runs throughout the book. The book suggests that the sermon is the philosophic theology of Black practical religion inasmuch as the Black church is central to religion and culture. This is a fresh and new understanding of homiletics, philosophical theology, and interpretation theory that is intended to produce better preachers and more powerful and life-changing sermons by all who endeavor to preach.""James Henry Harris is the only preacher and professor I know who can so easily blend together in one book the plaintive messages of American slave songs of the nineteenth century, the rigorous inquiry of European philosophy of the twentieth century, and the challenges confronting black preachers in the twenty-first century. . . . All preachers would do well to read this challenging and insightful book and apply its lessons to their pulpit ministry!""--Marvin A. McMickle, President and Professor of Church Leadership, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School""So much more than a great book on the art of the sermon--and it is that!--James Henry Harris has given us a fully realized theology of dialogue and liberation. In astonishingly deft and astute ways, he juxtaposes his own autobiography with commentaries on philosophical theology, literature, postmodern society, and life in diverse African American communities. A fine, critical work of narrative art in its own right, No Longer Bound guides us--issue by issue, question by question--into the passion of ''preaching as an act of love.''""--Larry D. Bouchard, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia""Here is a compelling, multi-leveled account of preaching in the Black church, integrating biography, Scripture study, homiletics, philosophy, and theology. Harris tells the story of his dual African American legacies: of slavery and racism on one side, and redemptive preaching on the other. He gleans a theology of preaching from his years as a professor of homiletics, as a pulpit preacher, and as an activist for civil rights and religious freedom. . . . It is an intellectually spicy and soulful account of how preaching the word can liberate the spirit.""--Peter W. Ochs, Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia""This is a deeply personal book. James Henry Harris weaves threads from his rich life of ministry and learning, all lived out against the backdrop of a racially charged land, into a beautiful tapestry of faithful and courageous preaching. Harris manages to bring a host of strong thinkers helpfully into the conversation--Cone and Ricoeur, Derrida and Dubois, and many others--without ever losing the clear and confident sound of his own voice.""--Thomas G. Long, Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory UniversityJames Henry Harris is Professor and Chair of Preaching and Pastoral Theology at Virginia Union University and Senior Minister at the Second Baptist Church, both in Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of The Word Made Plain (2004) and Preaching Liberation (1996). He is a recipient of the Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology and a past president of the Academy of Homiletics.

As the world watched the biggest global epidemic in history evolve, many anticipated that Christians would embrace those who were affected just as Jesus during his time embraced those who were sick and dying. Mostly, the Christian church stood back and observed. Sometimes Christians responded with stigma and discrimination. Many who sought refuge in the churches--churches where they had served the sick and the poor--were turned away as they now sought refuge for themselves and their children. Individual authors address the critical issues related to the HIV epidemic, women, and the Christian church: how the HIV epidemic affected so many women and children; what the Old and New Testaments teach about our responsibility to the poor, the needy, the sick, the widow, and the orphan; and how difficult it should be for Christians to ignore these teachings. The HIV epidemic continues, and millions of women and children bear a disproportionate share of the pain and suffering without a refuge. Although HIV is a specific disease, it serves as a paradigm for all Christians to ask what other needs they may be ignoring.""I will never forget Joanna, the first woman I met who was dying from AIDS. She was living under a tree, having been expelled from her rural village in Mozambique because of stigma. Where was the church of Jesus Christ in her terrible suffering? Women, HIV, and the Church urgently calls us in the global church to act on behalf of the millions of other ''Joannas'' who desperately need compassion and practical assistance from those who name his name.""--Kay Warren, Founder of HIV&AIDS Initiative, Saddleback Church""Whether in the ghettos of America or the bush villages of Africa, the church has failed to meet Jesus''s standards for caring. Ammann and colleagues alert us to the ''feminization of AIDS'' and call the church of Christ to meet their needs the way Jesus would.""--Diane M. Komp, MD, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Yale University""In the pages of this book, I found a compelling invitation to go deep. The authors have successfully navigated the delicate balance of solid, scholarly work and accessibility for readers across a wide spectrum of the church who want practical, tangible, and compassionate engagement with women living with HIV.""--Paul B. Tshihamba, Pastor of Mission Christ Presbyterian ChurchArthur J. Ammann is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He is the founder of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention. Ammann became interested in HIV when it was discovered in 1981. Throughout the world, and particularly in resource-poor countries, he has conducted research and directed programs for women and children on HIV prevention and care. Ammann has published numerous articles and essays on these subjects. He is the coeditor (with Arye Rubinstein) of Prevention and Treatment of HIV Infection in Infants and Children.Julie Ponsford Holland has been a freelance copyeditor and writer for 17 years, working for ad agencies, publishers, and individuals. She earned an MA in orientation and mobility, allowing her to teach travel skills to those with visual impairments.

Human embryos, it has been said, ""have no muscles, nerves, digestive system, feet, hands, face, or brain; they have nothing to distinguish them as a human being, and if one of them died, no one would mourn as they would for one of us."" Consequently, early human embryos are being dismembered in laboratories around the world to produce embryonic stem cells, which, we are told, are the tools that will lead to the next quantum leap in medicine. Should Christians support such small sacrifices for something that might potentially relieve the suffering of millions, or should we vigorously oppose it?Developmental biologist and professor of biochemistry Michael Buratovich was asked such a question (among others) by his students. This book contains his measured answers and provides support from the scientific literature to substantiate his claims. He shows that embryonic stem cells are unnecessary, since the renaissance in regenerative medicine is occurring largely without them. Furthermore, he sets forth the scientific and historic case that the embryo is the youngest and most vulnerable member of humanity, and that ones such as these are precisely those whom the Christian church worked to protect in the past--and should champion in the present.""In order to make the case for ethical advancements in science, we must understand science, which can seem like a daunting task. Michael Buratovich does a great service for his readers by inviting us into the conversations he has with his students. Using a helpful and easy-to-understand question-and-answer format, he clearly explains the science, what is at stake, and why it matters.""--Jennifer Lahl, The Center for Bioethics and Culture""For many, our information on stem cells is as old as the 2004 presidential election when it was the hotly debated issue that inspired false and irresponsible promises, and social conservatives were accused of denying the disabled their dreams of being well. Now, thanks to Michael Buratovich, we have no excuse for being misinformed. Accurate and encouraging about ethical medical advances where appropriate, The Stem Cell Epistles is accessible, interesting, and the new go-to source on stem cell bioethics.""--John Stonestreet, Colson Center for Christian Worldview and Summit Ministries""Written as a series of responses to questions, this book skillfully combines a strong moral argument, rooted in Christian tradition, against the use of embryonic stem cells with clear and detailed scientific exposition of the basics of human embryology. It offers particularly valuable descriptions of the successes and possibilities of alternatives to the use of embryonic stem cells. Anyone interested in this complex moral matter should find the book extraordinarily helpful.""--Fritz Oehlschlaeger, Virginia Polytechnic Institute""This is a rare book. Buratovich brings to this issue not only his own expertise as a scientist, but awareness that philosophical and theological questions percolate beneath the scientific questions. Not only that, his answers exhibit the twin virtues that all good writing and thinking should exhibit: charity and clarity.""--Francis J. Beckwith, Baylor University""Buratovich has provided a helpful discussion on a variety of longstanding as well as emerging controversies on bioethics. He consults ancient and modern voices from ethics, philosophy, and theology and lays them aside current discoveries and developments in biological science. . . . The result is a splendid, comprehensive, and detailed treatment of abortion, personhood, stem cell research, and cloning. He does it with fairness, sensitivity, and objectivity--those graces missing from much of public discourse.""--Mark Van Valin, Pastor, Spring Arbor Free Methodist ChurchLong version of Mark Van Valin''s endorsement:""Mike Buratovich has provided a helpful discussion on a variety of longstanding as well as emerging controversies on bioethics. He consults both ancient and moder

The contributors to this book address the theme of educating ethical leaders for the twenty-first century. They represent a wide range of fields, including philosophy, theology, law, science, and medicine. They all share the belief, however, that ethical leadership education is necessary in order to provide the next generation of leaders with the tools that they will need to successfully navigate the challenges of today and of the coming decades. These essays identify significant issues and challenges confronting leaders, students, and educators from many different backgrounds, cultures, and communities, who must negotiate the difficult matters of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of difference; and the development of ethical student leaders and educators within specific environments, who will promote habits and practices that create communities of discourse and practice that address the challenges of diversity and culture.Contributors:Derek BellWalter Earl FlukerShirley Ann JacksonJames A. JosephMelvinia KingPreston KingBryant MarksWalter E. MasseyDavid SatcherTavis Smiley""Educating Ethical Leaders for the Twenty-First Century is a prescient collection of essays written by distinguished leaders in academia, law, medicine, and contemporary culture. The essayists provide thoughtful and challenging examples of ethical dilemmas facing leaders and communities in the decades ahead. It is fascinating and a privilege to watch as these notable leaders grapple with the ''issues of integrity, empathy, and hope as moral indices for ethical leadership.'' A must-read for anyone preparing for or exercising leadership in the twenty-first century.""--Debra Harden, Professional Development Director, Georgia School Superintendents AssociationWalter Earl Fluker is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership and the editor of The Howard Thurman Papers Project at Boston University School of Theology. He is author of Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility, and Community (2009) and editor of The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, Volume 1: My People Need Me (2009) and Volume 2, ""Christian, Who Calls Me Christian?"" (2012).

The challenges and changes that take place when religions move from one cultural context to another present unique opportunities for interreligious dialogue. In new cultural environments religions are not only propelled to enter into dialogue with the traditional or dominant religion of a particular culture; religions are also invited to enter into dialogue with one another about cultural changes. In this volume, scholars from different religious traditions discuss the various types of dialogue that have emerged from the process of acculturation. While the phenomenon of religious acculturation has generally focused on Western religions in non-Western contexts, this volume deals predominantly with the acculturation in the United States. It thus offers a fresh look at the phenomenon of acculturation while also lifting up an often implicit or ignored dimension of interreligious dialogue.""In a world becoming increasingly pluralistic, culturally and religiously, this book provides a generous assembly of leading scholars addressing the invariable need for effective and enduring interreligious and intercultural dialogue. This book is a rich resource for students and scholars . . . both in the academy and in different religious circles.""--Marinus C. Iwuchukwu, Duquesne University""This fourth volume in Cornille''s impressive series on interreligious dialogue demonstrates the extent to which religious identity is not only conditioned by cultural realities, but how very often it is self-consciously responsive to them. This relationship . . . drives the reader to interrogate the most basic categories we use and reify despite the ample historical and contemporary evidence of cultural change, adaptation, and growth in identity.""--John N. Sheveland, Gonzaga University""Timely and informative, this book discusses interreligious dialogue in the contexts of the search for cultural identity, assimilation and acculturation, and religious pluralism in the United States. Written by experts in the field, [it] is valuable for both scholars and general readers. I highly recommend it.""--Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity SchoolCatherine Cornille is Professor of Comparative Theology at Boston College. She is author of The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue (2008) and managing editor of the series Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts. She is editor of Song Divine (2006), Many Mansions? (2002), and A Universal Faith? (1992).Stephanie Corigliano is a doctoral candidate in Comparative Theology at Boston College, working in the area of Hindu-Christian dialogue.

Karl Barth''s Christology provides a key to out-narrating the Deus absconditus, which, as Rustin Brian contends, is in fact the god of modernity. Included in this is the rejection of the logical and philosophical systems that allow for the modern understanding of God as the Deus absconditus, namely, dialectics and nominalism. This rejection is illustrated, interestingly enough, in Barth''s decision to literally cover up, with a rug, Martin Luther''s works in his personal library. Surely this was more than a decorative touch.The reading of Barth''s works that results from this starting point challenges much of contemporary Barth scholarship and urges readers to reconsider Barth. Through careful examination of a large body of Barth''s writings, particularly in regard to the issues of the knowledge or knowability of God, as well as Christology, Brian argues that contemporary Barth scholarship should be done in careful conversation with the finest examples of both Protestant and, especially, Roman Catholic theology. Barth''s paradoxical Christology thus becomes the foundation for a dogmatic ecumenicism. Barth''s Christology, then, just might be able to open up possibilities for discussion and even convergence, within a church that is anything but one.""This book is a significant contribution to the lively conversation between Christian theology and postmodernity. Perhaps Brian''s most trenchant insight is that Karl Barth''s quarrel with Martin Luther in regards to the Deus absconditus parallels postmodernity''s critique of typically modern conceptions of God, entertained by believers and non-believers alike. Thus, the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century shows the path toward dialogue with the dominant cultural form of the twenty-first century. Brian''s text is lively, provocative, well-written, and compellingly argued.""--Robert Barron, author of The Priority of Christ""Rather than accepting well-worn interpretations of Barth (and Luther), Brian breaks fresh ground with a provocative--and for that reason all the more interesting--interpretation. Barth was not a dialectical theologian indebted to a Lutheran Deus absconditus. Instead, he was a theologian of the glorious paradox of the fullness of God present in Christ. . . . Brian''s book marks an important contribution for a new direction in Barth studies.""--D. Stephen Long, author of Keeping Faith""In this ecumenically important book, Brian argues that Karl Barth is best regarded as a transitional figure who crucially helped open up the current, post-Protestant era in theology by breaking with the tropes of nominalism and voluntarism, which had imprisoned the mainline Reformation and distorted their grasp of orthodox Christology. He makes a convincing case that requires to be taken seriously.""--John Milbank, author of Being ReconciledRustin E. Brian is an ordained Pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, currently pastoring Renton Church of the Nazarene in Renton, WA, and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Northwest Nazarene University and Seattle Pacific University. He is the author of Covering Up Luther: How Barth''s Christology Challenged the Deus Absconditus that Haunts Modernity (2013).

Humor smiles and chuckles and sometimes laughs so loud in virtually every book of the Bible, so it''s remarkable how readers manage to overlook it. It''s also unfortunate. Humor graces biblical texts at so many levels that to miss the humor is to miss not only much of the emotional impact of the Bible, but much of its meaning. Illuminating Humor of the Bible shows how--and how much--comic elements contribute to understanding the most vital book in our culture. Biblical humor has been seriously underestimated. We have not begun to appreciate why humor winks with such unexpected frequency and understated significance from this revered text. It''s time to shine a spotlight on scriptural wit to illuminate the ways humor refracts biblical meaning. Unveiled by the frank perspective of humor, Bible texts reveal implications that will surprise the most informed readers. The reader-response lamp of humor lights up dark corners of biblical significance inaccessible until now. Awareness of the irony and wit and satire and slapstick enables not just better readings, but better ways to read. Go where no Bible reader has gone before. Try eight fresh and relevant methods of reading the Bible better through the lens of its humor.""There is nothing here of slapstick or cheap stuff. Rather, this humor concerns the mocking of Jonah and the reversal of Esther. Such humor subverts commonplace assumptions about our ordered, controlled world. Walker is a good reader who shows us how much we have yet to learn about the text and how much we have yet to unlearn.""--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary""Illuminating Humor of the Bible is a gift to the careful and caring reader. Walker''s love for the Bible--not for the traditional, life-dampening interpretations so many foist upon the unsuspecting, but the actual biblical text--shines through on each page, living up to the title in every way. Walker sees the text with fresh, enthusiastic eyes that dare to have a twinkle in them.""--Charles Swift, Brigham Young University""Many readers don''t see humor in the Bible, often because they don''t expect it or don''t know how to look for it. . . . Walker''s solid, often detailed treatment will reward those willing to explore by identifying where the humor is, how it works, and how it can surprise us with new insights about living.""--Howard R. Macy, George Fox UniversitySteve Walker is Professor of English at Brigham Young University, where he has taught The Bible as Literature for forty-seven years. He earned a PhD in literature at Harvard and studied at the Divinity School there. His twelve books include Christian Fantasy: Tolkien and Lewis (1980), Mourning with Those Who Mourn (1999), and Seven Ways of Looking at Susanna (1986).

Lovescapes introduces the reader to the various meanings and manifestations of love and its many cognates such as compassion, caring, altruism, empathy, and forgiveness. It addresses how love and compassion have been understood in history and the religions of the world. It goes on to explore the ways that our environments and heredity influence our capacity to love and suggests ways to cultivate love and compassion in one''s life. The book shows how the values of love and compassion are integral to finding humane solutions to the daunting problems we face as individuals, as a human family, and as an earth community--a world in crisis.Lovescapes has the following features:-Describing how love is the essence of the divine, and therefore the ground of reality-Understanding the meaning of love and its place in our lives-Learning how love and compassion have been understood across history, culture, and tradition-Gaining insight about how to increase our capacity to love and show compassion-Discerning how love and compassion can be applied in all aspects of our lives, in the regions where we live, and in our global setting.""What is love and how do we distinguish it from infatuation and destructive feelings? Now, in Lovescapes, Duncan Ferguson explores the cultural and historical understandings of love, inviting readers to invest in ''the love-centered life.'' Perceiving that ''love and compassion are very complex human experiences,'' Ferguson . . . provides us with an extremely important book.""--James H. Charlesworth, Director and Editor, Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls Project""Lovescapes not only provides a lucid and comprehensive account of pertinent literature--from biblical, classical, and Western and Eastern sources, to contemporary studies in psychology, social theory, theology, philosophy, and biology--it is also filled with fresh and important insights as to ways love and compassion can inform and transform both interpersonal relations and our responses to the urgent crises facing our national and global communities today.""--Richard H. Hiers, Professor of Religion Emeritus and Affiliate Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Florida""Duncan Ferguson is a wise and creative thinker who has gained profound insight into the meaning of being human through a distinguished career of teaching, writing, and travel. In Lovescapes he gives us his most thoughtful reflection on the fundamental issues of life in our day. It moves beyond platitudes and explores love in its global as well as personal dimensions. This book penetrates the heart of the matter.""--Mark Valeri, Professor of Church History, Union Presbyterian Seminary ""Lovescapes coordinates several frameworks for understanding the contours and complexities of love. Theologically grounded, sensitively interfaith, and broadly humanist, this book provides a hopeful vision for healing on personal, communal, societal, and global levels through the transformative power of love. The call to maturity offered here makes a significant contribution to people of goodwill who work to make the world a better, more human place.""--Gordon S. Mikoski, Associate Professor of Christian Education, Princeton Theological SeminaryDuncan S. Ferguson has served in the church and higher education as a chaplain, professor, and senior administrator. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh and has published several articles and five books, including Exploring the Spirituality of the World Religions. He was a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2010 during which he worked on Lovescapes. He is currently engaged in several issues related to international peace and justice.

""Christianity, as faith centered in Jesus as the Christ came to be called, got a foothold in the world, and for a vital and vocal minority changed the world, because it proclaimed a message that awakened men and women to possibilities for human life that they had either lost or never entertained. That message the first Christian evangelists (and Jesus himself, according to the record) called euangellion--good news, gospel. For its first two or three hundred years, Christianity was largely dependent for its existence upon the new zest for life that was awakened in persons who heard and were, as they felt, transformed, by that gospel; and at various and sundry points in subsequent history the Christian movement has found itself revitalized by the spirit of that same ''good news'' in ways that spoke to the specifics of their times and places.""The lesson of history is clear: the challenge to all serious Christians and Christian bodies today is not whether we can devise yet more novel and promotionally impressive means for the transmission of ''the Christian religion'' (let alone this or that denomination); it is whether we are able to hear and to proclaim . . . gospel! We do not need statisticians and sociologists to inform us that religion--and specifically our religion, as the dominant expression of the spiritual impulse of homo sapiens in our geographic context--is in decline. We do not need the sages of the new atheism to announce in learned tomes (and on buses!) that ''God probably does not exist.'' The ''sea of faith'' has been ebbing for a very long time."" --from the Introduction""Douglas John Hall is a treasure, a man I have known whose intellectual depth is matched only by his spirit of kindness. . . . So too is Waiting for Gospel. As people continue to discuss the place of the church in North America leaning on sociology and cultural studies, Doug Hall reminds us that in the end it will be only theology, a lived theology of existential depth, that will help. All the contemporary talk of church in North America has so often failed to provide truly unique and insightful thoughts . . . about how God''s revelation in Jesus Christ is encountering people in this context, at this time. Waiting for Gospel propels us in that direction and therefore shines brightly, giving the reader value upon value.""--Andrew RootOlson Baalson Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MinnesotaAuthor of The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church (2010)Douglas John Hall is Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology in the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University in Montreal. He is the author of more than twenty-five books, including Lighten Our Darkness (1976, 2001); Why Christian? (1998); God and Human Suffering (1986); The Steward (1990; Wipf & Stock, 2004); and The Messenger (Cascade Books, 2011).He has lectured widely in Canada, the United States, Germany, and Japan, and is the recipient of many honors, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award of Union Theological Seminary, the Joseph Sittler Award for Leadership in Theology, and the Order of Canada.

The interdependence of boundary questions and the experience of cognitive dissonance reveal that knowledge in all fields of inquiry is always incomplete and tentative. The issues are particularly acute for Christian theological reflection. Ingram illustrates the importance of boundary questions and cognitive dissonance as a means of creatively transforming contemporary Christian theological reflection through dialogue with the natural sciences and the world''s religions, particularly Buddhism, filtered through the lenses of Whiteheadian process philosophy.""In a religiously plural world, theologians have been struggling to recognize this pluralism as they do their theological work. It happens less often that historians of religion articulate their theology out of their work and their findings. In this book, directly, clearly, and boldly, Paul Ingram does so, sometimes breaking new ground in the process.""-John B. Cobb JrProfessor EmeritusClaremont School of Theology ""Paul Ingram is one of relatively few Christian systematic theologians to synthesize reflections from his work in interreligious dialogue (especially the Buddhist-Christian exchange) and from his study of the ongoing exchange between philosophically oriented natural scientists and scientifically minded Christian philosophers/theologians. The present book represents the latest stage in his thinking on these matters. As Ingram himself comments, the experience of cognitive dissonance in comparing and contrasting quite different points of view on foundational issues may be often quite unsettling, but it seems to be the only way to keep growing intellectually, morally, and spiritually.""-Joseph A. Bracken, SJEmeritus Professor of TheologyXavier University""In Theological Reflections at the Boundaries, Paul Ingram challenges his readers to ask of themselves, ''Who do you say that I am?'' in relation to the questions of Christian identity in a global society of religious pluralism, in a world increasingly defined by science and technology, and in a deep manner in terms of what it really means to be a human being. Most of all, though, he does this by asking himself this question, and by so doing, shares his journey and points the way.""-Mark UnnoAssociate Professor of East Asian ReligionsUniversity of OregonPaul O. Ingram is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of Wrestling with God (Cascade Books, 2006) and The Process of Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (Cascade Books, 2009).

It is hubris to claim answers to unanswerable questions. Such questions, however--as part of their burden and worth--must still be asked, investigated, and contemplated. How there can be a loving, all-powerful God and a world stymied by suffering and evil is one of the unanswerable questions we must all struggle to answer, even as our responses are closer to gasps, silences, and further questions. More importantly, how and whether one articulates a response will have deep, lasting repercussions for any belief in God and in our judgments upon one another.Throughout this wide-ranging, interdisciplinary work, Peter Admirand draws upon his extensive research and background in theology and testimonial literature, trauma and genocide studies, cultural studies, philosophy of religion, interreligious studies, and systematic theology. As David Burrell writes in the Foreword: "". . .[T]he work''s intricate structure, organization, and development will lead us to appreciate that the best one can settle for is a fractured faith built on a fractured theodicy, expressed in a language explicitly fragmented, pluralist, and broken.""""Peter Admirand has made a significant contribution to one of the most difficult topics for theologians and philosophers--the problem of evil. Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring theodicy. What makes his book particularly important is his exploration of the testimony of survivors (as well as perpetrators). Admirand explains convincingly why it is essential to take seriously witness testimony and commends Christians in particular to immerse themselves in the writings of post-Shoah Jewish thinkers such as Elie Wiesel and Emil Fackenheim. Highly recommended.""-Edward KesslerDirector of the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic FaithsCambridge University""Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is a rich and compelling foundational work towards renewing post-Holocaust Christian theology for the future. Its interdisciplinary focus demands attention and care by scholars and students in a range of academic disciplines and fields and within the wider church communities. The work can also provide deep pastoral meaning for people in situations of concrete suffering. Admirand''s argument of a fractured faith built upon a fractured theodicy identifies a key component for the possibility of a viable faith in our post-Shoah world, which is inundated by questions, gaps, and doubt and so must be open to interfaith learning and profound theological humility.""-Didier PollefeytVice Dean of the Faculty of TheologyKatholieke Universiteit Leuven""Peter Admirand does not even begin to discuss the attempts of theology to address apparently meaningless suffering until he has given vivid testimonies of endurance, not only by believers but by other- and non-believers. Only then does he set about facing the problems these raise for theology, not neglecting objections to theodicy itself from both theologians and secular thinkers. The book is profoundly moving and challenging and is itself a testimony to a passionate faith and hope. It will reopen intractable questions long thought to be dormant.""-John D''Arcy MayFTCD emer. and Senior Research Fellow,Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College DublinPeter Admirand is a Lecturer in the School of Theology, Mater Dei Institute, Dublin City University, and a Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer in Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of a wide range of articles in interreligious studies; testimonial literature; postcolonial and postmodern theology; and moral theology.

Providing a comprehensive study of ""oral tradition"" in Israel, this volume unpacks the nature of oral tradition, the form it would have taken in ancient Israel, and the remains of it in the narrative books of the Hebrew Bible. The author presents cases of oral/written interaction that provide the best ethnographic analogies for ancient Israel and insights from these suggest a model of transmission in oral-written societies valid for ancient Israel. Miller reconstructs what ancient Israelite oral literature would have been and considers criteria for identifying orally derived material in the narrative books of the Old Testament, marking several passages as highly probable oral derivations. Using ethnographic data and ancient Near Eastern examples, he proposes performance settings for this material. The epilogue treats the contentious topic of historicity and shows that orally derived texts are not more historically reliable than other texts in the Bible.""In this book, Robert Miller offers an assessment of the modern study of oral tradition in ancient Israelite literature . . .The result is an engaging survey of the question of oral literature in ancient Israel. The book points up the problems and prospects involved in this most difficult area of biblical studies.""-Mark S. SmithSkirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern StudiesNew York University""Robert Miller''s Oral Tradition in Ancient Israel is warmly to be welcomed. Miller is particularly well equipped for this task, being equally at home in literary and archaeological work, and this timely and comprehensive study does not disappoint. Miller succeeds brilliantly in demonstrating that there was an interplay of oral and written composition and performance throughout Israel''s history. We are very much in his debt.""-Paul M. JoyceTheology Faculty Board ChairmanUniversity of Oxford""This study is a fascinating contribution to discussion of the role of oral tradition in the composition of biblical texts. Miller offers an impressive critique of classic and recent studies on the oral-written continuum in a wide range of literatures and cultures, opening up new insights into the literature and culture of the Hebrew Bible.""-Katherine HayesProfessor of Old TestamentSeminary of the Immaculate Conception Robert D. Miller II, SFO, is Associate Professor of Old Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is the author of Chieftains of the Highland Clans and Syriac and Antiochian Exegesis and Biblical Theology for the 3rd Millennium.

American evangelicalism has recently experienced a new openness to Roman Catholicism, and many evangelicals, both famous and ordinary, have joined the Catholic Church or are considering the possibility. This book helps evangelicals who are exploring Catholicism to sort out the kind of concerns that typically come up in discerning whether to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. In simple language, it explains many theological misunderstandings that evangelicals often have about Catholicism and suggests the kind of practical steps many take to enter the Catholic Church. The book frames evangelicals becoming Roman Catholic as a kind of ""paradigm shift"" involving the buildup of anomalies about evangelicalism, a crisis of the evangelical paradigm, a paradigm revolution, and the consolidation of the new Catholic paradigm. It will be useful for both evangelicals interested in pursuing and understanding Catholicism and Catholic pastoral workers seeking to help evangelical seekers who come to them.""While showing appreciation and respect for his evangelical patrimony, Christian Smith offers a careful, clear, and thoughtful path to the Catholic Church for those evangelicals who are entertaining Catholicism as they seek to walk more authentically in Christ. This is a truly unique contribution to the growing literature authored by former evangelicals who have found their way to St. Peter''s barque."" -Francis J. Beckwithauthor of Return to Rome: Confessions of An Evangelical Catholic""Christian Smith is correct in describing why it usually takes a ''paradigm revolution'' for an evangelical to become a Catholic. The ''anomalies'' he describes for evangelical life are mostly accurate and his presentation of Catholicism is attractive. But this intriguing book would have been even better if it had paused to reflect on why there are so many paradigm shifts in the other direction--of people born Catholic who become evangelical. Anyone--Catholic, evangelical, or a convert in either direction--who responds thoughtfully to the arguments of this book will be a better Christian for having made the effort.""-Mark Nollauthor of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind""I expect that this book may turn out to be the definitive text (short of the Fathers only!) for evangelicals who are prepared to address themselves courageously to the ecclesiological question. Smith''s writing is brisk, starkly clear, challenging, and exhaustive (not exhausting!); he leaves no stone unturned. This is the best book I''ve seen on the topic.""-Thomas Howardauthor of On Being CatholicChristian Smith is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of The Bible Made Impossible (2011), What is a Person? (2010), and Souls in Transition (2009).

Here for the first time in print is the story of a small group who dared to confront Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich with the love of Jesus Christ. Avoiding covert resistance on the one hand and complicity and compromise on the other, the Rhon Bruderhof, under the courageous leadership of Eberhard Arnold, boldly witnessed to the politics of the Kingdom of God in Nazi Germany. Although ""less than a gnat to an elephant,"" in Arnold''s words, they believed that as God''s ambassadors love could overcome hatred-even of Adolf Hitler himself. This is an amazing account of a community who stayed true to the nonviolent way of the Cross, and how, despite relentless Nazi opposition, God protected and victoriously led them along the way.This meticulously documented story of faith serves as a handbook of heroism for believers today. God knows, we too are ""besieged"" by forces of untruth and duplicity. May we, like the Bruderhof, be found faithful.-Daniel BerriganScripture tells us that we are to be a counter-cultural community, living out the radical teachings of Christ. This book sets a pattern for those who want to live faithfully in opposition to the dictatorial consumeristic culture of our age.-Tony Campolo, Eastern University, St. Davids, PAIn An Embassy Besieged, a small community of Christians courageously and graciously refuses to compromise their faith in the face of the worst human evil. Their witness has much to teach us today in a world so riddled with prejudice, so tired of militarism, so starved for grace, and so desperate for imagination. -Shane Claiborne, author, activistSeeking to embody the Sermon on the Mount and articulating a clear Anabaptist theology of church and state, the early Bruderhof movement gives a courageous testimony to nonviolence in a harsh totalitarian state. Emmy Barth tells a compelling and well-crafted story that is hard to put down. -Donald B. Kraybill, author of The Upside Down KingdomEmmy Barth is senior archivist for and member of Church Communities International (formerly known as the Bruderhof Communities). Her earlier book No Lasting Home (2009) tells the story of the Bruderhof''s first year in Paraguay when they were forced to leave Europe during World War II.

Volume 3 The Paul L. Holmer Papers: Selected Sermons, Addresses, and PrayersIn his teaching and his writing, Paul L. Holmer (1916-2004), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota (1946-1960) and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (1960-1987), not only made important contributions to recent American theology, but was also much in demand as a public speaker and preacher. Following his death, the Holmer family in 2005 donated his papers to the Yale Divinity School Library. In this, the third volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers: Communicating the Faith Indirectly, the reader will see Holmer''s deep concern with the problems and possibilities of the sermon, liturgy, ministry, and spirituality. Inspired by Soren Kierkegaard''s reflections on ""indirect communication,"" and by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Holmer not only reveals his strenuous reflection on the sermon, but also gives concrete examples of his own efforts to communicate, enabling his hearers and readers to ""make sense"" of their lives. In the first part of this volume, Holmer reflects upon Kierkegaard''s ""indirect communication,"" a communication not of knowledge but of human capacity. In other pieces Holmer turns to liturgy, ministry, and spirituality. In the second part of this volume, the reader sees Holmer''s own challenging, uncompromising practice of religious and Christian communication, in a selection of his sermons, addresses, and prayers. For anyone concerned with sermons, liturgy, spirituality, and the challenges of ministry, Holmer''s essays and addresses will prove indispensable.This is the third volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers, which includes also volume 1, On Kierkegaard and the Truth, and volume 2, Thinking the Faith with Passion: Selected Essays.""This volume is such a gift to those of us who loved Paul Holmer and were shaped by his thought. It is a thrill to hear his distinctive voice again in these pages. This book may be an even greater gift to those who have never read or heard Holmer. Now you will get to see what all the fuss is about. Be forewarned, however: do not open this book casually. You might be forever changed as well.""--Martin B. Copenhaver, Wellesley Congregational Church ""Paul Holmer took up Kierkegaard''s emphasis on the decisiveness of the ''how'' over the ''what,'' inviting the indirection so rightly registered in the book''s title. A central expression of ''how'' is insistence upon compassion as chaperone, guardian, and custodian of learning.""--David Cain, University of Mary Washington""Holmer is both philosopher and theologian, providing sage advice for anyone who loves the church. The sermons, most of which are appropriately based on some letter of St. Paul, advise the church on a variety of pitfalls on the path of the Christian life, urging steadfastness against worldliness, reminding us of the power of the consciousness of immortality, and making clear the place of thought in the Christian life."" --Ronald E. Hustwit Sr., The College of WoosterDavid J. Gouwens is Professor of Theology at Brite Divinity School. He is the author of Kierkegaard''s Dialectic of the Imagination (1989) and Kierkegaard as Religious Thinker (1996).Lee C. Barrett is Stager Professor of Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Heidelberg Catechism (2007), Foundations of Modern Theology: Kierkegaard (2009), and co-editor of Kierkegaard and the Bible (2010).

In his teaching and his writing, Paul L. Holmer (1916-2004), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota (1946-1960) and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (1960-1987), made many important contributions to recent American theology. One of the most insightful American students of Kierkegaard of his generation, Holmer perceived early on Wittgenstein''s importance for theology, and employed both thinkers to inspire his own fresh consideration of perennial issues in philosophical theology: understanding, belief, faith, the emotions, and the importance of the virtues. While best known for his essays in The Grammar of Faith (1978), Holmer penned numerous other interesting and original essays, some published but many unpublished, which circulated widely in typescript during his tenure at Yale. Following his death, the Holmer family in 2005 donated his papers to the Yale Divinity School Library; in reviewing Holmer''s papers, the editors have chosen a selection of his most seminal essays, beyond those in The Grammar of Faith, demonstrating the breadth and range of his contributions.In this, the second volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers, the editors present pieces that illuminate four significant areas of Holmer''s contributions: essays on Kierkegaard; essays on Wittgenstein; Theology, Understanding, and Faith; and Emotions, Passions, and Virtues. Taken together, these essays invite in-depth exploration of the thought of this important American philosophical theologian.This is the second volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers, which includes also volume 1, On Kierkegaard and Truth: Selected Essays, and volume 3, Communicating the Faith Indirectly: Selected Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers.""Disciplined by a careful, undogmatic appropriation of Wittgenstein''s later achievements, Paul Holmer may just be the best balanced and most plainspoken expositor of Kierkegaard''s ethical-religious thought in the English language to date. Holmer was an outstanding teacher, and this collection is a treasure for those privileged to hear his lectures and for those who did not.""--Robert L. PerkinsProfessor Emeritus of PhilosophyStetson University, DeLand, Florida""This collection of previously published and unpublished essays by Paul L. Holmer on a wide range of topics demonstrates his incisive thought and writing on some of the perplexing ''knots of understanding'' in philosophy and theology, which he sought to untie with exceptional acuity and conceptual clarity by way of Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and his own pioneering efforts in the rehabilitation of virtue ethics in our time.""--Sylvia WalshScholar in ResidenceStetson UniversityDavid J. Gouwens is Professor of Theology at Brite Divinity School. He is the author of Kierkegaard''s Dialectic of the Imagination (1989) and Kierkegaard as Religious Thinker (1996).Lee C. Barrett III is Stager Professor of Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Heidelberg Catechism (2007), Foundations of Modern Theology: Kierkegaard (2009), and co-editor of Kierkegaard and the Bible (2010).