Books published by Cascade Books

ReVisioning: Critical Methods of Seeing Christianity in the History of Art examines the application of art historical methods to the history of Christianity and art. As methods of art history have become more interdisciplinary, there has been a notable emergence of discussions of religion in art history as well as related fields such as visual culture and theology. This book represents the first critical examination of scholarly methodologies applied to the study of Christian subjects, themes, and contexts in art. ReVisioning contains original work from a range of scholars, each of whom has addressed the question, in regard to a well-known work of art or body of work, ""How have particular methods of art history been applied, and with what effect?"" The study moves from the third century to the present, providing extensive treatment and analysis of art historical methods applied to the history of Christianity and art.""Romaine and Stratford''s collection raises the question of how methodologies of art history--formulated within the secular context of modern academe--have failed and succeeded at understanding the Christian content of works of art. The question becomes urgent when the artworks under examination are also from the modern period and thus suffer from the doubling of denial of Christian content, but the collection is also enriched by material from earlier periods of art.""--Natasha Seaman, Rhode Island College""ReVisioning delivers on the nuanced promise in its subtitle; it sustains intellectual sophistication while it revises, reconsiders, and reimagines the rich threads in the fabric of critical Christianity. The more than fifteen thoughtful essays venture courageously into the space within academe too often dismissed, suppressed, or maligned--that is to say, the space of the sacred. . . . Its essays, spanning the history of artistic production from the medieval to the moderns in a mix of fresh, critical perspectives, go a long way to restore the relevance of mystery, transcendence, and dare it be said, the sacred, to what I hope is an ongoing conversation on theological aesthetics. ReVisioning is a courageous and long-overdue stake in the ground.""--Ronald R. Bernier, Wentworth Institute of TechnologyJames Romaine, Associate Professor of Art History and chair of the Department of Art History at Nyack College. He is the President of the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art (ASCHA). His recent scholarship includes Art as Spiritual Perception: A Festschrift for Dr. E. John Walford (2012), and contributing to the exhibition catalog Tim Rollins and K.O.S.: A History (2009). Linda Stratford, Associate Professor at Asbury University. She is a board member of the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art (ASCHA) and has produced a number of publications and presentations that draw upon cross-disciplinary training in art history and aesthetics, including a manuscript in progress, ""Artists into Frenchmen,"" a study of art and identity in modern France.

The church is unsure of itself in the twenty-first century''s media culture. Some Christians denounce digital media while others embrace the latest gadgets and apps as soon as they appear. Many of us are stumbling along amidst the tweets, status updates, podcasts, and blog posts, wondering if we have ventured into a realm beyond the scope of biblical wisdom. Though there is such a thing as ""new media,"" Andrew Byers reminds us that the actual concept of media is ancient, theological, and even biblical. In fact, there is such a thing as the media of God. ""TheoMedia"" are means by which God communicates and reveals himself--creation, divine speech, inspired writings, the visual symbol of the cross, and more. Christians are actually called to media saturation. But the media that are to most prominently saturate our lives are the media of God.If God creates and uses media, then Scripture provides a theological logic by which we can create and use media in the digital age. This book is not an unqualified endorsement of the latest media products or a tirade against media technology. Instead, Byers calls us to rethink our understanding of media in terms of the media of God in the biblical story of redemption.""The church has been unsure about how to discern God''s presence in the new media deluge. Andrew Byers'' work gives us much-needed language to draw on: from Scripture, tradition, and a savvy and nuanced wisdom about these media. This book should have existed long before. It is the definitive word on the church and digital technology.""--Jason Byassee, Research Fellow, New Media Project, Union Theological Seminary""Andrew Byers has put new wine, a culturally savvy reflection on the church''s engagement with modern media technology, into an old wineskin: biblical theology. . . . If the medium is the message, then the church needs the guidance Byers gives as it seeks to fulfill its vocation as God''s new media for communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to a spiritually distracted, culturally noisy world.""--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School""In this arresting book, Andy Byers has brought together three things: the reality of living in a media-saturated culture, the priority of Scripture as a presentation of God''s mighty acts and deeds, and Jesus Christ, the consummate TheoMedium, who holds them both together. A book of wisdom for today''s--and tomorrow''s--Christian.""--Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University""What do the voice of God and the voice of Siri have in common? Andy Byers answers this question by retelling the biblical story with fresh and vivid detail, carefully pointing out the rich and varied ways God used media in each chapter. With his unique blend of compassionate pastoral care and insightful but accessible scholarship, Byers offers us a theologically rich vision of the proper place of media in the life of the church.""--John DyerExecutive Director of Communication and Educational Technology, Dallas Theological SeminaryAndrew Byers is a PhD student in New Testament at Durham University, where he serves as the Chaplain of St. Mary''s College and as a theological consultant for the CODEC Institute (Christian Communication in the Digital Age). He is the author of Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint (2011) and his blog is www.hopefulrealism.com

The first five books of the Bible contain many of its most famous stories, populated by vivid characters altogether human in their triumphs and failings--and an equally complicated deity. Many works of Western art and literature appeal to these stories, from Michelangelo''s painting of Adam and Eve to a novel like William Faulkner''s Go Down, Moses. The three great Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are rooted here. So is much of Western political theory and constitutional polity, for a good half of these books contains legislation (torah) of various kinds, as indicated by the ancient title: the book of the Torah. Law and narrative together render the character of the ancient covenant community known as Israel, as well as the God who rules over that community.In this revised and expanded version of his popular book of 1988, Mann engages literary criticism and theology in attending both to the composite nature of the Torah (or Pentateuch) and to its final, canonical shape. Mann''s study provides a lucid introduction to the heart of the Hebrew Bible, suitable for students and general readers, but also of interest to biblical scholars. ""Mann''s study of the foundational texts of biblical faith has long been a reliable staple of pedagogy and interpretation. In it he combines a well-honed capacity for critical judgment with an acute theological sensibility, all of which is presented in an accessible format. For these reasons this new edition is a welcome offer. In it he has . . . added materials that could not have been on the horizon in the first edition. This book will evoke many grateful readers.""--Walter BrueggemannColumbia Theological SeminaryPraise for the first edition:""I would find this volume extremely useful in introducing my students to this basic part of the Old Testament. I am quite excited about this project.""--Patrick D. Millerauthor of Stewards of the Mysteries of God""A sound piece of work. Its holistic, final-form approach reflects the major trend in biblical criticism. It is perceptive, sensitive, thoughtful, and stimulating.""--David Gunncoauthor of Narrative in the Hebrew BibleThomas W. Mann has taught at Princeton Theological Seminary, Converse College, Salem College, and Wake Forest University. For twenty-three years he was also the minister of Parkway United Church of Christ in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He is the author of The Book of the Former Prophets (Cascade Books, 2011), a sequel to this book; Deuteronomy (1995); and God of Dirt: Mary Oliver and the Other Book of God (2004).

Those within the free church tradition have often appealed to the notion of the invisible church to account for the unity of the Body of Christ. A growing number of free church theologians, however, are giving increased attention to the importance of visible ecclesial unity, which immediately raises the perennial problem of the authorities by which unity is maintained. There is also a growing recognition among free church theologians of the need to recognize the authority of tradition in tandem with the authority of Scripture. In this book, Cary affirms these recent developments but then inquires whether a turn toward visible unity, together with an embrace of the authority of tradition, can eventually be coherent without also embracing the authority of an extra-congregational teaching office.To guide his study, Cary engages the work of two theologians from outside the free church tradition: Robert Jenson and Rowan Williams. He then brings them into contact with the prominent free church theologian James McClendon in order to supplement some of the deficiencies Cary perceives in McClendon''s groundbreaking work. Once these deficiencies are addressed, however, the question intensifies whether the free church tradition, as such, can remain a coherent ecclesial option over time.""This work inspires me as a Catholic and fills me with enormous gratitude for . . . [what] God is doing to heal Christian divisions of our own making. By drawing on theologians who ask similar catholic questions in other Christian communions, Cary is able to advance the Free Church tradition as one capable of conjoining the gift of freedom to the gift of being made one in Christ''s body, the church. It is a feast of ecumenical hope.""--C. C. Pecknold, The Catholic University of America ""No advocate or critic of the current quest in the Free Church tradition for a fuller catholicity and deeper commitment to the visible unity of the church catholic should proceed further in reflecting on this movement without reading, marking, and inwardly digesting this agenda-setting book."" --Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity""Virtually unnoticed in the midst of our fragmented society and divided church is a group of younger theologians in the Free Church tradition . . . Cary stands out in this group as one whose love for and depth of insight into his own church heritage, together with a well-honed ability to analyze and incorporate the wisdom of the larger church, is truly remarkable . . . It deserves a wide and careful read, not just by Free Church scholars, but by all Christians who are wrestling with this question.""--Barry Harvey, Baylor UniversityJeff Cary is Assistant Professor of Theology at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas.

Praying--with the Saints--to God Our Mother celebrates the feminine characteristics of God by uncovering a treasury of texts that have been overlooked for centuries. Over 150 scriptural passages, both from the original biblical languages and other ancient translations, radiate the warmth and vitality of the maternal face of God. Additionally, passages from five Ecumenical Councils, all thirty-three Doctors of the Church, another thirty-six Fathers, and a total of seventy-one saints from every century reveal a vast richness of feminine images of God. Stramara''s in-depth scholarship, presented in a format of prayer and meditation, makes this book inviting for all readers. Praying-with the Saints-to God Our Mother will be the standard reference for Christians of any tradition for years to come.""Dr. Stramara has provided not only a rich resource for theologians but a treasury of prayer for the people of God. His introduction alone is invaluable, opening out . . . the depth, breadth, historical and geographical universality, and unquestionable authority and legitimacy in the Christian tradition of the appreciation of the feminine character of God. By embodying his scholarship in the genre of an Office book he encourages the reader/prayer to assimilate the holistic truth of who God is for us not only with the mind but also with the heart.""--Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, STDProfessor Emerita of New Testament and Christian SpiritualityJesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University""Stramara has resoundingly substantiated that the use of feminine imagery for God springs from the ''heart of the church,'' endorsed by ecumenical councils, fathers and doctors of the church, and renowned saints from every century. This book provides a beautiful service in furthering one''s experience of God.""--Elizabeth Johnson, CSJDistinguished Professor of TheologyFordham University""The fruit of years of reading and research, Praying--with the Saints--to God Our Mother is a monumental achievement of scholarship and devotion. Stramara mines the riches of Scripture and church tradition to reveal a treasury of feminine analogies and metaphors for God. Equally suitable for Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant readers, this anthology will be a standard reference of feminine images for the Divine for years to come.""--Wilburn T. StancilProfessor of Theology and Religious StudiesRockhurst UniversityDaniel F. Stramara Jr. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO. He is the author of God''s Timetable: The Book of Revelation and the Feast of Seven Weeks (Pickwick, 2011) and has over twenty articles published in international journals.

Mark: A Theological Commentary for Preachers engages hermeneutics for preaching, employing theological exegesis that enables the preacher to utilize all the narrative units of Mark to craft effective sermons.This commentary unpacks the crucial link between Scripture and application: the theology of each preaching text. The Gospel of Mark is therefore divided into twenty-five narrative units, with the theological focus of each clearly delineated. The specificity of these theological ideas for their respective texts makes possible a sequential homiletical movement through each pericope of the book, progressively developing the theological trajectory of Mark''s theme of discipleship, and enabling the expositor to discover valid application for sermons.While the primary goal of the commentary is to take the preacher from text to theology, it also aids in the advance from theology to sermon by providing tips for preaching and two possible sermon outlines for each of the twenty-five units of the Gospel. The unique approach of this work results in a theology-for-preaching commentary that promises to be useful for anyone teaching through Mark''s Gospel with an emphasis on application.""Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla''s commentary is up to date, relevant, in touch with recent literature, suggestive, and well written. This preacher''s commentary on Mark introduces the pastor to the key issues of the gospel and points the preacher in a solid direction in terms of application emerging from the text. One of the keys is the excellent selection of materials made to get into the meat of the passage, which means pastors can utilize their limited time well in getting familiar with the gospel and where they might go with it. This work is well done and should serve pastors well.""--Darrell L. BockResearch Professor of NT StudiesDallas Theological Seminary""Abraham Kuruvilla has produced a book that theologians, pastors, and laypersons will all appreciate at one and the same time, for he has laid out the Gospel of Mark in twenty-five narrative units simultaneously developing two possible sermon outlines on each of the twenty-five units along with the central theological focus of each unit. More than that, he has also developed a homiletical teaching tool as he progresses through the Gospel stressing the core idea of discipleship while emphasizing the work of the expositor in ending up with discovering valid applications and contemporary responses for living the content of each teaching unit in this Gospel. This emphasis on application of the text continues to be desperately needed in today''s pulpits, as the need for truly expository preaching still exists; one that uses the text of Scripture as the exclusive basis for powerful preaching of the word of God in our day.""--Walter C. Kaiser Jr.President EmeritusGordon-Conwell Theological SeminaryAbraham Kuruvilla is Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, and a dermatologist in private practice. He is the author of Text to Praxis: Hermeneutics and Homiletics in Dialogue (2009) and blogs at www.homiletix.org.

This commentary weaves together the interpretations of Christian exegetes, spanning the past two thousand years, who have concerned themselves with that most mysterious of texts, the book of Leviticus. Even when their commentaries seem most fanciful, the depths of meaning of the Hebrew text comes through in all its many and diverse translations and applications. What we discover is evidence of a biblical text at work in some of the most eloquent of spokespersons throughout the generations. The third book of the Bible is happily enjoying a resurgence of interest in Jewish and Christian quarters alike, being received as a book for the life of the faithful community. What is attempted here is the story of its Western-Christian reception.""In this sparkling synthesis of the Christian Church''s traditional exegesis of Leviticus, Mark Elliott does what any good theologian should do with the Bible: help us learn how to read it within the Church. More than a collection of past perspectives, Engaging Leviticus is ordered by Elliott''s own acute sense of key interpretive questions and of the larger purposes of the scriptural book. His own arguments are historically and intellectually illuminating; but more importantly, they orient us properly to Leviticus'' pointed theological challenges in an exciting way. This is necessary scholarship for all students of Scripture.""--Ephraim RadnerWycliffe College""The book of Leviticus has been something of a sealed book for sometime in the modern imagination. But with the recent efforts of Mary Douglas in the field of anthropology and Jacob Milgrom in biblical studies there has been something of a renaissance in interest. Elliot has pushed the envelope even further by bringing to our attention the rich resources of the history of interpretation. His reading is almost impossibly vast, only matched by his erudition and eye for that which is truly important. No reader will look at Leviticus the same way having spent some time with this marvelous book.""--Gary A. AndersonUniversity of Notre Dame""The theological Cinderella status of Leviticus, cemented by Reformational and historical-critical certainties, appears to leave it languishing as the epitome of rule-bound ritualism and archaic moral strictures against which progressive religion confidently defines itself. Here, by contrast, Mark Elliott''s learned album of theological commentary through the ages retrieves a sparkling treasury of attentive reflection on the awkwardly alien particularities of Leviticus as holding forth and anticipating the word of truth.""--Markus BockmuehlKeble CollegeMark W. Elliott is Senior Lecturer in Church History at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He is author of The Song of Songs and Christology in the Early Church (2000), Isaiah 40-66 in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series (2007), and The Reality of Biblical Theology (2007).

In this three-volume set, Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, B. J. Oropeza offers the most thorough examination in recent times on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament. The study examines each book of the New Testament and identifies the emerging Christian community in danger, the nature of apostasy that threatens the congregations, and the consequences of defection. Oropeza compares the various perspectives of the New Testament communities on the subject of apostasy to arrive at the idea that the earliest followers of Christ did not all believe and teach alike on the issue. The first volume, In the Footsteps of Judas and Other Defectors, focuses on the Christ-communities of the Gospels, Acts, and Johannine Letters.""By investigating the themes of defection and apostasy, Oropeza develops substantial contextual insights into the texts of the New Testament, the implications of which exegetes will not want their own research to stand apart from consulting.""-Mark D. Nanosauthor of The Irony of Galatians: Paul''s Letter in First-Century Context""Professor B. J. Oropeza''s projected three-volume work on perseverance and apostasy in the New Testament is certain to become the standard in the field for years to come, if this first installment is any indicator. The book''s great strength is that it is thoroughly exegetical, without attempting to promote established theological agendas. Apart from its rich content, this volume is eminently practical and hortatory, as it calls to mind the possibility of apostasy and yet the encouragement to endure to the end.""-Don Garlingtonauthor of Studies in the New Perspective on Paul: Essays and Reviews""What are the boundaries of Christian community? What might it mean to traverse those boundaries, and what are the consequences of doing so? In this clearly written and well-researched volume, Oropeza begins a journey through the New Testament that will take him, and us, through often familiar territory but from the unique perspective of questions about apostasy or defection among followers of Christ. The result is an uncommon study of early Christianity that invites important theological conversation.""-Joel B. Greenauthor of Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for InterpretationB. J. Oropeza is Professor of Biblical Studies at Azusa Pacific University. He is the current founder and chair of Intertextuality in the New Testament sessions for the Society of Biblical Literature. Among his many publications are Jesus and Paul: Global Perspectives in Honor of James D. G. Dunn (2009), and Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation (2000/2007).

B. J. Oropeza offers the most thorough examination in recent times on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament. The study examines each book of the New Testament with a fourfold approach that identifies the emerging Christian community in danger, the nature of apostasy that threatens the congregations, and the consequences of defection. Oropeza then compares the various perspectives of the communities in Christ in order to determine the ways in which they perceived apostasy and whether defectors could be restored. In this final book of a three-volume set titled Apostasy in the New Testament Communities, Oropeza focuses on the Christ communities found in the General Epistles and Revelation.""Professor B. J. Oropeza''s three-volume work on perseverance and apostasy in the New Testament is certain to become the standard in the field for years to come . . . it is thoroughly exegetical, without attempting to promote established theological agendas.""-Don Garlington, author of Studies in the New Perspective on Paul""In the final volume of this major study, B. J. Oropeza completes his survey of the various approaches to apostasy in the New Testament texts and communities. With plenty of insightful observations on each book, and valuable reflections on the similarities and the diversity encountered across the various texts, this work will be a point of reference on this important but somewhat neglected topic for some time to come.""-David G. HorrellProfessor of New Testament StudiesUniversity of Exeter, UK""Professor Oropeza provides readers with a stimulating study of apostasy in early Christian communities. It is an important (and much neglected) topic and warrants a careful, detailed study. What I especially like about Oropeza''s approach is his skillful integration of exegesis, biblical theology, and historical and social contexts . . . Readers will come across a number of interpretive gems."" - Craig A. EvansPayzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, CanadaB. J. Oropeza is Professor of Biblical Studies at Azusa Pacific University. He is the current founder and chair of Intertextuality in the New Testament sessions for the Society of Biblical Literature. Among his many publications are Jesus and Paul: Global Perspectives in Honor of James D. G. Dunn (2009), and Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation (2000/2007).

Drawing on their experiences as fathers, eleven men share what they have learned about parenting, living a Christian life, and the relationship between the two. As fathers to children ranging in age from the very young to adults, contributors reflect on some of their joys and successes as fathers but also on their questions, concerns, mistakes, sorrows, and hopes--for themselves and for their children. They invite all parents to reflect on and learn from their own parenting experiences. This kind of reflection fosters wisdom, perspective, and, in solidarity with other parents, gratitude, confidence, and hope in the parenting life.""Fatherhood is a distinctive vocation for Christians. Those of us who are called to the ministry of fatherhood need all the help we can get to fulfill our parental responsibilities. In this great collection of essays, a team of some of our best Christian communicators gives us fine insights into fatherhood in the faith. All of us who [are] Christians and fathers will be strengthened and encouraged by this book.""--Bishop William Willimon, United Methodist Church""The eleven men assembled here have written courageously, poignantly, even tenderly about the struggles, challenges, and unanticipated joys of fatherhood. . . . All are inspired by the conviction they have conferred upon their sons and daughters the paternal blessing their fathers, in their own ways, have conferred upon them. . . . Readers of these reflections will find their desire to emulate the authors irresistible and will be inspired to speak and write about their own efforts and struggles to be faithful fathers.""--Donald Capps, Professor of Pastoral Theology Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary""One of the earliest forms of theology in the church is a younger monk asking an elder, ''Abba, may I have a word?'' These abbas, fathers, all offer wise words from across the theological spectrum on a topic far more often ignored or misused than wisely commented upon. Abbas, thank you for your words.""--Jason Byassee, Senior Pastor, Boone United Methodist Church, Boone, North Carolina""In vivid first-person narrative, Fathers in Faith provides a wealth of insight. Seasoned fathers honestly confess their foibles and generously share their wisdom. It''s just the kind of support parents need today to ease anxiety, spark ideas, and send us back to our own families with less guilt and a whole lot more compassion.""--Bonnie Miller-McLemore, author of In the Midst of Chaos: Care of Children as Spiritual PracticeAllan Hugh Cole Jr. is Academic Dean and Professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Care at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas. He is the author or editor of several books, including Good Mourning (2008); The Life of Prayer (2009); A Spiritual Life (editor, 2011); and The Faith and Friendships of Teenage Boys (coauthor, 2012). He is father to two daughters.

In her latest book, What the Heavens Declare, Lydia Jaeger provides a detailed analysis of the role of the theistic doctrine of creation in the rise of modern science, with a particular focus on the natural order. As the author explains, despite the common use of the expression ""laws of nature"" by both scientists and laymen, there is a long-standing tradition of philosophical debate about, and even refusal of, the notion that laws of nature might exist independently of a divine or human mind. This work attempts to account for natural order in harmony with the religious worldview that significantly contributed to the original context in which modern science began: the world seen as the creation of the triune God.""Readers of Lydia Jaeger''s arresting book may at first be surprised to find favorable references to ''creationism'' and ''creationists,'' terms that so often connote anti-evolutionary rhetoric and religious fundamentalism. But they should not be deceived. Her object is not to defend populist religious movements but to reinstate a sophisticated theology of creation having distinguished precedents within Christian tradition, and a Protestant Reformed tradition in particular. The universe she describes is one in which everything that exists is radically dependent on a Creator God whose wisdom and faithfulness guarantee the order of nature. Despite many competing accounts of nature''s ''laws,'' and despite current critiques of the applicability of the concept, Dr. Jaeger gives a spirited defense of a philosophy of science in which physical laws are still best understood as divine legislation. A bold and challenging essay.""--John Hedley BrookeEmeritus Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford University""What the heavens declare is here unfolded in all its fullness. Anyone who wants to understand what creationism really means should read this work. It restores the recently narrowed doctrine of creation to its historic stature and does so in conversation with contemporary issues in science, philosophy of science, and theology of nature. Discerning and inspiring.""--Jitse M. van der MeerProfessor of Biology and History and Philosophy of Science, Redeemer University College, Ancaster, OntarioCoeditor of Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions (2008)""In What the Heavens Declare, the author provides a scholarly survey of the biblical doctrine of creation, in dialogue with the key ideas that led to the emergence of modern science. The book provides a fine contribution to our understanding of the critical role played by the Christian concept of creation in shaping the history of Western thought. It is warmly recommended.""--Denis AlexanderDirector of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund''s College, Cambridge, UKLydia Jaeger is Academic Dean at the Institut Biblique de Nogent-sur-Marne, near Paris. She is the author of five books and several articles on the relationship between Christianity and the natural sciences.

There are forms of knowing that seem either to come from a parting or to require one. Paradigmatically in Genesis, Adam parts from God in order to join in knowledge with his partner, the flesh of his flesh, and the result is a bereft but not unpromising knowledge, looking like a labor of love. Saint Augustine famously--some would say infamously--reads the Genesis paradigm of knowing as a story of original sin, where parting is both damnable and disfiguring and reuniting a matter of incomprehensible grace. Roughly half the essays in this collection engage directly with Augustine''s theological animus and follow his thinking into self-division, perversity of will, grief, conversion, and the aspiration for transcendence. The remaining ones, more concerned with grace than with sin, bring an animus more distantly Augustinian to the preemption of forgiveness and the persistence of hell, morality and its limits, sexual piety, strange beauty, and a philosophy that takes in confession. The common pull of all the essays is towards the imperfection in self-knowledge--a place of disfigurement perhaps, but also a nod to transformation.""In this collection, Wetzel gives readers the sense of being in a series of leisurely conversations with a wise and learned friend who refuses to simplify life''s joys, mysteries, and sorrows, but still manages to shed light on them.""--Jeffrey Stout, Princeton University""These are indeed ''essays after Augustine''; steeped in Augustinian scholarship, but not content with mere erudition, they remind us of the self-involving character of true philosophy and lure us into its pursuit. Wetzel loves the Augustine who is more certain of having received than of what he knows, and these pages invite us to walk with and after this Augustine.""--Jennifer A. Herdt, Yale Divinity School, Yale University""No one approaches a ''theology of heart'' with more chemistry and tact than James Wetzel. In the Catholic tradition, he discovers implacable insights that join freedom to love and wisdom to grief. This volume showcases Wetzel''s exacting yet beautiful essays on Augustine, Anselm, Wittgenstein, and Kant.""--Kathleen Roberts Skerrett, University of Richmond""In these deep and often beautiful essays, James Wetzel teaches us how to be Augustine''s student, how to become better readers of our particular griefs, how to acknowledge the good that comes as beauty. There is no better interpreter of Augustine working today.""--John Bowlin, Princeton Theological SeminaryJames Wetzel is Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University and the first permanent holder of the Augustinian Chair in the Thought of St. Augustine. He is the author of Augustine and the Limits of Virtue (1992) and Augustine: A Guide for the Perplexed (2010), and the editor of Augustine''s City of God: A Critical Guide.

Evangelical Christians affirm together that a dreadful destiny awaits those who reject God''s grace throughout life. According to the traditional view, that destiny will involve unending conscious torment in hell. However, believers are increasingly questioning that understanding, as both unbiblical and inconsistent with the character of God revealed in the Scriptures and in the man Jesus Christ.This internationally acclaimed book--now fully updated, revised, and expanded--carefully examines the complete teaching of Scripture on the subject of final punishment. It concludes that hell is a place of total annihilation, everlasting destruction, although the destructive process encompasses conscious torment of whatever sort, intensity, and duration God might require in each individual case.""I commend this book warmly. It is likely to remain a standard work to which everyone engaged with this issue will constantly return.""-Richard BauckhamEmeritus Professor of New Testament StudiesUniversity of Saint Andrews, Scotland""The Fire That Consumes has long been recognized as one of the most thorough and compelling statements available of the view that the destiny of the unsaved will be final destruction rather than eternal torment. In this new edition, Edward Fudge provides extended engagement with traditionalist critics and an overview of developments in the last thirty years ensuring that it will remain a definitive work on the issue for years to come."" -John R. FrankeTheologian in ResidenceFirst Presbyterian Church of AllentownEdward William Fudge is a Christian theologian, Bible teacher, author, and, for more than twenty years, a practicing attorney. He maintains an international internet ministry at www.EdwardFudge.com.

The Bible promises the renewal of all creation--a new heaven and earth--based on the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For centuries this promise has been sidelined or misunderstood because of the church''s failure to grasp the full meaning of biblical teachings on creation and new creation.The Bible tells the story of the broken and restored relationship between God, people, and land, not just God and people. This is the full gospel, and it has the power to heal the church''s long theological divorce between earth and heaven. Jesus'' resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit is the key, and the church as Christ''s body is the primary means by which God is reconciling all things through Jesus Christ. Jesus'' ultimate healing of all creation is the great hope and promise of the gospel, and he calls the church to be his healing community now through evangelism, discipleship, and prophetic mission.""This book clearly reveals that Snyder''s conjunctive theology is congruent with East Asian ways of thinking. The scope of soteriology in his numerous books has been from creation to new creation. This book, however, is exceptionally thorough. It really does reconceive the whole meaning of salvation in a more soundly biblical way.""--Ohoon Kwon Mokwon University""In Salvation Means Creation Healed, Howard and Joel speak prophetic truth for Christ''s Church, which continues to be deceived by the sirens of Platonic idealism that separate matter and spirit into two different worlds. God is redeeming Creation. A must read!""--Mike SlaughterGinghamsburg Church""Salvation Means Creation Healed crafts a stunning vision of the breadth of God''s Reign in Jesus Christ over all things in both heaven and earth and then invites the church to participate fully. It is compelling. It is challenging. It demands a response.""--David Fitchauthor of The End of Evangelicalism?""In an era of dramatic and irreversible destruction of the earth''s resources, Salvation Means Creation Healed is a timely call for Christians to recover a biblical vision of the missio dei as the restoration of all creation. We all need to heed this call toward a fullness of the gospel, pledging ourselves to reconcile the unfortunate divorce between heaven and earth. Our grandchildren''s future is at stake.""--Cheryl Bridges JohnsChurch of God SeminarySnyder continues to burst old wineskins with Salvation Means Creation Healed. This is an important biblical, theological and historical examination of how modern evangelicalism has lost its way with regard to creation care and the gospel. Among all the recent publications on creation care, Snyder is the first to show how far back the roots of the ""divorce between heaven and earth"" really go. Every pastor and serious church leader who needs to get up to speed on what the issues in creation care are all about needs this book.Edward R. Brown, DirectorCare of Creation Inc.Author, Our Father''s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for CreationHoward A. Snyder is Visiting Director of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre in Manchester, England. He has served as a pastor and as a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary (1996-2006), Tyndale Seminary in Toronto (2007-2012), and elsewhere. His books include The Problem of Wineskins, The Radical Wesley, Models of the Kingdom, and Salvation Means Creation Healed (with Joel Scandrett).Joel Scandrett is Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Director of the Robert E. Webber Center at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. A former academic editor at InterVarsity Press, Joel holds a Ph.D. from Drew University, where he worked closely with Thomas Oden in the development of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (IVP).

Paul L. Holmer (1916-2004) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota (1946-1960) and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (1960-1987). Among his many acomplishments, Holmer was one of the most significant American students of Kierkegaard of his generation. Although written in the 1950s and 1960s, Holmer''s theological and philosophical engagement with Kierkegaard challenges much in the contemporary scholarly discussions of this important thinker. Unlike many, Holmer refuses reductionist readings that tie Kierkegaard to any particular ""school."" He likewise criticizes biographical readings of Kierkegaard, much in vogue recently, seeing Kierkegaard rather as an indirect communicator aiming at his reader''s own ethical and religious capacities. Holmer also rejects popular existentialist readings of Kierkegaard, seeing him as an analyzer of concepts, while at the same time denying that he is a ""crypto-analyst."" Holmer criticizes the attempt to construe Kierkegaard as a didactic religious thinker, appreciating Kierkegaard''s ""cool"" descriptive objectivity and his ironic and stylistic virtuosity. In his important reading of Kierkegaard on ""truth,"" Holmer pits Kierkegaard against those who see ""truth"" empirically, idealistically, or relativistically. Holmer''s carefully textured account of Kierkegaard''s conceptual grammar of ""truth"" in ethical and religious contexts, fifty years after it was penned, addresses immediately current discussions of truth, meaning, reference, and realism versus antirealism, relativism, and hermeneutics. It will be of great interest to all interested in Kierkegaard and his importance for contemporary theology and philosophy.This is the first volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers, which includes also volume 2, Thinking the Faith with Passion: Selected Essays, and volume 3, Communicating the Faith Indirectly: Selected Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers.""Paul L. Holmer was and is still a largely unheralded Kierkegaard scholar and analytic philosopher. This volume and the collected works series it introduces should do a lot to correct that oversight in both fields. We owe the editors, both of whom were Holmer''s students, a great deal of thanks for their labor of love.""-Robert L. Perkins Stetson University ""Paul Holmer was one of the most interesting and original religious thinkers in mid-twentieth-century America, yet he is little known today. So[enter back slash through O]ren Kierkegaard was his central scholarly interest and his unusual and provocative reading of Kierkegaard is important.""-David KelseyYale Divinity School""Almost fifty years ago Paul Holmer finished a manuscript about Kierkegaard but then left it unpublished. Instead, emulating Socrates, Holmer spent the following decades focused on encouraging Yale Kierkegaard students to examining their own lives with intellectual rigor. The result was a revolution in American Kierkegaard scholarship . . .""-Andrew J. BurgessThe University of New Mexico""With the two-hundredth anniversary of Kierkegaard''s birth approaching in 2013, what a treat to have Paul L. Holmer''s long awaited and now posthumous On Kierkegaard and the Truth to clarify Kierkegaard''s status as a philosopher and the role of logic and reason in his thought. A master philosopher and teacher himself, Holmer knew how to cut to the very essence of a thinker''s thought, as he does here with Kierkegaard''s.""-Sylvia WalshStetson University""Professor Paul L. Holmer was the doyen of Kierkegaard studies for much of the later part of the twentieth century. His jargon-free writings are crisp, clear, epiphanic, and always in earnest . . .""-Gordon MarinoSt. Olaf CollegeDavid 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 Theolo

SINCE 2002, THE SYMPOSIUM NEW WINE, NEW WINESKINS HAS OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY for young Catholic moral theologians to engage in shared work and conversation. Here, the fruits of these labors are gathered into one collection, which represents the wide scope of the future of Catholic sexual ethics. This volume offers the first collection of a new generation''s approaches to Catholic sexual ethics. The collection displays young scholars with diverse views, yet whose work moves beyond the impasses that have beset the field. The volume offers original and engaging essays on a variety of topics, from the hook-up culture and dating violence, to cohabitation and homosexuality, to contraception and natural family planning, to the promises and pitfalls of ""the theology of the body."" The authors display a fresh engagement with these issues in conversation with the Christian tradition and with contemporary culture. David Cloutier provides an introduction that locates this work within the past decades of Catholic scholarship, and articulates new categories for future work. The essays also offer practical insights and models that will interest pastors and lay ministers, as well as scholars.""In this excellent collection of essays on sexuality and marriage, we see emerging theological voices effectively move beyond the impasse of a previous generation. These authors both acknowledge the deep influence of contemporary culture on Christian understandings of sex and marriage, and critically respond with a surprisingly sophisticated set of theological resources. Alternatively fascinating and disconcerting, this collection has a real chance to seriously engage a ''hooked up'' and ''pornified'' undergraduate culture. An excellent resource for teaching.""--JOHN BERKMAN, Associate Professor of Moral Theology, Regis College, University of Toronto""Leaving and Coming Home is a breath of fresh air in Catholic moral thinking about sexuality. The authors take the warring personalisms of decades past and present and nest them in the setting of ''home.'' The resulting essays, suitable for use in both undergraduate and graduate moral theology courses, offer refreshing takes on hard questions.""--WILLIAM L. PORTIER, Mary Ann Spearin Chair of Catholic Theology, University of Dayton""By countering the trivialization, as well as overly glorified accounts, of sex and marriage, the authors of Leaving and Coming Home convincingly argue that any Christian understanding of sexuality and marriage must be incorporated into a theology of discipleship and connected to the practices of the Christian life. Challenging and engaging, each of the essays offers a liberating alternative to contemporary notions of sex and marriage by demonstrating that the fundamental purpose of both is to deepen our ability to love God and neighbor.""--PAUL J. WADELL, Professor of Religious Studies, St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin""Leaving and Coming Home offers wide-ranging treatments and fresh perspectives on issues in sexual ethics, both new and old. The blend of voices from different points on the theological spectrum is harmonized in a shared attention to practices--understood not just as sociological descriptions of human behaviors, but as productive of virtue and vice within persons and communities. An excellent addition to college or introductory graduate courses on marriage or sexual ethics.""--JOHN S. GRABOWSKI, Associate Professor of Moral Theology/Ethics, The School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of AmericaDavid Cloutier is Associate Professor of Theology at Mount St. Mary''s University in Emmitsburg, MD. He is the author of Love, Reason, and God''s Story: An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics (2008), as well as a number of articles and book chapters on sexual ethics and moral theology.

What does it mean to be church? Is it spending an hour on Sunday with people who look, think, and act much as we do? Or is it something more incarnational that seeks out those who are different, the ones living on the margins? For centuries Christians have presumed that we are to take the gospel to the poor. Instead, Wendy McCaig invites us to receive the gospel from the poor. Through a series of encounters with incarcerated, homeless, and impoverished individuals, Wendy McCaig experienced the mysterious power of Christian hospitality that turns strangers into family. Her gift for storytelling brings this mysterious transformation to life. Inspired by the dreams of a homeless mother who wanted to help her neighbors, McCaig started a ministry that empowers formerly homeless individuals to live out their dreams. Together these dreamers are transforming their city one person, one community, and one church at a time. Her true stories of the least, the lost, and the forgotten in her community will show you the Good News becoming reality in the midst of injustice in ways that will inspire you and deepen your faith. These twenty stories-within-a-story about what ordinary people can do when they come together across racial, economic, and geographic divides to fight poverty will expand your vision of what it means to be the church. With your eyes opened to the needs and gifts of your neighbors, you too can begin to dream God-sized dreams for a hurting world. And as you pray ""thy kingdom come on earth,"" you will be inspired to live in such a way as to make it happen in your own community.""From the Sanctuary to the Streets is the story of how one person began to help others--the broken of our world--dream and realize those dreams. She invites us into her world and introduces us to her friends. It is through this eye-opening account of Wendy''s story and the individual stories of her friends that we get a glimpse of God''s power to heal and mend the broken and transform them into a community of dreamers.""--Eric Swansonco-author of The Externally Focused Church""McCaig''s vision of Christian hospitality involves opening ourselves to the most vulnerable-the abused wife, the drug addict, the ex-felon, the abandoned elderly-and discovering there the presence of God. Friendships with those close at home-family and neighbors-as well as with those across racial and class lines illustrate how ''God never works alone.'' This beautifully written book is a call to all of us to embrace our dreams, whether large and small, and in so doing respond to God''s call to be Christ''s body for the world.""--Elizabeth Newmanauthor of Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers""This is one of the best, most challenging, and hope-filled books I''ve read in a long time. What makes From the Sanctuary to the Streets so different from other books on the subject is it''s narrative quality--it reads like a novel, chalk-full of personal stories and wisdom born of experience. McCaig has captured qualities of holiness and hope that blossom in some of the most desolate corners of the inner city.""--Stephen Brachlowauthor of The Communion of Saints: Radical Puritan and Separatist Ecclesiology 1570-1625""Years ago, God gave Joseph an unpopular but ultimately redemptive dream that altered the course of his nation. Today, God has spoken a dream of the same fabric to my friend and courageous leader Wendy McCaig. Those who are wise enough to listen to this dreamer will become a part of a movement of the Church Distributed and will touch their communities with grace and hope.""--John P. Chandlerauthor of Courageous Church Leadership: Conversations with Effective PractitionersWendy McCaig is the founder and Executive Director of Embrace Richmond, an urban ministry in inner-city Richmond, Virginia. She holds a MDiv and has worked for more than ten years as a leader in the local church, and for another six years serving the homeless. However, her greate

Working with selected miracles of Jesus from the canonical Gospel traditions and with background studies in the general understanding of miracles in the Greco-Roman world of the Hellenistic period, this collection of essays shows how we may understand the theological reasons why the early followers of Jesus included these stories in their traditions that constituted the canonical Gospels. Using individual stories from the Gospels, three of the essays demonstrate how literary-critical analysis can show the theological intent of the miracle story. A second set of three essays examines the way Mark and Luke view the miracle tradition within their larger task of writing the story of Jesus. A final set of three articles examines the Hellenistic background of such stories, and the way they were used in secular and Jewish sources, to gain perspective on what the early Christians intended with the miracle stories of Jesus.""Drawing upon insights from the Jewish and Hellenistic culture in which Jesus lived, and judiciously examining how the miracle traditions about Jesus were incorporated into the Gospels, Achtemeier demonstrates the central role that Jesus''s mighty deeds played in his ministry. This volume provides readers with new and rich insights to the miracle tradition, enabling them to understand the theological and historical significance of Jesus''s mighty deeds. For those seriously interested in the Gospel miracles, this is the book to read.""--Frank J. Matera, author of New Testament Ethics""Pastors will value Achtemeier''s careful attention to the narratival function of the miracles. Scholars will appreciate the deft hand as redactional layers are peeled away to the earliest traditions. One of the world''s leading biblical scholars revisits the miracle stories of Jesus--a treasure-trove!""--A. Andrew Das, author of Solving the Romans DebatePaul J. Achtemeier is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. His other books include The Quest for Unity in the New Testament Church, Romans, and Inspiration and Authority.'' He has served as President of both the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association.

While some of the chapters focus on systemic issues, others probe the depths of individual Gospel passages. The author''s keen eye for textual detail, archaeological data, comparative materials, and systemic overviews make this volume a joy for anyone interested in understanding Jesus in his own context. The volume is organized into three interrelated parts: 1) political economy and the peasant values of Jesus, 2) the Jesus traditions within peasant realities, and 3) the peasant aims of Jesus.""Anyone who has ever wondered why the Lord''s Prayer asks for the gift of bread and the forgiveness of debts has got to read this book. Anyone who has never wondered has even more cause to read this book. Anyone curious about the real value of a denarius or Jesus''s take on the morality of money or how many calories were necessary to keep from starving or how Jesus advised to resist an economic system geared for devouring widows'' houses--anyone, in short, eager to learn of the day-to-day realities of first-century Palestine as the matrix for Jesus''s message can''t get and read this book soon enough.""Behind the rich information on the peasant world of Jesus and his appeal to first-century peasants is a constant hermeneutical question humming in the background: what does this mean for us today? What are those ''general human concerns'' that suggest some link or bridge between ancient Israelite farmers and urban yuppies? How might a ''realist'' stance of reading find in the biblical experience and its symbols voices that speak about ''the essentially human''?""The information that Oakman provides in these essays is essential for understanding the world of Jesus and his peasant perspective. The moves Oakman suggests for bridging the gap from past to present are essential for keeping a reading of the Bible from becoming an exercise in canonical archaeology or an illusion that the Bible is hot off the divine press.""--John Elliott, University of San Francisco, EmeritusDouglas E. Oakman is Professor of New Testament and Dean of Humanities at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He is also the author of Jesus and the Economic Questions of His Day and coauthor of Palestine in the Time of Jesus.

In the aftermath of World War II, seven American Mennonite graduate students spent eleven days together in Amsterdam discussing their concerns around the state of North American Mennonite churches. Out of this historic gathering came a publication project known as Concern: A Pamphlet Series for Questions of Christian Renewal. While the series extended from 1952 to the early 1970s, the first four volumes, now printed in this single volume, comprise the roots, that is, the foundations that preceded the many articles that were written thereafter.Throughout The Roots of Concern, the discussion revolves around the recovery of an Anabaptist view of church life and discipleship. Here we find the seeds of a theme that would gain much attention in later years: the primary identity of the church as alternative community as opposed to its positive identification with the world. The fourteen articles in this volume cover a variety of issues such as form and spirit in the church, preaching, fellowship, discipleship, dissent, and property. An article coauthored by Yoder reveals his seminal thoughts around Mennonite church organization in relation to both biblical and contemporary denominational structures.""In these essays we see the excitement of discovery and the enthusiasm and passion of youth. We see a theological engagement with ''the Anabaptist vision,'' offered, as the 1954 editorial note said, ''For a strengthening of prophetic Christian faith and conduct.'' Here we have, among these essays, some of the first incisive theological reflections of John Howard Yoder.""-Mark Thiessen Nation, Eastern Mennonite Seminary""The larger world opened to us via a college education was breathtaking. As newly minted Anabaptists the realities of post-World War II Europe confronted us with serious cognitive dissonances. There seemed to be a need for firm ''markers'' to deal with these dissonances, but what and where were they?""-Calvin Redekop, Harrisonburg, VAContributors Include:Paul PeacheyJohn MillerJohn H. YoderDavid ShankNorman Kraus

This work focuses on a reality central to each human life and basic to every branch of theology; namely, the immanent transcendence of God. This study begins by exploring that theme of mystery hidden yet revealed from the perspective of the interrelationship of transcendence, self-actualization and creative expression. The book goes on to describe the interplay of those three elements in the lives and the works of,Thomas Merton, monk and writer, and Georgia O''Keeffe, artist. People from a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions will find this study a stimulating source of insight for their spiritual quest.What is missing so badly in our current culture is a sensitive, deeply intuitive yet compelling understanding of how meaning and transcendence work and support our ordinary efforts to be the best persons we are called to be. What Dr. Coombs so vividly describes for us, through two very valuable case studies - Thomas Merton and Georgia O''Keeffe - is that we are never alone on this journey. Dr. Michael RockUniversity of Guelph M.A. and MBA programsGuelph, Ontario, Canada''Mystery Hidden Yet Revealed'' is a dynamically engaging work of art. Coombs weaves the threads of paradox into a tapestry of beauty. Like all art, this work needs to be contemplated over and over. Each line, each paragraph opens new insight and wonder, causing the reader to stand back in awe only to be drawn deeper into the creative process which makes this book unique.Through presenting Merton and O''Keeffe as icons, Coombs helps us experience Mystery unfolding and finding expression throughout their lives and their particular works.This book is a mystical vision of the interrelatedness within all of life. Readers will be captivated by its message and excited about its possibilities.--Jean SpringerEREMOS, A center of Contemplative Lifewww.eremos.orgMarie Theresa Coombs lives as a canonically recognized hermit at Lebh Shomea, a contemplative-eremitical house of prayer in the desert region of south Texas. She earned a Ph.D. in Theological Studies from Graduate Theological Foundation, South Bend, Indiana. Besides co-authoring several books on prayer and spirituality, she is a frequented spiritual director.

FEATURING:Barbara Brown TaylorPhilip C. KolinAmy FrykholmJoyce PolancePLUS:The Enduring World of Dr. Schultz: James Baldwin, Django Unchained, and the Crisis of WhitenessPainloveSoulful Resistance: Theological Body Knowledge on Tennessee''s Death RowThis Cursed WombThe Problem of Gay FriendshipAND MORE . .