Books published by Cascade Books

Telling the Whole Story is both a book about preaching and reading the narratives of the Hebrew Bible. John C. Holbert (PhD in Hebrew Bible) was a longtime teacher of preaching and Hebrew Bible at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, having retired in 2012 after thirty-three years. In this volume he combines his two skills of careful narrative reading and imaginative story preaching to offer the first comprehensive look at this particular kind of sermon proclamation. The reader will also find here an introduction to the long history of story preaching in the history of the church, as well as a primer both in ways to read the narratives more effectively and ways to preach several varieties of story sermons.At the heart of this book four narratives from the Hebrew Bible are exegeted and are accompanied by four story sermons based on those texts: Genesis 2-3; 1 Samuel 15; Judges 4; and Jonah. The goal of the book is to help preachers who are looking for effective ways to proclaim the gospel using narrative texts from the Hebrew Bible to allow the rich stories of the texts to sound their ancient truth to the modern world""John Holbert is a superb preacher of biblical narratives and a wonderful teacher of how to read the Bible and develop plot, character, and point of view. Stories have a danger of becoming mere entertainment, but when he shakes the narrative tree of the Bible, truths fall to the ground as fruit for the feeding of God''s people.""--Paul Scott Wilson, Professor of Homiletics, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto""John Holbert is unsurpassed, both as a narrative preacher and as a teacher of narrative preaching. Here he explains not only how to prepare a narrative sermon . . . but he provides case studies of four biblical texts in which he takes the reader from a masterful reading of the text, to thinking about how to develop a narrative sermon, and offering a sermon on the text. This kind of preaching will be life-giving in any congregation.""--Ronald J. Allen, Professor of Preaching and Gospels and Letters, Christian Theological Seminary""Holbert makes a compelling case for the inclusion of story preaching in the preacher''s repertoire. . . . He equips the reader to do far more than just admire the artistry of others. He gives us the interpretive tools to imitate it in our own preaching. This book offers several stunning story sermons from the Old Testament, complete with exegetical insights and evaluation. It is a joy to read and put into practice, a must-have for preachers and teachers of Scripture.""--Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist UniversityJohn C. Holbert is Lois Craddock Perkins Professor emeritus of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. He is the author of Preaching Old Testament, The Ten Commandments, Preaching Job, Preaching Creation, and other texts that address the intersection between the Hebrew Bible and preaching.

In 1958, American historian of religion Morton Smith made an astounding discovery in the Mar Saba monastery in Jerusalem. Copied into the back of a seventeenth-century book was a lost letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-215 CE) that contained excerpts from a longer version of the Gospel of Mark written by Mark himself and circulating in Alexandria, Egypt. More than fifty years after its discovery, the origins of this Secret Gospel of Mark remain contentious. Some consider it an authentic witness to an early form of Mark, perhaps even predating canonical Mark. Some claim it is a medieval or premodern forgery created by a monastic scribe. And others argue it is a forgery created by Morton Smith himself. All these positions are addressed in the papers contained in this volume. Nine North American scholars, internationally recognized for their contributions to the study of Secret Mark, met at York University in Toronto, Canada, in April 2011 to examine recent developments in scholarship on the gospel and the letter in which it is found. Their results represent a substantial step forward in determining the origins of this mysterious and controversial text.List of Contributors:Scott G. BrownTony BurkeStephen C. CarlsonBruce ChiltonCraig A. EvansPaul FosterCharles W. HedrickPeter JefferyAllan J. PantuckMarvin Meyer Hershel Shanks""In this brilliant and incisive collection of essays one finds both clarity and intellectual rigor. Not all the contributors ''sing from the same hymn sheet.'' However, this diversity reveals how a highly contested topic can be approached in an engaging and respectful manner. Everyone who reads this book will be enriched, both by consideration of its contents and through appreciation of the measured tone with which this important debate is conducted. This is a first-rate and vital treatment of the topic.""--Paul Foster, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh""The debate over the Secret Gospel of Mark rages on. Did Morton Smith discover this text, or did he forge it? This terrific collection of essays presents leading voices from both sides of the controversy, stating their views, marshaling their evidence, and allowing readers to pass their own verdicts.""--Bart D. Ehrman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill""Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? brings together most of the key supporters and detractors of the authenticity of the Secret Gospel of Mark in a balanced, probing, and illuminating book. . . . Although this book, carefully crafted by Burke, cannot be said to have brought closure on the issue, it has laid to rest many of the specious and illogical claims that have littered the discussion until now. We can only hope that the ground has now been cleared for a more balanced and scientific assessment of the Mar Saba manuscript.""--John S. Kloppenborg, University of TorontoTony Burke is Associate Professor of Early Christianity at York University in Toronto, Ontario. He is the author of De infantia Iesu evangelien Thomae graece (2010), a critical edition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

If worship is God centered,and God is the Trinity, then worship should be Trinity centered.Worshipping Trinity explores the meaning and implications of that simple claim. Written for church leaders, worship leaders, and songwriters, as well as for those interested in theology, this volume explains why the Trinity matters so much and explores practical ways our worship can be made more Trinitarian. This second edition is fully updated and expanded.""The book has become a classic--and rightly so. There is nothing else like it. It brings first-rate theology and astute practical wisdom to the very heart of the church''s life. And the second edition is even better than the first!""--Jeremy Begbie, Duke Divinity School""Robin Parry is a fine theologian who writes accessibly and engagingly. I hope this second edition will be very widely read. It has the capacity to enable the renewal of the life and worship of the church.""--John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, UKPraise for the First Edition:""This is an extremely helpful book!""--Matt Redman, songwriter and worship leader""Robin Parry has given us a terrific resource with which we can see a clearer picture of the God we worship.""--Keith Getty, hymn writer""Robin Parry calls us higher up and further in through this well-written, clear, and important book.""--Brian McLaren, pastor and author""Not merely theologically profound, but lucid, accessible, and profoundly relevant.""--Alan J. Torrance, University of St. Andrews, UK""This is a most important book.""--Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone, UK""I found my own spirit was stirred by simply reading the excellent central chapters. . . . This is a book well worth reading and one I wholeheartedly recommend.""--Terry Virgo, New Frontiers, UK""Bloody good!""--Andrew G. Walker, King''s College, UK""I cannot recommend this work highly enough. Pastors, worship leaders, and mature Christians must read this and practice the sort of Trinitarian worship Parry recommends.""--Myk Habets, Carey Baptist College, New ZealandRobin Parry is an editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers. He is also author of Old Testament Story and Christian Ethics and the coeditor of Great Is Thy Faithfulness? Reading Lamentations as Sacred Scripture.

What is the role of the church in ministering to the sick? This book argues that it is not what is now called the ""healing ministry,"" with its frequent claims of remarkable cures from physical illness. Little critical attention seems to have been paid to the validity of these claims, which, if genuine, would be producing clearly observable effects on the levels of morbidity and mortality in society. Similarly, the important ethical and moral questions the movement raises have also been very largely ignored. A huge edifice of muddled theology, together with highly questionable practice, has been built upon very shaky foundations. It is the purpose of this book to examine seriously the dubious claims and teaching of the modern healing movement, as well to expose its very real dangers, in order to encourage Christian people, both ordained and lay, to exercise a more critical approach to the healing movement. The book concludes by outlining a framework for a return to a more biblical emphasis on proper pastoral care in the church''s ministry to the sick.""The grace and fluidity of Howard''s writing makes this a highly accessible text. Informative and thought provoking, it poses an effective challenge to the widely held but largely unexamined belief that the Christian church should have a healing ministry.""--Dr. Tamar Posner, Integrative Psychotherapist""Howard''s loss to the clinical field is now being balanced by his contribution to setting the record straight in his analysis of Scripture and the clarification of what constituted ''healing'' in biblical times. . . . Despite being replete with scholarly reference and density, the book is easy to read. The case studies are particularly moving and poignant and force us to confront our own unexamined superstitions about the power of prayer.""--Nerys C. Parry, Registered Psychologist""In this well-written book, The Healing Myth, Keir Howard challenges much of the woolly thinking and exaggerated claims found in the contemporary church about the subject of Christian healing ministries. I believe it is important particularly for proponents of such ministries, faith healing, exorcisms, etc. . . . With a lifetime of research in medicine, particularly in epidemiology, as well as a second PhD in New Testament, Howard is well placed to consider the true nature of Christian healing ministry.""--Murray D. Gow, Senior Minister, St. Andrews First Presbyterian Church, AucklandJ Keir Howard is a retired consultant physician and Anglican priest with doctorates in both medicine and theology. He has been involved in academic teaching, as well as holding senior hospital and public medical posts, and remains active in the ministry of the Anglican Church. He is author of several books, including Medicine, Miracle and Myth in the New Testament (2010).

What is God doing about a world marked by conflict and division? What about a world in which our technologies promise great good but also threaten our existence? What is God doing in a world where the demands for accumulation and acquisition create division and despair? Can Christians hope to be of positive influence in a world that does not always support, reflect, or even understand Christian commitments?Christian ethics often raises such questions as these, and the possible answers vary widely. Paul''s Letter to the Ephesians is a tremendous resource for exploring a faithful response to perhaps the toughest question of all: what is God doing about evil? The role of Christian ethics is to take seriously the challenge that, whatever God is doing, God calls us to participate in a distinctive task that embraces our own commitments and labors within the divine purpose. Ephesians says that God has taken the initiative to pursue that purpose and, remarkably, offers that we ourselves are part of the answer to the question, what is God doing about evil?""Hope for the future cannot be extrapolated from data of the present. That would only yield despair. If there is to be hope, it must derive from a different sort of logic. In The Poetics of Grace, Jeph Holloway has undertaken to spell out this different logic. By insisting that the primary question of ethics is not ''what must I do?'' but ''what has been given to us?'' Holloway, motivated by deep pastoral concern, frames a Trinitarian ethics attuned both to history and Christian Scripture.""--Brad J. Kallenberg, Professor of Theology and Ethics, University of Dayton""God, in Holloway''s groundbreaking The Poetics of Grace, summons us to engage in the divine, transformative work that settles on nothing less than daring, responsible, and participatory biblical ethics in line with God''s creative, peacemaking, and reconciling work of sustaining life. This unique reading of Ephesians is a probing and stimulating, delicate and unfailing gift to the academy and the church.""--Aliou Cisse Niang, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Union Theological SeminaryJeph Holloway is Professor of Theology and Ethics in the School of Christian Studies and Graduate Program at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. He is the author of Peripateō as a Thematic Marker for Pauline Ethics (1992).

Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives invites readers into the lives of twenty women for whom Jewish language and texts provide a lens for understanding their experiences. The authors don''t just use religious words (texts, theologies, or liturgies) like a cookbook. Instead they serve readers something closer to a real meal, prepared with love and intention.Each essay shares one piece of its writer''s heart, one chapter of experience as refracted through the author''s particular Jewish optic. The authors write about being daughters, mothers, sisters, partners, lovers, and friends. They share their experiences of parenting, infertility, and abortion. One describes accompanying her young husband through his life-threatening illness. Another tells of her daughter''s struggle with an eating disorder. Still another reflects on long decline of a parent with Alzheimer''s. All these writers wrestle with Jewish texts while growing as rabbis, as feminists, and as interfaith leaders. They open their hearts and minds, telling when Jewish tradition has helped make meaning and, on occasion, when it has come up empty. The results are sometimes inspiring, sometimes provocative. Readers will find new insights into God, into Judaism, and into themselves.""A stunning gathering of women, a quilt of rich, wise voices.""--Anne Lamott""In these unforgettable chapters, leading American Jewish feminists tell the truth about their lives. This is the ''Torah of your Mothers.'' Recommended for men and women alike.""--Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University ""Here are twenty marvelously articulate, candid, brilliant, thought-provoking responses to the question, how does your spiritual understanding and practice support you in times of challenge? They are the voices of contemporary Jewish women, but the issues they address are universal. . . . This book will be a solace to everyone who reads it.""--Sylvia Boorstein, author of It''s Easier than You Think""With tact and wisdom, the authors of this collection of essays, more than half of them rabbis, chronicle their personal experiences of choices and challenges facing women everywhere, addressing each through the spiritual and cultural resources of the Jewish tradition, not prescriptively but in individual voices, each suggesting discovery or creativity and a path of growth. This is a book for all seasons.""--Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Life""These essays beautifully express the power of Jewish tradition to inspire and sustain a life rich in meaning. Yet, their profundity transcends the bounds of Judaism, speaking wisdom to readers of diverse traditions and cultures.""--Mary C. Boys, Union Theological Seminary""Reaching deep into their wise hearts, these women harvest words of healing, joy, sorrow, rage, and delight--nothing less than the fullness of life--which they then gift to us, their readers. Torah lives anew in each of these powerful echoes, and the insights you find here may well change your life.""--Rabbi Brad Artson, American Jewish UniversityINSIDE:""This book is a beautiful, profound, and deeply touching addition to the body of spiritual writing that heals and reveals ourselves to us in our full humanity. Nothing moves me more than women telling the truth about their real lives--their families, relationships, choices, inspirations, losses, transformation, survival, their histories and their immersion in the now. And these writers are a stunning gathering of women, a quilt of rich, wise voices.""--Anne Lamott, author of Traveling Mercies""When I put this wonderful and wise book down (having read it straight through), I felt an unusual feeling: stirred up, but contemplatively so. Chapters of the Heart is for anyone who wants to find the holy in the ordinary, for anyone who wants to read the sacred texts of her own life with more attentiveness, more generosity, and more curiosity.""--Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God""I

In Building a Community of Interpreters Walter Dickhaut argues that the practice of reading (and, by extension, listening) is no less creative than the practice of writing (and speaking); readers and hearers, just as much as writers and speakers, are producers of meaning. Hence, the work of biblical interpretation is the work--the calling--of a community. Focused on the experience of the reader (or hearer) of biblical texts, he explores such questions as:-What happens when the author disappears?-What happens when a reader opens a book to meet the author?-What happens when a book is read?-What happens when the reader changes spectacles?Into discussion of such issues as the reader''s angle of vision, when texts open and close, the reader''s expectations, the reader''s meeting up with the text, and the functions of filters and lenses in the practice of reading and hearing, the author introduces mystery, surprise, and expectation as hermeneutical lenses that can enlarge what may be seen in biblical texts. In addition to some homiletical samples, the author concludes with a suggested teaching plan for building a community of interpreters.""This [book] reads beautifully, is chock-full of lovely reflections and insightful asides, and has all the marks of a great preacher. Whoever heard these sermons should thank their lucky stars. I think this text is exactly the sort of intelligent spiritual reflection the best presses are looking for: warm but not soppy, reflective but not intellectualistic.""--John D. Caputo, Syracuse University ""In this much-needed volume, Walter Dickhaut recovers biblical interpretation for preaching not simply as a community practice, but also as a community event. When it comes to listening to and reading the Bible, we are in this together, and Dickhaut makes the act of interpretation one filled with expectation, suspense, surprise, and new insight.""--Thomas G. Long, Candler School of Theology, Emory University""We have had more than enough of loud, shrill Bible interpretation, the proponents of which know what they will find before they look. Then along comes Dickhaut with his readerly patience, his waiting imagination, and his artistic capacity. . . . Readers who follow Dickhaut will be led to new ways of reading and a new sense of how the Bible is indeed disclosure beyond the already known.""--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary""This insightful offering of poetic prose calls those who preach, read, and hear sacred texts to engage them in a bond of mutuality, both for the text and each other. Walter Dickhaut invites speaker and listener into shared discourse, while affirming what is said and heard combine to shape insights. . . . Readers of this well-crafted book will be led to imagine the impact it might have on congregations and classrooms willing to plumb its depth.""--C. Joseph Sprague, Retired Bishop, United Methodist ChurchWalter R. Dickhaut is retired Fogg Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Oratory at Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Maine. While there he taught preaching and worship in the MDiv curriculum as well as calling and vocation in the DMin program. He now lives with his spouse, Marilyn, in London, Ohio.

Americans live their lives through institutions: government, businesses, schools, clubs, and houses of worship. But many Americans are wary of the control these groups--especially government and business--exercise over their lives.Flea Market Jesus provides an up-close look at the rugged individualism of those trying hardest to separate themselves from institutions: flea market dealers. Having spent most of his life studying American religious organizations, Art Farnsley turns his attention to America''s most solitary, and alienated, entrepreneurs.Farnsley describes an entire subculture of white Midwesterners--working class, middle class, and poor--gathered together in a uniquely American celebration of guns and frontier life. In this mix, the character ""Cochise"" voices the frustrations of flea market dealers toward business, politics, and, especially, religion.Part ethnography, part autobiography, Flea Market Jesus is a story about alienation, biblical literalism, libertarianism, and deep-seated religious belief. It is not about the Tea Party, the Occupy movement, or the Christian Right, but it shines a light on all of these by highlighting the potent combination of mistrust, resentment, and personal liberty too often kept in the shadows of public discourse among educated elites.""Drawing on extensive participation in flea markets and systematic interviews with the people who sell their wares there, Arthur Farnsley has written a vivid and sympathetic portrayal of flea market dealers and the world they inhabit. But this book is about more than flea markets. Part memoir and part cultural analysis, Flea Market Jesus compellingly connects dealers'' economic precariousness, religious beliefs, and alienation to broader currents in American politics and religion.""--Mark Chaves, Duke University ""Had anyone else told me he was going to write an account of American individualism as it is concocted, practiced, and sometimes sold in a Midwest flea market that hosts buckskin-clad muzzle-gun shooters and tomahawk throwing on the side, I would have patted them on the back and beat a quick retreat. But not Art Farnsley. This has long been a part of his world. And the result is one of the most personally engaging and intellectually compelling accounts of individualism since Thoreau. Farnsley dips into his own marginality to play interlocutor to the conflicts between anti-individualistic institutionalism and anti-conformist individuality. After being introduced to a beguiling range of his lifelong flea market friends and their composite, Cochise, the book slips up on you like a few cold beers on a hot summer afternoon.""--Jay Demerath, University of Massachusetts, AmherstArthur E. Farnsley II is Research Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. He is the author of Southern Baptist Politics (1994); Rising Expectations: Urban Congregations, Welfare Reform and Civic Life (2003); and Sacred Circles, Public Squares: The Multicentering of an American City (2004). His stories have appeared on the cover of Christianity Today and The Christian Century. He is also twenty-two-time knife and tomahawk champion of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association.

In The Disciple, Lucy Peppiatt addresses the question of what it means to ""become like Jesus"" in the context of our everyday lives. Through the gifts of the Word and the Spirit, our communities, and our circumstances in life, God forms us into the likeness of his Son and leads us into a life of freedom, in relationship with the Father, where we experience what it means to become truly and fully human. The Disciple brings together theological depth, stories from Scripture, and examples from everyday life to paint a picture of the dynamic work of God in our lives and how we might respond to his work so that we are brought into the richness and reality of the life of the kingdom. Following Jesus means being apprenticed and schooled in the ways of freedom and the fullness of life. The Disciple combines theology and practice, including suggestions of how to respond in practical ways, as individuals, and in our communities, to the calling of God on our lives to ""follow him.""""In Peppiatt we find that all-too-rare combination of biblical scholar, academic theologian, and church planter who brings her winsomeness and wisdom, her gifts as teacher and pastor, to show us how we can develop a church community whose members really do look like Christ!""--Simon Ponsonby, Dean of Studies, Oxford Centre of Church Growth""This is a wise book. It shows wisdom gained through Peppiatt''s journey of discipleship and her vast experience of accompanying and nurturing others in faith. It is an account written by someone who knows the way of faith passes through the wilderness, that there are Gethsemanes to be faced. Yet this account of Christian discipleship is, above all, a testimony to the sufficiency of God''s grace. I warmly commend it to you.""--From the Foreword by Murray Rae, University of Otago, New Zealand""The Disciple is deceptive in its simplicity. It is a work of theology, shaped by a deep understanding of the great doctrines regarding the person of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and divine providence. Yet it is everywhere pastoral rather than polemical, making space for the gospel to bring Christian life to fruition and form among those willing to reflect on its grandest themes.""--Alan Spence, author of Justification: A Guide for the Perplexed ""With the head of a theologian and the heart of a pastor, Peppiatt has written a work of profound and searching spiritual theology. This is a book that teaches what it means to be a disciple of Christ, apprentice to the Master. Whether you are new to the faith or someone who has been a follower for many years, there is much in this little book that will challenge, encourage, and comfort you.""--Oliver D. Crisp, Professor of Systematic Theology, Fuller Theological SeminaryLucy Peppiatt is the Dean of Studies at Westminster Theological Centre (UK) and lectures in systematic theology. She is also a pastor at Crossnet Church in Bristol, UK, which she leads with her husband, Nick Crawley. Crossnet is an Anglican community focused on discipleship and mission.

In 1972, Will Campbell published an issue of the Committee of Southern Churchmen''s journal, Katallagete, to shed light on the US prison system. None could anticipate how the system would expand exponentially in the next four decades. Today, the US operates the world''s largest prison system, incarcerating nearly 1 in every 100 American adults. How did this expansion happen? What is the human toll of this retributive system? How might ""ambassadors of reconciliation"" respond to such a punitive institution? Replicating the firsthand nature of Will Campbell''s original Katallagete collection, twenty new essays pull back the veil on today''s prison-industrial complex. The plea throughout this collection is not for some better, more progressive institution to exact justice. Rather, the invitation is to hear from voices of experience how the system functions, listen to what the institution does to those locked in its cells, consider what an execution involves, and, most importantly, contemplate the scandalous call to be in reconciled community with those whom society discards and the system silences. Our story is that there are neither good nor bad people, neither felon nor free world. We are all one. ""Back in 1973, Will Campbell saw that our retributive justice system was an affront to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Four decades later, ten times as many people are behind bars, and millions of others have been labeled ''convicted felons'' for life. The only power great enough to overcome our prison-industrial complex is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. Thank God, that power is alive and well--both in these essays and in our world.""--Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author of The Awakening of Hope""The work of Campbell and Goode has more intellectual rigor, moral integrity, creative originality, and spiritual passion than anything I have encountered in my thirteen years of doing prison work . . . Read these testimonials and you will never again wonder why anyone should care about the lives of those incarcerated.""--Jody Lewen, Executive Director of the Prison University Project and Director of Patten University at San Quentin""This collection of essays presents a range of voices and critical perspectives on America''s system of mass incarceration. Its notable strengths include the thoughtful pieces by incarcerated men and women and the historical perspective gained by including older essays with recent scholarship. This book makes a clear, honest, and smart case for radical reappraisal of the practice of imprisonment. It deserves a wide audience among those who care about violence and justice.""--Rebecca Ginsburg, Director of the Education Justice Project, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignWill D. Campbell was a Baptist preacher in Taylor, Louisiana, for two years before taking the position of Director of Religious Life at the University of Mississippi from 1954 to 1956. Forced to leave the university because of his ardent Civil Rights participation, Campbell served on the National Council of Churches as a race relations consultant. Campbell worked closely with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and Andrew Young toward bettering race relations. Campbell''s Brother to a Dragonfly earned him the Lillian Smith Prize, the Christopher Award, and a National Book Award nomination. The Glad River won a first-prize award from the Friends of American Writers in 1982. His works have also won a Lyndhurst Prize and an Alex Haley Award.Richard Goode is Professor of History at Lipscomb University. He edited Will Campbell''s Writings on Reconciliation and Resistance (Cascade, 2010) and authored with Will Campbell Crashing the Idols (Cascade, 2010).

Health is God''s original created intent: whole persons, healthy relationships, a thriving environment, and ongoing interaction with himself. In the Bible, human health is body-based, community-based, and deeply integrated in a relationship with God''s creating Spirit. The Pentateuch, prophets, writings, Gospels, and epistles all are deeply, if not primarily, concerned with the ongoing and ultimate health of God''s good creation. Scripture also has a wide perspective on the disruption of human health. It deals with the human tendency to violence, corruption, and self-destructive behaviors.The recently renewed interest in health, vitality, and spirituality of all kinds has led to this articulation of a biblical spirituality in relation to human health. Surprisingly, when we look for spirituality in the Bible, we find real and embodied relationships. Everyone is for health and for the restoration of health. But what are health and healing? How does the Bible describe or define them?Here is the result of ten years of conversations with health care professionals in a master''s course on biblical perspectives on health and healing. The biblical witness can transform the way we practice the healing arts. This book provides a biblical foundation for health and its restoration.""This is a rare book, a theologically savvy, solidly biblical, and deeply integrative contribution to faith and health. Grounded especially in Old Testament Scripture, this profound study of embodied human health will challenge and inform anyone involved in health care professions, churches, and theological study of the human person."" --Joel B. Green, professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary""Bruckner, a seasoned biblical scholar, offers here a teaching book in the best sense--one that students of the Bible, those in the healing professions, and general readers will turn to for its wisdom and its scholarly, theological, pastoral, and human insights. The book inevitably becomes an outline of biblical theology as a whole, as a careful study of biblical healing must. The God of the Bible is a God of healing, and Bruckner''s book helps us meet and know that God.""--Frederick J. Gaiser, professor of Old Testament at Luther SeminaryJames K. Bruckner is Professor of Old Testament at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is the author of commentaries on Exodus (2008) and on Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (2004) as well as of Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative (2001).

This book argues that problems with recognizing the State of Israel lie at the heart of approaches to nationhood and unease over nationalism in modern Protestant theology, as well as modern social theory. Three interrelated themes are explored. The first is the connection between a theologian''s attitude to recognizing Israel and their approach to the providential place of nations in the divine economy. Following from this, the argument is made that theologians'' handling of both modern and ancient Israel is mirrored profoundly in the question of recognition and ethical treatment of the nations to which they belong, along with neighboring nations. The third theme is how social theory, represented by certain key figures, has handled the same issues. Four major theologians are discussed: Reinhold Niebuhr, Rowan Williams, John Milbank, and Karl Barth. Alongside them are placed social theorists and scholars of religion and nationalism, including Mark Juergensmeyer, Philip Jenkins, Anthony Smith, and Adrian Hastings. In the process, debates over the relationship between theology and social theory are reconfigured in concrete terms around the challenge of recognition of the State of Israel as well as stateless nations.""Here is a lively study of nationhood . . . [that] will undoubtedly raise hackles, provoke discussion and dissent, and require the unpersuaded to examine her arguments and cited texts with great care. Here is swashbuckling, stimulating theology, which should be carefully studied not only by theologians, but by people of many faiths, political and social theorists, and ethicists.""-Alan P. F. Sell, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom ""Nationalism and the concept of nationhood is something Christian theologians have shied away from. The tragedy of the Holocaust, the European experience during the twentieth century, and the fractious state of the Middle East during the twenty-first have given us all pause for thought. On the basis of a fresh understanding of Israel, Moseley tackles negative attitudes toward the integrity of stateless nations and suggests creative ways in which current missiology and theological ethics can respond positively.""-D. Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology, University of Wales Trinity Saint DavidCarys Moseley studied Classics and Theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh, and has taught Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Nations and Nationalism in the Theology of Karl Barth (forthcoming).

Struck from Behind is a memoir--but not the usual narrative of events. James Howell tells intriguing stories from childhood, romantic life, travel, friendships, tragedies, and wonders, and how God was there, although unnoticed or uninvited at the time. By sharing in retrospect how he now understands God''s presence in seemingly mundane moments, we begin to sense something of God''s way in the world, and in our own lives.Howell has been a successful pastor and published theologian. In Struck from Behind he opens up his own private life as a window into God''s hidden activity. When he remembers, then we too remember God, and begin to notice, and become grateful.""A wordsmith with a purpose, James Howell bares just enough of his romantic pastor''s soul to allow us to better understand our own. His earthy reminiscences are a beautiful invitation to unearth the transcendent in our own messy lives.""--Lillian Daniel, Senior Minister, First Congregational Church, UCC""James Howell is simply incapable of thinking of his life without thinking of the uproarious and creative grace of God. That''s why this book is such a treasure. That God still sends us such preachers is a sign we''ve not been abandoned.""--Jason Byassee, Senior Pastor, Boone United Methodist ChurchJames Howell is Senior Pastor of Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Adjunct Professor of Preaching at Duke Divinity School. The author of fifteen books, he is a columnist and blogger who has preached all around the world.

ContentsThe History of the Study of Israelite and Judean HistoryWellhausen as a Historian of IsraelThe Twelve-Tribe Israelite Amphicyony: An AppraisalThe Final Years of Samaria (730-720 BC)The History of the Form-Critical Study of ProphecyThe Usage of Oracles against Foreign Nations in Ancient IsraelAmos''s Oracles against the Nations (1:2--2:16)Restitution, Forgiveness, and the Victim in Old Testament LawCovenantCovenant and Hesed: The Status of the DiscussionThe diverse topics covered by the included articles find their unity in a particular posture and ethos from which Hayes''s work operated. Hayes consistently engages in a ""thick analysis"" that embeds the topic under consideration within broader interpretive contexts. More so than any one particular proposal, this way in which Hayes approached the study of specific methods, seminal figures, biblical texts, and historical reconstructions has potentially lasting implications for contemporary scholarship . . . [O]ne finds in Hayes''s work a dogged insistence that biblical texts must be understood as firmly embedded within particular historical, social, cultural, and political matrices out of which they emerged and within which they functioned. Following from this, at times when it was not always popular to do so, Hayes argued that the biblical texts must be taken seriously (but not uncritically) as yielding important data to be used in various ways for historical interpretation. Whether exploring the social formation of early Israel, the final years of Samaria, or the social concept of covenant, Hayes demonstrated a textually focused and exegetically based approach.--Brad E. Kelle, from the IntroductionJohn H. Hayes is Franklin N. Parker Professor Emeritus in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He has authored, coauthored, and edited numerous academic volumes, including Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, Biblical Exegesis, Old Testament Theology: Its History and Development, An Introduction to Old Testament Study, and Old Testament Form Criticism.

Path of the Purified Heart traces the classic Christian spiritual journey toward transformation into the likeness of Christ in a unique, fascinating way. Drawing on the voices of wise elders from the past and present, Dunham illumines the common path all Christians and spiritual seekers may take toward union with God. Through the motifs of the liturgical year and the labyrinth, the author weaves in her own journey on this path during her ""year of purification.""""Laura Dunham invites the reader to share in the rich convergence in her own life. That convergence includes deep rootage in Reformed faith, alert participation in the great tradition of spirituality, engagement with contemporary masters of spiritual disciplines, and her own critical angle on her own experience. She lines out this convergence according to the liturgical year of the church, giving access that may lead the reader, along with the author, closer to the heart of God.""--Walter BrueggemannColumbia Theological SeminaryAuthor of The Practice of Prophetic Imagination (2012)""In Path of the Purified Heart, Dunham employs all the candor and intimacy of good memoir and all the objectivity of a trained pastor to give us an honest and informative look into Christian mysticism from the perspective of the Reformed tradition."" --Phyllis TickleAuthor of The Divine HoursΓäó series""Rare keen intelligence, simplicity of style, and compelling as literature! This book can teach all of us how transformation is possible if we take seriously one liturgical year and stay attentive. Rev. Laura Dunham has written a book not only different in degree, but different in kind. This is a new contribution to serious seekers in the Christian tradition . . . not only smart and personal but real and ready for any contemporary seeker who wants to go deeper right now.""Mary Margaret Funk, OSBOur Lady of Grace MonasteryAuthor of Into the Depths: A Journey of Loss and Vocation (2010)""Spiritually rich and beautifully written, Laura Dunham not only retrieves important traditions of Christian wisdom, she juxtaposes them in unique, insightful, and fully convincing ways. How does the embodied and transformative process of walking the labyrinth guide us also in the soul''s journey through purification, illumination, and union? How is the church''s liturgical calendar humanized through provocative yet honest personal antidote? In raising these questions Dunham honors Christian traditions as well as her readers.""--Steven Chase, PhDStudium Scholar, St. Benedict''s MonasteryAuthor of Nature as Spiritual Practice (2011)Laura Dunham is a Presbyterian minister and Benedictine oblate. Her professional life spans more than four decades as a college professor and administrator, a pastor and church leader. She now teaches, leads workshops, and writes about spiritual formation and transformation. Her previous books include Graceful Living: Your Faith, Values, and Money in Changing Times. She invites inquiries about her work through her website and blog at www.healingandwisdom.com.

Despite a wealth of literature on the ""missional church"" and ""missional living,"" few resources help Christians and churches think through what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ and what specific practices help cultivate lives of discipleship. Written from, with, and for the church, Pilgrim Practices: Discipleship for a Missional Church introduces Christian practices from the Letter of James to help guide Christians and churches in their journey of discipleship. This book frames discipleship in a way that has been largely abandoned in modern congregational literature, as fundamentally an issue of identity--an identity that is necessarily formed and practiced in and with the church community. It is a lifestyle that cannot be lived on one''s own. Discipleship ultimately means engaging with others on a journey of faith sustained and cultivated through certain practices--pilgrim practices. The practices examined in this book develop and direct the risky pilgrim journey of Christians, transforming pilgrims into disciples--as the Body of Christ--who participate with God in God''s mission in the world. In this time of transient identities, individualist impulses, and fleeting commitments, this book offers specific practices to help Christians form their identity as disciples and to help Christian communities live their calling as the pilgrim Body of Christ in the world.""Kristopher Norris''s Pilgrim Practices is a winsome treatment of the Christian life organized around the key themes of pilgrimage and practice. Norris retrieves the ancient understanding of Christianity as not merely a set of doctrines but a people''s way of living as an alternative community on missional pilgrimage in the world. The book begins with a helpful exposition of this basic vision, which is followed by a quite rich discussion of key practices of Christian discipleship as these are revealed in the Epistle of James. This book is original, honest, humble, and always engaging. I strongly recommend it.""-David P. GusheeDistinguished University Professor of Christian EthicsMercer University""With writing as vivid and engaging as his vision of the Church, Kris Norris opens up fresh sky over what it means to follow Jesus in the world. I already want to read it again.""--Julie Pennington-RussellPastor, First Baptist Church, Decatur, GA ""Pilgrim Practices is a great example of what can happen when a scholar lands in a local congregation and real lives become fertile soil for ideas. The demonstration plot of real community breathes life into Norris'' theology. The result is a study of James that will benefit any congregation that''s eager to join God''s mission right where they are.""-Jonathan Wilson-Hartgroveauthor of God''s Economy and co-compiler, Common Prayer""It seems like there is a lot of talk these days about the ''missional church.'' But Kris Norris puts biblical flesh on those bones and helps those of us who want to be real disciples of Christ take the next steps. It''s about receiving and entering into a new identity--about falling in love with Christ, Christ''s people, and Christ''s work in the world. Norris walks us through the book of James and into a pattern for a bolder and more authentic way of living.""-Stephen A. Hayner President, Columbia Theological Seminary""Pilgrim Practices: Discipleship for a Missional Church, like the Letter of James on which it is based, is full of wisdom and passion. It is a poignant and powerful explanation of Christian discipleship, offering a compelling journey guide for individuals to follow Jesus in the context of missional communities. I especially appreciated the clear call to engage in ''practices'' that form identity and define what it means to be fully human.""--Daniel VestalExecutive Coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Atlanta, Georgia ""A refreshing and honest look at two critical ingredients for a New Testament church in our twenty-first-century world . . . missional discipleshi

To many people the law stands in opposition to the gospel. While it may be possible to read Paul''s epistles this way, the book of Deuteronomy will not allow this reading. Like the book of Romans in the New Testament, Deuteronomy provides the most systematic and sustained presentation of theology in the Old Testament. And like the Gospel of John, it represents mature theological reflection on God''s great acts of salvation, in this case associated with the exodus of Israel from Egypt. The gospel according to Moses begins and ends with the gracious work of God for undeserving subjects. In a book that consists largely of Moses'' farewell sermons to his congregation, Israel''s first pastor seeks to inspire his congregation to a life of faith and godliness in response to God''s great mercy. Unfortunately, for many Christians, Deuteronomy is a dead book, because we have lost sight of the gospel. The essays in this collection arise from a larger project driven by a passion to recover for Christians the life-giving message of the Old Testament in general and the gospel according to Moses in particular. The ""meditations"" in this volume cover a wide range of topics, from explorations into the origins of Deuteronomy to considerations of the ethical and homiletical relevance of the book for Christians today.""Dan Block is one of the finest Old Testament exegetes of this generation. This collection of his thoughtful articles on Deuteronomy will be invaluable to anyone studying the book. His labors and analyses are a gift to both the academy and the Church.""--John H. WaltonProfessor of Old TestamentWheaton College and Graduate School""With the seasoned skill of a mature scholar and the passion of a preacher, Dan Block offers us another fine volume on Deuteronomy. This theological manifesto of ancient Israel continues to speak across the centuries, and there can be no better guide than Block to help the people of God today hear the abiding voice of the one true God in its pages.""--M. Daniel Carroll R.Distinguished Professor of Old TestamentDenver SeminaryDaniel I. Block is the Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. He is the author of The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24 (1997), The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48 (1998); Judges and Ruth (1999); and Deuteronomy (NIVAC), forthcoming).

James Atwood contends that the thirty thousand gun deaths America suffers every year cannot be understood apart from our national myth that God has appointed America as ""the trustee of the civilization of the world"" and even ""Christ''s light to the nations."" Because these purposes are noble, and we are supposedly a good and trustworthy people, violence is sometimes ""required"" and gives license to individuals to carry open or concealed weapons, which ""save lives"" and can even be ""redemptive."" Atwood, an avid hunter, cautions that an absolute trust in guns and violence morphs easily into idolatry. Having spent thirty-six years as a Presbyterian pastor fighting against the easy access to firearms, one of which took the life of a friend, he uses his unique experience and his biblical and theological understanding to graphically portray the impact guns have on our society. He documents how Americans have been deceived into believing that the tools of violence, whether they take the form of advanced military technology or a handgun in the bedside stand, will provide security. He closes with a wake-up call to the faith community, which he says is America''s best hope to unmask the extremism of the Gun Empire.""Atwood knows that guns are not just weapons, but symbols, and not only symbols, but idols that demand enormous sacrifice in American lives. This book gets at both the depth and meaning of this on-going tragedy. As a gifted organizer and thinker, Atwood then unveils the inspiring theological bases of an awakening to gun violence [prevention] that has already begun in some cities and congregations.""--Christian Iosso, Coordinator of Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy""When it comes to tackling the plague of gun violence in the U.S., no one ''walks the walk'' with more integrity than Atwood. He has devoted his life to saving lives from gun violence by increasing awareness and challenging popular myths about guns. He now gives us a much needed theological undergirding for our work to end the violence.""--John W. Wimberly Jr., Pastor of Western Presbyterian Church""Gun violence destroys families everyday in America. Atwood presciently shows how our weak gun laws result from treating guns as if they were religious idols. By unpacking the theological significance of policies that allow for unfettered access to firearms, he makes a compelling argument that people of faith have a religious and moral duty to fight for stronger gun laws.""--Joshua Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence""Atwood''s fervent account of the multiple costs of gun violence and the need to restrain it is of urgent and timely importance. This book is a challenge to Christians to lead the way in unmasking the peculiar American obsession with guns. It illuminates the origins of that obsession and recounts a distressing record of statistics and broken laws, all in a compelling theological framework.""--David Little, Harvard Divinity School""This is the book I''ve been waiting for. Atwood''s analysis is deeply theological, and I hope it will bring conversations in our churches about idolatry, faithfulness, and the violence that has become so interwoven into our culture. Read this book for an exploration of your own acquiescence to the gun culture, and then study it with your book club or church group to begin planning the revolution that will stand up to the gun industry.""--Rick Ufford-Chase, Executive Director of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship""Atwood writes with righteous purpose and theological wisdom. All people of faith should read and embrace his admonition to the American faith community to heed God''s call to save the lives of our sisters, brothers, and children by renouncing the idolatry of guns and joining together in a faith-based movement to end the uniquely and devastatingly American regime of gun violence.""--Bryan Miller, Executive Director of Heeding God''s Call""With searing insight, prophetic

Two parables that have become firmly lodged in popular consciousness and affection are the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal Son. These simple but subversive tales have had a significant impact historically on shaping the spiritual, aesthetic, moral, and legal traditions of Western civilization, and their capacity to inform debate on a wide range of moral and social issues remains as potent today as ever. Noting that both stories deal with episodes of serious interpersonal offending, and both recount restorative responses on the part of the leading characters, Compassionate Justice draws on the insights of restorative justice theory, legal philosophy, and social psychology to offer a fresh reading of these two great parables. It also provides a compelling analysis of how the priorities commended by the parables are pertinent to the criminal justice system today. The parables teach that the conscientious cultivation of compassion is essential to achieving true justice. Restorative justice strategies, this book argues, provide a promising and practical means of attaining to this goal of reconciling justice with compassion.""This is how political theology ought to be done. Marshall takes the fundamentally local problem of how communities restore relationships broken by criminal behavior and applies the insights of Jesus'' best-known parables. Marshall shuttles back and forth between the biblical narratives and the best of social science to enhance both . . . I felt like I was reading Jesus'' parables for the first time, and I also learned to think in new ways about criminal justice.""--William T. Cavanaugh, Senior Research Professor, DePaul University""In his important new book, Marshall presents penetrating readings of the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son and uses these to provide fascinating new insights into the nature of restorative justice. The book culminates with an outstanding analysis of the role compassion should play in criminal justice. This is essential reading for anybody interested in serious thinking about the meaning of crime and justice.""--Gerry Johnstone, Professor of Law, University of Hull ""Few but Marshall could have written this book. In it he brings the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son into a lovingly detailed conversation with the main facets of restorative justice. The result is a deeply instructive journey . . . The gospel announces peace, and Marshall maps out here, recalling the words of Jesus, the only path--a steep and narrow way, much overlooked--that leads to peace. Those who reject the tyranny of the urgent and attend to Marshall''s patient prose will experience an insightful, remarkable, and profoundly important book.""--Douglas A. Campbell, Associate Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School""Compassionate Justice is an impressive addition to the burgeoning literature on restorative justice. However, it is much more than that. This is a theologically rich account of the foundations and contradictions of substantive justice viewed though the lens of the two most beloved biblical parables: the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. It is imaginative and compelling and powerfully demonstrates the author''s deep understanding of justice issues and his commitment to the ethical ideals of mercy and compassion.""--Warren Brookbanks, Professor of Criminal law, University of Auckland, New Zealand ""This is a beautifully written and thoughtful reflection on two familiar parables and the normative implications of the central moment in each: when the protagonist is ''moved by compassion.'' An especially important contribution to restorative justice literature.""--Daniel W. Van Ness, Prison Fellowship International""As with his earlier publications, such as Beyond Retribution, Marshall has given us a profound book in highly readable form. His blend of biblical scholarship and contemporary insights from the social sciences an

C. S. Lewis is one of the best-loved and most engaging Christian writers of recent times, and he continues to be a powerful defender of the faith. It is in his imaginative fiction that his genius finds its fullest expression and makes its most lasting theological contribution. Famously, Lewis had friends who, like him, employed powerfully creative imaginations to explore the profundities of Christian thought and their struggles with their faith. These illuminating essays on C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rose Macaulay, and Austin Farrer are written by an international team of Lewis scholars.""These essays helpfully remind us how and why imagination should matter to people of faith. The contributors make a compelling case that C. S. Lewis and his circle were not merely tellers of tales but theologians in their own right, whose stories and images advance faith''s search for understanding.""-Kevin J. VanhoozerBlanchard Professor of Theology, Wheaton College and Graduate School ""In this tidy collection several of the most astute and theologically competent readers of C. S. Lewis and his friends tackle the role and register of the imagination as a theological property of mind. The result is a thoughtful, mature, and illuminating insight for any serious readers of this group of writers.""-David Lyle Jeffrey, FRSCDistinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University""There are undoubtedly too many books published on C. S. Lewis and his friends, so why yet another? In this case, four very good reasons indeed: the caliber of the contributors, the quality of the chapters, the range of figures considered, and--perhaps most of all--the consistent and insistent thematic focus on how imagination and reason interact within the life of faith. This book is thus of interest for its theme as much as for its topic. Highly recommended!"" -Robert MacSwainThe School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis ""We have much to learn from the authors discussed here, all of them faithful practitioners of the imaginative arts. This well-grounded, thought-provoking collection of essays helps us to that end and does so in a scholarly yet accessible manner. A book worth owning, reading and re-reading.""-Michael WardChaplain of St Peter''s College, Oxford, and author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis""C. S. Lewis and Friends is particularly strong on the subjects of faith, reason, and their relation. What members of Lewis''s circle have to say on these topics is of contemporary relevance at every turn.... The authors of this book typically strike just the right balance between a survey of the figure at the heart of the particular chapter and a presentation of some specific examples of their theological interests... .The result is an ideal, more theological, book to put alongside Humphrey Carpenter''s group biography The Inklings."" -The Church Times (London)David Hein is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Hood College, Maryland.Edward Hugh Henderson is Professor of Philosophy and Christian Studies at Louisiana State University.

In ""Thoughts Upon Methodism,"" John Wesley shared his hopes and fears for the future of his religious movement. The article contains this well-known passage: ""I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."" The Form and Power of Religion unpacks this statement by explaining what Wesley meant by the form and power of religion, identifying what Methodist Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline were according to Wesley, and discussing how these aspects of Methodism worked together to maintain the vitality of the Revival. The book concludes with an evaluation of Wesley''s theory of Methodist Vitality, and discusses its viability as a basis for contemporary Church Vitality programs.""Felleman takes us Methodists back to the source of the movement in order to move our church forward. She uncovers the distinctive shape of Wesleyan Christianity through a wonderful explication of Wesley''s sermons and writings. Then she gives a truly Wesleyan prescription for today''s church, whereby we might recover some of the spiritual power our church so desperately needs."" --Will Willimon, Professor of Christian Ministry, Duke University""Felleman provides a helpful guide to the core of John Wesley''s doctrine and practice, which was so central to the vitality of early Methodism. It will be of interest to all contemporary Wesleyans who are seeking to recover the ''power'' of religion in churches that have retained only its ''form.''""--Randy L. Maddox, Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies, Duke Divinity SchoolLaura Bartels Felleman is the Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. She has taught courses in Wesleyan theology and Methodist history at the seminary level. Her research focuses on British intellectual history and the influence that Wesley''s historical context had on his theological viewpoint.