Books published by Cascade Books

Limbo has traditionally been viewed as a place between heaven, on the one hand, and purgatory and hell, on the other, to which the patriarchs, who lived under the old law, and babies who died before being baptized into the Christian faith have been consigned. Like purgatory, it is a dark place but not deprived of grace. Now that the Roman Catholic Church has declared that limbo is not an official church teaching, the idea of limbo has been freed from ecclesiastical constraints and available for reflection on the human condition on this side of the grave.Living in Limbo by Donald Capps and Nathan Carlin focuses on the acute limbo situations that are an integral part of human life, including the vicissitudes of growing up, of forming committed relationships, of finding employment and staying employed, of undergoing life-threatening illnesses, and of experiencing dislocation and doubt. Using cases and examples of real-life persons, the book identifies the forms of distress likely to occur throughout the duration of the limbo experience, and it also identifies the internal and external resources that individuals draw upon as they cope with the stresses and uncertainties of living in limbo.Drawing on the traditional view, especially reflected in Christian art, that Christ descends into limbo to comfort and liberate its occupants, Living in Limbo comes down on the side of hope versus despair. In reading about other limbo dwellers, readers will meet themselves-or someone they love and care about-and will be encouraged by the very fact that they are not alone. Although it is not a pleasant place to be, limbo is not a place of solitary confinement, and one derives strength and resilience from the presence of the others.""In this stimulating work we are invited to look at the margins of our lives for those disorienting experiences that often remain unexplored. By identifying common limbo experiences and their core elements the authors assist us in navigating a dimension of life that is very often neglected. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a concrete understanding of these complex life experiences.""--Phil C. ZyllaAcademic Dean and Associate Professor of Pastoral TheologyMcMaster Divinity College""With a trove of compelling and vivid narratives of lived experience, Donald Capps and Nathan Carlin illustrate quite powerfully the possibility of cultivating a spirit of hopefulness and resilience even when our lives are most acutely in a state of confusion and disorientation. Through the creative application of the resources of the Christian faith, this book effectively addresses, with compassion and humor and wisdom, the many different states of ''limbo'' familiar to all of us."" --Kirk A. BingamanAssistant Professor and Director of Pastoral Care and CounselingFordham University ""This book breathes new psychological and religious life into the ancient theological doctrine of ''Limbo,'' recently disowned by the Catholic Church. Readers will find new sources of hope, insight, and solidarity in the limbo situations of people struggling to find their way along this journey we call life.""--Thomas R. ColeMcGovern Chair in Medical HumanitiesUniversity of Texas--Houston Health Science Center Medical SchoolDonald Capps (1939-2015) was William Harte Felmeth Professor of Pastoral Theology (Emeritus) and Adjunct Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of Striking Out (Cascade Books, 2011), At Home in the World (Cascade Books, 2013), Still Growing (Cascade Books, 2014), and The Resourceful Self (Cascade Books, 2014). He is coauthor with Nathan Carlin of Living in Limbo (Cascade Books, 2010) and The Gift of Sublimation (Cascade Books, 2015).Nathan Carlin is Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He has coauthored many articles with Donald Capps.

Although Emily Dickinson is sometimes seen as a religious skeptic, she never gave up on God, struggling with issues of faith and doubt throughout her life. Many of her poems depict such struggles, sometimes with humor and sometimes with despair. Reading and reflecting on these poems can be a powerful way to listen to and experience God through the arts.Mending a Tattered Faith presents, first, an accessible introduction to the mysteries of Dickinson''s life and poetry, considering her relationships to her family and the church, the significant poetic strategies she employed, and the dramatic family struggle over publishing her poetry that began soon after her death. It then offers twenty-nine carefully selected poems by Dickinson, each with an accompanying meditation. By helping readers unpack Dickinson''s intense but brief poems, supplying absorbing historical background and information, and relating some personal stories and reflections, this book encourages readers to embark upon their own meditative journey with Dickinson, whose engaging struggles with faith and doubt can help illuminate our own spiritual questions, sorrows, and joys.""Who''s afraid of Emily Dickinson? Not me, when I''ve got Susan Emily VanZanten at my side. Precise, elegant, and evocative, VanZanten guides the reader through the spiritual tangles of Dickinson''s verse in ways that enlighten and refresh the soul. This is a book to keep and to treasure.""--Paul J. Willisauthor of Rosing from the Dead: Poems""I''ve never read a book quite like this, and I''m hoping it will inspire a new genre: engaged reading, slow reading, deeply informed by scholarship but inviting to all.""--John WilsonEditor, Books & CultureSusan VanZanten is Professor of English at Seattle Pacific University. She is the author of Truth and Reconciliation: The Confessional Mode in South African Literature (2002), the editor of Postcolonial Literature and the Biblical Call to Justice (1994), and co-author (with Roger Lundin) of Literature through the Eyes of Faith (1989).

What practices might a community of faith take up that will bear witness to the alternative world Jesus envisions and calls us towards? That is the question that Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, an initially small and fragile group of Christ followers, has kept asking over the last twenty years. Along the way, this small group has spawned a vibrant community of faith that has traveled along four trajectories towards a shared life in community, radical hospitality, justice for the least, and confession leading to transformation. In a culture where individualism, consumerism, injustice, and autonomy shape us all, these practices have re-shaped not only the people of this church but also the neighborhood they inhabit in the East side of Vancouver, British Columbia.For anyone wanting to recover ancient but newly shaped practices of the first disciples, Plunging into the Kingdom Way offers renewed hope. By relating their story in conversation with a host of theologians, sociologists, and philosophers, Tim Dickau sparks the imagination for how you and your friends, your community, or your church can live out the radical vision of Jesus in your neighborhood today. Plunge in and you will discover renewed hope that you can actually follow the way of Jesus today."". . . a deeply compelling and engaging portrait of a community that practices hospitality and justice while nurturing a strong spiritual and communal life. Tim Dickau''s careful description of a single congregation gives his readers excellent resources for imagining what a fuller commitment to a Kingdom way might look like in their own contexts.""-Christine D. PohlProfessor of Social Ethics, Asbury Theological SeminaryAuthor of Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition""It is one thing to ''talk the talk.'' It is quite another to ''walk the walk.'' This book exhibits the way in which Grandview Calvary Baptist Church (led by Tim Dickau) walks the walk in freedom and courage and wisdom. The current crisis in the church leads us to fall back on specific narratives, so that we may learn what is true and transferable from one community of discipleship to another. Dickau offers a full measure of practical theology that is permeated with justice, generosity, hospitality, and forgiveness. This book will guide and empower others to walk by faith where our sight increasingly fails us.""-Walter BrueggemannColumbia Theological Seminary""The story that Tim Dickau tells here is the story of a congregation that has heard and received the good news: ''The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.'' That is, this congregation has dared to submit their life to this coming kingdom and its Lord. In doing so, they have learned to serve where they have been placed. The life that they have found in this submission has not been hoarded or protected behind high walls and thick doors. Instead this life has been given away in their neighborhood, on their streets, in their homes, coffee shops, and markets. It is a public faith shaped in community by joyful and hard discipline. The story is not complete but its end is certain because the vision that empowers their witness is the crucified and risen Messiah sent by the love of the Father and present today in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who reads this story takes the risk of being captured by that same vision and called to deeper life in the kingdom. Surely that is the good news of Christ.""-Jonathan R. Wilson Carey Theological College Author, Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World""Multiculturalism is on everyone''s lips these days, but we are still struggling with entrenched barriers that perpetuate exclusion and suspicion. This book shows us why diversity must be pursued along with hospitality, repentance, and justice. Tim Dickau warns us that the kingdom of God is no simple excursion and has provided a pilgrim''s roadmap honed by prayer, failures, awkwardness, surprises, and, above all, abid

All of us yearn for a peaceable and just world, but some roll up their sleeves and set to work to make the dream real. Blessed Peacemakers celebrates 365 of them, one for each day of the year.Their stories are richly diverse. They share a commitment to peace and justice, but the various contexts in which they work make each of their stories uniquely instructive. The peacemakers include women, men, and children from across the globe, spanning some twenty-five hundred years. Many are persons of faith, but some are totally secular. Some are well known, while others will be excitingly new. They are human rights and antiwar activists, scientists and artists, educators and scholars, songwriters and poets, film directors and authors, diplomats and economists, environmentalists and mystics, prophets and policymakers. Some are unlettered, but all are wise. A few died in the service of the dream. All sacrificed for it.The world is a better place for the presence of blessed peacemakers. Their inspiring stories embolden readers to join them in nonviolent resistance to injustice and the creative pursuit of peace.""Blessed Peacemakers is quite astonishing in its breadth and depth, examining 365 noble souls who devoted large parts of their lives to peacemaking and without whom the world would be a much poorer place.""--Helen Caldicott, Founding President of Physicians for Social Responsibility""This inspiring and wonderful book gives a concise account of the core ideas, passions, and acts of the world''s peacemakers over the last twenty-five hundred years. . . . These engaging essays deserve a read by anyone committed to making our world a more just and peaceful place.""--Donald B. Kraybill, Distinguished Professor at Elizabethtown College ""One excellent way to start the day is to read just one page of Blessed Peacemakers--read it in silence to yourself if you eat breakfast alone; read it aloud if there''s more than one at the table. In some cases, you will already be aware of the person whose story is assigned to the day, in many cases not. In every case, you are in for encouragement and inspiration.""--Jim Forest, International Secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship ""Walters and Jarrell provide exemplars who encourage this world toward longevity and high quality of life. Like it or not, we need these exemplars because they remind us that self-sufficiency does not work outside of healthy communal practices--chief of which is peacemaking! Read Walters and Jarrell''s excellent work and understand what I mean.""--Michael Battle, Founder of PeaceBattle InstituteKerry Walters teaches Philosophy as well as Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. The author or editor of more than twenty-five books, he is also a longtime peace activist.Robin Jarrell is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. She is past coeditor (with Kerry Walters) of Episcopal Peace Witness.

What does the Bible say about the American future? Does it contain an apocalyptic vision in which conflicts are to be resolved by war? Or does it contain a vision of coexistence under some system of conflict management? While both visions have biblical foundations, the apocalyptic alternative has dominated public discussion in the past generation. Most people are not even aware that another vision can be derived from the same Bible and that it transcends the usual definitions of liberal, conservative, or evangelical politics. The essays in this book, written by distinguished scholars from various sectors of the theological spectrum, throw surprising new light on these questions. They were presented as lectures at an extraordinary theological conference sponsored by a large Methodist church in Lincoln, Nebraska, in October 2009. In contrast to the usual shouting matches between partisans, this conference--and this book--featured liberal and conservative Protestant and Catholic scholars who calmly unearthed new insights about the Bible''s relevance for the future of America and the world. Readers will be astonished to see these differing viewpoints on the pages of a single book, and even more amazed at the new common ground that is prepared by these fresh and profound furrows. Robert Jewett is on the faculties of Morningside College and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He is the author of Mission and Menace: Four Centuries of American Religious Zeal, and is Theologian in Residence at St. Mark''s Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.Wayne L. Alloway Jr. is Senior Pastor of St. Mark''s United Methodist Church in Lincoln and is also a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.John G. Lacey is Executive Pastor of St. Mark''s United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a lifelong student of the Bible with a passion for teaching and writing about the Scripture.

Latina Evangelicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins is a constructive and postcolonial examination of the theology of Protestant Latinas who reside in the United States. Written by three Latinas who have pastored and who teach in Latina/o communities, the book seeks to expand beyond Latina feminist and mujerista voices to include those whose perspectives have not yet been heard. It thus introduces an important theological perspective to a wider audience, and provides an important resource that has been lacking for evangelicas/os and other marginalized groups who study in various theological programs. Key terminology, such as evangelica, is defined throughout, and a glossary is included for non-Spanish-speaking readers. Each chapter considers theological themes important to the Latina Protestant worshiping community, beginning with a constructive discussion of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and followed by the doctrines of salvation and Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the church, Scripture, and ""the last things"" (eschatology). Given that one of the characteristics of Latina/o theologies is their dialogical and collaborative nature, the book concludes with a conversation among the three authors about the theological thinking that took place in its composition. Study questions are included at the end of each chapter.""A groundbreaking book destined to shape Latina theology for years to come. Rooted in praxis and community, the authors are prompted by the transformative power of the subversive Spirit. I highly recommend it.""--Kwok Pui-lan, Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality, Episcopal Divinity School""Latina Evangelicas is a powerful and provocative treatise by three Latina theologian-practitioners. Here we have rich and prophetic voices that go beyond Latina feminist, mujerista, or womanist works. The traditional theological themes addressed in this book may seem common to some, but watch out! In the hands of these Latina theologians, these themes--be they the Holy Spirit, salvation, the Trinity, or Scripture--are insightful, constructive, and explosive.""--Eldin Villafane, Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary""A welcome and necessary addition to the theological table, and in particular to la mesa latina. This labor of love is a spirited and spirit-filled example of teologia en conjunto. These three authors, Latinas evangelicas, rooted in the richness and diversity of their daily places and communities, expand theological vocabulary and offer fresh perspectives on traditional systematic themes by drawing on lived experience latinamente.""--Carmen Nanko-Fernandez, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Catholic Theological UnionLoida I. Martell-Otero is Professor of Constructive Theology at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. She coedited Teologia en Conjunto with Jose D. Rodriguez (1997) and has published on topics related to Christology, soteriology, vocation, and spirituality.Zaida Maldonado Perez is a former Dean of the School of Urban Ministries at Asbury Theological Seminary, Florida-Dunnam Campus, and Professor of Church History and Theology. Her publications include The Subversive Role of Visions in Early Christian Martyrs (2010) and An Introduction to Christian Theology (2002), coauthored with Justo L. Gonzalez.Elizabeth Conde-Frazier is the Academic Dean of Esperanza College of Eastern University in Philadelphia. Among her contributions are Listening to the Children (2011) and A Many Colored Kingdom (2004).

Israel''s Messiah and the People of God presents a rich and diverse selection of essays by theologian Mark Kinzer, whose work constitutes a pioneering step in Messianic Jewish theology. Including several pieces never before published, this collection illuminates Kinzer''s thought on topics such as Oral Torah, Jewish prayer, eschatology, soteriology, and Messianic Jewish-Catholic dialogue. This volume offers the reader numerous portals into the vision of Messianic Judaism offered in Kinzer''s Postmissionary Messianic Judaism (2005). An introductory essay by editor Jennifer M. Rosner sets Kinzer''s thought and writings in context.""Mark Kinzer is a ''break-through'' thinker who has taken Messianic Judaism to a new level of theological sophistication. No one who cares deeply about the relationship between Judaism and Christianity can afford to ignore these essays.""--Richard J. MouwPresident of Fuller Theological Seminary""This book is a welcome successor to Mark Kinzer''s 2005 groundbreaking work, Postmissionary Messianic Judaism . . . It is the kind of theological inquiry that both the Jewish Roots movement and the Messianic Jewish movement are so greatly in need of. Jennifer Rosner''s collaboration in this project is a promising sign that a new generation of Messianic Jewish scholars may be ready to accept the challenge.""--Isaac RottenbergFirst Chairperson of the National Council of Churches Office on Christian-Jewish Relations""This is a significant book. Although it is a collection of articles and addresses, it has a far greater coherence than such collections normally possess. This coherence flows directly from the coherence of Mark Kinzer''s life-project--to develop a form of Messianic Judaism that is authentically Jewish, and at the same time truly Messianic in the sense of fully recognizing the centrality of Jesus in God''s purpose for Israel and for the world.""--Monsignor Peter HockenMember of International Doctrinal Commission for Catholic Charismatic Renewal""Whether one welcomes the Messianic Jewish movement wholeheartedly, with reservations, or not at all, the increasing importance of its voice in contemporary theological discussion is certain. This collection of essays by Mark Kinzer demonstrates again why the issues raised by Messianic Judaism are so fundamental in nature, and why Kinzer himself is widely regarded as the movement''s foremost theologian."" --R. Kendall SoulenProfessor of Systematic Theology, Wesley Theological SeminaryMark S. Kinzer is President Emeritus of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, and the author of Postmissionary Messianic Judaism (2005). Jennifer M. Rosner is a doctoral candidate at Fuller Theological Seminary.

This book records a set of dialogues between scientists, theologians, and philosophers on what can be done to prevent a global slide into ecological collapse. It is a uniquely multidisciplinary book that exemplifies the kinds of cultural and scholarly dialogue urgently needed to address the threat to the earth represented by our super-industrial civilization. The authors debate the conventional account of nature conservation as protection from human activity. In contrast to standard accounts, they argue what is needed is a new relationship between human beings and the earth that recovers a primal respect for all things. This approach seeks to recover forgotten resources in ancient cultures and in the foundational narratives of Western civilization contained in the Bible and in the culture of classical Greece.""A refreshing critique of both evangelical and liberal North American environmental discourse, a bold exercise in multi-disciplinary conversation, and a welcome retrieval of the virtues of creaturely humility and gratitude.""-Ernst M. ConradieUniversity of the Western Cape, South Africa""This wonderfully rich book is a model of deep conversation on crucial challenges we face. The most important issues are intrinsically interdisciplinary, yet we often settle for talking ''at'' or ''to'' one another. This is especially true among the ''environmental'' and ''religious'' communities. The conversations in this book show that deep interdisciplinary engagements offer opportunities to re-frame the questions and re-describe the challenges in more promising and life-giving ways, transforming participants and the issues alike. A terrific achievement.""-L. Gregory JonesDuke University""Underlying the environmental movement are a set of mostly undiscussed ethical and theological assumptions about the nature of the world and our relationship to it. In this pioneering volume, scholars from various perspectives engage in a deep exploration of the relationship of ecology, theology, and ethics. The results are often illuminating, sometimes surprising, and uniformly worth engaging.""--Paul Root WolpeEmory University""Van Houtan and Northcott engage scientists, ethicists, theologians, and other thinking persons in dialogue, working to re-ligate the torn academic and social fabric, and bringing all to see and respond to the biosphere--the awesome creation that calls for our guardianship and respectful service. They have us join this dialogue, motivating us--guardeners all--toward nurturing the kind of wisdom and humility that brings good news to every creature.""--Calvin DeWittUniversity of WisconsinKyle S. Van Houtan is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Program in Science and Society and a Research Fellow in the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He has served as a biologist with the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Geological Service.Michael S. Northcott is Professor of Ethics in the School of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the author of The Environment and Christian Ethics (1996)

This unique commentary generates a conversation between the biblical narrative of conquest, related biblical themes, and the American master narrative of Manifest Destiny. Writing in an accessible style and format, Hawk offers an exegesis of the biblical text with special emphasis on the ways the narrative of conquest shaped ancient Israel''s identity as a people. A second level of commentary lifts key themes from the text (e.g., the land as divine gift and promise, mass killing, Israel''s distinctive attributes, the construction of the Indigenous Other) and sets them within their broader biblical context. A third dimension reflects on corresponding elements in America''s narrative of ""westward expansion"" (e.g. the conviction of America''s unique character and destiny, total war and ethnic cleansing, the dehumanization of Native peoples, patriotism and homeland, the idea of the American Dream). As a whole, this book offers Joshua as a biblical resource for reading the American experience, challenging readers to reflect on how conquest shaped America''s identity and how it continues to influence American attitudes and actions.""An informative, provocative commentary on Joshua by a master interpreter. Hawk brings the ancient book to life as the narrative about Israel''s identity. But that''s not all: Hawk creatively gives us ''Joshua for today''--''old'' Joshua''s perspective on America''s national identity narratives. If you''re asking, ''What does it mean to be a Christian in twenty-first century America?'' this is the book for you. I commend it highly.""--Robert L. Hubbard Jr.Professor of Biblical LiteratureNorth Park Theological Seminary, ChicagoL. Daniel Hawk is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. He is the author of Every Promise Fulfilled (1991) and Joshua (Berit Olam, 2000).

Studying the New Testament requires a determination to encounter this collection of writings on its own terms. This classic introduction by Charles B. Puskas, revised with C. Michael Robbins, provides helpful guidance. Since the publication of the first edition, which was in print for twenty years, a host of new and diverse cultural, historical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, narrative, textual, and contextual studies has been examined. Attentive also to the positive reviews of the first edition, the authors retain the original tripartite arrangement on 1) the world of the New Testament, 2) interpreting the New Testament, and 3) Jesus and early Christianity. This volume supplies readers with pertinent primary and secondary material. The new edition carries on a genuine effort to be nonsectarian, and although it is more of a critical introduction than a general survey, it is recommended to midlevel college and seminary students and to anyone who wants to be better informed about the New Testament.""This second edition of An Introduction to the New Testament by Puskas and Robbins is a literarily sensitive, historically oriented volume. It provides a framework to the New Testament that will help readers appreciate the complex world out of which the New Testament arose and gain an understanding of what is involved in the exegesis of New Testament texts today. I recommend this text for use in undergraduate and seminary classes that offer an academic approach to the New Testament.""--Mark ReasonerAssociate Professor of TheologyMarian University Charles B. Puskas has extensive experience in college and university teaching, religious publishing, and parish ministry. He is the author of The Conclusion of Luke-Acts (Pickwick Publications, 2009), The Letters of Paul (1993) and with David Crump, An Introduction to the Gospels and Acts (2008). C. Michael Robbins is an adjunct professor of religion and philosophy in the Haggard School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University. He is the author of The Testing of Jesus in Q (2007) and with Steven Johnson has helped revise James Allen Hewett''s New Testament Greek, with CD-ROM (2009).

The Former Prophets of the Hebrew Bible includes the books of Joshua through 2 Kings, a narrative of ancient Israel''s history of some seven hundred years from the ""conquest"" of Canaan to the exile, when Israel lost the land. From a critical perspective the narrative is a composite document incorporating many different literary sources from different times; seen as a whole, the result is a compelling example of ancient historiography as well as an impressive artistic achievement. Included are fascinating (and often horrifying) stories of war, religious fanaticism, terror, and disaster, as well as stories of deep personal loyalty, friendship, and faith. Many characters in the books of The Former Prophets are at once virtuous and villainous, such as King David: slayer of giants, writer of therapeutic songs, and builder of empire, who is also a permissive parent, a rapist, an adulterer, and a murderer. The books of the Former Prophets feature a witch who is far from wicked, and a religious reformer who slaughters the unorthodox. Even God makes an appearance as an evil spirit!Not only have such vivid personages inspired works of art and motivated groups, including the Pilgrims, who came to America to found communities like New Canaan. The Former Prophets also present parallels--often uncomfortable ones--to events in our own history from ethnic cleansing to tyrannical oppression. Yet the Former Prophets also picture the dream of a just and peaceful community that has motivated people of goodwill for thousands of years.Through it all the Former Prophets raise perennial questions: What is the relationship between divine sovereignty and human political institutions? How does a culture identify ""insiders"" and ""outsiders""? In what sense are historical events the result of human acts and also of divine Providence? How does a nation come to terms with its failures as well as its triumphs? ""Having retold the first part of the Bible''s story of ancient Israel in his acclaimed The Book of the Torah, Thomas Mann now presents the second half with critical and theological acumen. The difficult themes and pictures are not glossed over, but Mann''s rich interpretive retelling opens up avenues into a contemporary appropriation of this story, on which, for better or for worse, the Christian community is grounded.""--Patrick D. MillerPrinceton Theological Seminary, Emeritus""An amazing achievement. Lucidly, with illuminating parallels from modern times, Mann guides us superbly through vast terrain. He keeps the big picture always in view, yet has an unerring eye for the telling detail. He concisely explains disparate sources and historical background. But always the story, with its rich cast of characters, takes pride of place. We see complexities and ambiguities in narratives fraught with violence and we confront the challenges they present today''s reader. The final chapter, deeply thoughtful, critical, and constructive, lays out paths to better understand this great theological history as a work of theodicy, the struggle to comprehend God''s ways in a calamitous world. In Mann''s book, the ancient work has an excellent modern companion.""--David M. GunnTexas Christian UniversityThomas W. Mann has taught religious studies at the college, seminary, and doctoral levels and served as a parish minister in the United Church of Christ. He is the author of The Book of the Torah (1988), to which this book is a sequel.

The Adam and Eve narrative in Genesis 2-3 has gripped not only biblical scholars, but also theologians, artists, philosophers, and almost everyone else. In this engaging study, a master of biblical interpretation provides a close reading of the Yahwist story. As in his other works, LaCocque makes wise use of the Pseudepigrapha and rabbinic interpretations, as well as the full range of modern interpretations. Every reader will be engaged by his insights.""This book by LaCocque is an important contribution to the numberous studies on the story of paradise. . . . The reading of this book is enriching. The range of material on which L. draws is remarkable. . . . LaCocque''s book is original in approach and rich in insights. I highly recommend it to scholars and students alike.""--Catholic Biblical Quarterly""Andre LaCocque brings a distinctive style of imagination, interpretation, and articulation to his growing corpus of valuable exposition. Here he probes the thickest text of biblical faith. He goes ''back'' to common cultural myths, but then shows how Israel has claimed generic myths for its own peculiar lived experience. And then he goes ''forward'' to show how the voiced experience of Israel is paradigmatic for all human reality. Along the way he connects with the demanding interpretive tradition that includes Kierkegaard, Ernest Becker, and Ernst Bloch plus the richness of rabbinic work. The outcome is a compelling invitation to think again, afresh, about texts that have too long been settled in conventional, reductionist ways. LaCocque models the courage needed for reading and demanded by the texts."" --Walter Brueggemann Columbia Theological SeminaryAndre LaCocque is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Chicago Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Feminine Unconventional and Romance, She Wrote, and the coauthor (with Paul Ricoeur) of Thinking Biblically: Exegetical and Hermeneutical Studies.

""Most of the following essays reveal my interest in the significance of literary forms--both the short literary forms in the Gospels, such as pronouncement stories, and an entire Gospel as a formed narrative. I am interested in the significance of these forms, not just in literary classification systems . . . . I am interested in literary form as a clue to how the text may engage hearers and readers--impact their thought and life--if they are sensitive respondents. The Gospel stories have been shaped in ways that give them particular potentials for significant engagement. Study of literary form can help us recognize these potentials."" --from the IntroductionContentsPart I: Gospel Sayings and Stories1 Tension in Synoptic Sayings and Stories2 The Pronouncement Story and Its Types3 Varieties of Synoptic Pronouncement Stories4 Types and Functions of Apophthegms in the Synoptic Gospels5 The Gospels and Narrative Literature6 ""You Shall Be Complete""--If Your Love Includes All (Matthew 5:48)Part II: The Gospel of Mark7 The Disciples in Mark: The Function of a Narrative Role8 The Gospel of Mark as Narrative Christology9 Reading It Whole: The Function of Mark 8:34-35 in Mark''s StoryPart III: Paul''s Gospel10 Paul as Liberator and Oppressor: Evaluating Diverse Views of 1 Corinthians11 Participation in Christ: A Central Theme in Pauline Soteriology""For anyone who thinks that the study of literary forms is equivalent to Formgeschichte and hence obsolete for interpreting the Gospels, Tannehill''s The Shape of the Gospel should cause reconsideration. . . . Any appropriation of the Gospels for ethical reflection should be informed by the rhetorical and literary issues addressed by Tannehill in these essays.""--Review of Biblical LiteratureRobert C. Tannehill is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. He is also the author of TheShape of Luke''s Story, The Sword of His Mouth, Dying and Rising with Christ, and The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts.

The Politics of Discipleship and Discipleship in Politics is a work of dialog and cooperation at every level. At the core of this volume are lectures by Jurgen Moltmann, originally delivered at two Mennonite seminaries at the height of the Cold War. Theologians at those seminaries then responded to each of Moltmann''s lectures, and those are included as well. Added to this collection are: a new essay by Moltmann on peacemaking and dragonslaying, a new foreword by Willard Swartley, and a new preface by Moltmann. In this post-9/11 world, this dialog has fresh relevance.The first step to peace is to accept the difference of the other as gift from God. For who can will to annihilate what is received as gift? The penetrating essays in this book are a wonderful testimony of theological work born out of honest engagement, precisely because each author accepts that truth is not a possession and hence its custody is shared, even with those once perceived as adversary. If there is such a thing as pedagogical non-violence this book is a fine exhibit. --Harry J. HuebnerCanadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, CanadaWhile the immediate threat of nuclear disaster has receded since this dialogue between Moltmann and several Mennonite scholars in the 80s, the reality of war has not. In this collection, enriched with a recent essay by Moltmann arguing that ""the love of enemies is a realistic ethic of responsibility,"" Mennonites and Moltmann fruitfully push each other to clarify Lutheran, Reformed, and pacifist ethics in response to evil. --Gayle Gerber KoontzAssociated Mennonite Biblical SeminaryJurgen Moltmann is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology in the Protestant Faculty of the University of Tubingen, Germany. Among his many important and award-winning works are The Coming of God, The Source of Life, God for a Secular Society, and Experiences in Theology.Willard Swartley (editor) is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, editor of numerous books, and author of over a half dozen, with the latest, Covenant of Peace: The Missing Piece in New Testament Theology and Ethics.

Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus represent two of the most influential figures of history because of the expansion of later Christianity. But Christianity''s historical development includes a checkered and troubling past of abusive power that also impugns both Jesus and Paul. European colonialism carried the ""gospel"" to the world, claiming Jesus and Paul as architects of its oppressive empire building. Modern churches in America quote Jesus and Paul to inspire, inform, and justify a host of cultural values that often include the subordination of women and marginalization of others who differ in beliefs, values, and lifestyles. Talbott analyzes how Jesus and Paul responded to the systems of oppressive power in their day, and how each in turn used power to form their respective communities. The conclusions are based on the most recent scholarly approaches to Jesus and Paul and will enable modern readers to judge for themselves how Jesus and Paul envisioned the use of power among their communities.Talbott ""displays both a truly extraordinary range of reading across disciplines and the mental dexterity to integrate many of the contesting views that circulate in contemporary scholarship, with special attention to the contributions of many feminist scholars. Then he proposes original solutions to some of the most vexing problems related to understanding Jesus and Paul in the context of ancient Mediterranean religion and culture. His powerful key to unlocking the door to deeper understanding of these ancient documents is his close analysis of how Paul''s letters describe and apply power when compared with the evidence in the Jesus tradition.""S. Scott Bartchy, from the Foreword""''Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison: Imperial Master-Owner, Anointed Prince, have mercy on us, please spare us!'' What happened before the Christian movement adopted the patriarchal culture of Rome? How did the earliest Christians imagine the relationships of state and citizen, master and servant, man and woman, bishop and disciple, rich and poor, relative and foreigner? Ground Zero for answers is the historical study of the communities Jesus and Paul meant to form. A Christian ethic that is authentic hangs on the answers. Rick Talbott''s map through the thickets of contemporary Jesus and Paul studies is indispensable.""--Patrick NichelsonProfessor Emeritus of Religious StudiesCalifornia State University, NorthridgeRick F. Talbott is Associate Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions at California State University, Northridge, and the author of Sacred Sacrifice (2006).

""Abuse is a problem that needs to be understood, addressed, and challenged. The abused are humans in the image of God who need to be protected, loved, and empowered to stand with us and walk through life with respect and dignity. When God brings a victim to us, we have a responsibility to love them as we want to be loved and be faithful to that responsibility. We must make sure that they and their children are safe, protected, and given the chance to live in peace and love. Abusers are also humans who are in the image of God, and they need to be taught how to live and respect all others. They must be confronted and challenged to change or face prosecution by our legal system and our spiritual communities.""I believe that the faith community is in a great position to address this problem. We have a God who grieves over the violence that occurs in families. Yet we have a God who grieves even more over the fact that spiritual leaders have failed to act as servants of Yahweh in this respect. ""The rest of this book is an appeal to you to gain an understanding of what it really means to face domestic violence and how to help bring peace and wholeness to victims and their children caught in the web of abuse. It is an appeal to you to confront those who abuse others rather than shut your eyes . . . .""--from the IntroductionSetting the Captives Free should be required reading in every seminary! Ron Clark''s knowledge on the dynamics of domestic violence, including the power and control issues surrounding the cycle of abuse is essential for clergy and Christian Counselors alike. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about how they might better assist victims of domestic violence in the faith community. --Patricia Riddle Gaddis,MADirector & Founder of The Family Peace Project Author of Battered But Not Broken: Help for Abused Wives and their Church Families and Dangerous Dating: Helping Young Women Say No To Abuse. Every few years a book comes along which opens the eyes of the church to a critical spiritual need in the world and the alarming gap in our theology which has closed our eyes to that need. ""Setting the Captives Free"" is one of those books. Just as Barna''s books have done concerning the lost, just as Sider''s books have done concerning poverty, so Ron''s book does concerning domestic abuse. Ron opens the church''s eyes to the dark world of domestic abuse victims and the gap in our theology which has kept us blind to their needs. After reading the book, I feel to my knees in repentance for not leading our church to minister to these victims. Ron gave me the tools and the theology to begin talking to our congregation about these needs.--Dr. Chris Altrock, Minister, Highland Street Church of Christ, Memphis, TN Author The Cross: Saved by the Shame of It All and Preaching to Pluralists This is a groundbreaking book that is well worth reading. It really grasps the issues of abuse and provides practical, spiritual answers to anyone who has been impacted directly, or indirectly. --Bettie Williams-Watson, Founder, Executive Director of Multi-Communities (M.I.C.), Seattle, WA.Ron Clark is the Minister for the Agape Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. He has led training seminars on domestic violence for pastors, law enforcement groups, and congregations. His articles on abuse have appeared in both religion and counseling journals.

Este libro escrito por el Dr. Adewuya trata sobre los capitulos 6 al 8 de la Epistola a los Romanos, una seccion clave en la que se explica que la vida de un cristiano es transformada por la Gracia de Dios. El autor argumenta que una apropiada comprension de Ro. 7 demanda que este capitulo, se situe firmemente en el contexto de la vida de libertad del pecado que se expone ampliamente en Ro. 6, asi como de la libertad del Espiritu que se expone claramente en Ro. 8.En terminos de su relevancia contemporanea, la perspectiva Paulina sobre Ro. 6-8 esta fundamentada en la relacion con Dios, la separacion del pecado, el compromiso con el evangelio y la pureza etica. Es un llamado a los creyentes de la ciudad de Roma y. consecuentemente a los creyentes de este tiempo, para que vivan un estilo de vida alternativo, distinto al estilo de vida predominante en el mundo, con el proposito de dar testimonio de la Gracia de Dios a toda la sociedad circundante. Las conclusiones de este estudio descansan en un examen de todo el Corpus Paulino examinando textos biblicos clave relacionados con el tema de la santidad y el tema de la santificacion. Un panorama de la perspectiva Paulina de la santidad, basado en un examen riguroso de Ro. 6-8, emerge de este valioso estudio, Para san Pablo, la santidad no tiene que ser reducida a presuposiciones teologicas, sino que tiene que ser comprendida como una cualidad que tiene que ser demostrada en la vida cotidiana por todos aquellos que han sido llamados por nuestro Senor, para que sean sus discipulos.El Dr. Adewuya provee en este libro una seria y honesta investigacion teologica de Ro. 6-8, sosteniendo que San Pablo espera que los cristianos respondan a la Gracia de Dios, buscando la santidad de corazon y de vida que el Espiritu Santo ha hecho accesible. Ademas de la discusion sobre estos importantes capitulos de la Epistola a los Romanos, Adewuya precisa que la gracia de Dios no es ""una gracia barata"", sino una gracia cara cuyo costo ha sido la muerte de Cristo en la cruz, una gracia que no requiere nada de los creyentes que han sido llamados a buscar una transformacion etica integral.-David A. DeSilva, Profesor de Nuevo Testamento y Griego, Seminario Teologico de AshlandEste libro invita a los lectores contemporaneos a examinar nuevamente el clasico interes Paulino en el tema de la santificacion. Investigando Ro. 6-8, el autor de este libro demuestra que la santidad fue un pilar sustancial sobre el cual san Pablo construyo su teologia. Mas que presentar a un Pablo ensimismado en doctrinas abstractas, el Dr. Adewuya presenta a un Pablo profundamente preocupado con las demandas concretas del discipulado.-Brad R. Braxton, Profesor Asociado de Homiletica y Nuevo Testamento, Universidad VanderbiltJ. Ayodeji Adewuya PhD (Universidad de Manchester), pastor y misionero en Las Filipinas en el pasado, actualmente se desempena como Profesor Asociado de Nuevo Testamento en el Seminario Teologico de la Iglesia de Dios (Cleveland, Tennessee, Estados Unidos). Ha escrito tambien el libro Santidad y Comunidad en 2 de Corintios 6:14-7:1- Una Perspectiva Paulina de la Santidad Comunitaria en la Correspondencia a los Corintios (Holiness and Community in 2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1: Paul''s View of Comunal Holiness in the Corinthian Correspondence).

It was printed in block letters with a felt tip pen across the top of the mirror in the men''s restroom in a restaurant in San Francisco: JUDAS COME HOME--ALL IS FORGIVEN! The story of Judas is the story of each of us, to some degree. The past cannot be corrected nor failures erased by remorse. I suspect that the wounds to the soul of Judas were deep and devastating, particularly because they were largely self-inflicted. It hurts to have failed others and even more to have failed ourselves. Judas is the voice within us that will not be put to rest with platitudes nor silenced with sensible palliatives for nonsensical pain. Where human love, even self love, turns away with regret, or even disgust, divine love persists and prevails as the amazing grace of God. It is of this grace that I write, of Judas and of the healing of the deep wounds to his soul. The healing begins, for him as it does for us, with a meeting, a mending, and a mirror, in which we see ourselves reflected in the face of God.""As theologian and pastor, Ray Anderson courageously probes the Judas experience in order to help us get in touch with the depths of despair and hopelessness within ourselves. He finds there, where we often least expect it but should dare to embrace it, the forgiveness of Jesus, the grace of the risen Christ."" -Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, CanadaDr. Anderson offers thoughtful insight into the earthly and eternal significance of the betrayal of Jesus by one of His own hand_picked disciples. While those who tell the story of Judas see him as a traitor, Dr. Anderson explains that Jesus Christ saw Judas as an answer to prayer, as a disciple whose feet He washed, and the man who expressed remorse for his sin of betrayal. After reading this book, you will see Judas as you never have before, and you will revel in God''s amazing grace. This remarkable book is a perfect antidote for those struggling with broken hearts, broken spirits, and wounded souls.Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Former Chaplain. United States SenateRAY S. ANDERSON (1925-2009) was Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary where he has taught for more than thirty years. He is the author of more than twenty-five books, including, The Seasons of Hope, Marriage and Family Ministry in a Postmodern Culture, The Soul of Ministry, Ministry on the Fireline, and The Shape of Practical Theology. He also serves as Teaching Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California.

This study contends that the single thread that runs through Romans 6-8 is that of sanctification, which is explained in terms of a life that is transformed by the grace of God. The author argues that a proper understanding of Romans 7 requires that one situate it firmly in the context of the life of freedom from sin in Chapter 6, as well as a life of freedom by the Holy Spirit in Chapter 8.In terms of its contemporary relevance, Paul''s view of holiness in Romans 6-8 is grounded in relationship with God, involving separation, commitment, and ethical purity. It is a call to the Roman Christians, and by implication, believers in our present day, to live an alternative lifestyle, to be a model of God''s holiness, in order to make him known to the wider society. This conclusion is tested in the Pauline corpus by examining various passages. A picture of Paul''s view of holiness that is consonant with the message of Romans 6-8 emerges from this study. For Paul, holiness must not be reduced to theological propositions but is to be understood as a quality to be demonstrated in the lives of those who are called by the name of the Lord.""Dr. Adewuya provides a straightforward theological investigation of Romans 6-8, arguing that Paul expects Christians to respond to God''s grace by pursuing the holiness of heart and life that the Spirit makes available. In adding to the conversation about these important chapters, he drives another nail into the coffin of that ''cheap grace'' that cost Christ his all but requires nothing of the believer, calling instead for our complete ethical transformation.""David A. deSilva, Professor of New Testament and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary""This book invites contemporary readers to reassess Paul''s ancient interest in sanctification. Exploring Romans 6-8, the book demonstrates that holiness was a substantial pillar upon which Paul constructed his theology. Rather than presenting a Paul infatuated with abstract doctrines, Dr. Adewuya presents a Paul deeply concerned with the concrete demands of discipleship.""Brad R. Braxton, Associate Professor of Homiletics and New Testament, Vanderbilt UniversityJ. Ayodeji Adewuya (PhD, University of Manchester), pastor and former missionary in the Philippines, is Associate Professor of New Testament at the Church of God Theological Seminary, Cleveland, Tennessee. He is also the author of Holiness and Community in 2 Cor. 6:14--7:1: Paul''s View of Communal Holiness in the Corinthian Correspondence (New York: Peter Lang, 2001).

Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person is a pilgrimage to rediscover the spiritual and humanizing benefit of the Commedia. Treating each cantica of the poem, this volume offers profound meditations on the intertwined themes of memory, prayer, sainthood, the irony of sin, theological and literary aesthetics, and desire, all while consistently reflecting upon the key themes of mercy and beauty in the revelation of the human person within the drama of divine love.

Where in the world was Jesus when he prayed? Where is any one of us when we pray? Since we are embodied creatures, our prayer location can be mapped onto space-time coordinates. Since we are social creatures, our prayers are also situated within our social locations. But do these sets of coordinates exhaustively identify the place that prayer takes when truly entered into? Conversely, can either set totally prevent prayer from taking place there? These questions lie at the intersection of resolutely religious vis-a-vis resolutely secular understandings of existence. The studies in this volume explore dimensions of these issues traced in selected texts from both parts of the Christian Bible.

As an introduction to Christian systematic theology, this volume treats all the main theological topics-from God to last things-seeking to explicate critically the understanding of them implicit in Christian faith itself in terms at once appropriate to Jesus Christ and credible to human existence. Its criteria, accordingly, are the ultimate criteria of on the one hand, specifically Christian experience of Jesus as expressed by the apostolic witness, and on the other hand, generically human experience of existence as expressed by a sound philosophy. And, as befits an introduction, it employs these same criteria to clarify the process of actually doing Christian systematic theology. Thus it begins by explaining both what such a theology has to do and how it is to do it, and ends by considering what it means to do theology as a Christian calling, particularly as a professional theologian.

Does God use violence to redeem us? What is the relationship between divine love and violence in regard to the saving significance of the cross of Christ? In Love, Violence, and the Cross, Gregory Love dialogues with two responses to this question, while presenting a third alternative in which Jesus's death is simultaneously a crime and an element of God's saving actions. Through familiar stories in history, literature, and film, Love presents five constructive models that cumulatively affirm God's saving act in the person and work of Christ while letting go the myth of redemptive violence. They affirm redemption, but one with a different shape: Instead of exacting the absolute punishment, God redeems by ""making good"" God's promise to humanity to secure human life. Love argues that God is nonviolent, while retaining the core idea presented in the New Testament witnesses: that reconciliation occurs in the work of Christ, and that the cross plays a role in that divine work.

Walk Together Children: Black and Womanist Theologies, Church, and Theological Education draws on the long religious, cultural, and singing history of blacks in the U.S.A. Through the slavery and emancipation days until now, black song has both nurtured and enhanced African American life as a collective whole. Communality has always included a variety of existential experiences. What has kept this enduring people in a corporate process is their walking together through good times and bad, relying on what W. E. B. DuBois called their "dogged strength" to keep "from being torn asunder." Somehow and someway they intuited from historical memory or received from transcendental revelation that keeping on long enough on the road would yield ultimate fruit for the journey.

This important work not only contributes to understanding the origins and character of John's christological tensions, but it also outlines a new set of theories regarding several innovative dialogical approaches to the Johannine text. In his new introduction to this edition, Anderson engages constructively the responses of his reviewers and outlines his own theories regarding John's dialogical autonomy. Posing a comprehensive new synthesis regarding John's composition, situation history, relations to Synoptic traditions, agency Christology, historicity, and theological tensions, Anderson here summarizes his most significant theories published since it first appeared. In so doing, advances suggested by this pivotal text are laid out in a new set of paradigms addressing the Johannine riddles in fuller detail.