Books published by Cascade Books

This lively commentary encompasses four major books focusing on women in the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha. Each section in the volume addresses the biblical text in detail, and draws connections from the world of ancient audiences to that of present-day readers. Wolfe''s research is motivated by the usual inquiries of biblical scholarship, as well as the questions raised by the many church Bible study groups she has taught. Clergy and laity, students and scholars will benefit from these contemporarily relevant reflections on Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs and Judith.Ruth: The foreign widow who sneaks onto the nighttime threshing floor to find survival for herself and her devastated mother-in-law. Esther: The Jewish orphan-turned-queen who turns Persian banqueting on its head in an effort to defend her people. Song of Songs: The proud and alluring lover who claims her sexuality as her own and joyfully shares it with her beloved. Judith: The pious and beautiful widow who lets the enemy commander''s appetite become his downfall in order to save her besieged city.This volume is an opportunity to engage these women''s suspense-filled stories, which have sustained faith communities since ancient times.""In her study of Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law, Esther, the Jewish queen, Ra''ayti, the young lover, and Judith, the warrior, Lisa Wolfe takes us on a journey through tales about rags-to-riches, the triumph of the underdog, romance, and a widow warrior that challenge traditional gender roles and will keep us reading for more.""-Thomas B. DozemanUnited Theological Seminary""This remarkably engaging commentary translates solid critical biblical scholarship into forthright, accessible, everyday language that persuasively ''undermines the oft-repeated falsehood that women in the Hebrew Bible had no voice, no power, and no place in society.''"" -Kathleen A. Robertson FarmerUnited Theological Seminary""Well researched, accessibly written, with a deft touch of humor, this book will serve as a fine text for college students, study groups in the church, and as a stimulating guide for pastors preaching on these uppity women.""-Tex SampleSaint Paul School of Theology""Lisa Wolfe''s readings of Ruth, Esther, Song, and Judith are lively and judicious, a rare combination in the commentary literature. The work reflects extensive experience teaching the books and an impressive command of the scholarly literature. With an engaging feminist critical approach, Wolfe skillfully exploits ambiguities and ironies in the texts, and at just the right moments, introduces a refreshing sense of humor. Accessible and critically astute, this will be an excellent textbook for undergraduate and seminary courses, as well as a fine resource for laypersons.""-Harold WashingtonSaint Paul School of TheologyLisa M. Wolfe is Associate Professor in the Endowed Chair of Hebrew Bible at Oklahoma City University, and an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. Her DVD Bible study series ""Uppity Women of the Bible"" (Living the Questions, 2010) is a companion to this book.

When Jesus spoke at his local synagogue he boldly proclaimed that he was the one sent to free those who were oppressed. He came to provide hope, peace, and safety to those suffering in the world. When he left this earth, his followers were left with the task of continuing this ministry.Statistics suggest that in America one in four women has experienced physical violence in an intimate relationship. Dating violence, intimate-partner violence, and child abuse rank as some of our nation''s largest problems. Men are also being abused by intimate partners, parents, or care providers at increasing rates. The statistic is even more alarming worldwide. Unfortunately, these statistics represent only reported incidents. The rates of verbal, emotional, and spiritual abuse are even higher. In addition, countless women are encouraged by clergy to return to their abusive spouses. The faith community, while called by God to free the oppressed, has been slow to respond to this sin against humanity. Few seminaries offer quality domestic-violence-prevention training for clergy. However, clergy still continue to be sought for help from the community and as advocates for victims of domestic violence. A partnership between the church and community (locally and abroad) is necessary if we wish to transform humans caught in this form of oppression. In Setting the Captives Free Ron Clark proposed a theology of addressing domestic violence and its application for clergy. Freeing the Oppressed is a book that seeks to condense Clark''s previous work into a readable form for those seeking spiritual answers concerning abuse and batterer intervention, and for helpers of those caught in the cycle of family violence. It is also designed as an outreach for those seeking help from the faith community.""Thank you Dr. Clark for writing such a thoroughly readable work. Your book sounds the clarion call that many of us working in the field of domestic violence have hoped and prayed the church would hear. It clearly states the problem and the need facing our country, our communities, and our churches. More importantly, it provides a message of hope and a way for the church to touch and be touched by their communities . . . This is a rare gem of a Christian work that I can feel comfortable giving to clergy, victims, perpetrators, or anyone wanting to know how to address family violence.""--Patricia Warford, PsyDLicensed Psychologist""Ron Clark has provided a clear, concise, spiritually-informed, well-researched argument calling Christians to speak out against domestic abuse and to respond compassionately to women, men, and children impacted by its devastating consequences. Every pastor and every seminary student should read Freeing the Oppressed. Clark interweaves his pastoral experience with biblical insights and knowledge of the growing literature in domestic violence. The result: a prophetic call to social action.""--Nancy Nason-ClarkProfessor of SociologyUniversity of New Brunswick""Freeing the Oppressed is a wonderful resource for any reader who wishes to learn more about domestic abuse and Christian communities. Beginning with a chapter outlining the dynamics of domestic abuse, Ron Clark provides a chapter-by-chapter journey toward hope and healing for victim/survivors and perpetrators alike and toward greater understanding for those who seek to assist them. Interspersing his personal experiences as pastor, counselor, and educator within each chapter helps to frame the plethora of interrelated issues in a manner that makes them clear and accessible--and interesting--to all readers.""--Barbara Fisher-TownsendCo-Editor of Beyond Abuse in the Christian Church: Raising Voices for ChangeRon Clark is the lead church planter for the Agape Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Setting the Captives Free and is active in community organizations for prevention of domestic violence, sexual assault, and homelessness.

When a boy cries, his father trains him in the way of the ancients. He is taught to ""man up,"" and rejects anything feminine in his life. Thus he begins the process of becoming a man in the image of his culture. This transformation comes at the expense of his own calling to reflect the image of God. Men and women, however, were both created in this divine image and were meant to live in harmony rather than enmity. Recently, influential Christian writers and leaders have suggested that men have become too feminized and need to return to their calling to be ""real men."" Clark believes that this ""new masculinity"" is in reality a return to the way of the ancients. Drawing from his experiences as a minister, domestic- and sexual- violence prevention advocate, and community leader, Clark suggests that Jesus came to redefine masculinity and resist the cultural view of manhood, power, and oppression.""Are men to be strong, tough, and raging? Or compassionate, empathetic, and caring? Ron Clark takes you through biblical and cultural history, providing a thought provoking case for what real manhood is. This book will definitely challenge you to think through whatever paradigms you may have instead of simply accepting the status quo.""--Eric and Jennifer GarciaCo-founders of the Association of Marriage and Family Ministries""Ron Clark makes a strong, religious case for the strength in gentleness and humility, and adds an urgently needed voice to the call for compassion in a world that too often feels cold and distant.""--Patrick J. LemmonCo-founder and former Executive Director of Men Can Stop Rape""Ron Clark is one of the leading voices among male clergy in the struggle to end men''s violence against women and children. This book contains all of the qualities of courageous honesty, wisdom, and humility that make him such an effective educator and leader. Women and men---nside and outside of Christian communities--will find great insight and compassionate teaching in these pages.""--Jackson Katzauthor of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can HelpRon Clark is the lead church planter for the Agape Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon where he is active in community organizations in domestic and sexual abuse, homelessness, and human trafficking. He is an adjunct faculty member at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and author of Setting the Captives Free, Freeing the Oppressed and The Better Way.

Scott Bader-SayeFrederick Christian BauerschmidtMichael Baxter Daniel M. Bell Jr.Jana Marguerite BennettMichael G. CartwrightWilliam T. CavanaughPeter DulaChris K. HuebnerKelly S. JohnsonD. Stephen LongM. Therese LysaughtDavid Matzko McCarthyJoel James ShumanJ. Alexander SiderJonathan TranPaul J. WadellTheodore Walker Jr.""Good arguments sustain good friendships, and this volume bears witness to the extraordinary friendships that Hauerwas and his students have been drawn into. Yes, there''s gratitude and devotion here, but it''s the criticisms that stand out, that make this a particularly feisty festschrift. His dependence on Yoder runs afoul of his devotion to Aristotle. He domesticates Wittgenstein''s skepticism in order to discount his own individualism. He misconstrues the church as polis, makes a mess of practical reason, and gives metaphysics short shrift. He bungles the relationship between disability and grace, misunderstands how liturgy affects the moral life, and runs rough shod over the just war tradition. He is not yet a pacifist! He is an heir of the liberalism he despises! And he''s a lousy dresser to boot! Those concerned that Hauerwas''s talk of tradition, community, and virtue encourages slavish emulation of authorities and exemplars will find little evidence of that here. Rather, what we find is appreciation mixed with complaint, confidence leavened with doubt, and loyalty expressed in conversation. That we might all have such students, such friends!""--John BowlinPrinceton Theological Seminary""Stanley Hauerwas is a public provocateur, a ravenous reader, a restless wrestler with the truth, and an eccentric devotee of baseball, murder mysteries, and liturgically-shaped discipleship. But most of all is he is a devoted, demanding, and dogged academic father to dozens of doctoral students. The breadth of his character takes a community to display. Here, more than ever before, that community of character does in public what Hauerwas and his students do best: tussle, and refine, and introduce new interlocutors, and dismiss out of hand, and rephrase more charitably, and rediscover ancient wisdom, and go back to Aquinas, and quote Barth, and dismantle platitudes, and unsentimentally face the gift and demands of Christ for church, academy, and politics today. This is a work of love turned into a call to renewal, a family reunion transformed into a symposium, a tribute in the guise of a challenge. Admirers and critics of Hauerwas will be enriched by these compelling essays, an ordered array of disagreements in love.""--Sam WellsDean of the Chapel, Duke UniversityCharles Pinches is Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Scranton.

Once upon a time a group of young Anabaptist scholars took it upon themselves to convene a series of incisive conversations that addressed questions of Christian renewal. Among other topics that the CONCERN group (1955-1971) took on was the subject of how to think about higher education in the context of Christian renewal. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, ""intentional Christian communities"" are being created in the context of student leadership development programs, and a new generation of Programs for Theological Exploration of Vocation (PTEV) at church related colleges are providing mini-grants for students involved in the New Monasticism movement. With such endeavors in mind, these essays--by Joanne Zerger Janzen, Walter Klassen, Albert Meyer, John Howard Yoder and company--raise probing questions that remain worth engaging by Christians who are concerned about what it means to seek the renewal of Christian higher education today.Virgil Vogt was a leader for many years of Reba Place Church and Reba Place Fellowship, a Christian community in Evanston, Illinois. He continues as a member of this community but currently serves as Associate Conference Minister for the Illinois Mennonite Conference. He has written and spoken widely about economic issues and building Christian community.

Uncommon Friendships explores the often-overlooked dynamic of interreligious friendships, considering their significance for how we think about contemporary religious thought. By exploring the dynamics of three relationships between important religious thinkers--Franz Rosenzweig and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Blanchot, and Julia Kristeva and Catherine Clement--this study demonstrates the ways such friendships enable innovation and transformation within religious traditions. For each pair of thinkers, the sustained engagement and disagreement between them becomes central to their religious and philosophical development, helping them to respond effectively and creatively to issues and problems facing their communities and societies. Through a rereading of their work, Young shows how such friendships can help us rethink religion, aesthetics, education, and politics--as well as friendship itself.""An utterly remarkable treatise on the inter-religious friendships that joined three pairs of the great thinkers of twentieth-century Europe. I know of nothing quite like this. It is rigorous scholarship that has the sharp edge of cultural criticism and yet the inspiring effect of a philosophic and spiritual poem. Its lesson is indeed uncommon: that critical reason is strengthened by love, that love is deepened by undomesticated difference, and that, in a quiet way, the name of God may have a lot to do with all of the above.""--Peter OchsUniversity of Virginia""An elegantly written and intellectually engaging study, William Young''s Uncommon Friendships offers a refreshing portrayal of the praxis of friendship and its ability to operate as a key element in the development of ideas generally and in efforts towards inter-religious dialogue in particular. Young''s lucid descriptions of the long-term intellectual engagements between Rosenstock/Rosenzweig, Levinas/Blanchot, Kristeva/Clement highlight the embodied, creative, and often unsettling affects of friendship upon the evolution of an intellectual work. Young''s book deepens our understanding of the social character of knowledge and challenges readers to consider the value of a praxis of friendship as a check upon solipsism and the drive for truth and as a tool for cultivating patient listening and an openness regarding the contingency of our beliefs."" --Randi RashkoverGeorge Mason UniversityWilliam W. Young is Associate Professor of Humanities at Endicott College. He is the author of The Politics of Praise: Naming God and Friendship in Aquinas and Derrida (2007), and has published numerous articles on Derrida, Levinas, and postmodern religious thought.

Procreative Ethics addresses questions at the beginning of life from a point of view that is alternatively philosophical and Christian. The author seeks to defend philosophically some positions taken partly on Christian grounds while also trying to make the implications of Christian convictions intelligible to those who do not necessarily share those convictions. The author positions himself neither as a ""moral friend"" nor ""moral stranger,"" preferring instead the role of ""moral acquaintance"" to his audience. From that position, the goal is to find areas of fruitful agreement while clarifying differences that may lead to truer reconciliations further on in the conversation. The book opens with an attempted natural law defense of artificial contraception; devotes four chapters to criticism of current defenses of abortion; and then takes up, in six remaining chapters, such matters as genetic enhancement of children, the justice or injustice of genetic revision, the harm conundrum or non-identity problem, designing for disability, and reproductive cloning.""Fritz Oehlschlaeger has written a remarkable book that needs to be read by everyone with a stake in moral questions at life''s beginning. Displaying theological and philosophical sophistication as well as a profound wisdom, these arguments must be taken seriously by those who agree with Oeschlaeger as well as those who do not.""--Joel James ShumanKing''s College""Writing with a modesty that betrays the depth of argument that characterizes Procreative Ethics, Fritz Oehlschlaeger has written the most important book in bioethics in recent memory. Bioethics has long suffered from a stale imagination. Oehlschlaeger, an acknowledged outsider to the field, brings to his work a fresh imagination shaped by literary texts and a profound humanity. Hopefully many will want to emulate his work in other areas of bioethics.""--Stanley HauerwasDuke University""In this new book Fritz Oehlschlaeger has made masterful and persuasive arguments about the moral challenges looming at the beginning of human life. And he does this as a highly informed non-specialist--an English professor no less!""--Robert BenneRoanoke CollegeFritz Oehlschlaeger is Professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is co-author of Articulating the Elephant Man: Joseph Merrick and His Interpreters (1992) and Love and Good Reasons: Postliberal Approaches to Christian Ethics and Literature (2003).

On the morning after they walked for miles through freezing rain to a prayer vigil outside the White House in March 2007, a group of young war protesters listened to one last speech before heading home to Chicago. Peter Dula, who had served with the Mennonite Central Committee in Iraq, spoke honestly about the caustic combination of guilt and disempowerment the protesters were struggling with. He commended protesting and suggested resisting war taxes, then made two surprising final recommendations: ride a bike and plant a garden.Electrified by Dula''s speech, the group wanted to talk more about their disillusionment and to learn from their elders in activism and the church. So in November 2007 they hosted a conference at Reba Place Church in Evanston, Illinois, where over two hundred people gathered to learn, worship, and contemplate a more hopeful way. This volume is a collection of the major addresses from that conference.The contributors suggest a new way to live in the tension between hope that things will improve and cynicism about whether they ever will. While creating space for lament, they point toward a radical Christian faithfulness in neighborhoods and congregations that can be both hopeful and profoundly political.""Most Christians in the United States still tune their hope to the rhythm of the election cycle. For Reba Place Fellowship, Living Water Community Church and these other contributors, hope is tuned to quieter things a noisy world cannot hear--things like friendship, gardening, sitting down with enemies, and ultimately, Jesus. This collection is bracing in its timeliness.""--Jason ByasseeDirector of the Center for Theology, Writing & MediaDuke Divinity SchoolMeg E. Cox is a freelance writer and editor.

The mid-second-century apocryphal infancy gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, which deals with the childhood of Jesus from age five to age twelve, has attained only limited interest from scholars. Much research into the story has also been seriously misguided--especially study of the story''s origin, character, and setting. This book gives a fresh interpretation of the infancy gospel, not least by applying a variety of new approaches, including orality studies, narrative studies, gender studies, and social-scientific approaches.The book comes to a number of radically new conclusions: The Gospel of Thomas is dependent on oral storytelling and has far more narrative qualities than has been previously assumed. The narrative world depicted in the gospel is that of middle-class Christianity, with the social and cultural ideas and values characteristic of such a milieu.The gospel''s theology is not heretical--as has often been claimed--but mirrors mainstream thinking rooted in biblical tradition, particularly in the Johannine and Lukan traditions. Jesus is portrayed as a divine figure but also as a true-to-life child of late antiquity.The audience for the Gospel of Thomas is likely to have come from the rural population of early Christianity, a milieu that has received little attention. A main audience for the story was children among early Christians, making this--at least within Christianity--the oldest-known children''s tale.The book provides a Greek text and a translation, and several appendixes on the story, along with other early Christian infancy material. ""Although the Infancy Gospel of Thomas has long been enjoyed by readers interested in the Gospels that did not make it into the New Testament, there has been a dearth of scholarship on most of the pressing textual, historical, and theological issues it raises. Reidar Aasgaard has done the scholarly world a real service by presenting a full, interesting, and informed discussion of all these major questions. Scholars will now turn to this study before any other when they want to explore the Infancy Gospel and its traditions.""--Bart D. EhrmanJames A. Gray Professor of Religious StudiesUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill""This thorough and outstanding volume addresses a wide-range of historical, literary, and theological questions about the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and offers a fresh interpretation of this baffling text. A highly valuable resource for those interested in biblical studies, early Christianity, the history of childhood, and religious understandings of children."" --Marcia J. BungeProfessor of Humanities and TheologyValparaiso University""Informed by current research on orality and narrative structure, Aasgard not only furthers our understanding of the content of the document itself including its theology and ethics, but also breaks new ground in reconstructing its social setting and audience . . . Drawing upon his extensive expertise, Aasgard also argues that the document was intended for early Christian children and contributes substantially to the emergence of the investigation children and childhood as a key interdisciplinary subfield within early Christian studies.""--Margaret Y. MacDonaldProfessor, Religious StudiesSt. Francis Xavier UniversityReidar Aasgaard is Project Leader in the Norwegian Bible Society and has earned a doctorate in New Testament/Early Christianity. He is the author of My Beloved Brothers and Sisters (2004) and has published a study edition of the New Testament as well as Norwegian translations of Augustine.

Deep faith meets high tech here in The Renewal of Preaching in the Twenty-first Century. A communications revolution is sweeping through the churches leaving some on fire and others burned out. This work shows what makes the difference for church leaders and communities who are using new media to advance Christian preaching. Join them by recovering the great tradition and expanding it through creative use encouraged by artists and filmmakers as well as preachers and professors. This work explores ways to maximize the promise of preaching and confront the perils leading to the renewal of church and society. Beginning with review of the situation today, we proceed step by step through the preparation and presentation of the sermon leading to transformation. The sermon in the local parish is seen as the microcosm of the macrocosm that is the communication of God''s good news.""Rooted in a knowledge of and respect for traditional worship, David Randolph accurately assesses the difficulty facing mainline traditions in speaking to today''s visual culture. But he doesn''t stop there. He eloquently outlines a course of action that gives emphasis to the visual and, in particular, to the use of what he terms ''new media.'' Renewal of Preaching is a must read, not only as a text for those preparing for ministry, but also for long-time pastors seeking new ways of speaking to today''s generation.""--Joan Brix Carter, Dean of College of Art and Design, Olivet UniversityDavid James Randolph is President and Professor of Theology at Olivet University in San Francisco, California, and Professor in Residence of Communications at the Center for the Arts, Religion and Education at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He was Senior Minister of Christ Church United Methodist in New York City and other churches. He is the author of On the Way after 9/11: New Worship and Art. He has been featured on the NBC-TV Today Show, NBC National Radio Pulpit, in the New York Times, and is internationally known for his contributions to church and society.

In Saint Joseph Leonardo Boff seeks to provide a vigorous critique and theological analysis of Saint Joseph and in so doing attempts to undo historical misconceptions, misunderstandings, and cliches that surround the figure of Joseph. The book provides a comprehensive view of the topic as it takes into account biblical references, including the apocrypha, church tradition, papal edicts, liturgical expressions, and various viewpoints proposed by theologians. Boff is also concerned with updating the figure of Saint Joseph; his first step in this direction is to provide a clear understanding of the life of Joseph as an artisan, husband, father, and educator. He then deals with the issue of the importance of Saint Joseph for current issues concerning family and fatherhood. Lastly, Boff argues that Saint Joseph helps us to understand new facets of the mystery of God, and the author does this through his argument concerning the order of hypostatic union, where, according to his argument, there is a relation between Jesus and the Son, Mary and the Holy Spirit, and Joseph and the Father. Boff seeks here to fill a gap in the theological literature, given that theologians have concentrated their efforts on Jesus and the Son and Christology, and Mary and the Holy Spirit and Mariology; but these same theologians have, by and large, given very little time to the figure of Saint Joseph and the Father and Josephology.Leonardo Boff was born in Brazil in 1938 and received a doctorate from the University of Munich in Germany in 1970. For the following 20 years he worked as Professor of Theology at the Franciscan School for Philosophy and Theology in Petropolis, Brazil. During the 1970s, he and Gustavo Gutierrez helped to define Liberation Theology. Since 1993 he has been a professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and Ecology. He is also a member of the International Earth Charter Commission. Boff is the author of more than 70 books, including Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Time. In 2001 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (which is considered to be the ""alternative"" Nobel Prize) by the Swedish Parliament. Alexandre Guilherme, the translator, does research and teaches at the University of Durham, UK.

Seek the Peace of the City provides a robust engagement with the theological foundations and practices of Christian social and political criticism. Richard Bourne identifies a theological realism found in the work of John Howard Yoder. This realism bases social and political criticism in the purposes of a nonviolent, patient, and reconciling God. Bourne develops this account and shows how it is consonant with aspects of the work of a range of contemporary theologians including Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In developing this theological realism, the book furnishes an account of Christian criticism capable of addressing key debates in contemporary theology and political theory. Bourne begins by arguing for the public status of theological political claims. He demonstrates that only a vigorous theological realism, grounded in the universal lordship of Christ, is capable of providing a foundation for local, particular, and ad hoc practices of critique. The book concludes by developing an account of the impact such a theological realism and practice of critique might have on contemporary political theory--with explorations of the doxological nature of social change, the changing shape of the state, governmentality and political sovereignty, and the status and role of religious communities in civil society.""Imaginatively drawing on a wide range of theological literature, social, and political theory, Bourne, in a manner unlike anyone else, helps us see how the work of John Howard Yoder provides a constructive politics for Christians in our day. Only someone completely at home in Yoder''s work could have written such a lucid and helpful book. Bourne, hopefully, has made John Howard Yoder indispensable for work in political theology.""--Stanley HauerwasDuke University""Richard Bourne won''t let you get away with detachment. This bold book pushes the question of the gospel''s particularity beyond every cowardly formalism and safe universal. Even the postmodern anxieties only reveal a fear of commitment. Bourne''s alternative for the church is like the thinkers he most admires: radical in its critique and peaceable in its politics.""--Craig HoveyAshland UniversityRichard Bourne is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Cumbria. He previously held teaching positions at Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds, and the Open Theological College.

Witherington provides a much-needed introduction to the ancient art of persuasion and its use within the various New Testament documents. More than just an exploration of the use of the ancient rhetorical tools and devices, this guide introduces the reader to all that went into convincing an audience about some subject. Witherington makes the case that rhetorical criticism is a more fruitful approach to the NT epistles than the oft-employed approaches of literary and discourse criticism. Familiarity with the art of rhetoric also helps the reader explore non-epistolary genres. In addition to the general introduction to rhetorical criticism, the book guides readers through the many and varied uses of rhetoric in most NT documents-not only telling readers about rhetoric in the NT, but showing them the way it was employed.""This brief guide book is intended to provide the reader with an entrance into understanding the rhetorical analysis of various parts of the NT, the value such studies bring for understanding what is being proclaimed and defended in the NT, and how Christ is presented in ways that would be considered persuasive in antiquity."" - from the introduction""Ben Witherington has used classical rhetorical criticism as a foundational method--writing commentaries on the entire New Testament canon. In this volume, he brings that extensive experience to the task of writing an introduction to this exegetical method. . . . This will surely become the choice resource-the ""new Kennedy""-for a main text in courses in rhetorical criticism or a supplementary text in courses on exegetical method, as well as a valuable and persuasive introduction to the method for ministry professionals interested in connecting the ongoing task of proclamation with the persuasive techniques of the New Testament."" --David A. deSilva, Trustees'' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary""Whether one is drawn to the promise of rhetorical study of the New Testament writings or is not yet persuaded by its utility, Witherington has provided a helpful--and persuasive!--primer. His easy familiarity with the ancient sources makes this an especially user-friendly introduction to the importance of ancient rhetoric for historical study of the New Testament."" --Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary""For those who want to add rhetorical analysis to their interpretation of the New Testament, Ben Witherington provides easy access to a not easily accessible subject. . . . Not stopping with mere description, Witherington always draws out the implications of the rhetorical nature of the biblical texts for interpretation and application."" --Duane Watson, Professor of New Testament Studies, School of Theology, Malone College""Ben Witherington has produced a sterling volume on ancient rhetoric and its applicability to New Testament studies. . . . Importantly, Witherington carefully describes how an understanding of rhetoric affects biblical interpretation and Christian preaching. Anyone who is interested in the contours of early Christian discourse or would like to be able to preach and teach as persuasively as the biblical authors will find this volume highly informative and immensely helpful. Another gem from the pen of Ben!""--Michael Bird, Tutor in New Testament at the Highland Theological College, Dingwall, ScotlandBen Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Amos professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Living Word of God (2008), Shifting the Paradigms (forthcoming) and several socio-rhetorical commentaries.

Raising Spirits: Stories of Suffering and Comfort at Death''s Door springs from Michael Goldberg''s experiences serving dying patients as a hospital and hospice chaplain. Previously, he had held positions as a management consultant, a chaired university professor, and a congregational rabbi. Although each of those careers fulfilled some of his professional aspirations, none filled his spiritual hunger to find purpose in his life. In turning to chaplaincy and helping the gravely ill satisfy their craving for meaning at the end of their lives, Goldberg discovered spiritual sustenance in his.Raising Spirits is the first book to explore care giving at the end of life from a spiritual as well as clinical perspective. It tells the stories of Michael Goldberg''s journeys with patients, their families, and loved ones as they try to face the challenges awaiting them at life''s edges. In the process, Goldberg himself is tested as a committed Jew who, working largely among non-Jews, must continually reassess his identity and convictions. He comes to see that ""spirituality"" need not refer to things occult or otherworldly, but as Raising Spirits makes clear, to things in this world that can at least start to lift our spirits and revive them. The reciprocal process of gaining insight into patients and into oneself is possible, indeed crucial, for all who care for the sick, both lay and professional alike.""In this gem of a collection of stories about care at the end of life, Rabbi and Chaplain Michael Goldberg restores the spirits of his patients (and readers) as he deftly navigates from the intensive care unit to the nursing home, from a patient''s home to their funeral. Across cultures and religious traditions, with steady doses of humility, wisdom, compassion, and humor, Goldberg''s words are a healing balm to the often spiritually uncomfortable journey of dying.""--Nassim AssefiInternist and global women''s health specialist, author of Aria ""With rare honesty and humility, Rabbi Goldberg welcomes the reader to accompany him into the pain-filled world of patients and families at the edge of life. He overcomes the real world challenges of the hospital or hospice stay to bring a measure of compassion and comfort to those who suffer. Proverbs teaches that, ""The heart alone knows its bitterness."" In truth, Goldberg is that rare individual who understands the pain of another''s heart and has the ability to ease that pain.""--Rabbi Sheldon PennesDirector of Spiritual Life at the Los Angeles Jewish Home""This book is not smarmy! The stories are so gripping that you won''t want to put them down. Essential reading for all who care for the dying, including their families.""--Nancey MurphyProfessor of Christian PhilosophyFuller Seminaryauthor of Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies?""These remarkable stories not only reflect the experience of many dying patients, but allow readers to accompany Rabbi Goldberg in his journey of becoming a Chaplain. He reveals his own search through openly sharing his thoughts and feelings. Any Chaplain, caregiver for the dying, or simply a human being on a quest to understand what this life is all about will benefit from reading this book.""--Judith Eighmy, RN, BSN, CHPNHospice ConsultantPacific Healthcare Consultants""Raising Spirits is a gift to anyone who has been deeply affected by experiences in healthcare. All will irresistibly be reminded of the powerfully clarifying and confusing nature of suffering and death. Michael''s pathway from thinker to caregiver might be unremarkable, but for his gift of truth-telling--how many of us receive hope and comfort, even though all too often, we simply can''t help or understand. That is Grace.""--Richard VanceChrysalis Ventures""Poignant and brilliant . . . Raising Spirits is an uncommon resource for practical and pastoral theology and religious education. Be prepared to venture into unfamiliar territory! Rabbi Michael Goldberg, a systematic theologian

As a historical inquiry and synthesis, this intellectual history is the first study to apply the ideal-type or model-building methodology of Otto Hintze (1861-1940) to Western historical thought or to what R. G. Collingwood called ""The Idea of History,"" for it contains succinct and useful models for seeing and teaching classical, Christian, and modern professional historiography.Religion and the Rise of History is also the first work to suggest that, in addition to his well-known paradoxical, simul, and/or ""at-the-same-time"" way of thinking and viewing life, Martin Luther also held to a way that was deeply incarnational, dynamic, and/or ""in-with-and-under."" This dual vision and ""a Lutheran ethos"" strongly influenced Leibniz, Hamann, and Herder, and was therefore a matter of considerable significance for the rise of a distinctly modern form of historical consciousness (commonly called ""historicism"") in Protestant Germany.Smith''s essay suggests a new time period for the formative age of modern German thought, culture, and education: ""The Cultural Revolution in Germany."" This age began in the early 1760s and culminated in 1810 with the founding of the University of Berlin, the first fully ""modern"" and ""modernizing"" university. This university first became the recognized center for the study of history, however, through the work of Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886). Here the story shows how a young Ranke derived his individualizing way of thinking and viewing life mainly from Luther, how his life-work is the best example in Western literature of the rise of history from a calling to a profession, and how the three-way discussion between Troeltsch, Meinecke, and Hintze concerning the nature of modern historical thought was of central importance for the reorientation of Western social-historical thought in the twentieth century.""Leonard Smith''s book is, in its origins and goals, a deeply pedagogical work. He addresses a central problem in the history of eighteenth-century German and European thought, the emergence of a new, evolutionary view of history called ""historicism."" Enabled by Luther''s incarnational theology, historicism received its first formulation, Smith argues, from Leibniz and his successors and achieved its public place in the new University of Berlin (est. 1810). This book is a splendid marriage of classical themes with new and original insights. Everyone interested in the evolution of European historical thought should read it.""--Thomas A. Brady Jr., University of California, Berkeley""This book breaks new ground in showing how Martin Luther shaped the philosophical pioneers of a new worldview based upon the study of history. A textbook for minds curious about a philosophy of history."" --The Rev. Eric W. Gritsch, Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary""A wide-ranging intellectual history of the emergence in Germany of a modern historical consciousness. Smith argues that a Lutheran ethos was especially conducive to this development, as it was transmitted through the use of Luther''s Small Catechism and generations of pastors and teachers. Key figures in this transmission include Leibniz and Hamann, leading to its flowering in Ranke and further elaboration by Hintze and Meinecke in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Provocative and engaging.""--Dale A. Johnson, Buffington Professor of Church History, Emeritus, Vanderbilt UniversityLeonard S. Smith is Emeritus Professor of History at California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California.

Paradox and surprise face those who pursue deeper spiritual practice, theological wisdom, and even a religious calling ""into the ministry."" Unbeknownst to incoming students, the pursuit of theological education in established institutions today furthers a faith that is recognizable in delight and compassion, even as it may just as easily deform it into a moral duty and autonomous professionalism so divisive in today''s religious ecology. How may those drawn into ministry formation today receive its deep theological treasures and sustain a vibrant faith with a theologically expressive delight able to companion the suffering of self and others? Artisanal Theology explores the paradoxes and surprises that await those walking in the worlds of theological education--the local congregation, the academy, the tradition/denomination. Part handbook, part witness, it offers guidance for the path of intentional formation within contemporary institutions of theological education, whose riches may be mined in a disciplined spiritual stewardship and grounded in radically covenantal companionship. Just like artisanal bread blends the classical methods of bread-baking with modern conveniences, so an artisanal theology relies upon the personal and communal touch of human relationship amidst the contemporary forms of programmatic theological education. An artisanal theology offers an articulate and traditionally-rooted faith perspective grounded in covenantal companionships sustained in contexts of church, tradition, and, most importantly, practice. Ultimately, an artisanal theology witnesses beyond the anticipated political divides to the Triune God-among-us, known in a theologically expressive delight, able to companion the suffering of self and others.""A conundrum faced by many undertaking theological education is that the development of contextual spiritual formation is somehow assumed--as if it were some by-product of years of rigorous study. The truth, however, is that this is almost never the case, a truth to which growing numbers of former clergy stand in testament. In Artisanal Theology Lisa Hess explores the practice of this formation: its richness, its nourishment, and its value for both the outward and inward orientations of God''s gifts in ministry.""--Dennis H. Piermont, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of the Miami Valley ""Lisa Hess is a fresh and wonderfully home-grown voice in the world of theological education. Reading Artisanal Theology is an experience of what Hess calls ''expressive theological delight.'' Anyone aspiring to be a faithful Christian in the seminary context--students and teachers alike--will appreciate the deep wisdom in this book.""--Arthur Holder, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley""Those who teach and write in the areas of Christian education, spiritual formation, practical theology, and theological education often suffer from the dual problem of articulating a clear intellectual identity and a clear theological voice. Not only does Hess not suffer from either of these problems, her work is a powerful antidote for them. Clear, insightful, and creatively orthodox, this treatment of theological formation announces a powerful step forward for those laboring in those disciplines within a sometimes unresponsive theological academy. Lisa Hess must be heard!""--Willie Jennings, Duke Divinity School""This is the book I was looking for last year when I taught a contextual education discussion section! Lisa Hess''s focus on the sharing of craft and wisdom is a poetic and helpful guide for groups, communities, and institutions seeking intentional yet also unpredictable formation. Artisanal theology joins practical theology, systematic theology, and historical theology as another important form of theological wisdom.""--Carol Lakey Hess, Emory UniversityLisa M. Hess is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Contextual Ministries at United Theological Seminary. She is Word & Sacrament minister in

The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is told in eight verses. Embedded in this short narrative is ""Joseph''s dilemma."" Listeners are told that, ""When Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit"" (1:18). What happens next has long been debated. We are made to assume that Joseph discovers that Mary is pregnant, but that he does not know that she is with child from the Holy Spirit. This information is made known to Joseph later by an angel of the Lord who appeared to him in a dream. In the meantime, Joseph must decide what he will do with Mary.We are told, ""Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly"" (1:19). The discussion of this verse generally focuses on two questions. First, did Joseph suspect Mary of adultery? Second, if he did suspect Mary of adultery, what were his options? While there is some diversity in the way that these questions are answered, the majority of modern interpreters envision only one option--that of divorce. The dilemma, then, is whether Joseph will divorce Mary ""publicly"" or ""privately.""While these questions are important, neither adequately addresses Joseph''s dilemma. In this book, Matthew J. Marohl argues that early Christ-followers understood Joseph''s dilemma to involve an assumption of adultery and the subsequent possibility of the killing of Mary. Worded differently, Joseph''s dilemma involves the possibility of an honor killing. If Joseph reveals that Mary is pregnant she will be killed. If Joseph conceals Mary''s pregnancy, he will be opposing the law of the Lord. What is a ""righteous"" man to do?""Books that bring a new slant to bear on old disputed texts and unresolved issues are always welcomed. Matthew Marohl''s study of the heated debate concerning the circumstances surrounding Jesus''s conception and birth is such a new slant on a highly controverted story. It is sure to broaden our cultural vista, shed light on an overlooked aspect of Joseph''s dilemma, and rustle not a few feathers along the way.""--John H. Elliott, Professor Emeritus, University of San Francisco""Marohl''s study of honor killings, be they modern or ancient, opens up new avenues of interpretation for the Gospel of Matthew''s infancy narrative. Taking into consideration that honor and shame were pivotal values of the social world in question, this study demonstrates that Mary''s pregnancy, as well as Joseph''s initial reaction to it, originally invoked the familiar social dimensions of damaging and protecting family honor, something now lost to modern readers.""--Markus Cromhout, Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria. ""Marohl''s systematic analysis of the cultural presuppositions of Matthew''s presentation of Mary''s shameful pregnancy leads him to conclude that Joseph contemplated killing Mary which, while shocking, reveals a narrative pattern that is evident throughout the gospel--''from unexpected death comes unexpected, new life.'' It is a pattern that is to be replicated in the lives of the Jesus followers. Marohl''s unique combination of cultural anthropology and honor killings casts new light on the Gospel''s meaning and intended outcome.""--Dietmar Neufeld, Professor of Christian Origins, University of British ColumbiaMatthew J. Marohl teaches New Testament at Augustana College, Rock Island, IL. He holds a PhD in New Testament from the University of St. Andrews and is the author of Faithfulness and the Purpose of Hebrews: A Social Identity Approach (Pickwick, 2008).

Senses of the Soul explores the way art and visual elements are incorporated into Christian worship. It incorporates research conducted in Los Angeles congregations. Through extensive interviews in a sample of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox congregations it looks into the way visual elements actually become part of the experience of worship. By looking at attitudes and experiences of beauty, art, and memories, it suggests that believers appropriate images and aesthetic encounters in terms of imaginative structures that have been formed through worship practices over time. By comparing responses across denominations, the book proposes that people receive visual elements in ways that have been shaped by long traditions and specific background beliefs. In addition to discussions of the differences between the major Christian traditions, the book also examines the relation of art and beauty to worship, the role of memories and everyday life, and the power of images in spirituality and worship.By its focus on the worshiper, the book seeks to make a contribution to the growing conversation between the arts and Christian worship and to the process of worship renewal.""Senses of the Soul is an invaluable grass-roots study of how people actually use and engage the visual aspects of Christian worship. Rather than emphasizing what theology and liturgy think the arts should contribute (or not) to worship, Dyrness breaks new ground by listening to ordinary Christians'' talk about what the arts actually do contribute. In so doing, he re-draws the boundaries of art and points to the power of our religious imaginations to direct our engagement with the visual and physical dimensions of Christian worship. I am very much looking forward to using this book in my own teaching and research.""--Lisa DeBoerArt Historian, Westmont College""William Dyrness offers us here a very timely and strategic contribution to the growing conversation about how the arts can contribute to worship and the life of faith. By listening to so many varied voices of worshipers in actual congregations, Dyrness offers many illuminating insights that promise to sharpen not only the work of artists in many media, but also the faith life of pastors, theologians, worship leaders, and all thoughtful Christians who long for a multi-sensory life of prayer.""--John D. WitvlietDirector, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Professor of Worship, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary""Senses of the Soul is a pioneering contribution to the ways in which Christians appropriate visual images in worship. Based on eighty interviews with individuals from Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic congregations in Southern California, this book creatively blends empirical research with theological and social-scientific insight. The book is richly illustrated with photos of religious images from the sites where William Dyrness did his research. This book opens a fresh chapter in our understanding of the embodiment of religious experience in artistic expression.""--Donald E. MillerExecutive Director, Center for Religion and Civic CultureUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWilliam A. Dyrness is Professor of Theology and Culture in the School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author most recently of Reformed Theology and Visual Culture (2004) and Visual Faith (2001).

This work includes essays in preaching method and a series of sermons on Romans 10, a mini-treatise on preaching. It reflects on the tasks of preaching and teaching preaching as a form of communication that is critical to the life of the church. Despite the numerous existing volumes, useful texts are still needed. The quest is for methods of preparation that can be applied with consistency, and that suggest habits for labor, which can be tedious or cause tasteless outcomes. The volume is intended as a contribution to replenishing voices that already have spoken ably and eloquently. It is located in the praxis of one who preaches with weekly regularity, while at the same time teaching homiletics. It aims at absorbing and synthesizing proven methods, while relating them to a generation that lives in the tensions of faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the decline of a Christian consensus in the culture, the rise of secularism, and competition from other religions. Added to that is the challenge of vying for space in the public sphere with countless social prophets, such as talk show hosts, radio commentators, screen writers, and entertainers with various agendas.What one finds in the following pages is a venture of service to the newly called, the fledgling preachers, the veterans, as well as those who teach. It dares to challenge proverbs like, ""It is better caught than taught,"" or ""Those who know don''t tell, and those who tell don''t know."" It risks a word in an attempt to speak reflectively about a task that is daunting to the novice and as near to a veteran as a second skin. It is a brazen attempt to step out of ""comfortable skin"" to tell another how it feels from the inside. It hazards a gesture to say how to do the work with confidence without becoming arrogant. How do you scratch the pad or go to a blank computer screen from week to week? By what means does one glean and give a fresh word before the exhaustion of delivering the last word has abated? Web sites that supply sermons are in the public domain and can easily be discovered. The challenge for those who mount the pulpit from week to week does not relent.The labor reflected in these pages is born of the bias that all preaching can be improved with study, reflection, and critical assistance.William Clair Turner Jr. is Associate Professor of the Practice of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School and Pastor of Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of A Journey Through the Covenant: Discipleship for African American Christians and The United Holy Church of America: A Study in Black Holiness Pentecostalism.

Writing with the pastor and student in mind, Walter Brueggemann provides guidance for interpreting Old Testament texts. He offers both advice for the interpreter as well as examples of working with different sorts of passages: from narratives, prophecies, and Psalms. He also demonstrates how to work thematically, drawing together threads from different traditions. His goal is to work through the rhetoric of these passages to reach toward theological interpretation. These investigations indicate Brueggemann''s conviction that the process of moving from text to interpretive outcome is an artistic enterprise that can be learned and practiced.""One of the best and most esteemed interpreters of Scripture shows here how he does it. A ''how-to'' book with wonderful examples, it is vintage Brueggemann: incisive, penetrating, provocative, and always seeking to uncover the cutting edge of the text. He cares as much about pastoral responsibility as interpretive method. In fact, he doesn''t think you can separate them-one of the many gifts of this compelling and practical book."" -Patrick D. Miller, author of The Religion of Ancient Israel""We have become accustomed to the insightful reflections and the critical theological thinking of many contemporary biblical scholars. However, seldom has an author taken us step-by-step through the actual progression of that thought. This is precisely what Walter Brueggemann does in this book. Insisting that all believers, not merely scholars, should be able to critically read the Bible, he offers a modified, though still critical interpretive approach, that shows us how we might do it ourselves.""-Dianne Bergant, CSA author of Scripture: History and Interpretation""This is the book that those of us who have studied with Walter Brueggemann have been waiting for. Here is the teacher we have known in class: telling us how he has come to read scripture as he does and showing us how he does it. I have been using this method of interpreting scripture with my congregation for the past decade. Together we have found that Brueggemann''s three-step interpretive strategy opens us up to the biblical texts so that they speak to us in powerful new ways. What a wonderful gift this book is to the church.""-Edwin Searcy, University Hill Congregation, Vancouver, BCWalter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is the author of numerous works, including Praying the Psalms (2nd ed., Cascade Books, 2007), Theology of the Old Testament, and Prophetic Imagination.

Historical Jesus research remains trapped in the positivistic historiographical framework from which it emerged more than a hundred and fifty years ago. This is confirmed by the nested assumptions shared by the majority of researchers. These include the idea that a historical figure could not have been like the Gospel portrayals and consequently the Gospels have developed in a linear and layered fashion from the authentic kernels to the elaborated literary constructions as they are known today. The aim of historical Jesus research, therefore, is to identify the authentic material from which the historical figure as a social type underneath the overlay is constructed. Anthropological historiography offers an alternative framework for dealing with Jesus of Nazareth as a social personage fully embedded in a first-century Mediterranean worldview and the Gospels as cultural artifacts related to this figure. The shamanic complex can account for the cultural processes and dynamics related to his social personage. This cross-cultural model represents a religious pattern that refers to a family of features for describing those religious entrepreneurs who, based on regular Altered State of Consciousness experiences, perform a specific set of social functions in their communities. This model accounts for the wide spectrum of the data ascribed to Jesus of Nazareth while it offers a coherent framework for constructing the historical Jesus as a social personage embedded in his worldview. As a Galilean shamanic figure Jesus typically performed healings and exorcisms, he controlled the spirits while he also acted as prophet, teacher and mediator of divine knowledge.""In this book, Craffert uses the metaphor of traveling to describe the task he has undertaken. Given the existence of the two prevailing pathways leading into contemporary ''historical Jesus'' study, Craffert leaves the century-and-a-half old Schweitzer Street (Schweitzerstrasse) and Wrede Road (Wredebahn) to do some ''bundubashing'' (South African: to travel off road through remote and rough terrain) to get to the social personage of Jesus the Galilean. His critique of prevailing historical Jesus study is insightful and incisive, while his description of Jesus as first-century Galilean shaman is masterful and accomplished. His rationale for and realization of a work of anthropological history is quite on the mark, enabling a reader to have an encounter with a first-century, Galilean shamanic Jesus that shouldproduce an appropriate culture shock in those unused to the radically different cultural and social landscape of Mediterranean antiquity.""--Bruce J. Malina, author of The New Testament World""Just when it seems that all has been said about the historical Jesus, Pieter Craffert offers a genuine paradigm shift in method and insights growing out of an ''anthropological-historical'' perspective. His interpretation of the public figure of Jesus using the social-type of a shaman opens up a new world view and encourages the inclusion of texts, events, and activities usually dismissed from discussions of the historical Jesus. His originality is matched by his meticulous research and the clarity he brings to a complex problem. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical Jesus, but especially for those who enjoy a genuinely new approach to an old problem.""--William R. Herzog II, author of Jesus, Justice, and the Reign of God""[This book] has the rare quality that it helps us to think ''otherwise'' about the Historical Jesus. We understand persons with the help of some category or model that suggests to us what they were like. The problem with categories used about Jesus is that they are either too distant historically to provide meaning to modern readers, or to modern to help us grasp the disturbing ''otherness'' about Jesus. Craffert''s use of ''shaman'' as a social model for Jesus makes sense of the otherness of Jesus in our own world, and also helps us grasp how the

New Testament theology ought to be both descriptive and constructive-this is the argument of New Testament Theology: Extending the Table. According to Isaak, New Testament theology is descriptive in that it deals with the accounts that people narrate of their experience with Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the light of Easter. It is constructive in that it joins the diverse testimonies of the New Testament writers into a textured and thick space within which contemporary followers of Jesus continue to be shaped by the ancient yet living Spirit of God. Isaak''s approach is historical, thematic, and theological in orientation. It explores the conversation taking place ""around the table,"" where the writers of the NT share their guiding vision of God''s saving work among them, and their passion for the Christian church engaged in God''s mission. The differing perspectives of the New Testament authors are held together without reduction, forming a deep and rich space within which ongoing community reflection and praxis can take place.""Isaak''s model is an invigorating invitation to an ongoing conversation about God''s activity in the world. We sit at a table with the NT writers, figures throughout history, and our own contemporaries. This is an intense, rewarding, and necessary discussion. Isaak is an adept moderator as we join others at the table.""--Greg A. CampDirector of Biblical and Religious StudiesFresno Pacific University""Isaak''s approach of listening to a biblical conversation is particularly accessible and engaging and brings the NT writers'' texts to life in a unique way. It addresses the realities of contemporary questions with a firm grip on the biblical text and orthodoxy. It also allows the text to function authoritatively while calling for the dynamics of the community hermeneutic valued in the Anabaptist movement.""--David WiebeExecutive DirectorCanadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches""Jon Isaak''s New Testament Theology is a fine introduction to the thought of the writings of the New Testament and to the larger themes that run through these writings. The book helpfully points out the diversity and unity of theology within the New Testament. Isaak offers a rich menu at the table. Some readers will be enriched by it, others may suffer indigestion.""--John ToewsProfessor Emeritus of New TestamentMennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary""With scintillating style, Jon Isaak sets forth a rigorously descriptive and constructive New Testament Theology from an Anabaptist-evangelical Christian perspective. Using Caird''s metaphor of a conference table, Isaak ''listens'' sensitively to the various historical-theological witnesses represented in the writings of the NT. Insightful diagrams, tables, and exercises focus the issues engaging the participants in conference table talk. I heartily recommend this fresh approach for classroom, group study, and personal enrichment.""--V. George ShillingtonProfessor Emeritus of Biblical and Theological StudiesCanadian Mennonite University""Finally, a robust New Testament theology that remains accessible to the non-specialist. Isaak offers a way forward in this sometimes-beleaguered discipline, eschewing narrow polemics and engaging polarizing topics both conversationally and respectfully. He remains self-aware of his theological and critical perspectives but acknowledges, ''there are other valid receptions and interpretive frameworks,'' an approach welcome in the context of theologically diverse classrooms.""--Michael J. GilmourAssociate Professor of New TestamentProvidence College (Canada)""Imagine a round-table discussion involving the writers of the New Testament. Each writer shares deeply held theological convictions. After each has spoken comes the convener''s constructive task of discerning common viewpoints among the diverse voices around the table. Isaak creatively utilizes this conference table image to craft this stimulating book. His readers will find th

Green Witness is a work in theological ethics, addressed primarily to theologians and seminarians, but also to clergy and church study groups. Yordy approaches the topic of Christian environmental work not from the perspective of a global crisis that must be solved, but from the perspective of God''s promise of the Kingdom. She argues that Christians can and should work for the wholeness of the biophysical environment whether or not their efforts bear immediate visible fruit, because God always welcomes and makes good use of faithful discipleship. This is good news to religious environmentalists who have grown weary of struggling to ""make a difference"" amid ever-louder announcements of environmental destruction. The eschaton is clearly a realm of interspecies peace, abundance, and diversity, and part of the church''s mission is to demonstrate these aspects of God''s plan for the world, although only God can and will consummate the Kingdom.""Often confronted by the so-called ''environmental crisis,'' many are led to despair that nothing can be done. Drawing on profound theological insights, Laura Yordy helps us see that something can be done because Christ''s redemption is sure and good. Hopefully this book will find its way into many congregational discussions of how we can better live as witnesses to God''s glorious creation.""--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School ""Yordy encourages us to think the meaning of creation in terms of the in-breaking Kingdom of God. With this eschatological reading of our environmental troubles she invites us to a more exacting and merciful discipleship that is patterned on the Trinitarian God who brings all creation into being and sustains it until its final redemption in Christ. Yordy''s views will challenge established patterns of thinking, and inspire churches to be more faithful witnesses to the healing presence of God in our world.""--Norman Wirzba, author of The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological AgeLaura Ruth Yordy is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Bridgewater College in Virginia.

Depression and related illnesses threaten to wreck the lives of many teens and their families. Suicide driven by these illnesses is one of the top killers of these young people. How do teens become depressed? What does depression feel like? How can we identify it? What helps depressed teens? What hurts them? How do families cope with teen depression? In A Relentless Hope Gary Nelson uses his experience as a pastor and pastoral counselor to guide the reader through an exploration of these and many other questions about teen depression. Nelson has worked with many teens over the years offering help to those who find themselves confronted by this potentially devastating attacker. The author also uses the story of his own son''s journey through depression to weave together insights into the spiritual, emotional, cognitive, biological, and relational dimensions of teen depression. Through careful analysis, candid self-revelation, practical advice, and even humor, this pastor, counselor, and father reminds us that God''s light of healing can shine through the darkness of depression and offer hope. A Relentless Hope is written for teens, parents, teachers, pastors, and any who walk with the afflicted through this valley of the shadow of death.""Whether you are a youth struggling with depression, a family member of a depressed teen, or a pastor, counselor or teacher providing support and help in such circumstances, this book is a must read as the most informative and helpful volume available on the subject.""--Merle R. Jordan Professor of Pastoral Psychology Emeritus, Boston University School of Theology""This story of a family is an incredible gift of honest reflection. So many families deal with the issue of teen depression. . . As the dean of a theological school I am aware of the numbers of youth that my students deal with who are in this book. Depression, self-medication with alcohol and drugs, self doubt and even considerations of suicide as an answer--all are in our communities and probably in even a small church. This book is about an attitude that avoids denial, attempts to keep a sense of humor, and believes in the miracle of life. Thank you, Tom, for allowing your story to be told."" --Maxine Clarke Beach, Vice President and Dean, Drew Theological SchoolThis is a story of amazing grace! I love the challenge Gary gave the reader throughout the book: ""Never give up on loving!"" I was reminded in a very tangible way of the limitless capacity of God who loves us the same way--He never stops! What an incredible mantra for all of us: ""Never give up on loving. . . . Never!"" I wonder how different our world would be if we practiced this command?--Rev. Dale Seley, Pastor Downtown Baptist Church, Alexandria, VirginiaGary E. Nelson, DMin, is a United Methodist minister who for thirty years has worked with teens and their families as a local church pastor and as a pastoral counselor. He currently pastors a church in West Virginia.

A leading scholar of ascetical studies, Richard Valantasis explores a variety of ascetical traditions ranging from the Greco-Roman philosophy of Musonius Rufus, the asceticism found in the Nag Hammadi Library and in certain Gnostic texts, the Gospel of Thomas, and other early Christian texts. This collection gathers historical and theoretical essays that develop a theory of asceticism that informs the analysis of historical texts and opens the way for postmodern ascetical studies. Wide-ranging in historical scope and in developing theory, these essays address asceticism for scholar and student alike. The theory will be of particular interest to those interested in cultural theory and analysis, while the historical essays provide the researcher with easy access to a significant corpus of academic writing on asceticism.""In the context of belligerently hedonistic North American society, a society reduced to waging war to support our lifestyle, Richard Valantasis''s The Making of the Self has never been more relevant. Valantasis proposes that past and present can best be compared, not through ideas, but through analysis of practices and what they produce. This book asks, What did historical people seek to achieve through the ascetic disciplines they practiced? What do we seek? Could some of the ascetic repertoire of historical people be of practical use toward our goals? Valantasis describes a theory and practice of asceticism for secular twenty-first-century society. Both informative and inspirational, The Making of the Self should be required reading for everyone who seeks to make intentional choices that shape the self.""--Margaret R. Miles, Professor Emerita of Historical Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and author of A Complex Delight: The Secularization of the Breast, 1350-1750""A tour-de-force through the theory and practice of asceticism in late antiquity. Valatansis''s insightful focus on the transformative power of ascetic performance permits one to see asceticism through the ascetic''s eyes. His work compels us to reflect anew on the nature and role of asceticism in antiquity, and, in the process, to consider its meaning and relevance today.""--James E. Goehring, Professor of Religion, University of Mary Washington and author of Ascetics, Society, and The Desert""The Making of the Self: Ancient and Modern Asceticism opens up traditional Christian and Roman sources to a new kind of close reading, showing us what difference it makes to recast asceticism in a theoretically rich and provocative way. In undertaking this task, Richard Valantasis invites his readers to rethink the historical texture of ancient Mediterranean asceticism as well as the ongoing legacies of asceticism''s hardwiring of human society in any time and place where people resist the current order of things and dream of a new and better reality.""--Elizabeth A. Castelli, Professor of Religion, Barnard College at Columbia University and author of Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making""This wide-ranging collection of essays is a remarkably coherent and compelling presentation of Valantasis''s mature theorizing about a complex and fascinating phenomenon. Through his writings and through our conversations and collaborations over the years, Valantasis had already taught me much about asceticism. But this book I read as the capstone of his musings, playfulness, and hard work. It is Valantasis at his best--articulate, creative, witty, feisty, provocative, brilliant. All students of religion and culture will be enlightened and delighted and challenged by this book.""--Vincent L. Wimbush, Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate University and editor of Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity: A SourcebookRichard Valantasis is Professor of Ascetical Theology and Director of the Anglican Studies Program at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of The Gospel of Thomas, Centur

In 1984 Evangelicals for Social Action founder Ron Sider posed the questions, ""What would happen if we in the Christian church developed a new nonviolent peacekeeping force ready to move into violent conflicts and stand peacefully between warring parties? . . . Everyone assumes that for the sake of peace it is moral and just for soldiers to get killed by the hundreds of thousands, even millions. Do we not have as much courage and faith as soldiers?"" Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has been trying to answer those questions since 1986. CPT has responded to invitations from grassroots organizers on five continents who are using nonviolent strategies to confront systemic oppression. This book provides a glimpse into the mistakes and successes, the triumphs and tragedies, that teams have shared in with local co-workers in various nations. It also continues to pose the question, What would happen if CPT''s efforts were multiplied by millions of Christians with a radical commitment to Jesus''s nonviolent gospel?""In Harm''s Way is the remarkable story of Christian Peacemaker Teams: courageous groups of Christians willing to risk their own lives in non-violent actions that aim to advance peace and justice. Even those of us who are not pacifists will find this moving and honest story of work in such places as the Middle East, Haiti, and Central America compelling. It is a story that will push all Christians to serious thought about the cost of following Jesus in today''s world.""- C. Stephen Evans, University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Baylor University, and Jan E. Evans, Associate Professor of Spanish, Baylor UniversityKathleen Kern has worked for Christian Peacemaker Teams since 1993, serving on assignments in Haiti; in Washington DC; in the West Bank city of Hebron; in Chiapas, Mexico; in South Dakota; in Colombia; and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kern''s articles and essays have appeared in Tikkun magazine and in the Baltimore Sun. Her chapter describing the work of CPT, ""From Haiti to Hebron with a Brief Stop in Washington, D.C.: The CPT Experiment,"" appeared in From the Ground Up: Mennonite Contributions to International Peacebuilding (Oxford University Press, 2000).

Youth ministry has increasingly lost touch with its origins in the way of Jesus and the social practices intrinsic to Christian discipleship, and has instead substituted layers of ""Jesus talk,"" middle class values, fun and games, and doses of ""warm fellow-feeling."" Awakening Youth Discipleship articulates the history of this domestication of youth and ministry. Mahan, Warren, and White tell a story of the ways in which our society has colluded to shape a domesticated adolescence. The authors believe a Christian response to this challenge must be multilevel, addressing the problem at three levels--society, church, and individual. The authors propose reclaiming practices of discernment that both engage congregations in social awareness and involve individuals in discerning fuller vocational opportunities than those allowed by popular cultural norms.""Awakening Youth Discipleship is a terrific, troublesome, hopeful book, offered with characteristic thoughtfulness by three prophets in our midst. Drawing from decades of teaching and research in youth ministry, Brian Mahan, Michael Warren, and David White make a provocative case for youth ministry that practices, as Daniel Berrigan puts it, ""the upside-down hermeneutics of Jesus Christ."" Awakening Youth Discipleship topples many of youth ministry''s most sacred cows, and offers strategies that help young people (and the rest of us) resist the deformative power of consumerism. These views are seldom voiced in youth ministry--but our ability to reflect Christ to and with young people absolutely depends upon hearing them.""--Kenda Creasy Dean, Associate Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and author of Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church (Eerdman) and Youth and the Church of ""Benign Whatever-ism"" (Oxford) ""Brian Mahan, Mike Warren, and David White invite us to engage in an increasingly rare and dangerous spiritual practice: thinking. Why do we define teenagers by what they consume? Why does youth ministry feel like a finishing school for the middle class? Who profits from keeping teenagers nice? Where would Jesus shop? Like Jesus, the authors walk us up the steps of the sacred temples, tune our ears to the clink of the money-changers, and then show us how easily the tables are flipped. Awakening Youth Discipleship is a necessary read if youth workers are going to expose the sanctified greed, passionate advertising, and soulful materialism that keeps all of us, young and old, from entering the freedom of Jesus.""--Mark Yaconelli, author of Contemplative Youth Ministry""Brian, David, and Michael have given us a real gift, a pearl of great price. As a father, a teacher and a consultant, I only wish I had this book years earlier. If, as Rahner said, the church of this century would be a church of mystics, these three guides prove that they are the right people to help us navigate the ''culture tricks'' so that we''re mindful of pouring new wine into new wineskins. This book is a significant contribution for all interested in formation, Christian discipleship and everyday life. This book is also a great read! It made me smile often.""--Michael J. Downey, Australian Youth Minister, author of Digging Deep: Fostering the Spirituality of Young Men""For those of us in youth ministry, this book offers a mirror of sorts. And, as with any good mirror, it offers us an opportunity for reflection. To be honest, if you read it carefully and with an open mind, you will probably be forced to see some facets of the current youth ministry identity that aren''t very flattering. They write honestly, thoughtfully and without condescension, but in these straightforward essays I heard the sounds of some sacred cows being butchered, the tough questions of a thorough Cross-examination (yeah, that Cross), and what I believe were the sounds of my chair as I squirmed a bit. The writer of Proverbs reminds us that ''Faithful are the woun

For about the last fifteen years of his life, Thomas A. Langford pondered how grace is central to Christian theology. This book records his reflections and provides numerous gems of mature Christian insight. From beginning to end, the book is christologically focused. Grace is not something that God gives us; rather, it is the way God gives us himself. Grace is a person--God present to human beings. Grace is not a gift but rather a giver. Grace is Jesus Christ. The central contribution of this work is its personalization of grace, its sharp focus on God present in Jesus Christ. Because its focus on grace gives the reader such a clear and thematically developed entry point, this work is a great introduction to theology and the life of the church, the kind that pastors and parishioners would certainly benefit from confronting.""Who better to teach us grace than one who so genially embodied, personified, and incarnated grace? . . . [Langford] taught Christian grace in the manner of the great classical philosophers whom he so admired by embodying in his life that which he professed in his books, in the classroom, and in the pulpit. How appropriate that this manuscript was lying upon his desk when he died. What grace that we have it now. Grace, pure grace.""--from the foreword by William H. Willimon""Reflections on Grace looks at grace from every facet of systematic theology. Methodists and Wesleyans will want to read and ponder these pages carefully, but the work reaches out to all Christian communions--Catholic, Orthodox, and evangelical. This grace-filled book can help any faithful and thoughtful Christian think deeper about and live more boldly in the constant grace of the Triune God.""--Alan G. Padgett, Methodist minister and Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary""Tommy Langford exemplified what Methodism at its best should be. We can celebrate the publication of these last thoughts, as they demonstrate that Tommy was unafraid to change. May we learn from his example.""--Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity SchoolThomas A. Langford (1929-2000) served the United Methodist Church and Duke University throughout his adult life. Langford was ordained a Methodist minister in 1952. He was the primary author of the United Methodist Church''s ""Our Theological Task"" (1988) and a member of the World Methodist Council bilateral theological discussions with the Roman Catholic Church, the World Lutheran Federation, and the World Reformed Alliance. He was the author or editor of fourteen books including Intellect and Hope (on the thought of Michael Polanyi), In Search of Foundations (on English theology and culture), and the widely read Practical Divinity (theology in the Wesleyan tradition). This current book, Reflections on Grace, is the work that he had been writing during the last years of his life.Philip A. Rolnick is Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He is the author of Analogical Possibilities: How Words Refer to God and Person, Grace, and God (2007)Jonathan R. Wilson is Pioneer McDonald Professor of Theology at Carey Theological College. He completed his PhD at Duke in 1989 under the supervision of Thomas Langford.

Marketing the church is hot. For many church leaders, marketing might even be the first article of their creed, which goes something like this: ""We believe that our church determines its identity and mission through the tactics of marketing strategies."" Theologians Kenneson and Street offer a thoughtful and provocative protest, with a foreword from Stanley Hauerwas. The authors ""expose the theological presuppositions that inform the marketing project. . . and help us to see that the marketer''s presumption that form can be separated from content of the gospel betrays an understanding of the gospel that cannot help betraying the gift that is Christ.""The authors propose an alternative, constructive account of the church''s mission and purpose that is ""not based on exchange of value but on reminding us that the gospel is always a gift - a gift that makes impossible any presumptions that there can be an exchange between human beings and God that is rooted in the satisfaction of our untrained needs."" The cross and resurrection challenge the world''s understanding of what our needs should be.""A well-written and thought-provoking work that provides a much needed corrective for those of us involved in church planting and church growth.""Paul S. Williams, President, ""''Go Ye''"" Chapel Mission, Inc., East Islip, NY""Kenneson and Street open our eyes to subtle dangers, ambiguous terms, and hidden hazards that we might not have recognized in marketing approaches to the gospel. I am very grateful for their keen insight and biblical wisdom!""Marva J. Dawn, Freelance Theologian for Christians Equipped for Ministry and author of ''Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down''""As Luther posted his theses on the cathedral door, so have Kenneson and Street posted their own point-by-point protest on the door of the market-driven church. And they leave little room for doubt--the issue is still the selling of indulgences. Take it from a pastor who has carefully learned at the feet of some of the best and brightest church marketers, this is the theological counterbalance for which we have long waited.""James E. Baucom, Jr., Pastor, Rivermont Avenue Baptist, Lynchburg, VA and Moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of VirginiaPhilip Kenneson is Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Milligan College. He is the author of ''Life on the Vine'' and has contributed to ''Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World'' and ''The Nature of Confession'' (both IVP).James L. Street is Pastor of North River Community Church, Lawrenceville, Georgia.

""Care for creation has become marginalized in conversations concerning the quest for justice; nevertheless, our very lives depend on . . . respecting the earth. It is no accident that those most likely to be disenfranchised are those who depend the most on the earth for its survival. Hence, A Faith Encompassing All Creation is a crucial addition to the justice discourse. By gathering diverse voices, the reader is led to explore this crucial issue. Our only hope is that such elucidation leads to praxis.""--Miguel de la Torre, Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado""This book gets our attention. It is prophetic. For those of us who have been soothed into ''let''s be nice to creation'' this is an altar call to conversion to a radical and responsible life. We must repent, not simply because all creation calls out to us but because God calls.""--Kyle Childress, Austin Heights Baptist Church, Nacogdoches, Texas""What could be more important for Christians today than to read A Faith Encompassing All Creation? We are in desperate need of a vision of Christian faith that can inspire commitment and action to save the biodiversity of our planet. This book brings together a vibrant diversity of voices, men and women, young and old, from various Christian traditions, all committed to love for the Earth and all its creatures as God''s good creation.""--Denis Edwards, Australian Catholic UniversityTripp York teaches in the Department of Religion at Virginia Wesleyan College. He is the author or editor of more than half a dozen books, including Third Way Allegiance, Living on Hope While Living in Babylon, and The Devil Wears Nada.Andy Alexis-Baker is a PhD candidate in Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics at Marquette University. He is coeditor of Theology of Missions, by John Howard Yoder.