Books published by Westminster/John Knox Press,U.S.

In A Geography of God, popular author and preacher Michael Lindvall describes the life of a Christian as a journey with three parts: "Leaving for Home," "The Way," and "Life on the Road." The first part of the journey struggles with the question, why go anywhere at all, spiritually speaking? The second part names the road, the way found in the...

James M. Gustafson has been a leading and formative figure in the field of Christian ethics over the past fifty years. His many contributions to theological ethics have helped to define and shape ethical thinking by Christians who reflect on great moral issues. Gustafson's work must be dealt with by all students in this discipline, and his...

Allan Cole Jr. offers insights on the topic of prayer, explaining prayer and describing its spiritual and physical effects. This book is for those who are not comfortable with prayer or who have reached an impasse in their prayer lives. Cole demonstrates different kinds of prayer, helps the reader find ways to pray in various situations, and...

In this second volume of an exciting new series for laity, Sarah Henrich traces the understanding of important themes of the Bible and demonstrates their importance for Christian life today. Key themes such as faith, justice, love, prayer, and resurrection are discussed as they emerge in the Old and New Testaments. Discussion questions are...

In this original, contemporary doctrine of the Trinity, William Placher places the history of theology in dialogue with postmodern philosophy and yields a provocative postliberal interpretation. Placher deftly connects a radical view of God's transcendence with a narrative Christology. His resulting thesis is twofold: first, the doctrine of the...

This collection of essays from one of America's great theological minds explores the nature and meaning of Christian community. First published between 1945 and 1960, these essays make clear for the first time H. Richard Niebuhr's moral theology of the church. Understanding Christianity itself as a movement--and not an institution--Niebuhr...

Most Christians work outside the church, so for many--if not most--of us, daily labor seems divorced from Christian beliefs and ethics. Work is an inevitable factor of human existence, and yet we do not have appropriate theological resources to help us reflect on its nature and meaning in light of Christian understanding and contemporary...

When the first edition of A Christian Natural Theology appeared in 1965, it was a groundbreaking work that incorporated Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical philosophy as a framework for developing a Christian natural theology. The work was so significant it helped to launch process theology as a leading alternative to neo-orthodox theology...

Acclaimed New Testament scholar Francois Bovon engagingly and concisely explores the last days of Jesus. Detailing the similarities and differences in the passion narratives of the four canonical Gospels and the Gospel of Peter, he shows that these stories were not composed by objective witnesses but are reflections of the perspectives of those...

In many respects John remains the most beloved of all Gospels. In this careful study for laity, Frances Taylor Gench provides an opportunity for Christians to immerse themselves in this complex Gospel and become better acquainted with its intriguing and distinctive vision. Examining thirteen central texts (including the wedding at Cana, the...

Contending that preachers have become silent on a major doctrinal theme of the Christian faith--the meaning of the crucifixion and the cross as a theological symbol--Sally A. Brown describes the nature and causes of this phenomenon and provides a strategy for reclaiming "cross talk" in the pulpit. Brown proposes a metaphorical and pastoral...

Every week churches must address issues related to stewardship. With deep pastoral sensitivities and solid biblical knowledge, veteran pastor and author David Mosser draws one Scripture passage from each week in the three-year lectionary cycle to provide a brief reflection on how that passage can be used to teach and preach about stewardship...

In this insightful study, James Earl Massey offers an expanded version of the Twelfth Annual William E. Conger, Jr. Lectures on Biblical Preaching that he delivered at Beeson Divinity School in February 2004. Through a unique collection of informative lectures and illustrative sermons, the highly esteemed teacher and preacher considers four...

Growing numbers of church leaders are discovering that many films are able to impact viewers with gospel truths almost as well as a good sermon. Ed McNulty, a former pastor and longtime reviewer of films, offers this guide to help church leaders enter into dialogue with contemporary films. McNulty carefully crafts a theology of movies and then...

William Sloane Coffin challenged the nation with his passionate calls for social justice. In this best-seller, Coffin gives a powerful record of his remarkable public life, offering his inspiring words on issues ranging from charity and justice to politics and the meaning of...

This insightful book explores how worship practices can transform and renew the lives of those who worship. Emphasizing how religious affections provide us with orientation in the world, Kendra Hotz and Matthew Mathews show how worship can shape our religious affections so that we can live to the glory of God and in a harmonious relationship...

This collection of essays presents the theological, pedagogical, and disciplinary framework on which multicultural theological education is built. While many seminaries and divinity schools have expressed their commitment to create diverse communities of faculty and students, fewer schools have developed methods of learning and teaching that...

This first volume in an exciting new series for laity provides an accessible study of some of the Bible's most important themes. Respected author W. Eugene March traces the understanding of key themes through the Old and New Testaments, such as God, covenant, and sin, and demonstrates their importance for Christian life today. Discussion...

Melva Wilson Costen examines various genres of music used in African American worship and current practices and emerging trends in music ministry in African American churches. In addition, she explores the use of global songs by African American congregations and provides suggestions to worship planners for listening for the Holy Spirit as they...

Preaching, says professor and author O. Wesley Allen Jr., should be considered as a form of conversation. The church, after all, is a community of conversation that exists in part to interpret God's purposes for the world and to participate in those purposes. The idea of the sermon as a conversation, then, is not simply a style or form of...

John Howard Schutz's milestone analysis of Paul's authority shaped a generation of thought about Paul. This insightful work continues to be relevant to Pauline scholarship.

African American women continue to confess their call to ministry even when they know such a confession may cause them to face criticism and even ostracism from many of the same men and women who nurtured them in the faith. In This Is My Story, thirteen successful African American women clergy tell the powerful, inspirational, and sometimes...

Scholars have long attempted to explain how the Pentateuch was put together. According to the predominant theory--the documentary hypothesis--the material in these books, which varies in historical and theological points of view, came from four hypothetical sources designated as J, E, D, and P. Answering the increasing scholarly call to rethink...

In these refreshingly unconventional meditations, scientist John Polkinghorne connects the perspectives of science and religion in honest and thoughtful reflections for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Giving new meaning to the penitence of Advent and the hope of the Christian faith, he considers God's ultimate purposes along with scientific...

Moving beyond traditional human developmental theories, pastor and Christian education theorist Brett Webb-Mitchell uses stories and analysis to walk with readers on a road toward rediscovering an ancient Christian custom that may ultimately lead to new roads in Christian education. This important work encapsulates a new understanding of faith...

This is a compact introduction to the work of Philo (c. 20 BCE-50 CE), the important Jewish thinker and scriptural interpreter. Kenneth Schenck provides a guide for understanding Philo's complex works, a roadmap for topics and contents of Philo's writings, and a description of contemporary research so students can easily find their ways into...

R. Wayne Willis, the author of the popular P. S. God, Can You Fly?, returns with this collection of fifty-two meditations on hope. Each of the entries includes a quote from a world-renown figure ranging from C. S. Lewis to Franklin D. Roosevelt, a graphic symbol of hope, and a meditation. Written out of the author's sincere passion for the gift...

In an inclusive reading of Augustine, Mark Ellingsen reveals a patterned conceptual richness in Augustine's thought. The Richness of Augustine is a wonderful introduction and a rich ecumenical and historical resource. It is the first introduction that places in focus the significance of Augustine's African cultural and ethnic...

How can the various pieces of what you believe about Christ fit together coherently? This is the basic question of Christology and this introduction to Christology traces the broad outlines and nuances laid out by the father of modern theology--Friedrich Schleiermacher. In straightforward language, Catherine Kelsey moves back and forth between...