Can a Lutheran be sociopolitically radical? Can a radical be theologically and faithfully Lutheran? This book answers yes.Written by teacher-scholars from five ELCA colleges, Radical Lutherans/Lutheran Radicals follows Martin Luther, Soren Kierkegaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothee Soelle, and others as they sink deep roots in the Lutheran Christian tradition while simultaneously resisting the status quo with their words, their deeds, and sometimes their very lives.Each chapter shows how the Lutheran theologian returns to the roots of Luther's life and writing and puts them toward radical social and political ends, including critiques of cultured Christianity; resistance to state or market; preferential options for the poor and suffering; deep commitments to peace, justice, and ecological sustainability; and direct nonviolent resistance.The book highlights theological themes popularized by Luther (justification by grace, two-kingdoms thinking, theology of the cross, and vocation) and then shows how these theological staples--when deeply and creatively retrieved--can inform political protest, intentional living, and other countercultural movements.The compelling claim throughout is that Luther's theology at its root has resources for radical political participation and social transformation, as exemplified by the writings and lives of these radical Lutherans/Lutheran radicals.
The Turning Aside is about stepping out of our routines--like Moses turning from tending sheep, like a certain man selling his everything to buy a field--to take time to consider the ways of God in the company of some of the finest poets of our time. Turn aside with such established poets as Wendell Berry, Les Murray, Luci Shaw, Elizabeth Jennings, Richard Wilbur, Dana Gioia, and Christian Wiman--and respond to their invitation for us to muse along with them. Walk with poets from various parts of the planet, even though some of them are less known, whose words have been carefully crafted to encourage us in our turning aside. The Turning Aside is a collection of Christian poetry from dozens of the most spiritually insightful poetic voices of recent years. It is a book I have long dreamed of compiling, and it has grown beyond my mere imagining in its fulfillment.""D. S. Martin''s The Turning Aside offers a marvelous harvest of serious Christian poetry--an unusually rich and various representation of spiritual as well as poetic excellence. This is a treasury, a volume for the bedside table, there to be savored slowly--read as a prompt to meditation, prayer, and a deepened devotion to Scripture.""--David Lyle Jeffrey, FRSC, Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University ""I have been waiting for this collection for thirty years, literally. I am almost speechless. In this company of poets, lifters-of-the-veil between heaven and earth, I have no need for my own words. I only want to borrow theirs. And I shall--in worship, in church, in literary company. I am certain this magnificent collection will turn many aside from our mechanistic tromp through our days into the wondrous, piercing reality of God-with-us right here, right now.""--Leslie Leyland Fields, poet, speaker, and author of Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt, and the Seas""The Turning Aside is a spectacular collection bringing together under one roof the finest Christian poets of the age. Its pages provide awesome, inspiring, even mystical reading, with lines to linger over in meditation.""--Ron Hansen, author of The Kid""This collection brings together an expansive, idiosyncratic, and intriguing group of poets, some you''ll know well and others you''ll be thankful to discover. Their work forms a rich banquet that is often surprising and, in the end, supremely artful. The book has the power to (paraphrasing Tania Runyan) ''singe the edges of our silent lives.''"" --Daniel Bowman Jr., author of A Plum Tree in Leatherstocking Country; Editor-in-Chief of Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith; Associate Professor of English, Taylor UniversityD. S. Martin, the editor of this anthology and the Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series, is a Canadian poet living in Brampton, Ontario. His collections include Poiema (Wipf & Stock, 2008) and Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis (Cascade, 2013), and one chapbook, So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed (2007).
What are the relevant conceptualities and terminologies marking the coupling of religion and medical interpretations of illness in different religions such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity? How do religious orientations influence courses of a disease? How do experiences of illness change images of the divine in late modernity? This collection of essays from a symposium held at the International Research Institute of the University of Heidelberg examines connections between religious and medical interpretations of illness in different cultures in order to suggest criteria for coupling religion and medicine in ways that enhance rather than diminish life. By discerning which relationships between religion and medicine appear to be beneficial and which harmful, the book as a whole proposes criteria that are not limited to a single scientific approach, cultural tradition, or time period (such as the present). The book has four parts, which deal with Islamic medicine, Chinese medicine, and the relationship between religion and medicine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. All chapters cover from antiquity to the present.
Values are culturally specific. This handbook explains select biblical social values in their Mediterranean cultural contexts. Some examples of values are altruism, freedom, family-centeredness, obedience, parenting, and power. Though the English words for the values described here would be familiar to readers (e.g., altruism) the meanings of such words differ between cultures. In the Mediterranean world, for instance, altruism is a duty incumbent upon anyone who has surplus. It is interpersonal and group specific. In the West, especially in the United States, altruism is impersonal and universally oriented generosity that operates in a highly organized context. This handbook not only presents the Mediterranean meanings of these value words but also contrasts those meanings with Western ones.
This collection introduces and explores ""watershed discipleship"" as a critical, contextual, and constructive approach to ecological theology and practice, and features emerging voices from a generation that has grown up under the shadow of climate catastrophe. Watershed Discipleship is a ""triple entendre"" that recognizes we are in a watershed historical moment of crisis, focuses on our intrinsically bioregional locus as followers of Jesus, and urges us to become disciples of our watersheds. Bibliographic framing essays by Myers trace his journey into a bioregionalist Christian faith and practice and offer re¿ections on incarnational theology, hermeneutics, and ecclesiology. The essays feature more than a dozen activists, educators, and practitioners under the age of forty, whose work and witness attest to a growing movement of resistance and reimagination across North America. This anthology overviews the bioregional paradigm and its theological and political significance for local sustainability, restorative justice, and spiritual renewal. Contributors reread both biblical texts and churchly practices (such as mission, baptism, and liturgy) through the lens of ""re-place-ment."" Herein is a comprehensive and engaged call for a ""Transition church"" that can help turn our history around toward environmental resiliency and social justice, by passionate advocates on the front lines of watershed discipleship. CONTRIBUTORS: Sasha Adkins, Jay Beck, Tevyn East, Erinn Fahey, Katarina Friesen, Matt Humphrey, Vickie Machado, Jonathan McRay, Sarah Nolan, Reyna Ortega, Dave Pritchett, Erynn Smith, Sarah Thompson, Lydia Wylie-Kellermann
In this important contribution to post-colonial theological studies, the argument is made that religious practices and teachings imposed on colonized peoples are transmuted in the process of colonization. The very theological discourse that is foisted on the colonized people becomes for them, a liberating possibility through a process of theological transformation from within. This is offered as an explanation of the mechanisms which have brought about the emergence of the current post-colonial consciousness. However, what is distinctive and unique about this treatment is that it pursues these questions with two basic assumptions. The first is that the religious expressions of colonized people bear the outward marks of the hegemonic theological discourse imposed on them, but change its content through a process called ""transfiguration."" The second is that the crises of Western Christianity since the Reformation and the Conquest of the Americas enunciates the very process through which post-colonial religious hybridity is made possible.This book unfolds in three parts. The first (the ""pre-text"") deals with the colonial practice of the missionary enterprise using Latin America as a case study. The second (the ""text"") presents the crisis of Western modernity as interpreted by insiders and outsiders of the modern project. The third (the ""con-text"") analyses some discursive post-colonial practices that are theologically grounded even when used in discourses that are not religious.Some of the questions that this project engages are: Is there a post-colonial understanding of sin and evil? How can we understand eschatology in post-colonial terms? What does it mean to be the church in a post-colonial framework? For those interested in the intersection of theology and post-colonial studies, this book will be important reading.""This focussed and insightful book is a significant addition to the ever-growing literature on postcolonialism and theological studies. Besides cogently demonstrating that the transaction between the colonizer and the colonized is not one-sided, an attractive feature is the author''s attempt to redefine the traditional Christian teachings on sin, evil, church, and eschatology from a postcolonial perspective. This book should be high on the list for anyone who wants to know the new trends in theological discourse.""--R. S. Sugirtharajahauthor of The Bible and Empire""Vitor Westhelle is emerging as one of the premier critics of our time. In this important volume, he unmasks the colonial beast and brings startling clarity to postcolonial movements. With fresh angles of vision, his incisive analysis ranges over many languages, cultures, genres, and conditions. This is a brilliant study that will command attention from many quarters, not least from theologians.""--David Rhoadseditor of From Every People and Nation: The Book of Revelation in Intercultural Perspective""A book of tremendous courage and insight. Professor Vitor Westhelle presents a searing critique of modern colonial projects, lifts up subaltern voices, and offers resources in doing postcolonial theology. Exploring the philosophical foundations of what makes postcolonial theology possible, this book makes a significant contribution to advancing the discourse. I recommend this text for scholars and students and the educated public who want to know about cutting-edge thinking in contemporary theology.""--Kwok Pui-lanauthor of Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist TheologyVitor Westhelle is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He is the author of The Scandalous God and an internationally sought-out speaker.
In the 1930s, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer anticipated the restoration of the church after the coming second world war through a new kind of monasticism, a way of life of uncompromising adherence to the Sermon on the Mount in imitation of Christ. Since then, the renewal of Christian monasticism has become a great spiritual movement. Imbued with a love for God and neighbor, and with a healthy self-love, people are going to monasteries to deepen their relationship with God, to pray, and to find peace. While some monastic institutions are suffering a decline in traditional vocations, many Christians are exploring monastic lifestyles. This book introduces The Community of the Transfiguration in Australia, the story of a new monastic community and an inspiring source of hope for the world at another time of spiritual, social, and ecological crisis.""Western civilization was cradled by the monastic movements of the Middle Ages, and many of the discoveries of modern science have their roots in monastic gardens and infirmaries. Paul Dekar gives a glimpse into a Christian movement of our time that promises to provide new energies--from the heart of evangelical Christianity--to enliven the monastic ideal and provide a unique Christian witness to the world. Intentional Christianity, a more intense form of belief and practice, provides all Christians, and indeed all persons, with a window into the possibilities of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the prospect of a world remade.""--Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Memphis Theological Seminary""The Community of the Transfiguration at Breakwater, Victoria, is one of the hidden and unexpected gems of the contemporary Australian Christian scene. Quietly but purposefully it has grown over the past twenty-five years into a vibrant, Spirit-filled Christian community standing in the great tradition of Christian monasticism. What is unexpected but all the more exciting is that this community is firmly grounded in and embraced by the Baptist Church while at the same time being thoroughly ecumenical. Paul Dekar''s book is a most timely contextualization of and tribute to the community.""Rt. Rev. Andrew St. John, DD, Rector, Church of the Transfiguration, New York, and Assisting Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York.Paul R. Dekar is Niswonger Professor of Evangelism and Missions, Memphis Theological Seminary. He is author of Creating the Beloved Community: A History of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in the United States (2005) and Holy Boldness: Practices of an Evangelistic Lifestyle (2004). He and his wife Nancy are North American members of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Australia.
Working within two popular genres, gardening books and biblical meditations, God Gardened East offers a meditation on the first twenty-five chapters of Genesis, emphasizing the tropes of cultivation, wandering, and ""the east."" Reconceived in a post-9/11 environment, Ruprecht wrestles with difficult questions about the violent legacy of monotheism and traces some of this violence back to the foundational story of Abraham and his dislocation from his homeland.""God Gardened East is an essay in the tradition of Thoreau and Wendell Berry. It is about important things, such as empire, the responsibilities of a citizen, the joys of getting one''s knees dirty in the soil, and the Book of Genesis. Reading Ruprecht is like taking a walk with a wise friend. He appears to meander, and wears his considerable learning lightly, but he is in fact moving artfully from the personal to the public, from the conflicted present to the conflicted past, and back again.""--Jeffrey Stout, Princeton University, author of Democracy and Tradition""Going forward in the Middle East is never easy for Americans. Too many conflicts mired in too much history seem to baffle even the most sophisticated and good-willed agents of change. No better place for a new beginning exists than the beginning of the Hebrew Bible and its book of beginnings, Genesis. Lou Ruprecht takes his readers on a journey east that also is a journey into our collective future, focusing at once on the obstinacy of violence but also its limits. This book is a penetrating analysis and a must read for all who look to Abraham as a signpost of hope.""--Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University""God Gardened East is real nourishment for souls hungering for new ways to think about a ravishing, and often frightening, world. Full of biblical and theological insight, as humane as they are sharply intelligent, Ruprecht''s words are both warming and warning, reminding us that there are no easy answers in this all-too-human life of suffering, violence, and misunderstanding on both personal and global levels."" --Lori Anne Ferrell, Claremont Graduate University""In God Gardened East, Ruprecht has achieved a rare feat--a successful combination of extraordinary scholarly originality and insight with an intense personal passion and acute dramatic sensibility. His love for the material--literary and organic--makes him an ideal guide over landscapes from Israel to Greece to downtown Atlanta. At one and the same time, he encourages you to rush out of your library and into your garden . . . and vice versa.""--Mike Lippman, Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Rollins College""Cultivating a journey of land, people, and religion, Ruprecht reveals new insights about interfaith relations, global politics, and hope after 9/11. In his scholarly hand, the stories of the monotheisms'' founding from Adam through Abraham come alive fertilized by his extensive knowledge of the Greek world, biblical traditions, and Western philosophy. Each chapter weaves insights and questions harvested from Ruprecht''s backyard garden with these Genesis stories of human conflict, transition, and quests for meaning in community. The text''s rich images of gardens, generations, and God keep the reader enthralled.""--Barbara Patterson, Emory University""Ruprecht''s remarkable book combines garden journal, travelogue, treatise, and commentary in a sustained meditation on freedom, faith, politics, and place. God Gardened East challenges its readers to dig into the rich soil of many traditions--Hebraic, Christian, Islamic, and Greek--moving from one, to many, to the infinite. A gardener knows the cadences of light and dark, dry and wet, the march of seasons, and the transformation of death into life. Ruprecht shows us that by growing the soil of our own gardens, we nurture also the patience, attention, and humility in which dialogue can take root across the boundaries of nation and religion.""--Anathea Po
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