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The Sermon on the Mount is perhaps the most famous passage in the Gospel of Matthew. Even unbelievers like Mahatma Gandhi appreciate the teaching of the Sermon and applaud the high morality it espouses. Others see in statements like ""love your enemies"" and ""turn the other cheek"" a powerful rhetoric against war and violence. Most Christians are familiar with the Sermon, and see it as delineating important ethical principles for Christian living. Familiarity with the Sermon, however, can ironically prevent Christians from understanding its true message and significance. Some, for instance, see the Sermon merely as a body of ""ethical teachings"" that has some practical relevance. Many find some of its imperatives too idealistic. In this book, Chia asks basic questions as he reflects on the Sermon on the Mount: What is the main focus of the Sermon? Does the Sermon present a code of conduct for Christians, or is the Sermon really about the dawn of a new eschatological community inaugurated by Jesus Christ? Chia maintains that the Sermon can be properly understood and its significance firmly grasped only when it is read in the light of Christ and God's eschatological kingdom. The Sermon presents the attitude, values, and conduct of the new community that Christ has gathered in his name. But this new reality that has dawned awaits fulfillment at the consummation of the kingdom of God. In the ambivalence of the ""already"" and ""not yet,"" the Sermon depicts Christian discipleship as an ""impossible possibility."" Yet, the Sermon clearly challenges Christ's disciples to be a community of character and to embody an ethic which is inimical to that of the world.Roland Chia is the Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Lecturer in Historical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Theological College (Singapore). He is also the author of Revelation and Theology: The Knowledge of God according to Balthasar and Barth, and Hope for the World: A Christian Vision of the Last Things. And he is the consulting editor of Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture and contributing editor of the New Dictionary of Theology.

The four classic tales in this volume illuminate Leo Tolstoy's radical orientation toward war and commerce, revealing his vision for a sustainable, peaceable world. The feature story, Ivan the Fool, presents an archetypal fool who works hard, cooperates with everyone, and manages to foil every attempt to cause his downfall. In the end, peasant life comes out on top, while the pillars of imperial Russian society topple down. Esarhaddon, King of Assyria explores a king's empathy-based revelation to end all violence; and A Grain as Big as a Hen's Egg playfully looks at the relationship between health, soil, labor, and food economies. Three Questions sums up Tolstoy's highest ideal of serving others in the present moment. Some may critique these stories as being too simplistic or too moralistic. But these tales have stood the test of time precisely because they entertain well while evoking universal truths that lift us above humanity's self-serving impulses.""A rare gem! This small book draws one into the sacred wisdom of the holy fool. Readers will savor kernels of life-giving insight, will find the soul smiling at truths it always knew but had forgotten, and will gain more power for the art of living rightly on this good Earth.""--Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (GTU)""Ivan the Fool re-presents the ancient tradition of holy foolery for our postmodern age with tales of transgressive humor that disrupt power, scandalize the elite, and delight the masses. In Ivan's world, you don't have to pay to get in, but it'll cost you your life to get out. Welcome to the upside down.""--Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners magazine""If Russia at feudalism's dusk had heeded these pointed folktales from her literary son, she might not have had to endure so many impish terrors, from Stalin to Putin. Yet Tolstoy's parables are just as relevant to toxic American militarism and plutocracy right now.""--Ched Myers and Elaine Enns, Bartimaeus Cooperative MinistriesLeo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of the foremost Russian authors of the nineteenth century, known well for his novel, War and Peace. His ethical writings and short stories, which dealt with anarchist and pacifist themes, had a strong influence on Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. One collection of his tales can be found in Walk in the Light & Twenty-Three Tales.Ted Lewis (Editor) is a restorative justice consultant and trainer for the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking (University of Minnesota). He lives in Duluth, Minnesota, where he runs the Agape Peace Center.

Todd Wilson assesses Paul''s references to the Law in the so-called ""ethical"" section of Galatians in light of a fresh appraisal of the Galatian crisis. He contributes to the continuing debate over the relevance of this section of the letter for the rest of Galatians and for the situation in Galatia.

Most books on the prophets contain a page or two on what is usually called ""prophetic symbolism,"" but full-scale treatments are remarkably few, and in English entirely lacking. Dr. Stacey examines all the evidence in detail, considers the various explanations of the phenomenon that have been offered, gives particular attention to the apparent link with magic, and provides a model whereby these dramatic actions can be properly understood. This book is significant for the study of Hebrew religion; it also paves the way for further investigation of similar actions in the New Testament.David Stacey has worked in the field of biblical studies all his adult life. He has taught Old Testament in theological colleges and universities both in Britain and abroad, and is the author of several books on the Bible. Until his retirement in 1987, he was Principal of Wesley College, Bristol.

"If there is any excuse for this book, it is that it is an attempt to answer a question that I have been asked, certainly hundreds of times during the course of my work of preaching. The question has taken many forms, but it is essentially the same. It is an enquiry concerning methods of preparation in expository preaching. Individual preachers and groups of preachers have asked me to tell them how I work. I have always felt it difficult to reply. During the three years which I was President of Cheshunt College, Cambridge, I attempted to talk to the students on the subject. The notes of what I then said are embodied in these Lectures." -From the Preface

Waiting for the Presence is an ancient Eastern concept of staying in a holy place until God speaks to the pilgrim. In this book Fr. Wild shows how this way can still be practiced today. At once deeply personal and revealing, it is also discreetly silent on some special graces from the Lord. Here the reader will find a burning love for Christ the Lord who can accompany one on the lonely top of the Mt. of Olives or beside the starlit, midnight shore of the Sea of Galilee. Beyond a strong link to Catherine Doherty''s spirituality and the Desert Fathers, you will discover here an openness to the Holy, which is in fact a profound interiorization of the Holy Places. Holy enthusiasm breathes throughout the book and can be contagious, as it was for the typesetter. I hope more pilgrims who come to the Holy Land will heed Fr. Wild''s practical hints on how to do, rather, how to live a true pilgrimage experience. --Fr. Raphael Bonanno, OFM, HOLY LAND magazine, Jerusalem Fr. Robert Wild is a member of the late Catherine de Hueck Doherty''s Madonna House community in Combermere, Ontario, Canada. He lives as a poustinik, spending much of his time in prayer, spiritual direction, and writing. He helped to edit Catherine Doherty''s works but has also published several books himself, among which are Desert Harvest, The Post-Charismatic Experience, Journey to the Lonely Christ, and His Face Shone like the Sun. Ordained in 1967, he joined Madonna House in 1971. He came to the Holy Land in the fall of 1983.

I write haiku when I''m feelin'' blue and when love andpain make me want.Join us on a journey through the pain of betrayal, divorce and after...We love the traditional Japanese haiku format of 17 syllables on 3 lines: 5-7-5. It is very symmetrical, terse and disciplined. However, these are not your great grandfather''s haiku. This is Modern American Haiku. We do keep the fundamental format, but that ''s all. For one thing, we give them titles, which we believe helps the reader focus on the punch in each haiku. Second, there is word play. Third, there is the extra dimension of the images in which the haiku are embedded or by which they are framed. We believe the reader will be amazed at how well the illustrations deepen the haiku.Ted and PatriciaTed Becker has led many lives: Class clown of his high school. Sports editor of his college newspaper. Consumer researcher for a large Madison Avenue advertising agency. Member of the legal staff for the Attorney General of New Jersey. Military intelligence. Professional graduate student. Itinerant academic. Guerilla theatre producer. Boogyboarder and bodysurfer. Mediator. Online journal editor. Author of 12 books on law, politics and political science.What about poetry? Well, it ''s been dormant for most of his life, but there were two previous eruptions. One came in Paris in 1964. The other in Laguna Beach, Californiain 1969. The third, this haiku stage, is the longest and most serious. It seems to comein waves and intensify.Patricia Lantz is an Atlanta based counseling astrologer whose life has been an amazing journey of discovery. From the windswept prairies of Wyoming, to the coal mines and steel mills of the Ohio Valley, to the beautiful mountains and jagged shores of New England, and finally on to the steamy hot deep South... with many short stops inbetween... she truly considers her life to be an adventure in the human experience ofliving.Patricia is also the Editor of Astrology on AllThingsHealing.com, an online community

This significant volume draws together an exceptional list of contributors to honor the life and work of Victor Paul Furnish. Doing credit to the focus and character of Furnish''s career as a scholar, educator, and churchman, the individual essays, and the volume as a whole, have been written in a way that renders them accessible to seminary students in the classroom and that builds substantially on Furnish''s own work. The book is structured in three parts:(1) Theology and Ethics in Paul (focusing on individual Pauline texts and on the broader themes, foundations, and context of Paul''s theological and ethical thought); (2) Theology and Ethics in Paul''s Earliest Interpreters (both in the NT and in the church which came to accept Paul''s letters as canonical); and (3) Paul in Contemporary Theology and Ethics (engaging Furnish''s own work as well as that of his colleagues and students in the area of Pauline theology and ethics).""Furnish''s distinguished career as an interpreter of Pauline theology and ethics is appropriately honored in this outstanding collection of essays. The best voices in Pauline studies wrestle with the critical issues of how the apostle has been and is to be understood in matters of faith and life--the nature of the self, the role of scripture in decision-making, the place of the law, issues like slavery and religious pluralism. The volume is a major contribution to the ongoing conversation.""--Charles B. CousarColumbia Theological Seminary""No Festschrift in recent years has included a more distinguished group of contributing scholars, and it is appropriate that they should salute one of the most outstanding Pauline scholars of this generation. This collection of timely and stimulating essays has immense importance for any consideration of the theology and ethics of Paul and his early interpreters, and should share the shelf with other great Festschriften of the last half-century dedicated to the likes of Bultmann, Kasemann, and C. H. Dodd.--Calvin J. RoetzelMacalester CollegeEugene H. Lovering Jr. (SMU) has served as Associate Director of the Society of Biblical Literature; as an independent editor and compositor for the former Scholars Press, the SBL, and various other academic publishers; as a construction leader for Habitat for Humanity in Atlanta and for church missions in North Georgia; and as pastor of United Methodist churches in Texas. He has recently moved to the Texas hill country, where, as Paul''s interpreter, he endeavors to obey ""the first commandment with a promise."" Jerry L. Sumney is Professor of Biblical Studies at Lexington Theological Seminary. His books include Steward of God''s Mysteries: Paul and Early Church Tradition; Paul: Apostle and Fellow-Traveler; The Bible: An Introduction; Colossians: A Commentary; and Identifying Paul''s Opponents: The Question of Method in 2 Corinthians (the revision of his dissertation with Victor Furnish). He is also the editor of Reading the Letter to the Romans and co-editor of Paul and Pathos.

The Word of God as it has been received by the church has embedded in it dozens of songs. Each of these songs has a story to tell us about God and God''s people. In brief meditations, twelve faculty at Wycliffe College explore Songs of Scripture in this volume to answer the questions ""Why do Scriptures tell us to sing? What are we to sing? What does singing make of us?"" Each of these meditations will give you a new appreciation for God''s gift of songs. By singing the words of Scripture, we tune our hearts to God''s song.""In recent decades, much has been written on the importance of the Psalms in worship and private devotion. In contrast, the Canticles have been relatively neglected. This collection of sermons is a timely reminder of their importance in worship, and expounds their original setting set out their message for today. All those involved in the theology of worship will find this collection extremely valuable.""--Bryan D. Spinks, Professor, Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School""Come, Let Us Sing to the Lordis a wonderful collection of sermons that remind us the songs of the church are the songs of scripture.We would be wise to absorb well this complete collection along with its individual parts, and use them to create the foundation of an acoustical theology for the church''s song in the twenty-first century.""--Eric Mathis, Director, Center for Worship and the ArtsKatherine Kennedy Steiner teaches liturgy and music at Wycliffe College. Her research is on music and liturgy in the medieval church, for which she received a Mellon Fellowship at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, working on her book project, The Second City: Notre Dame Polyphony and English Liturgy at St Andrews Cathedral.

Tucked away in the complicated prose that fills many of Soren Kierkegaard''s books are numerous insightful declarations. They arrest the reader with their depth of understanding. They often are expressed in a lilting and lyrical manner. Encountering them makes working through the intricate prose eminently worthwhile.The Wisdom of Kierkegaard contains two hundred fifty such passages, chosen partly because of their ability to be understood apart from their context and partly because of their ability to provoke an ""Ah! That''s true"" response. Many of them contain a ""twist"" that imparts an incisive jab. Some are on themes for which Kierkegaard is well known, but many are on a variety of other significant themes. The passages are organized in alphabetical sections, which are introduced by a brief essay.""Here Clifford Williams, who is himself a fine philosopher, has judiciously selected a host of insightful, provocative, and sometimes humorous quotations from Kierkegaard. A fine introduction to Kierkegaard''s thought and a wonderful resource even for those who know Kierkegaard''s writing well. Williams reminds those of us who love Kierkegaard why we continue to do so.""--C. Stephen EvansUniversity Professor of Philosophy and HumanitiesBaylor UniversityClifford Williams teaches philosophy at Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of Singleness of Heart: Restoring the Divided Soul (1994) and The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective (2002).

The greatest challenge that faces the evangelical movement is the biblical admonition to preserve the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). The first part of Preserving Evangelical Unity: Welcoming Diversity in Non-Essentials will (1) help you to understand why the movement is fraught with divisions over doctrinal differences; (2) guide you through the necessary steps to overcome disunity; (3) attempt to maintain a balance between truth and unity. The second part of the book is formatted in the same style of a ""multiple views"" book. Here various evangelical scholars from around the globe discuss selected theological issues that have previously led to disunity within the movement, such as predestination and free will, the mode of baptism, and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit.""A house divided cannot stand. The New Testament continually urges that our Heavenly Father wants us in harmony. By one Spirit we are baptized into one body. A Church walking in love and forgiveness is the priestly prayer of Christ himself. Only then will we be equipped to fulfill the Great Commission. Based solidly on biblical orthodoxy, this selection of practical wisdom from various theological viewpoints outlines the strategic imperative for ''unity in diversity.''""--Jay RogersDirector, The Forerunner and Media House International""Michael Meiring guides this dialogue on the unity of the Christian Church believing that, like-minded but not necessarily agreeing, Christians should dialogue because of their shared unity in the Spirit. With his usual perception he never lets up asking the right questions which lead to the diverse views expressed in this book. These views will impact the reader, prodding and stimulate continued discussion among thinking Christians.""--Raymond PotgieterPrincipal, Bible Institute of SA""Preserving Evangelical Unity invites conversation on the key theme of the unity (and disunity) of the church through the contribution of evangelical scholars. In the South African context, as elsewhere, the visible disunity among churches has impaired their prophetic witness. The value of this book lies in the fact that it does not seek cheap unity by avoiding tough doctrinal differences. Even for those who may not agree with the theological presuppositions underlying this volume, Preserving Evangelical Unity will certainly challenge and instruct.""--Robert VoslooSenior lecturer, Stellenbosch UniversityMichael J. Meiring has led a doctrinal discernment ministry and lectured on Christian sects. He has edited and co-written The Four Keys to the Millennium (2004). He is completing his Masters in Theology at the University of Stellenbosch, writing on Evangelical Fundamentalism.

In the conflicted world that is today''s Episcopal Church, the diocese of Pittsburgh stands both as a symbol of dissent and schism to the liberal majority within the American Church and as a beacon of light and hope to conservative Anglicans across the United States. Set in the unlikely surroundings of America''s Rust Belt, Pittsburgh''s Episcopalians have over the past half century undergone a dramatic reordering of priorities to embrace a novel--though hardly unprecedented--vision of Anglican confessionalism. Called out of Darkness into Marvelous Light traces the development of an Anglican presence in western Pennsylvania from the missionary activity of the late eighteenth century through the triumphs of post-Civil War Anglo-Catholicism and the first stirrings of the Social Gospel, to the unprecedented religious revival of the 1950s. Championed by such men as Bishop Austin Pardue and Samuel Moor Shoemaker, the founder of the Pittsburgh Experiment, a prayer-centered spirituality developed in the Pittsburgh diocese and brought a generation of active evangelicals to the region during the 1960s and 1970s. The founding of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in the mid-1970s consolidated the evangelical presence in the diocese and provoked a commitment to spiritual renewal that sat uneasily with many in the wider Episcopal Church. Grounded in local research, this study seeks to explore the process by which Pittsburgh acquired its present evangelical identity and to reveal the increasingly intricate web of relationships that it now enjoys beyond America''s borders.""Called Out of Darkness Into Marvelous Light is a scholarly, accessible, and timely history of one of the most important forces in the present Reformation of Anglicanism and, in turn, of contemporary Western Christianity. Dr. Bonner examines the factors contributing to the realization of Dr. Sam Shoemaker''s vision (that someday Pittsburgh would be ""as famous for God as for Steel"") in the context of 250 years of Anglican witness in Western Pennsylvania. This book has relevance far beyond the ministry and mission of the particular Christian community it chronicles.""--The Right Reverend Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh; Archbishop-Designate of the Anglican Church in North America.""Jeremy Bonner presents a detailed, thoughtful, and even-handed account of the history of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, now central to struggles over Anglican identity and authority. Bonner''s work combines the satisfying weight of local history with the thought-provoking breadth of national and global implications. This is a fascinating and rewarding read for those seeking to understand the history of the ''culture wars'' within the Episcopal Church.""--The Reverend Miranda K. Hassett, author of Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their Anglican Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism""In recent years when I have mentioned that I am from the Diocese of Pittsburgh some have responded by giving me a hug while others have (literally!) turned their backs and walked away. What has made even the mention of this diocese so polarizing? Jeremy Bonner''s detailed but readable study of the 250-year history of Anglicanism in western Pennsylvania sheds light on this surprisingly important epicenter in the modern story of Christianity in America and Anglicanism worldwide. Most local histories are relevant and interesting to those who call that place home. This volume should be read much more widely, as this particular local place has become a focal point both for tremendous conflict and renewal.""--Grant LeMarquand, Trinity School for MinistryJeremy Bonner is an independent scholar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Road to Renewal: Victor Joseph Reed and Oklahoma Catholicism, 1905-1971 (2008) and has published scholarly articles on Mormon and Anglican history.

Written in the genre of Henry David Thoreau''s travel-thinking essays, Jesus, History, and Mount Darwin: An Academic Excursion is the story of a three-day climb into the Evolution Range of the High Sierra mountains of California. Mount Darwin stands among other mountains near fourteen thousand feet high and that are named after promoters of religious versions of evolutionary thinking. Rick Kennedy, a history professor from Point Loma, uses the climb as an opportunity to think about general education and how both the natural history of evolution and the ancient history of Jesus can find a home in the Aristotelian diversity of university methods. Kennedy offers the academic foundations for the credibility and reliability of accounts of Jesus in the New Testament, while pointing out that these foundations have the same weaknesses and strengths that ancient history has in general. Natural history, Kennedy points out, has a different set of strengths and weaknesses from ancient history. Overall, the book reminds students and professors of the wisdom in being humble.Rick Kennedy is Professor of History at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. He is the author of A History of Reasonableness: Testimony and Authority in the Art of Thinking (2004).

""No one has contributed more substantially to creative, orthodox Christian thinking about human nature, pastoral theology, and counseling over the past 30 years than Ray Anderson. His latest book is most welcomed, particularly given its focus on the family, a pivotal cultural institution of obvious developmental importance, which radical postmodernism has attempted to radically redefine, but which always warrants a fresh, practical, Christian approach and critique.""--Eric L. Johnson, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary""Combining the wisdom accumulated in his years as a seminary professor and scholar, pastor, and counselor, Ray Anderson has given us an outstanding book on marriage and family ministry in contemporary culture. Even more than this, it is the best statement I know of on a theology of the family, including the place of family in the church and wider society. . . . [H]ard issues in family life such as violence and abuse, homosexuality, care for the elderly, and death are addressed with a combination of biblical truth and grace. Something Old, Something New is must reading for all persons involved in ministry today!""--Jack Balswick, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology""For a Church often despairing of biblically based resources in ministering to the family in our postmodern culture, Ray Anderson''s twenty-fifth book focuses on recovering a theology of the family. His seminal volume (written with Dennis Guernsey), On Being Family: Toward a Social Theology of the Family (1985), virtually created the new genre of the ''theology of the family.'' In Something Old, Something New: Marriage and Family Ministry in a Postmodern Culture, we find the fruit of Anderson''s mature reflections that will give hope and guidance to the Church of the twenty-first century. He discusses marriage and parenting, divorce and remarriage, singleness and cohabitation, and other issues within the diversity and relativity characterized by our postmodern context. His decades of experience as a seminary professor and church pastor enable him to articulate a theology of family ministry that offers concrete help for families, churches, and pastors based on the healing ministry of Christ in today''s society.""--Chris Kettler, Friends University, and Todd Speidell, Webb School of KnoxvilleRAY S. ANDERSON (1925-2009) was Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary where he has taught for more than thirty years. He is the author of more than twenty-five books, including, The Seasons of Hope, Marriage and Family Ministry in a Postmodern Culture, The Soul of Ministry, Ministry on the Fireline, and The Shape of Practical Theology.

Is there really any evidence for the existence of God? Are Christians able to provide any intellectually satisfying reasons for their faith in Jesus Christ? Is there any way to become acquainted with philosophical arguments about the existence of God besides reading through large, dry, academic books? Yes, there is!The purpose of this book is to help people understand the philosophical arguments and debates that swirl around the Christian faith. It is sensitive to the fact that many people are not interested in heavy academic books of philosophy. Since it is written in the form of a philosophical dialogue, it has a conversational style that makes it easy to read and understand. Difficult arguments are presented clearly and concisely.Anyone who is interested in better understanding how Christianity relates to philosophy, science, history, and truth will benefit from reading this book. This book does a great job of presenting difficult truths in such a way that students can grasp the arguments and objections. With this book they can more fully know what they believe and be better prepared to defend their faith with confidence.--Bill Klees, Director, Susque Academy for Worldview StudiesRecently I had planned to sit down with one of my students to review some basic arguments for the existence of God. Since the student had a base in apologetics already, I wanted to bring some depth to his understanding, as well as an ability to use the arguments conversationally. Reading through West''s book was extremely helpful for clarifying different types of arguments, and also for bringing them to a level of application as the dialogues illustrate possible outcomes and objections. This book is extremely helpful for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of key apologetic arguments, as well as examples of how these arguments might play out in a conversation. In my ministry on campus in Montreal, this book has been very useful. --Andy SmitsMontreal Campus Director,Campus Crusade for Christ, CanadaSteve West is the pastor of Madoc Baptist Church in Madoc, Ontario. He is the editor of Ministry of Grace: Essays in Honor of John G. Reisinger (2007). He has lectured and taught in the USA, Canada, and Africa.

'La oracion es una relacion de amor con Dios'He aqui un amplio y profundo analisis de la practica de la oracion. Richard Foster explora sus muchas facetas, desde los aspectos mas comunes hasta los mas extraordinarios, y describe la oracion como una jornada de transformaciones interiores, como senda que nos conduce a Dios y al ministerio. Al hacerlo, echa mano a las riquezas de los grandes clasicos de la oracion a traves de la historia y de su propia experiencia fuertemente arraigada en la Biblia.Nadie leera LA ORACION sin experimentar un cambio en su vida. Todos encontraremos aliento en sus paginas. El minsterio de la oracion se convertira en una fuente de poder. La posibilidad de una profunda experiencia con la oracion quedara a nuestro alcance.Richard Foster, autor de 'Alabanza a la disciplina y Dinero', 'sexo y poder' ha fundado Renovare, organizacion que trabaja por una renovacion de la Inglesia en todas sus multifaceticas manifestaciones.

""The study of the science of Apologetics is very necessary in these days of doubt and agnosticism. The fundamental principles which underlie all religious belief are daily called in question. And even if the urgent need of a reasoned grasp of the foundations of Faith did not exist, the interest of the subject of Apologetics, the large outlook upon life which it involves, the coherence of its parts and the cogency of its conclusions make it desirable that an examination into the principles of Theism should be an indispensable adjunct of Christian teaching."" --From the Preface

This study of the origins and development of Marxist-Humanism probes the philosophic-organizational labors of Raya Dunayevskaya. Beginning with her work as secretary to Leon Trotsky in exile in Mexico in 1937-38, the book explores her development of state-capitalist theory in the 1940s and her thought-dive into Hegel''s Absolutes in the 1950s.Each of Dunayevskaya''s major works--Marxism and Freedom (1958), Philosophy and Revolution (1973), and Rosa Luxemburg, Women''s Liberation and Marx''s Philosophy of Revolution (1983)--is examined inseparable from the objective world events and revolu-tionary subjectivity that unfolded from the 1940s into the 1980s. The U.S.-Russia super-power rivalry, the Sino-Soviet Conflict, the rise of the Afro-Asian-Latin American and East European revolts and revolutions, together with the Black Di-mension, Women''s Liberation, anti-war youth, and rank-and-file labor struggles in the United States--all in fusion with the re-creation of the Hegelian and Marxian dialectic in the later half of the twentieth century--formed the contours of Dunayevskaya''s labors traced within this new work. Her final, unfinished and unpublished studies on Dialectics of Organization and Philosophy"" are examined in the concluding part.On Raya Dunayevskaya . . .The first thing to strike a reader, ranging through Dunayevskaya''s books, is the vitality, combativeness, relish, impatience of her voice. Hers is not the prose of a disembodied intellectual. She argues; she challenges; she urges on; she expostulates; her essays have the spontaneity of an extemporaneous speech or of a notebook--you can hear her thinking aloud. . . . Raya Dunayevskaya caught fire from Marx, met it with her own fire, brought to the events of her lifetime a revitalized, refocused Marxism. . . . She''s trying to think, and write, the revolution in the revolution. --Adrienne Rich, Raya Dunayevskaya''s Marx""Dunayevskaya''s book goes beyond the previous interpretations. It shows not only that Marxian economics and politics are throughout philosophy, but that the latter is from the beginnings economics and politics--Herbert Marcuse, Preface to Marxism and Freedom[Dunayevskaya] is permeated by the conviction that socialism and freedom are indivisible united, and can only exist together. She is a radical Humanist who deeply believes that the betterment of the welfare of all humanity can be achieved without the loss of individual freedom, through a new Humanism.--Erich Fromm, Foreword to Philosophy and RevolutionEugene Gogol was one of Raya Dunayevskaya''s secretaries in the 1980s. He served as managing editor of the Marxist-Humanist newspaper News & Letters, 1980-1992.

SOren Kierkegaard''s Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing is an astute analysis of inner dividedness. In this striking little book, Kierkegaard gently yet incisively specifies the precise forms it takes. Like many of SOren Kierkegaard''s books, however, Purity of Heart contains a good deal of formidable prose.The aim of The Divided Soul: A Kierkegaardian Exploration is to make Kierkegaard''s scrutiny of our inner terrain in Purity of Heart accessible and inviting. With clear, direct prose, Clifford Williams lays bare Kierkegaard''s discerning descriptions of the tension between a desire for goodness and resistance to goodness. Williams then reflects on themes arising from Kierkegaard''s conception of faith.""In this beautifully written little book, full of apt illustrations, Cliff Williams has made the riches of Kierkegaard''s thought about the divided self come alive for the ordinary reader. No one can read it without meeting him or herself again and again in its pages. For maximum profit, this book should be read slowly and reflectively, over a period of several days.""--Robert C. RobertsDistinguished Professor of EthicsBaylor UniversityClifford Williams teaches philosophy at Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of Singleness of Heart: Restoring the Divided Soul (1994), The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective (2002), and The Wisdom of Kierkegaard: A Collection of Quotations on Faith and Life (2009).

In most areas of this Epistle, B. Ward Powers has come to share the interpretation of Paul''s meaning held by the Early Church Fathers; although he explains and expounds those views. This is particularly the case in relation to chapters 12 through 14 where, in keeping with the Early Church Fathers, the Reformers, most Scripture expositors until recent times, and many present-day exegetes, Powers expounds the interpretation that ""tongues"" refers to human languages spoken on earth.The one major area where Powers parts company with the Fathers of the first Christian centuries is in relation to matters of sex and marriage, divorce and remarriage, and attitudes to women generally. Here Powers explains that Paul is more affirming of sex, marriage and remarriage, and women than many early writers (and some modern writers) have understood him to be.""We need at times to take considerable care,"" he writes, ""to understand the meaning of what Paul says to the Corinthians, and in coming to terms with how this teaching is to apply to us in today''s world. But when we have arrived at our understanding of these things, then there is no question: this is the Word of God to us, and we must take it very seriously indeed. We cannot just dismiss it offhandedly and simply say, ''Well, that is just Paul''s opinion, and we can take it or leave it.'' Not at all: Paul has explained clearly that what he writes comes with the inspiration and authority of the Holy Spirit of God.""A translator''s treasure trove. Having rigorously exegeted the text of 1 Corinthians for our exotic-language translation project here at the earth''s remotest corner, by God''s goodness I came across Ward Powers''s manuscript commentary on 1 Corinthians. In subsequent weeks I changed our translation in at least thirty places, some single vocabulary choices and others significant reworkings of extended passages. Would that every translator possess this treasury of rich insights into the 1 Corinthians that Paul wrote. Some commentaries may be referenced for this or that difficult passage; this one will be read from cover to cover, holding the reader''s attention to the very end and rewarding him richly. Definitely a new standard.--Timothy FribergDirector of the Analytical Greek New Testament Project, Whitefish, MontanaB. Ward Powers is Dean of New Testament and Director of Tyndale College, Sydney, Australia. He has served on the faculty of Moore Theological College and Sydney Missionary and Bible College, and has ministered in several churches. He is the author of Marriage and Divorce: The New Testament Teaching, Learn To Read the Greek New Testament: Based Upon Linguistic Principles, and The Ministry of Women in the Church.

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal, established by the Arizona C. S. Lewis Society in 2007, is the only peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of C. S. Lewis and his writings published anywhere in the world. It exists to promote literary, theological, historical, biographical, philosophical, bibliographical and cultural interest (broadly defined) in Lewis and his writings. The journal includes articles, review essays, book reviews, film reviews and play reviews, bibliographical material, poetry, interviews, editorials, and announcements of Lewis-related conferences, events and publications. Its readership is aimed at academic scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, as well as learned non-scholars and Lewis enthusiasts. At this time, Sehnsucht is published once a year.Grayson Carter is Associate Professor of Church History at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 2002. Since its inception, Carter has served as General Editor of Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal, the only peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of C.S. Lewis and his writings published anywhere in the world.

The Year''s Work in Medievalism:2005-2006 is based upon but not restricted to the proceedings of the International Conference on Medievalism for those years. The International Conference on Medievalism is organized by Gwendolyn Morgan for the International Society for the Study of Medievalism and, for the subject volume, Karl Fugelso of Towson University (2005) and Claire Simmons of Ohio State University (2006). This first volume of this double issue focuses on medievalism as a means of exploring gender issues and identity,while the second examines the juxtaposition of modern to medieval society as a means of curing present ills.The editor of this volume and General Editor of The Year''s Work in Medievalism series, Gwendolyn A. Morgan, is Professor of British Literature and Languages at Montana State University-Bozeman.

Whether from established authors or by writers new to fiction, the short stories in this volume explore life as change, using Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 as the lens. The writers come from different backgrounds, perspectives, and levels of familiarity with the short story, but what ties them together is a willingness to creatively explore the raw and more uncomfortable dimensions of life--big events and small happenings--all bound up by a recognition of the inevitability and (dis)comfort of change. Each writer has a story to tell, a creative and imaginative angle on life as it happens somewhere to someone. Life Sentences represents an experiment, a recognition of and confrontation with the depth of culture and culture''s life maps, with the ways in which the joys and troubles of life are given meaning. This collection attempts to address these large (and small) challenges and dynamics of life without the jargon of the professional philosopher or theologian but with the more ""earthy"" language of popular culture: the short story.""An enjoyable, thought-provoking read. Life Sentences is a glimpse into varied perspectives of existence through stories told by an assorted group of writers who are as diverse as the human experience; reminding us that as we search for its meaning, there is no one way to define life; for life is a journey unique to every individual.""--Tajuana ""T J"" Butler, author of Hand-me-down Heartache (Villard, 2003) and Sorority Sisters (One World/Ballentine, 2007)""This is an ambitious collection of stories; sharp, powerful stories as experienced and imagined by keen eyes and open hearts. They chart the many disappointments and moments of choice that occur in life. There is stellar writing here . . . moments of great and powerful prose. The diversity of voice and experience rings loudly and at once seduces. These are situations and circumstances that feel familiar. Readers will see themselves in these pages and they will feel the joy and trepidation that swirl between the covers of this book. These are stories that flow from life as it is lived. At the end of each story, I found myself reflecting on the issues and emotions I''d experienced and at the same time I I''d begin anticipating the journey that awaited me in the next. And by the time I finished ''Jack and Jill'' by Colleton I was saddened by the fact that I had come to the end.""This collection is well conceived and excellently well-rendered, a gem for readers who love life and seek the details of its many mysteries.""--Alexs Pate, University of Minnesota, author of the New York Times Best Seller Amistad: The Novel (Signet, 1997)Anthony B. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. He is the author or editor of seventeen books including African American Humanist Principles: Living and Thinking Like the Children of Nimrod (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) and Terror and Triumph: The Nature of Black Religion (Fortress, 2003).Gregory M. T. Colleton is a screenwriter, actor, and director. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Colleton attended Macalester College and later joined the Teach for America program, where he taught composition, history, and violin to middle-school kids while spreading the gospel of Michael Jordan. He resides in Los Angeles but dreams of living back near the Windy City.

This is the first major study to focus solely on the victor sayings and should prove invaluable to scholars and students of Revelation and apocalyptic literature. It demonstrates that the motif of victory is Revelation''s macrodynamic theme. Chiasmus is proposed as the book''s macrostructure, based in part on the chiastic nature of the promises to the victors, with the later fulfillment of these promises in the book. The proposed forms for the seven letters--forms such as edicts, oracles, and epistles--are examined, and it is concluded that they are a mixtum compositum best called ""prophetic letters."" The sociological significance of victory is explored within the Greco-Roman world. The text of the promises and their co-texts (as reflected intertextually in traditions of biblical literature) receive thorough examination. The eschatological fulfillment of the victor sayings is surveyed in Revelation''s later chapters, especially in chapters 21-22, where the new Jerusalem is depicted. The study concludes with an investigation of the ways that the promises were appropriated for the time and the text world of Revelation.""In this volume Mark Wilson offers a study of the ""victor sayings"" found in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3. Wilson shows that the theme of victory--particularly the victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of evil--pervades the substance of John''s visions, drawing frequently on the imagery of the victor sayings in the letters to the churches to do so."" --Jeffrey Lamp, Professor of New Testament, Oral Roberts University ""Wilson''s volume is the first academic study to focus solely on the victor sayings in Revelation. Wilson argues convincingly that the victory of the saints, anchored in the victory of Jesus himself, emerges as a prominent theme of the book. The volume will serve as a standard source for scholars, students, and pastors interested in the historical and literary background of the letters to the seven churches."" --J. Rodman Williams, Emeritus Professor of Renewal Theology, Regent University ""Wilson understands and interprets the victor sayings in Revelation 2-3 in the Apocalypse of John by applying a kaleidoscope of scientific expositions of a section of the New Testament as part of the Christian Bible together with relevant sections in the Old Testament. Wilson''s work of reemphasizing and substantiating the basics of the Christian hopes and expectations constitutes a major and vital contribution.""--Herman Lombard, Emeritus Professor of New Testament, University of South Africa Mark Wilson serves as the director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Izmir, Turkey, where he lives much of the year with his wife, Dindy. He is a research associate in the Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of South Africa and serves as an adjunct professor of early Christianity at several seminaries. An author and editor of a number of books and articles, Wilson has released three other volumes on Revelation. He is a member of eight biblical and archaeological societies and often leads study tours in Turkey to the ""seven churches"" of Revelation.

The basic idea of this book derives from Paul Ricoeur's view that since texts and meaningful human actions are sufficiently similar, methods and theories developed for interpreting texts may also be used for interpreting human actions. Donald Capps applies this view to the broad range of pastoral actions and, in the process, formulates a unique and helpful hermeneutical model of pastoral care. Capps maintains that such a model can be extremely useful for understanding what a particular pastoral action means to those involved in it, and for evaluating its effects on these persons.

""The following Letters of the learned theologian, Doctor Waterland, are re-published with notes, in the hope that they may serve to spread and to strengthen a belief as to the character and value of Lay-baptism, which rests for its foundation on the witness and authority of holy Scripture--which has been widely held and taught throughout the Catholic Church from the earliest times--which is so consonant with the whole body of Catholic Truth that its denial would seem to be plainly inconsistent with that body of Truth, in more than one point--which is so consonant with right reason, that its contradictory is wholly unreasonable, unless we are prepared to contradict some other beliefs, which all Christian people agree to hold.""Waterland''s belief as to Lay-baptism is briefly stated in his own words, that ''since there is no Divine law or rule to found its validity upon, it can no more be valid than it can be lawful. For nothing is plainer to me than that what has no foundation for its validity, has no validity at all; or that nothing can be valid, which has no sufficient authority to make it so.''""--From the Introductory Note by F. Nutcombe Oxenham, M.A.Daniel Waterland (1683-1740) was an English theologian. He became Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1714, Chancellor of the Diocese of York in 1722, and Archdeacon of Middlesex in 1730. He was also the author of a History of the Athanasian Creed.

""At one time no less than one hundred ministers requested prayer for the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Appeals have come from other cities for like Conferences, but as yet we have been too much occupied with evangelistic labors to comply with the request. We purpose, D.V., when opportunity offers, to multiply such meetings for the consideration and elucidation of this great theme--The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.""Mr. Dixon, in editing the book, has thought it best to publish the addresses just as they were furnished by the speakers. Such repetitions as have occurred are necessary to a full understanding of the subject in hand. They are now sent forth in the present form with much prayer that the gift of power through the indwelling of the Spirit may rest upon every reader.""--Geo C. Needham, the ExplanatoryA. C. Dixon (1854-1925) was a Baptist pastor, Bible expositor, and evangelist, popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He co-edited an influential series of essays--published as The Fundamentals (1910-15)--which gave fundamentalist Christianity its name.

""The whole world of nature appears in our day to be in revolt, with all her unprecedented disturbances. And how clearly are the nations preparing by granting unrestrained powers to individual men, such as we note in Russia, Germany, Italy, and in our own country,--all preparing for the one man prophesied by our Lord in John 5:43: ''I am come in my Father''s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.'' We are surely in the world-age of the feet of iron mixed with miry clay of Daniel''s image.""Let me repeat that this book, so full of spiritual meat and helpful, illustrative anecdotes, so interesting while so splendidly setting forth these vital, scattered Bible teachings, is destined to reach many hearts and to build up many Christians in a more vital, Spirit-filled faith."" --From the Introduction by Howard A. KellyCharles G. Trumbull (1872-1941) was a leader of the Keswick movement in America and served as editor of the Sunday School Times.