Download or read book Christian Faith Justice and a Politics of Mercy written by James E. Gilman and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-04-10 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christian Faith, Justice, and a Politics of Mercy: The Benevolent Community assumes that the most profound moral conflict today is between two virtues—justice and mercy. Gilman argues that the two are organically linked through the common experience of compassion. In an unjust world, justice cannot establish itself, but requires, in public as well as private life, projects of merciful benevolence. Mercy alone has the power to subvert patterns of injustice, and mercy and projects of benevolence are tailored to establish and sustain patterns of justice, especially fair economic outcomes. To show this, against Rawl’s Difference Principle, Gilman argues for a Distribution Principle, which states that social and economic inequalities should be addressed by policies that directly and primarily benefit the least advantaged members of society, while at the same time minimizing burdens and/or maximizing benefits for the most advantaged. Along the way he shows how in the United States benevolence as a public virtue was disestablished along with religion; how it might and should be re-established without re-establishing religion; and how the Christian tradition provides resources for evolving morally from a liberal, procedural practice of justice to one that embraces egalitarian, economic justice as well. Finally, he demonstrates how in the global community today, Christianity and other traditions can and should make “benevolent community” a reality.

Download or read book On Love and Mercy written by Stephen Mattson and published by MennoMedia, Inc.. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hopeful and Christ-centered devotional for Christians who know social justice to be a good and holy endeavor On Love and Mercy is a 60-day devotional that invites readers to expand their vision of both personal faith in God and the redemptive and saving work of social action. Breaking down the premise that Christians must choose between being either socially conscious or theologically sound, author Stephen Mattson offers the hopeful message that Jesus—and Christianity—is both. Each day’s entry offers Christians who long to see justice and equity within society with a much-needed source of affirmation, solidarity, and encouragement. These heart-felt devotions bring readers hope and encouragement to embrace social justice as the Christ-like discipline that it always was and is meant to be. On Love and Mercy validates social justice practices within the Christian faith by centering the example of Jesus as the ultimate standard. Although our religion will fail us, Jesus never will. He walks alongside us in living out God’s commands us to love our neighbors to the best of our ability. Step into this journey and discover anew what it means to be devoted to Jesus and justice.

Download or read book Law and the Bible written by Robert F. Cochran and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible is full of law. Yet too often, Christians either pick and choose verses out of context to bolster existing positions, or assume that any moral judgment the Bible expresses should become the law of the land. Law and the Bible asks: What inspired light does the Bible shed on Christians’ participation in contemporary legal systems? It concludes that more often than not the Bible overturns our faulty assumptions and skewed commitments rather than bolsters them. In the process, God gives us greater insight into what all of life, including law, should be. Each chapter is cowritten by a legal professional and a theologian, and focuses on a key aspect of the biblical witness concerning civil or positive law--that is, law that human societies create to order their communities, implementing and enforcing it through civil government. A foundational text for legal professionals, law and prelaw students, and all who want to think in a faithfully Christian way about law and their relationship to it.

Download or read book Christian Justice and Public Policy written by Duncan B. Forrester and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1997-08-28 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disagreements about justice are not simply academic matters. They create problems for practice and for policy-making. In a morally fragmented society in which 'nobody knows what justice is' issues such as wages policy, punishment and poverty become particularly difficult to handle. People striving to act justly are often uncertain how this might be done. Secular theories such as those of Rowls, Hayek, Habermas and modern feminist theorists, examined here, give some guidance for problems of justice that arise on the ground, but have serious limitations. This book argues that Christian theology, although it can no longer claim to provide a comprehensive theory of justice, can provide insights into justice - 'theological fragments' - which give illumination, challenge some aspects of the conventional wisdom, and contribute to the building of just communities in which people may flourish in mutuality and hope.

Download or read book The Law of Freedom written by Daniel L. Rentfro and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Law of Freedom: Justice and Mercy in the Practice of Law examines the legal and theological roots of the concept of equity, and the implications that the diminishment of equity as a legal concept has for the moral dilemmas faced by the practicing lawyer. Meditating on the book of Micah, the book argues that the Christian duty asks for both strict justice and gracious mercy, with the prophet’s third value—humility—essential for both the individual lawyer and the legal system as a whole to balance strict justice and mercy.

Download or read book Justice and Mercy written by Reinhold Niebuhr and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Justice and Mercy" is a sampling from the many worship services Reinhold Niebuhr conducted in his lifetime progression from pastor to professor to elder statesman. Preaching was his mainstay. In Niebuhr's sermons, themes from the psalms and the gospels are woven into the context of historical and contemporary thought. Technology, politics, international and domestic issues, nuclear weapons -- to cite a few of Niebuhr's concerns in these pages -- are all seen in this solid perspective of faith. There are morning and opening prayers, prayers of praise and thanksgiving, and prayers for the nation and for the community of faith. The sermons and prayers in "Justice and Mercy" offer an important dimension in the life of Reinhold Niebuhr. For those who may have heard his message and long to have it before them, but also for those who know him only for his scholarly contributions, this volume is a storehouse of spiritual vitality. -- From publisher's description.

Download or read book No Mercy No Justice written by Brooks Harrington and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-01-02 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we be just and merciful? Are justice and mercy in conflict? Or are they aspects of the same truth? Christians in America are presented with two conflicting versions of justice and mercy. One version comes from the dominant secular narrative of America. Justice and mercy are contradictions. Mercy is devalued and discouraged. But within the counter narrative of God revealed through Torah, the prophets, and particularly through the life and parables of Jesus, justice and mercy are aspects of the same truth and way of God. There is no justice without mercy. There is no mercy without justice. In this book, Rev. Brooks Harrington draws on more than 40 years' experience as a criminal prosecutor, a pastor of an inner-city church in an impoverished neighborhood, and the founder of a legal ministry protecting indigent victims of family violence and child neglect and abuse. Through moving stories of women and children he has encountered, he shows the terrible toll of the dominant narrative's version of justice and mercy. And he offers Christians hope with new and startling insights into God's justice and mercy revealed in the parables of Jesus.

Download or read book Generous Justice written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin Books. This book was released on 2012-08-07 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keller explores a life of justice empowered by an experience of grace.

Download or read book Just Politics written by Ronald J. Sider and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evangelicals today probably have more political influence in the United States than at any time in the last century--but they might not be certain what to do with it. It has been difficult to develop a unified voice on pressing issues such as social justice and moral renewal. Bestselling author and theologian Ron Sider offers a biblically grounded, factually rooted, Christian approach to politics that cuts across ideological divides. Shaped by a careful study of society, this book will guide readers into more thoughtful and effective political activity. It addresses perennially tough questions that often divide the church and includes a case study of the federal deficit debate. Practical, balanced, and nonpartisan, this book will be a welcome resource during the 2012 presidential race. This is a revised version of what was previously published as The Scandal of Evangelical Politics.

Download or read book Compassion Conviction written by Justin Giboney and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christian Book Award® program Outreach Resource of the Year Have you ever felt too progressive for conservatives, but too conservative for progressives? Too often, political questions are framed in impossible ways for the faithful Christian: we're forced to choose between social justice and biblical values, between supporting women and opposing abortion. As a result, it's easy for Christians to grow disillusioned with civic engagement or fall back into tribal extremes. This state of affairs has damaged Christian public witness and divided the church. The authors of this book represent the AND Campaign, which exists to educate and organize Christians for faithful civic and cultural engagement. They insist that not only are we called to love our neighbors through the political process but also that doing so requires us to transcend the binary way the debates are usually framed. In simple, understandable language, they lay out the biblical case for political engagement and help Christians navigate the complex world of politics with integrity, from political messaging and the politics of race to protests, advocacy, and more. The book includes a study guide for classroom use and group discussion. When we understand our civic engagement as a way to obey Christ's call to love our neighbor, we see that it is possible to engage the political process with both love and truth—compassion and conviction.

Download or read book Justice Mercy and Well Being written by Peter G. Bolt and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays examines how God's justice and mercy intersect in the lives of individuals and their communities, with a view to the establishment of personal and social well-being in the world. The authors, drawn from England and Australia, approach the theme from a variety of methodological and interdisciplinary perspectives. Theological, exegetical, historical, healthcare, moral, and visual arts approaches are brought to bear in an investigation relevant for the identity and mission of the church in a world characterized by cycles of revenge, the perpetration of injustice, and the marginalization and persecution of various ethnic groups. The practical outcome of these studies has wide-ranging relevance for our attitudes toward indigenous peoples, the well-being of single and married people, healthcare throughout the ages, the spiritual care of people (including those suffering dementia), the personal experience of trauma, issues of moral judgement, and the abiding value of the creative arts.

Download or read book How the Nations Rage written by Jonathan Leeman and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention? As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward? In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.

Download or read book Mercy and British Culture 1760 1960 written by James Gregory and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning over 2 centuries, James Gregory's Mercy and British Culture, 1760 -1960 provides a wide-reaching yet detailed overview of the concept of mercy in British cultural history. While there are many histories of justice and punishment, mercy has been a neglected element despite recognition as an important feature of the 18th-century criminal code. Mercy and British Culture, 1760-1960 looks first at mercy's religious and philosophical aspects, its cultural representations and its embodiment. It then looks at large-scale mobilisation of mercy discourses in Ireland, during the French Revolution, in the British empire, and in warfare from the American war of independence to the First World War. This study concludes by examining mercy's place in a twentieth century shaped by total war, atomic bomb, and decolonisation.

Download or read book Christians Against Christianity written by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timely and galvanizing work that examines how right-wing evangelical Christians have veered from an admirable faith to a pernicious, destructive ideology. Today’s right-wing Evangelical Christianity stands as the very antithesis of the message of Jesus Christ. In his new book, Christians Against Christianity, best-selling author and religious scholar Obery M. Hendricks Jr. challenges right-wing evangelicals on the terrain of their own religious claims, exposing the falsehoods, contradictions, and misuses of the Bible that are embedded in their rabid homophobia, their poorly veiled racism and demonizing of immigrants and Muslims, and their ungodly alliance with big business against the interests of American workers. He scathingly indicts the religious leaders who helped facilitate the rise of the notoriously unchristian Donald Trump, likening them to the “court jesters” and hypocritical priestly sycophants of bygone eras who unquestioningly supported their sovereigns’ every act, no matter how hateful or destructive to those they were supposed to serve. In the wake of the deadly insurrectionist attack on the US Capitol, Christians Against Christianity is a clarion call to stand up to the hypocrisy of the evangelical Right, as well as a guide for Christians to return their faith to the life-affirming message that Jesus brought and died for. What Hendricks offers is a provocative diagnosis, an urgent warning that right-wing evangelicals’ aspirations for Christian nationalist supremacy are a looming threat, not only to Christian decency but to democracy itself. What they offer to America is anything but good news.

Download or read book The Politics of Mercy written by Matthew T. Eggemeier and published by Herder & Herder. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an era where the credibility of the Catholic Church has been called into question, hope for the future springs up, in that Catholic social teaching and the concrete witness of communities displays a powerful commitment to mercy. The Politics of Mercy reimagines the traditional spiritual and corporal works of mercy as a Catholic politics composed of spirituality, local charitable action, and broader work for justice. The book examines five contemporary social crises--inequality, migration, mass incarceration, war, and environmental degradation--and how Catholic teaching and theology can illuminate them. Featured are stories of Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Worker, Jesuit Refugee Service, Homeboy Industries, Catholic Relief Services, and Bethlehem Farm, each of which responds in particularly vibrant ways to the crises each chapter considers. This book presents a new apologetic for Catholicism, presenting the best that Catholics have to offer, namely a holistic life of mercy, which can help to reconcile and to heal a world riven by inequality, racism, and violence. Above all, The Politics of Mercy offers a vision of hope for our world.

Download or read book What About Those Who Have Never Heard written by Gabriel J. Fackre and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 1995-06-07 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ronald H. Nash, Gabriel Fackre and John Sanders offer three evangelical views on the destiny of the unevangelized.

Download or read book Prophetic Lament written by Soong-Chan Rah and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2015-09-03 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Hearts Minds Bookstore's Best Books RELEVANT's Top 10 Books Englewood Review of Books Best Books When Soong-Chan Rah planted an urban church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his first full sermon series was a six-week exposition of the book of Lamentations. Preaching on an obscure, depressing Old Testament book was probably not the most seeker-sensitive way to launch a church. But it shaped their community with a radically countercultural perspective. The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Lament recognizes struggles and suffering, that the world is not as it ought to be. Lament challenges the status quo and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Soong-Chan Rah's prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church's relationship with a suffering world. It critiques our success-centered triumphalism and calls us to repent of our hubris. And it opens up new ways to encounter the other. Hear the prophet's lament as the necessary corrective for Christianity's future. A Resonate exposition of the book of Lamentations.