Download or read book Disavowing Constantine written by Nigel G. Wright and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Disavowing Constantine' draws upon the work of two highly influential modern theologians, Jÿrgen Moltmann and John Howard Yoder, to develop an independent and constructive understanding of the relation of the church to the state. Its aim is to restate for modern understanding the insights of the Believers Church tradition and to work out their implications for Christian participation in the civil order. In this complex realm, positive insights are located in traditions usually regarded as incompatible, but the thesis of the book concerns disavowing Constantine, renouncing the reliance of the church upon coercive power to further its mission in order to rediscover how a faithful church might nonetheless participate as a witness within the power structures of human society.
Download or read book Disavowing Constantine written by Nigel Goring Wright and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book In the World But Not of the World written by Andrew L. Fitz-Gibbon and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the World, But Not of the World explores the threefold tension among Alasdair MacIntyre's prognosis for Western society; the desires of some for a social transformation with a Christian moral vision at the sacred centre; and a "baptist" understanding of Christianity as essentially voluntary, non-sacralist discipleship. Andrew Fitz-Gibbon uses five contemporary Christian social thinkers, from different traditions, as conversation partners. Through his examination of these thinkers, Fitz-Gibbon explores how the church may continue to truthfully narrate the Christian story in the midst of the moral tensions of late-capitalist Western society. His creative conclusion is that the church at the beginning of the twenty-first century can move toward a resolution of the central tension of "being in the world, but not of the world" through a synthesis of the believers' church tradition and an affirmation of communitarian liberal democracy.
Download or read book Renewing a Modern Denomination written by Andy Goodliff and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an exploration of the renewal of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in the 1990s, the only historic UK denomination which grew in this period. It was an exciting time, with plenty of denominational activity and engagement, both theological and institutional. The book tells this story focusing on the particular individuals involved and the wide-ranging discussions centered around mission and identity, ministry, associating, and ecumenism. It argues that there were competing visions emerging from two different streams of thought which whilst not divisive caused tension. At the end of the decade structural changes were introduced with hope for the new millennium, but the book contends that opportunities were missed for a more deeply theological renewal.
Download or read book Baptist Theology written by James Leo Garrett and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 776 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title offers a comprehensive analysis of Baptist theology. Embracing in one common trajectory the major Baptist confessions of faith, the major Baptist theologians, and the principal Baptist theological movements and controversies, this book spans four centuries of Baptist doctrinal history. Acknowledging first the pre-1609 roots (patristic, medieval, and Reformational) of Baptist theology, it examines the Arminian versus Calvinist issues that were first expressed by the General Baptists and the Particular Baptists; that dominated English and American Baptist theology during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from Helwys and Smyth and from Bunyan and Kiffin to Gill, Fuller, Backus, and Boyce; and, that were quickened by the 'awakenings' and the missionary movement. Concurrently there were the Baptist defense of the Baptist distinctives vis-a-vis the pedobaptist world and the unfolding of a strong Baptist confessional tradition. Then during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the liberal versus evangelical issues became dominant with Hovey, Strong, Rauschenbusch, and Henry in the North and Mullins, Conner, Hobbs, and Criswell in the South even as a distinctive Baptist Landmarkism developed, the discipline of biblical theology was practiced and a structured ecumenism was pursued. Missiology both impacted Baptist theology and took it to all the continents, where it became increasingly indigenous. Conscious that Baptists belong to the free churches and to the believers' churches, a new generation of Baptist theologians at the advent of the twenty-first century appears somewhat more Calvinist than Arminian and decidedly more evangelical than liberal.
Download or read book Theology After Christendom written by Joshua T. Searle and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity must be understood not as a religion of private salvation, but as a gospel movement of universal compassion, which transforms the world in the power of God’s truth. Amid several major global crises, including the rise of terrorism and religious fundamentalism and a sudden resurgence of political extremism, Christians must now face up fearlessly to the challenges of living in a “post-truth” age in which deceitful politicians present their media-spun fabrications as “alternative facts.” This book is an attempt to enact a transformative theology for these changing times that will equip the global Christian community to take a stand for the gospel in an age of cultural despair and moral fragmentation. The emerging post-Christendom era calls for a new vision of Christianity that has come of age and connects with the spiritual crisis of our times. In helping to make this vision a reality, Searle insists that theology is not merely an academic discipline, but a transformative enterprise that changes the world. Theology is to be experienced not just behind a desk, in an armchair, or in a church, but also in hospitals, in foodbanks, in workplaces, and on the streets. Theology is to be lived as well as read.
Download or read book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God written by Gregory A. Boyd and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page 1487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dramatic tension confronts every Christian believer and interpreter of Scripture: on the one hand, we encounter images of God commanding and engaging in horrendous violence: one the other hand, we encounter the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus, whose loving, self-sacrificial death and resurrection is held up as the supreme revelation of God’s character in the New Testament. How do we reconcile the tension between these seemingly disparate depictions? Are they even capable of reconciliation? Throughout Christian history, many different answers have been proposed, ranging from the long-rejected explanation that these contrasting depictions are of two entirely different ‘gods’ to recent social and cultural theories of metaphor and narrative representation. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God takes up this dramatic tension and the range of proposed answers in an epic constructive investigation. Over two volumes, renowned theologian and biblical scholar Gregory A. Boyd argues that we must take seriously the full range of Scripture as inspired, including its violent depictions of God. At the same time, we must take just as seriously the absolute centrality of the crucified and risen Christ as the supreme revelation of God. Developing a theological interpretation of Scripture that he labels a “cruciform hermeneutic,” Boyd demonstrates how Scripture’s violent images of God are completely reframed and their violence subverted when they are interpreted through the lens of the cross and resurrection. Indeed, when read through this lens, Boyd argues that these violent depictions can be shown to bear witness to the same self-sacrificial character of God that was supremely revealed on the cross.
Download or read book Challenging to change written by Pieter J. Lalleman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-09-18 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 13 May 2009 Dr Nigel G. Wright celebrated his sixtieth birthday. For this occasion friends and colleagues presented him with a Festschrift which reflects his career as a radical baptist leader and theologian. Over the past decades he has played a leading role in the Baptist movement in Britain and worldwide. The contributors to Challenging to change: dialogues with a radical baptist theologian interact with aspects of Wright’s activities and writings so far. The spelling of baptist with a small b in the subtitle of this book reflects Wright’s own usage: baptist refers to the broader tradition of believers’ churches stemming from the radical wing of the European Reformation to which not only ‘Baptist’ churches belong but also Anabaptist, Brethren, Pentecostals, Restorationists and others. This book makes a valuable contribution to the thinking of all baptists about issues such as ministry, Church and state, church planting and evangelical identity. In particular pastors, other church leaders and students will profit hugely from it - and they will be encouraged to pick up Nigel Wright’s own books.
Download or read book Post Christendom Studies Volume 7 written by Steven M. Studebaker and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-08-04 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-Christendom Studies publishes research on the nature of Christian identity and mission in the contexts of post-Christendom. Post-Christendom refers to places, both now and in the past, where Christianity was once a significant cultural presence, though not necessarily the dominant religion. Sometimes "Christendom" refers to the official link between church and state. The term "post-Christendom" is often associated with the rise of secularization, religious pluralism, and multiculturalism in western countries over the past sixty years. Our use of the term is broader than that however. Egypt for example can be considered a post-Christendom context. It was once a leading center of Christianity. "Christendom" moreover does not necessarily mean official public and dominant religion. For example, under Saddam Hussein, Christianity was probably a minority religion, but, for the most part, Christians were left alone. After America deposed Saddam, Christians began to flee because they became a persecuted minority. In that sense, post-Saddam Iraq is an experience of post-Christendom--it is a shift from a cultural context in which Christians have more or less freedom to exercise their faith to one where they are persecuted and/or marginalized for doing so.
Download or read book A Trinitarian Theology of Law written by David H. McIlroy and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the neglected significance of the doctrine of the Trinity for the understanding of human law. Through interaction with the thought of Jurgen Moltmann, Oliver O'Donovan and Thomas Aquinas, it argues that human law is called to play a positive but limited role in maintaining "shallow justice" and relative peace. Human law is overshadowed by the work of the Son, included in the purposes of the Father, and used as an instrument by the Holy Spirit. However, the Spirit works in those who are in Christ to effect "deep justice," a work of sanctification which culminates in glorification--the experience of perfect, free, willing obedience in heaven. Thinking about law in the light of the Trinity enables us to understand its role, its purposes, and its limits.
Download or read book Gathering Disciples written by Myra Blyth and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-02-08 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays by British Baptists honors the work of Christopher Ellis amongst the Baptist community, recognizing in particular the contribution he has made to the practice and theology of Free Church worship. The book takes a selection of his hymns as a starting point for reflection on areas of worship, discipleship, the sacraments, and theology.
Download or read book Post Christendom written by Stuart Murray and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-01-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western societies are experiencing a series of disorientating culture shifts. Uncertain where we are heading, observers use “post” words to signal that familiar landmarks are disappearing, but we cannot yet discern the shape of what is emerging. One of the most significant shifts, “post-Christendom,” raises many questions about the mission and role of the church in this strange new world. What does it mean to be one of many minorities in a culture that the church no longer dominates? How do followers of Jesus engage in mission from the margins? What do we bring with us as precious resources from the fading Christendom era, and what do we lay down as baggage that will weigh us down on our journey into post-Christendom? Post-Christendom identifies the challenges and opportunities of this unsettling but exciting time. Stuart Murray presents an overview of the formation and development of the Christendom system, examines the legacies this has left, and highlights the questions that the Christian community needs to consider in this period of cultural transition.
Download or read book J rgen Moltmann s Ethics of Hope written by Timothy Harvie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-06 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book develops a thorough account of the sphere of human moral action in sustained dialogue with Jürgen Moltmann. By examining God's role as promise-giver, particularly in the Christian understanding of resurrection, this work describes the occupancy of both history and space in moral terms. This leads to an understanding of Jesus' description of 'the kingdom of God' to feature prominently in describing both the possibility and content of human moral action. By offering an account of each of the main doctrines found in Moltmann's corpus - the role of the future, the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and anthropology - this book locates how each contributes to the understanding of ethics from a Christian perspective and subsequently applies these findings to the contemporary issue of poverty and global economics.
Download or read book Principalities and Powers written by Jamie Pitts and published by Lutterworth Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principalities and Powers is an ambitious analysis of John Howard Yoder's complex sociological theory. Jamie Pitts' work transcends ideological boundaries, which have perplexed the many writers who have approached the legacy of John Howard Yoder after his death in 1997. Although there is much disagreement, a broad consensus is forming that his theology was, on the one hand, focused on the social and political meaning of the New Testament accounts of Jesus Christ and, on the other hand, sociologically reductive, hermeneutically tendentious and ecclesiologically ambiguous. Principalities and Powers proposes a revision of Yoder's theology that maintains its broadly sociological emphasis but corrects for its apparent methodological, political and metaphysical problems. Specifically, adjustments are made to his social theory to open it to spiritual reality, to hone its analytical approach, and to clarify its political import. To do so his preferred framework for social criticism, the theology of the principalities and powers, is examined in the context of his wider work and its critics, and then synthesized with concepts from Pierre Bourdieu's influential reflexive sociology.
Download or read book The Heterodox Yoder written by Paul Martens and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Heterodox Yoder provides a critical rereading of Yoder's corpus through his own conviction that discipleship is, most basically, ethics. Tracing the development of Yoder's theological foundations through to their final role in redefining Jewish-Christian and ecumenical relations, this volume explains why the appropriation and use of the language of politics eventually constrains Yoder's ethical vision to the point that it reframes Christianity within the limits of social ethics alone. Because this vision self-consciously excludes or, at best, relativizes many of the claims of orthodox Christianity (including but not limited to the ecumenical creeds), Martens concludes that Yoder's Christian ethic is best described as heterodox.
Download or read book Free Church Free State written by Nigel G. Wright and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-11-29 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A church free from state control and a state free from church control"--Such is one of the radical insights of a baptist vision of church and society. -- What exactly is a baptist vision of the church? -- What are the biblical, historical and theological roots of this approach to Christian community? -- What is the place of such a vision in the context of a global church that includes alternative notions of the body of Christ? Free Church, Free State is a textbook on baptist ways of being church and a proposal for the future of baptist churches in an ecumenical context. Nigel Wright argues that both baptist (small 'b') and catholic (small 'c') church traditions should seek to enrich and support each other as valid expressions of the body of Christ without sacrificing what they hold dear. Written for pastors, church planters, evangelists and preachers, Nigel Wright offers frameworks of thought for baptists and non-baptists in their journey together following Christ.
Download or read book Faith and Politics After Christendom written by Jonathan Bartley and published by Authentic Media Inc. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book examines the anarchic aspects of Jesus' message, and suggests that the demise of the church as pillar of social order gives it a fresh opportunity to exercise its prophetic role - challenging injustice, shaking institutions and undermining some of the central values and norms on which post-Christian society is built.
