Download or read book Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts written by Frances Taylor Gench and published by Presbyterian Publishing Corp. This book was released on 2015-05-18 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible includes any number of "tyrannical texts" that have proved to be profoundly oppressive in the lives of many people. Among them are Pauline texts that have circumscribed the lives and ministries of women throughout Christian history. What are people who honor Scripture to do with such texts, and what does it mean to speak of biblical authority in their presence? In Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts, Frances Taylor Gench provides strategies for engaging such texts with integrity- that is, without dismissing them, whitewashing them, or acquiescing to them-and as potential sources of edification for the church. Gench also facilitates reflection on the nature and authority of Scripture. Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts provides access to feminist scholarship that can inform preaching and teaching of problematic Pauline texts and encourages public engagement with them.

Download or read book Grieving Brooding and Transforming The Spirit The Bible and Gender written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-08-30 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grieving, Brooding, and Transforming explores troubling biblical and historical texts in regards to their portrayal of women and calls for readers to identify the Spirit’s work of grieving over brokenness, brooding over chaos, and transforming the creation.

Download or read book God in the New Testament written by Dr. Warren Carter and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Warren Carter addresses the ways in which New Testament writings present God by asking four questions about how God relates to others: How is God presented in relation to Israel? How is God presented in relation to Jesus and the Spirit? How is God presented in relation to believers/disciples/the church? How is God presented in relation to “the world”? Carter uses these questions to help draw out the most important factors in each of the New Testament writings discussed. "Rarely does one exclaim, “This is a real page-turner!” when describing a book on the New Testament—but I must say it. With his characteristic concision and clarity, not to mention wit and conversational style, Carter leads us on a tour of “God-at-Work” in fifteen closely-read texts. What claims do the various texts make about God? What questions or “red flags” do these texts raise? What effect do or should these texts have upon us as readers today? Carter intrepidly takes up some of the more challenging and cryptic NT texts and asks aloud many of the uncomfortable questions we’ve wondered about but might not have voiced so pointedly. He does not provide tidy answers, but his approach entices us not to give up, but rather to dive even deeper into the texts, their world, and ours. In reading this book, I was variously educated, entertained, challenged, and even moved." -Jaime Clark-Soles Professor of New Testament and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

Download or read book Living with the Sermon written by Robert P. Hoch-Yidokodiltona and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-09-05 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Living with the Sermon, readers will find a friendly companion to the preaching life. With humor, personal stories, theological musings, and practical "signposts" for those who live with the sermon, Robert Hoch-Yidokodiltona explores the highs and lows of the preaching life—you will learn not only techniques for preaching, but also how the life of the preacher is haunted by holy things. There is, according to Robert, a "wink and peek" to the preaching life, some playful mischief, some mystery—and yet, in a practical spirit, down-to-earth signposts to help along the way. Whether you have been in the pulpit for many years, or have just begun the journey, this work will add to your wisdom and joy in the preaching life.

Download or read book The Pentecostal Gender Paradox written by Joseph Lee Dutko and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-16 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The distinct subjects of eschatology and gender equality have seen an explosion of interest in recent decades, particularly within Pentecostal scholarship. Pentecostalism is regarded ideally as both an eschatological and egalitarian movement. However, many Pentecostals have lamented the inconsistency between the early egalitarian impulse of the movement and its current restrictive practices. This situation has been described as the so-called Pentecostal “gender paradox,” referring to the conflicting freedoms and limitations experienced by Pentecostal women. Pentecostals have also recognized the waning eschatological fervor within the movement and its shifting eschatological convictions, leading to calls to rediscover the eschatological heart of the movement. Despite the renewed interest in both eschatology and women's equality, little research has been done to put these two areas into conversation with each other: eschatological convictions are often absent in the debate on gender roles in the church. For Pentecostals, eschatology has often been about urgency in “saving souls” rather than attending to social issues, but could Pentecostal eschatology be the key to (re)discovering greater equality for women in the church? Is the waning of both eschatology and women's equality within Pentecostalism potentially interrelated? For over one hundred years the role of women in Pentecostalism has been debated without a firm consensus. By examining gender solely through an eschatological lens in history, Scripture, and praxis, this work provides a valuable and creative contribution to one of the most important theological and global issues of our time, women's (in)equality. This book is also one of the first comprehensive studies to approach a single social issue solely through an eschatological lens and to provide attention to developing a thorough and methodologically connected eschatological praxis. By uncovering the unified eschatological-egalitarian narrative thread within both the Pentecostal and biblical story, this work suggests that the present end of women's inequality begins with fidelity to the future eschaton of gender equality.

Download or read book Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church written by Gabrielle Thomas and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-07-10 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributing Authors: Fr. John Behr Dr Spyridoula Athanasopoulou-Kypriou Dr. Dionysios Skliris Fr. Andrew Louth Dr Mary Cunningham Met Kallistos Ware Rev Dr Sarah Hinlicky Wilson Dr Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald Dr Carrie Frederick Frost Dr Paul Ladouceur Luis Josué Salés This book—a collaborative, international initiative, involving academic theologians and practitioners—invites the reader into a conversation about the ordination of women in the Orthodox Church. It explores questions relating to the significance of being human, Eve’s curse, sexed bodies, the place of Mary, the nature of priesthood, the role of the deacon, and the task of being a priest in the twenty-first century. The reflections move across three main areas of discussion: issues of theological anthropology, particular questions pertaining to the priesthood and the diaconate, and contemporary practices. In each area the implications for ordaining women in the Orthodox Church today are explored.

Download or read book Constructing Paul written by Luke Timothy Johnson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2020-03-05 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First of a two-volume work providing a framework for understanding the life and thought of the apostle Paul In this methodological tour de force, Luke Timothy Johnson offers an articulate, clear, and thought-provoking portrait of the life and thought of the apostle Paul. Drawing upon recent developments in the study of Paul, Johnson offers readers an invitation to the Apostle Paul. Rather than focusing on a few of Paul’s letters, Johnson lays out the materials necessary to envision the apostle from the thirteen canonical letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. Constructing Paul thus provides a framework within which an engagement with Paul’s letters can take place. Johnson demonstrates the possibility of doing responsible and creative work across the canonical collection without sacrificing literary or historical integrity. By bringing out the facets of the apostle from the canonical evidence, Johnson shows the possibilities for further and better inquiry into the life and thought of Paul. This first volume imagines a plausible biography for Paul and serves as an introduction to the studies in the second volume. Constructing Paul addresses all the pertinent questions related to the study of Paul. Johnson uses the canonical material as building blocks to make a case for why Paul ought to be heard today as a liberating rather than oppressing voice.

Download or read book The Least of These written by Carla Swafford Works and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2020-01-16 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus cared for the least, but did Paul? The apostle Paul has a reputation for being detached from the concerns of the poor and powerless. In this book, Carla Swafford Works demonstrates that Paul’s message and ministry are in harmony with the teaching of Jesus. She brings to light an apostle who preaches and models good news to the “least of these”—the poor, the marginalized, the disadvantaged, and the vulnerable. The Least of These begins by highlighting the presence of the marginalized in Paul’s ministry by looking at poverty in Paul’s churches, the involvement of slaves and freedpersons in the community, and the role of women in the Pauline mission. Works then examines the significance of the marginalized in Pauline theology by investigating how the apostle employs metaphors of the “least.” Like Jesus, Paul cared deeply for people at the margins. Paul’s ministry is consistent with that of Jesus. Both men cared for the poor. Paul served the least in his mission, modeling his apostolic ministry after the cross of Christ. Works shows that Paul, far from being an abstract thinker, was a practical theologian teaching a message and leading a life of compassion, kindness, and care.

Download or read book 1 Timothy Volume 3 written by Paul S. Jeon and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1 Timothy is one of the more controversial documents in the New Testament. For years, critical scholars have rejected Pauline authorship, highlighted the apparent misogynistic quality of the text, and argued against any coherence in the letter. Jeon takes a fresh look at the letter, incorporating many recent advancements in NT scholarship. In detail he demonstrates the macro- and micro- chiastic arrangement of the entire letter and explains how the presumed first-century audience would have heard and responded to an oral performance of the letter. In doing so, Jeon offers a fresh challenge to more popular ways of (mis)understanding the letter and points a way forward for appropriating the letter both in academia and in the church.

Download or read book Paul and his Rivals written by Clair Mesick and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2024-08-19 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the heart of Paul’s Corinthian correspondence is a historical puzzle. How did the relative calm of 1 Corinthians deteriorate into the chaos of 2 Corinthians, and what role did the so-called Jewish “super-apostles” play in that conflict? This book proposes a new solution: it was Paul, not his rivals, who shot the first volley in the Corinthian conflict. Paul’s claims of unique authority—for instance, as the architect atop whose foundation all others must build (1 Cor 3:10) and the Corinthians’ father while others are mere pedagogues (4:15)—would relegate other leaders to lesser positions. His contention that accepting financial support put an obstacle before the gospel (9:12) would jeopardize the livelihood of apostles who relied on such support. Finally, Paul’s claim that he becomes “lawless to the lawless” (9:21) or that “circumcision is nothing” (7:19) could throw into question Paul’s own Jewishness (cf. 2 Cor 11:22). By reading the Corinthian correspondence against the grain—imagining how Paul’s letter might have backfired for an audience who did not yet take him as scripture—this book explores how misunderstandings and misinterpretations can fracture church communities and cause a ripple effect of conflict and accusation.

Download or read book 1 Timothy Volume 1 written by Paul S. Jeon and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1 Timothy is one of the more controversial documents in the New Testament. For years, critical scholars have rejected Pauline authorship, highlighted the apparent misogynistic quality of the text, and argued against any coherence in the letter. Jeon takes a fresh look at the letter, incorporating many recent advancements in NT scholarship. In detail he demonstrates the macro- and micro- chiastic arrangement of the entire letter and explains how the presumed first-century audience would have heard and responded to an oral performance of the letter. In doing so, Jeon offers a fresh challenge to more popular ways of (mis)understanding the letter and points a way forward for appropriating the letter both in academia and in the church.

Download or read book From This Day Forward Rethinking the Christian Wedding written by Kimberly Bracken Long and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weddings have become a billion-dollar industry, with the average cost of a wedding estimated at $30,000. Taking into account dramatic shifts in attitudes toward marriage in recent years, many pastors are confused and frustrated about their role. This book offers a foundational understanding of marriage for today's North American church. Exploring current sociological analyses of marriage and the history of Christian marriage rites, Kimberly Bracken Long suggests that the church rethink its involvement in weddings and offers a distinctively Christian understanding of marriage. Today's church, Long contends, needs to reinterpret classic biblical metaphors and expand the range of scriptural sources that inform our understanding of marriage. Long also looks closely at each element of the wedding service and what makes a marriage liturgy faithful, inclusive, and sensitive to pastoral concerns. She provides practical suggestions for music and Scripture during wedding services as well as guidance on how to respond faithfully to those who are divorced or divorcing. Packed with constructive pastoral wisdom, From This Day ForwardRethinking the Christian Wedding delivers a practical theology of marriage that will be of help to clergy, seminarians, and others interested in this topic.

Download or read book Joel Obadiah Micah written by Daniel Epp-Tiessen and published by MennoMedia, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although each is quite different, the books of Joel, Obadiah, and Micah are all survival literature. All three address the community that survived the crushing Babylonian destruction of Judah in 586 BCE. And all three seek to help this community cope by giving voice to its disorientation, trauma, anxiety, and rage. Each book insists that God will wrestle a positive future out of catastrophe, granting both physical and spiritual renewal. No matter how dire the circumstances, Israel can trust in the gracious God who will never abandon the faith community. In this thirty-fifth volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Old Testament scholar Daniel Epp-Tiessen explores the diverse, yet related content of these three prophetic books, always paying attention to how they might speak words of grace and healing into the disorientation, exile, and challenges of our own time. He also confronts the theologically problematic features of these books, especially their conviction that the salvation of God’s people requires that God obliterate their enemies. This volume explores how we might read Joel, Obadiah, and Micah in light of the larger biblical story of God’s saving purposes that reach their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Download or read book 1 Timothy Volume 2 written by Paul S. Jeon and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1 Timothy is one of the more controversial documents in the New Testament. For years, critical scholars have rejected Pauline authorship, highlighted the apparent misogynistic quality of the text, and argued against any coherence in the letter. Jeon takes a fresh look at the letter, incorporating many recent advancements in NT scholarship. In detail he demonstrates the macro- and micro- chiastic arrangement of the entire letter and explains how the presumed first-century audience would have heard and responded to an oral performance of the letter. In doing so, Jeon offers a fresh challenge to more popular ways of (mis)understanding the letter and points a way forward for appropriating the letter both in academia and in the church.

Download or read book Women in Leadership written by Stefanie Ertel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Interpreting Paul written by Luke Timothy Johnson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2021-05-20 with total page 742 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “For me, Paul has always been the most difficult and therefore also most delightful advocate and interpreter of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the human experience of God’s transforming power through Christ. In Paul’s letters above all I have found the quality of mind and the depth of conviction that could arouse in me both excitement and passion. And it is Paul’s letters, above all, that show how important and difficult is life together in the church.” — from the preface With the contextual framework in place from volume one of The Canonical Paul, Luke Timothy Johnson now probes each of the thirteen biblical letters traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul in a way that balances respect for historical integrity with attention to present-day realities. In doing so, Johnson reforges the connection between biblical studies and the life of the church, seeking to establish once again the foundational and generative role that the thirteen letters of Paul have had among Christians for centuries. Far from being a “definitive theology” of Paul, or an oversimplified synthesis, Interpreting Paul provides glimpses into various moments of Paul’s thinking and teaching that we find in Scripture, modeling how one might read his letters closely for fresh, creative interpretations now and into the future. Approached in this way, both in minute detail and as a whole canon, Paul’s letters yield rich insights, and his voice becomes accessible to all readers of the Bible.

Download or read book Preaching Romans from Here written by Lisa M. Bowens and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-12-20 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Romans is the most influential New Testament book in the history of Christian theology: it has shaped Christian theology, how the gospel is framed, and how the Christian life is understood. Preaching Romans for many pastors is the climactic text for a preaching career. There are perspectives (e.g., reformed, new, apocalyptic, participationist, among others) on Romans, but not all of them are known by most and too many of them not known at all. We want to help rectify this by giving voice to those who have been too often voiceless.