Download or read book Bible Made Impossible The written by Christian Smith and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A world-renowned sociologist argues that evangelical biblicism is impossible and produces unwanted pastoral consequences.
Download or read book Experimental Theology in America written by Patricia A. Ward and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study of Madame Guyon and, her defender, Francois de Fénelon, the Archbishop of Cambray, Patricia Ward demonstrates how the ideas of these seventeenth-century Catholics were transmitted into an ongoing tradition of Protestant devotional literature--one that continues to influence American evangelicals and charismatic Christians today. Down a winding (and fascinating) historical path, Ward traces how the lives and writings of these two somewhat obscure Catholic believers in Quietism came to such prominence in American spirituality--offering, in part, a fascinating glance at the role of women in the history of devotional writing.
Download or read book A Private and Public Faith written by William Stringfellow and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 1999-02-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A Private and Public Faith' is a heartfelt protest against the self-serving religiosity that characterizes so much of religion in contemporary American society, and which affects to such a large degree the life of the churches of American Protestantism. Stringfellow's protest is motivated by a passionate concern that the authentic life of the Word of God should operate freely in the church and in the world. His exposition of this life for individual, church, and society is profound yet simple. An excerpt on discerning God's presence: In other words, the most notorious, plain, and victorious truth of God is that God participates in our history -- even yours and mine. Our history -- all our anxieties -- have become the scene of His presence and the matter of His care. We are safe. We are free. Wherever we turn we shall discover that God is already there. Therefore, wherever it be, fear not, be thankful, rejoice, and boast of God."
Download or read book An Ethic For Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land written by William Stringfellow and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2004-09-24 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 'An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land': America is a fallen nation. Americans exist in time, in the era biblically called the Fall. America is a demonic principality, or conglomeration of principalities and powers in which death furnishes the meaning, in which death is the reigning idol. Enshrined in multifarious forms and guises, it enslaves human beings, exacts human sacrifices, captures and captivates Presidents as well as intimidating and dehumanizing ordinary citizens. Strong statements, yes, but timely in the biblical context which forms William Stringfellow's perspective of our contemporary situation. Identifying America as a fallen nation with the parable of Babylon in the Book of Revelation - not with Jerusalem the holy nation, as Americans are naively and vainly wont to do - Dr. Stringfellow issues as trenchant an indictment of our society as has been made since Philip Wylie's 'Generation of Vipers'. Shockingly prophetic, dismaying, and sobering, William Stringfellow's rigorous biblical theology will surely offend the self-righteous. But the citizen of Jerusalem, alien in Babylon, will welcome the bluntness and insight with which he speaks.
Download or read book My People is the Enemy written by William Stringfellow and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2005-08-01 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was to Harlem that I came from the Harvard Law School. I came to Harlem to live, to work there as a lawyer, to take some part in the politics of the neighborhood, to be a layman in the Church there. It is now seven years later. In what I now relate about Harlem, I do not wish to indulge in horror stories, though that would be easy enough to do.Ó In this extraordinary and passionate book, William Stringfellow relates his deep concern with the ugly reality of being black and being poor. As a white Anglo-Saxon, Mr. Stringfellow does not try to speak for African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Harlem ghetto, but, as a lawyer, he graphically underlines the failure of the American legal system to provide equal justice for the poor. And, as a Christian who lived for seven years on what the New York Times called the worst block in New York City, he challenges the reluctance of the churches to be involved in the racial crisis beyond the point of pontification.Ó
Download or read book The Violence of Love written by Romero, Oscar and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2021-02-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These selections from the sermons and writings of Archbishop Oscar Romero shared the message of a great holy prophet of modern times. Three short years transformed Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, from a conservative defender of the status quo into one of the church's most outspoken voices of the oppressed. Though silenced by an assassin's bullet, his spirit and the challenge of his life lives on.
Download or read book A Second Birthday written by William Stringfellow and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2005-08-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÒTo endure pain is to suffer anticipation of death, in both mind and body. It must be acknowledged, confronted, suffered, and survived on its own terms, as it were, as the very aggression of death against life. What must be faced and felt, in the uttermost of a person's being, is that assault of the power of death feigning to be sovereign over life--over the particular life of a particular person and over all of existence throughout all of history. ÒIt is, so to speak, only then and there--where there is no equivocation or escape possible from the fullness of death's vigor and brutality, when a person is exposed to absolute vulnerability--that life can be beheld and welcomed as the gift which life is.Ó William Stringfellow almost died. In the spring of 1968, he contracted a baffling and apparently hopeless disease that horribly wasted his body before a last-ditch operation brought about a dramatic cure. This is Stringfellow's own account of that ordeal of pain and of the fundamental beliefs that sustained him in his agony and gave him the courage to undergo the dangerous surgery that saved his life. His vivid description of that experience, told without emotion or cant, is both startling and strengthening. His story is a personal testimony to the relevance of faith and love in the mystery of healing, and to the gift of life itself that few of us take time to recognize.
Download or read book On Job written by Gustavo Gutirrez and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 1987 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of this century's most eminent theologians addresses the eternal questions of the relationship of good and evil, linking the story of Job to the lives of the poor and oppressed of our world.
Download or read book Theological Worlds written by W. Paul Jones and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By exploring five common Christian perspectives ("theological worlds"), this volume helps readers understand the basis of their own Christian attitudes, identify the sources of their confusions about life and the church, and come to a deeper appreciation of the assumptions and motivations of others. Author W. Paul Jones demonstrates that each of the five "theological worlds" has a legitimate basis in both Scripture and tradition. He explores why the "citizens" of each world have great difficulty understanding and accepting the legitimacy of other worlds, and why people of goodwill often misconstrue the words and intentions of others. Theological Worlds offers thoughtful insight to all Christians who want to understand and deal effectively with other human beings. Christian educators will appreciate the references to literature--books, plays, songs, poetry--which illustrate the characteristics of residents of the five worlds and point toward ways to achieve nurturing experiences for students and congregations. Preachers will find the volume helpful as a means of crafting sermons that speak to the diversity of experience among their church members.
Download or read book The Course of God s Providence written by Philippa Koch and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shows that a religious understanding of illness and health persisted well into post-Enlightenment early America The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the power of narrative during times of sickness and disease. As Americans strive to find meaning amid upheaval and loss, some consider the nature of God’s will. Early American Protestants experienced similar struggles as they attempted to interpret the diseases of their time. In this groundbreaking work, Philippa Koch explores the doctrine of providence—a belief in a divine plan for the world—and its manifestations in eighteenth-century America, from its origins as a consoling response to sickness to how it informed the practices of Protestant activity in the Atlantic world. Drawing on pastoral manuals, manuscript memoirs, journals, and letters, as well as medical treatises, epidemic narratives, and midwifery manuals, Koch shows how Protestant teachings around providence shaped the lives of believers even as the Enlightenment seemed to portend a more secular approach to the world and the human body. Their commitment to providence prompted, in fact, early Americans’ active engagement with the medical developments of their time, encouraging them to see modern science and medicine as divinely bestowed missionary tools for helping others. Indeed, the book shows that the ways in which the colonial world thought about questions of God’s will in sickness and health help to illuminate the continuing power of Protestant ideas and practices in American society today.
Download or read book The Lively Experiment written by Sidney E. Mead and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2007-05 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this lucid and learned book one of America's outstanding historians shows the development of the thought and institutional life which characterize Christianity in America. He explains this religious development in terms of the emergence of religious freedom and the physical fact of the frontier. As he enlarges upon many aspects of his main theme, Dr. Mead traces the parallel growth and creative tension of Christianity and democracy.Dr. Mead discusses:The American PeopleFrom Coercion to PersuasionAmerican Protestantism during the Revolutionary EpochThomas Jefferson's Fair ExperimentAbraham Lincoln's Last, Best Hope of EarthWhen Wise Men HopedDenominationalismAmerican Protestantism Since the Civil War I. From Denominationalism to AmericanismAmerican Protestantism Since the Civil War II. From Americanism to ChristianityThe Lively Experiment is an unusually interesting and timely study that will appeal to every reader concerned with the religious, social, intellectual, and cultural history of America.
Download or read book The Experiment of Faith written by Ramage and published by Catholic University of America Press. This book was released on 2020-04-17 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pope Benedict XVI memorably remarked that the Christian faith is a lot like a Gothic cathedral with its stained-glass windows. From the outside, the Church can appear dark, dreary, and worn with age—the crumbling relic of an institution that no longer speaks to men and women living in our modern world. Indeed, for many people today, Christian morality with all of its commandments appears to be a source not of life and joy but instead of suffering and oppression. Even within the Church, many wonder: why should I submit to ancient doctrines and outdated practices that restrict my freedom and impede my happiness? In this timely and original book, his third exploring the riches of Benedict XVI’s vast corpus, theologian Matthew Ramage sets out to meet this challenge with an in-depth study of the emeritus pontiff’s wisdom on how to live Christian discipleship in today’s increasingly secularized world. Taking as his starting point Benedict’s conviction that the truth of Christianity—like the beauty of a cathedral’s glorious windows—can be grasped only from the inside, Ramage draws on Benedict’s insights to show how all Christians can make the “experiment of faith” by living the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity in daily life. Along the way, he shares his personal reflections on how Benedict’s wisdom has helped him to navigate difficulties in embracing the faith and provides a way forward to those struggling to live as disciples in a way that is intellectually serious without remaining merely intellectual. In so doing, he also presents a highly nuanced yet accessible approach to defending the truth of the gospel in a world where life in Jesus Christ tends to be seen as unfulfilling, irrelevant, or just one lifestyle choice among others.
Download or read book Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment written by John Witte, Jr. and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third edition of this classic book provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary overview of the history, theory, law, and comparative analysis of American religious liberty from the earliest colonial period through the most recent Supreme Court cases. The authors present balanced, accessible discussions of controversial issues, such as funding religious schools and charities and displaying religious symbols on government property. Three chapters new to this edition cover the free exercise of religion, religion and public life, and religious organizations and the law. In addition, an expanded concluding chapter places the American experience in global context by comparing contemporary American religious liberty law with international human rights standards.
Download or read book The Metaphysical Club written by Louis Menand and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2002 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Metaphysical Club was a group that met in Massachusetts, in 1872. The group believed that ideas are not things out there waiting to be discovered but are tools people invent to make their way in the world. This book is the story of that idea.
Download or read book The Religious Beliefs of America s Founders written by Gregg L. Frazer and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were America's Founders Christians or deists? Conservatives and secularists have taken each position respectively, mustering evidence to insist just how tall the wall separating church and state should be. Now Gregg Frazer puts their arguments to rest in the first comprehensive analysis of the Founders' beliefs as they themselves expressed them-showing that today's political right and left are both wrong. Going beyond church attendance or public pronouncements made for political ends, Frazer scrutinizes the Founders' candid declarations regarding religion found in their private writings. Distilling decades of research, he contends that these men were neither Christian nor deist but rather adherents of a system he labels "theistic rationalism," a hybrid belief system that combined elements of natural religion, Protestantism, and reason-with reason the decisive element. Frazer explains how this theological middle ground developed, what its core beliefs were, and how they were reflected in the thought of eight Founders: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington. He argues convincingly that Congregationalist Adams is the clearest example of theistic rationalism; that presumed deists Jefferson and Franklin are less secular than supposed; and that even the famously taciturn Washington adheres to this theology. He also shows that the Founders held genuinely religious beliefs that aligned with morality, republican government, natural rights, science, and progress. Frazer's careful explication helps readers better understand the case for revolutionary recruitment, the religious references in the Declaration of Independence, and the religious elements-and lack thereof-in the Constitution. He also reveals how influential clergymen, backing their theology of theistic rationalism with reinterpreted Scripture, preached and published liberal democratic theory to justify rebellion. Deftly blending history, religion, and political thought, Frazer succeeds in showing that the American experiment was neither a wholly secular venture nor an attempt to create a Christian nation founded on biblical principles. By showcasing the actual approach taken by these key Founders, he suggests a viable solution to the twenty-first-century standoff over the relationship between church and state-and challenges partisans on both sides to articulate their visions for America on their own merits without holding the Founders hostage to positions they never held.
Download or read book No Place for Truth written by David F. Wells and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1994-12-20 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evangelicals, argues Wells, have largely lost the truth that God also stands outside all human experience, that he still summons sinners to repentance and belief regardless of their self-image, and that he calls his church to stand fast in his truth against the blandishments of the modern world.
Download or read book Sexuality and the Christian Body written by Eugene F. Rogers, Jr. and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 1999-08-25 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God and the Body addresses the challenges to traditional Christianity by gay and lesbian Christians and their critics within the church. This controversial book will be welcomed for the radical new insights it provides into Christian arguments about the body.
