Download or read book Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues written by Jacob L. Goodson and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-01-21 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Jacob L. Goodson will be doing a book signing for Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues: Humility, Patience, Prudence at Eighth Day Books in Wichita, KS, on Saturday March 21, 2015, at 4:00pm. In Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues: Humility, Patience, Prudence, Jacob L. Goodson offers a philosophical analysis of the arguments and tendencies of Hans Frei’s and Stanley Hauerwas’ narrative theologies. Narrative theology names a way of doing theology and thinking theologically that is part of a greater movement called “the return to Scripture.” The return to Scripture movement makes a case for Scripture as the proper object of study within Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious ethics. While thinkers within this movement agree that Scripture is the proper object of study within philosophy and religious studies, there is major disagreement over what the word “narrative” describes in narrative theology. The Yale theologian, Hans Frei, argues that because Scripture is the proper object of study within Christian theology and the philosophy of religion, Scripture must be the exclusive object of study. To think theologically means paying as close attention as possible to the details of the biblical narratives in their “literal sense.” Different from Frei’s contentions, the Christian ethicist at Duke University, Stanley Hauerwas claims: if Scripture is the proper object of study within Christian theology, then the category of narrative teaches us that we ought to give our scholarly attention to the interpretations and performances of Scripture. Hauerwas emphasizes the continuity between the biblical narratives and the traditions of the church. This disagreement is best described as a hermeneutical one: Frei thinks that the primary place where interpretation happens is in the text; Hauerwas thinks that the primary place where interpretation occurs is in the community of interpreters. In order to move beyond the dichotomy found between Frei’s and Hauerwas’ work, but to remain within the return to Scripture movement, Goodson constructs three hermeneutical virtues: humility, patience, and prudence. These virtues help professors and scholars within Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious ethics maintain objectivity in their fields of study.
Download or read book Congregational Hermeneutics written by Andrew P. Rogers and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-20 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite many churches claiming that the Bible is highly significant for their doctrine and practice, questions about how we read the Bible are rarely made explicit. Based on ethnographic research in English churches, Congregational Hermeneutics explores this dissonance and moves beyond descriptions to propose ways of enriching hermeneutical practices in congregations. Characterised as hermeneutical apprenticeship, this is not just a matter of learning certain skills, but of cultivating hermeneutical virtues such as faithfulness, community, humility, confidence and courage. These virtues are given substance through looking at four broad themes that emerge from the analysis of congregational hermeneutics - tradition, practices, epistemology and mediation. Concluding with what hermeneutical apprenticeship might look like in practice, this book is constructively theological about what churches actually do with the Bible, and will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners.
Download or read book A Theology of Disagreement written by Christopher Landau and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 2021-05-30 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even the most casual contemporary observer of Christianity must recognise that the notion of Christian community being identifiable through the mutual love of its members (John 13:35) is difficult to reconcile with the schismatic reality of current ecclesial life. Nonetheless, disagreement remains an ethical subject neglected by theologians. A Theology of Disagreement: New Testament Ethics for Ecclesial Conflicts examines how New Testament texts inform Christian approaches to disagreement. Drawing on New Testament themes, the book explores the nature of an ethic of disagreement, and its practical implications for the church’s public theological witness, as well as its liturgy
Download or read book Learning to Speak of God written by Mason Lee and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-16 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What difference does the virtue of patience make for our ability to engage deeply in the practice of patience? And how does patience help us grasp the something more that is at the heart of preaching excellence? Learning to Speak of God argues that the virtue of patience is vital to our faithful and deep preaching practice; that patience is a homiletical virtue. In doing so, this volume asks us to consider the role of character in preaching and the work of specific virtues as we go about our preaching practice. Along the way, it names the importance of patience as a long-acknowledged Christian virtue and considers anew how this virtue shapes and empowers the practice of those who desire to preach in ways that participate in God’s transforming work. For those who study, practice, or care about preaching, this volume identifies how any notion of what it means to preach well calls for those whose practice is infused with the virtue of patience.
Download or read book Hermeneutical Theology and the Imperative of Public Ethics written by Paul S. Chung and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-10-23 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hermeneutical Theology and the Imperative of Public Ethics is a groundbreaking attempt to present constructive missional theology in an integrative and interdisciplinary framework as it provocatively utilizes and contextualizes Reformation theology and hermeneutics concerning ethical theology embedded within the wider horizon of World Christianity. Mission as constructive theology is explored and refined in an hermeneutical and interdisciplinary fashion, underlying a new horizon of postcolonial theology and mission in light of God's act of speech. Missional church founded up God's grace of justification and Christ's diakonia of reconciliation becomes ethically oriented public church as it is engaged in mutireligious diversity of people's lives and lifeworld in the postcolonial context of World Christianity. "
Download or read book Heavenly Imagery and Symbolism in Matthew s Gospel written by Daehoon Kang and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present study explores the role of heavenly imagery and symbolism in the Gospel of Matthew. Historical background and narrative criticism are my main methods because the Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish texts form the historical backgrounds for the understanding of Matthew’s heaven and Matthew uses heavenly imagery and symbolism to highlight his main themes in the gospel as a whole. This study investigates Matthew’s distinctive materials and important texts having to do with heaven, exploring their meanings and establishing their roles in each narrative section. Matthew describes heaven as the space where certain events reveal God’s plan of salvation. Heaven is associated with such key matters as revelation and judgment. Each major discourse of Matthew focuses on heavenly imagery with judgment at its end, culminating in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25:31–46).
Download or read book Theology and the Public written by Daniel D. Shin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-11-28 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hans W. Frei’s groundbreaking achievement in theological hermeneutics, Christology, and theological method has made possible new alternatives in contemporary theology, and has become a key impetus to the emergence of postliberal theology also known as the “Yale School.” Much discussion has taken place since the publication of The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative in 1974, and his work continues to generate intense debate among his proponents, critics, and sympathetic observers. One of the key questions in this conversation is whether Frei’s work signals a sectarian flight from the public world at large to a private enclave in the intratextual world of biblical narrative. Unfortunately, his critics have misinterpreted his thought and failed to recognize that the notion of the public is a pivotal feature of his theology. Therefore, the aim of this book is to debunk common misunderstandings of his project by showing that Frei maintains a sustained and robust commitment to the public world. This book demonstrates the public character of Frei’s thought by examining the major foci of his work, theological hermeneutics, Christology, ecclesiology, and theological method. It begins with an introductory chapter on postliberal theology with special attention to the criticism of sectarianism, followed by a study of Frei’s constructive proposals in relation to the church, society, and academy.
Download or read book Jesus Transcendence and Generosity written by Tim Boniface and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-03-02 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary scholars aiming to articulate a ‘middle way’ between fundamentalism and liberalism regularly draw upon HansFrei and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, yet they are rarely brought together on this question, if at all. Here, Tim Boniface highlights the promise of reading them together, proposing especially that a discussion of Jesus’ transcendence derived from their responses to modernity is an effective locus for considering their combined contribution to a ‘middle way’ discussion. Having outlined a rationale for a theology of Christological transcendence, this work describes in detail how both Frei and Bonhoeffer point towards a nuanced approach to the transcendence of Jesus—especially in terms of the importance of articulating that transcendence at the level of the ‘unsubstitutable historical particularity’ of Christ in the cultural-linguistic setting of the Christian community (Frei) and the impact of a theologia crucis and a participatory cosmic Christology on such thinking (Bonhoeffer). Offering a unique summary of the key ways in which the two theologians’ works mutually critique and strengthen one another, Boniface then articulates a pneumatological emphasis lacking in both Frei and Bonhoeffer, stressing the supreme generosity of God at the heart of what it means to say that Jesus transcends.
Download or read book Strength of Mind written by Jacob L. Goodson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-19 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Higher education in the twenty-first century should bring together freedom and knowledge with courage and hope. Why these four concepts? As Goodson argues in Strength of Mind, higher education in the twenty-first century offers preparation for ordinary life. Freedom and knowledge serve as the conditions for cultivating courage and hope within one's ordinary life. More specifically, courage and hope ought to be understood as the virtues required for enjoying ordinary life. If college-educated citizens wish to hold onto the concepts of courage and hope, however, then both courage and hope need to be understood as intellectual virtues. As a moral virtue, courage has become outdated. As a theological virtue, hope violates the logic of the golden mean. Focusing on intellectual virtues also requires shifting from moral perfectionism to rational perfectionism. Rational perfectionism involves keeping impossible demands in view for oneself while constantly and continually striving for one's "unattained but attainable self." Goodson defends these arguments by learning from the bits of wisdom found within American Transcendentalism (Emerson, Cavell), German Idealism (Kant, Hegel), Jewish philosophy (Maimonides, Spinoza, Putnam), neo-pragmatism (Putnam, Rorty, West), post-modern theories about pedagogy (Nietzsche, Foucault, Rorty), and secular accounts of perfectionism (Murdoch, Cavell).
Download or read book The Promise of Robert W Jenson s Theology written by Stephen John Wright and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North America has rarely produced a theologian as creative and productive as Robert W. Jenson. A truly ecumenical thinker, Jenson consistently demonstrates the way that the church’s confession of the triune God of scripture restructures Christian thinking. Jenson’s work on the nature of theology has focused on the category of “promise”: a way with language that opens up new possibilities. At the heart of Jenson’s theology of the gospel is the conviction that, in Christ, God discloses a word of pure promise to us, enabling new patterns of life. Just as the gospel opens up new ways of living, good theology unfolds into new interpretations and articulations. Engaging Jenson’s work across vital areas, this volume lays out the contours and key contributions of Jenson’s thought for modern Christology, theological interpretation of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity in light of the recent Trinitarian revival, and ecumenical theological relations. This volume gathers together essays by some of contemporary theology’s most capable thinkers, such as Oliver Crisp, Stephen Holmes, Joseph Mangina, Peter Leithart, Telford Work, Eugene Rogers, R. Kendall Soulen, and Peter Ochs, to examine the ways in which Jenson’s own theology functions as “promise,” enabling further theological visions and articulations.
Download or read book Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism written by Jacob L. Goodson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-08-01 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prophetic pragmatism is a gritty philosophical framework that undergirds the intellectual and political work done by those who seek to overcome despair, dogmatism, and oppression. It seeks to unite one’s intellectual vocation and one’s duty to fight for justice. Cognizant of the ways in which political forces affect thought, while also requiring political action to not be so sure of itself that it simply replaces one oppressive structure with another, prophetic pragmatism requires a critical temper through the mode of Socratic questioning. Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism argues that hope lies between critical temper and democratic faith. Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope open a space for democratic energies to flourish against the forces of nihilism and poverty. Critical temper keeps democratic faith from becoming too idealistic and Pollyannaish, and democratic faith keeps critical temper from being pessimistic about the ability to change current realities. These twin pillars provide the best and most helpful framework for understanding the nature and purpose of prophetic pragmatism. Through their dialogue, Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott demonstrate why prophetic pragmatism is, in the words of Cornel West, “pragmatism at its best.”
Download or read book The Work of Theology written by Stanley Hauerwas and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Secularism written by Phil Zuckerman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 793 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As recent headlines reveal, conflicts and debates around the world increasingly involve secularism. National borders and traditional religions cannot keep people in tidy boxes as political struggles, doctrinal divergences, and demographic trends are sweeping across regions and entire continents. And secularity is increasing in society, with a growing number of people in many regions having no religious affiliation or lacking interest in religion. Simultaneously, there is a resurgence of religious participation in the politics of many countries. How might these diverse phenomena be better understood? Long-reigning theories about the pace of secularization and ideal church-state relations are under invigorated scrutiny by scholars studying secularism with new questions, better data, and fresh perspectives. The Oxford Handbook of Secularism offers a wide-ranging and in-depth examination of this global conversation, bringing together the views of an international collection of prominent experts in their respective fields. This is the essential volume for comprehending the core issues and methodological approaches to the demographics and sociology of secularity; the history and variety of political secularisms; the comparison of constitutional secularisms across many countries from America to Asia; the key problems now convulsing church-state relations; the intersections of liberalism, multiculturalism, and religion; the latest psychological research into secular lives and lifestyles; and the naturalistic and humanistic worldviews available to nonreligious people.
Download or read book Religion without Violence written by Peter Ochs and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-11-18 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1992, Peter Ochs and a few Christian and Muslim colleagues began to gather small groups, in and outside the classroom, to practice close and attentive reading of the sacred Scriptures of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions. The hope was that members of different religions could hear one another through the patient, respectful reading of each other's Scripture. Hearing each other, participants might enter into interreligious relationships that might point a way to the peaceful engagement of religions--especially those who, after September 11, 2001, too often found themselves at each other's throats. It was a hope for religion without violence. Nearly thirty years later, this practice of study-across-difference has seeded an international movement, now named Scriptural Reasoning. The movement nurtures cooperative study among students, scholars, and congregants devoted to distinctly different religious and value traditions. In Religion without Violence, Ochs reflects on the practical and philosophic lessons he has learned from hosting hundreds of Scriptural Reasoning engagements. He introduces the "scriptural pragmatism" of Scriptural Reasoning." He painstakingly recounts instances of successful scriptural reasoning and warns where and how it might fail. He provides guidance on how to introduce and facilitate Scriptural Reasoning in the classroom. He shows how reading out of the "hearth" of a faith can contribute to peace building across religions. And, drawing on the resources of rabbinic tradition, Augustine, and Charles Peirce, he moves beyond practice to reflect on the implications of Scriptural Reasoning for discerning what kinds of "reasoning" best address and help repair societal crises like religion-related violent conflict.
Download or read book The Philosopher s Playground written by Jacob L. Goodson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its inception in 1994, scriptural reasoning has been practiced by academics and religious laypeople on an international scale. Scriptural reasoning is an activity or practice where Jews, Christians, and Muslims read and study together short passages from their traditionally sacred texts. In this book, Jacob L. Goodson describes this activity by giving a tour through modern philosophy and showing how certain arguments, ideas, and theories from modern philosophers help make sense of this inter-religious practice. According to Goodson, one of the most interesting aspects of the practice of scriptural reasoning concerns how its driven by a tension between pragmatism and semiotics—what he calls purposefulness (pragmatism) vs. playfulness (semiotics) throughout the book. Can inter-religious practices only be playful, in terms of an academic “leisure activity”? Or do inter-religious practices need to strive toward a greater end or even a higher purpose, such as peace-making among the Abrahamic faiths or inter-religious friendships? In each individual chapter, Goodson explores this tension within the practice of scriptural reasoning. Utilizing Immanuel Kant’s deontology, Goodson concludes by demonstrating how the practice of scriptural reasoning might work if only two rules are in place while participating in it.
Download or read book Pro Ecclesia Vol 24 N1 written by Joseph Mangina, Associate Professor of Theology & Director of Advanced Degree Studies, Wycliffe College, Toronto and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-03-09 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pro Ecclesia is a quarterly journal of theology published by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology.
Download or read book American Aesthetics written by Walter B. Gulick and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2020-05-01 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there are distinctly American artists—Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Grandma Moses, Thomas Hart Benton, and Andy Warhol, for example—very little attention has been devoted to formulating any distinctively American characteristics of aesthetic judgment and practice. This volume takes a step in this direction, presenting an introductory essay on the possibility of such a distinctly American tradition, and a collection of essays exploring particular examples from a variety of angles. Some of the essays in this collection extend pragmatist and process insights about the important place aesthetics has in molding and assessing experience. Other essays examine the place of American aesthetics in relation to such particular forms of art as painting, literature, music, and film. Three essays attend to the aesthetic aspects of a flourishing life. In each of the essays, American aesthetics is understood to arise out of deeply felt personal, historical, and cultural backgrounds. Consequently, not only are such relatively abstract notions as harmony, fit, elegance, proportion, and the like involved in aesthetic judgment, but also religious, political, and social factors become embroiled in aesthetic discernment. Thus the ongoing pattern of American aesthetics is shown to be distinguishable from such other varieties of aesthetic thought as analytic aesthetics, New Criticism, and postmodern approaches to aesthetics.
