Douglas Sharp explores the theoretical constructions of race, including its psychological, sociopolitical and socioeconomic dimensions. Finally Sharp carefully weaves a theological model of racial reconciliation for a new humanity.
If people in the early church had driven cars, "God shows no partiality" would have been on their bumper stickers. It was a well-known principle that led the church to include Gentiles, eunuchs, foreigners, women, and children within its community life. This slogan shows up in multiple books of the New Testament, yet it remains unfamiliar to most Christians today. Our failure to remember this slogan that once made the church so dynamic has warped Christian theology. What would happen if we reclaimed it as a slogan with which to address racism, homophobia, and religious exclusivism? This book makes the case for a different understanding of what "Lordship" means when talking about an impartial God. By looking at the conflicts of the past, it points the way to a hopeful future.
We are partial to people with whom we share special relationships--if someone is your child, parent, or friend, you wouldn't treat them as you would a stranger. But is partiality justified, and if so, why? Partiality presents a theory of the reasons supporting special treatment within special relationships and explores the vexing problem of how we might reconcile the moral value of these relationships with competing claims of impartial morality. Simon Keller explains that in order to understand why we give special treatment to our family and friends, we need to understand how people come to matter in their own rights. Keller first presents two main accounts of partiality: the projects view, on which reasons of partiality arise from the place that people take within our lives and our commitments, and the relationships view, on which relationships themselves contain fundamental value or reason-giving force. Keller then argues that neither view is satisfactory because neither captures the experience of acting well within special relationships. Instead, Keller defends the individuals view, on which reasons of partiality arise from the value of the individuals with whom our relationships are shared. He defends this view by saying that we must accept that two people, whether friend or stranger, can have the same value, even as their value makes different demands upon people with whom they share different relationships. Keller explores the implications of this claim within a wider understanding of morality and our relationships with groups, institutions, and countries.
The revered Christian author whose bestselling classics include The Divine Conspiracy and The Spirit of the Disciplines provides a new model for how we can present the Christian faith to others. When Christians share their faith, they often appeal to reason, logic, and the truth of doctrine. But these tactics often are not effective. A better approach to spread Christ’s word, Dallas Willard suggests, is to use the example of our own lives. To demonstrate Jesus’s message, we must be transformed people living out a life reflective of Jesus himself, a life of love, humility, and gentleness. This beautiful model of life—this allure of gentleness—Willard argues, is the foundation for making the most compelling argument for Christianity, one that will convince others that there is something special about Christianity and the Jesus we follow.
The Acts of the Apostles—or the Acts of the Ascended Lord—is part two of Luke's story of "all that Jesus began to do and teach." In this ACCS volume, substantial selections from John Chrysostom and Bede the Venerable appear with occasional excerpts from Arator alongside many excerpts from the fragments preserved in J. A. Cramer's Catena in Acta SS. Apostolorum.
Bryan approaches St. Paul's letter to the Romans with a number of aims in view. First, he wants to show which literary type or genre would have been seen by Paul's contemporaries as being exemplified in the letter. He also attempts to determine what we can surmise of Paul's attitude and approach to the Jewish bible. The study involves discussion of and comparison with other literature from Paul's time, place and milieu --- including other writings attributed to Paul.