"The lectures--and this book--are intended only for those who are inclined to feel a 'concern' for the present crisis of Society and of the Church. The aim is missed if the hearer or reader retains the aloof attitude of a spectator, and does not come to realize that the crisis is his personal concern, the crisis of the individual." --From the preface
"The lectures--and this book--are intended only for those who are inclined to feel a 'concern' for the present crisis of Society and of the Church. The aim is missed if the hearer or reader retains the aloof attitude of a spectator, and does not come to realize that the crisis is his personal concern, the crisis of the individual." --From the preface
In this thoughtful study, respected Old Testament scholar Patricia K. Tull explores the Scriptures for guidance on today's ecological crisis. Tull looks to the Bible for what it can tell us about our relationships, not just to the earth itself, but also to plant and animal life, to each other, to descendants who will inherit the planet from us, and to our Creator. She offers candid discussions on many current ecological problems that humans contribute to, such as the overuse of energy resources like gas and electricity, consumerism, food production systems--including land use and factory farming--and toxic waste. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and a practical exercise, making it ideal for both group and individual study. This important book provides a biblical basis for thinking about our world differently and prompts us to consider changing our own actions. Visit inhabitingeden.org for links to additional resources and information.
The Bible is full of images of God caring for his creation in all its complexity. Yet experts warn us that a so-called perfect storm of factors threatens the future of life on earth. The authors assess the evidence for climate change and other threats that our planet faces in the coming decades while pointing to the hope God offers the world and the people he made.
As we are faced with recurring crises--financial, migration, climate, etc.--there is a need to reconsider public theology as both a practice and a field of study. By discussing public statements made by Christians faced with different kinds of crisis, this book contributes to the development and understanding of public theology. The public statements addressed are three kairos documents: The Kairos Document from South Africa in the mid-1980s; The Road to Damascus document from authors in developing countries, issued in 1989; and the Palestinian Kairos Document from 2009. The discussion is structured around three problems of public theology: social analysis, politics and ethics, and language and voice. Fretheim suggests a constructionist understanding of public theology--a public theology that interrupts current debates and expands the imagination of the public sphere. As public theology is concerned with public life and social issues, Interruption and Imagination will be of interest to scholars and students of theology, political science, sociology, and religious studies, as well as practitioners, policymakers, and professionals in the public sector, civil society, churches, and Christian organizations. ""A timely contribution to public theology: constructing theology with its response to environmental, moral, and political conditions of the day, challenging public debate from theological perspectives, and enhancing Christian public responsibility, particularly in the glocal public sphere. It demonstrates the necessity and significance of theological voice in public issues, not only in reflection and statement, but also in practical action, including under unjust circumstances. Indeed, theology makes a difference to our common world."" --Zhibin Xie, Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics, Tongji University, Shanghai; author of Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China ""Fretheim's work shows how an imaginative public theology might fashion a constructive Christian engagement with contemporary issues in service to the common good. Anyone interested in what public theology is, and what inspiration it might offer in times of crisis, should read this book."" --David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago ""Fretheim provides an excellent examination of how public theology can be a facilitator of sociopolitical transformation in a time of crisis. This volume critically discusses public theology by exploring the key implications of the Kairos Document. Fretheim argues that to do public theology is to seek interruption through thought-provoking perspectives and to create imagination of the public sphere by expanding its boundaries across academic disciplines. This volume is a must-read for students and scholars of theology, sociology, ethics, and political sciences."" --Sebastian Kim, Professor; Chair in Theology and Public Life, School of Humanities, Religion and Philosophy, York St. John University Kjetil Fretheim is Professor of Ethics and Diaconal Studies at MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo.
Kierkegaard has always enjoyed a rich reception in the fields of theology and religious studies. This reception might seem obvious given that he is one of the most important Christian writers of the nineteenth century, but Kierkegaard was by no means a straightforward theologian in any traditional sense. He had no enduring interest in some of the main fields of theology such as church history or biblical studies, and he was strikingly silent on many key Christian dogmas. Moreover, he harbored a degree of animosity towards the university theologians and churchmen of his own day. Despite this, he has been a source of inspiration for numerous religious writers from different denominations and traditions. Tome I is dedicated to the reception of Kierkegaard among German Protestant theologians and religious thinkers. The writings of some of these figures turned out to be instrumental for Kierkegaard's breakthrough internationally shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. Leading figures of the movement of 'dialectical theology' such as Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Paul Tillich and Rudolf Bultmann spawned a steadily growing awareness of and interest in Kierkegaard's thought among generations of German theology students. Emanuel Hirsch was greatly influenced by Kierkegaard and proved instrumental in disseminating his thought by producing the first complete German edition of Kierkegaard's published works. Both Barth and Hirsch established unique ways of reading and appropriating Kierkegaard, which to a certain degree determined the direction and course of Kierkegaard studies right up to our own times.
Walter W. Bryden was Principal of Knox College, Toronto, after the Second World War, and one of the leading Presbyterian theologians of the period from the 1920s to the 1950s. In The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden, John Vissers makes an important contribution by analysing Bryden's thought, placing it in the context of contemporary European and American theology. Vissers emphasises in particular Bryden's role in introducing and popularising the ideas of Karl Barth in North America prior to the translation of Barth's Commentary on Romans into English, and his Neo-Orthodox theology owed much to Barthian ideas. In his most important work, The Christian's Knowledge of God, Bryden challenged the modernist emphasis on the rational, arguing for a Christocentric doctrine of Revelation. Vissers brings a wealth of scholarship and research to his subject, revealing Bryden's pivotal role in the development of neo-orthodoxy within the Protestant tradition in North America, a role that previous studies have often failed to explore.
"As Cotkin shows, not only did Americans readily take to existentialism, but they were already heirs to a rich tradition of thinkers - from Jonathan Edwards and Herman Melville to Emily Dickinson and William James - who had wrestled with the problems of existence and the contingency of the world long before Sartre and his colleagues. After introducing the concept of an American existential tradition, Cotkin examines how formal existentialism first arrived in America in the 1930s through discussion of Kierkegaard and the early vogue among New York intellectuals for the works of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus.
