The Sword of the Lord
The Sword of the Lord

Author: Doris L. Bergen

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13:

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The Sword of the Lord is the first book to examine military chaplains and the development of the military chaplaincy across history and geography - from the first to the twenty-first century, from Europe to North America. The scope of this work reveals the astonishing fact that the military chaplaincy has existed in a recognizable form for more than 1600 years. Contributors analyze specific historical moments in the development of the chaplaincy, beginning in antiquity and progressing through the Crusades, the English Civil War, the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War. Four key themes connect the chapters of this book. The first is the basic issue of historical development over time. Where and when did the military chaplaincy begin and how has it changed? A second theme involves the emotionally and spiritually intense relationships that develop between chaplains and the men and women they serve. How have military chaplains dealt with the enormous responsibility of ministering to soldiers about to kill or possibly be killed? The third theme is that of chaplains' often precarious position between military and religious authorities. Are military chaplains primaril

Enlisting Faith
Enlisting Faith

Author: Ronit Y. Stahl

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0674981316

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A century ago, as the United States prepared to enter World War I, the military chaplaincy included only mainline Protestants and Catholics. Today it counts Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Christian Scientists, Buddhists, Seventh-day Adventists, Hindus, and evangelicals among its ranks. Enlisting Faith traces the uneven processes through which the military struggled with, encouraged, and regulated religious pluralism over the twentieth century. Moving from the battlefields of Europe to the jungles of Vietnam and between the forests of Civilian Conservation Corps camps and meetings in government offices, Ronit Y. Stahl reveals how the military borrowed from and battled religion. Just as the state relied on religion to sanction war and sanctify death, so too did religious groups seek recognition as American faiths. At times the state used religion to advance imperial goals. But religious citizens pushed back, challenging the state to uphold constitutional promises and moral standards. Despite the constitutional separation of church and state, the federal government authorized and managed religion in the military. The chaplaincy demonstrates how state leaders scrambled to handle the nation’s deep religious, racial, and political complexities. While officials debated which clergy could serve, what insignia they would wear, and what religions appeared on dog tags, chaplains led worship for a range of faiths, navigated questions of conscience, struggled with discrimination, and confronted untimely death. Enlisting Faith is a vivid portrayal of religious encounters, state regulation, and the trials of faith—in God and country—experienced by the millions of Americans who fought in and with the armed forces.

Military Chaplains and Religious Diversity
Military Chaplains and Religious Diversity

Author: Kim Philip Hansen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-09-25

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1137025166

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Based on extensive in-depth interviews with more than thirty active duty chaplains regarding their successes, failures and conflicts, the book is about the way military chaplains handle religious diversity among the enlisted they serve and within their own corps.

Religion in Uniform
Religion in Uniform

Author: Edward Waggoner

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-10-03

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1498596169

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Religion in Uniform argues powerfully that Americans must reform their military’s chaplaincy. Americans fund this public project to serve all persons in the armed forces, but the chaplaincy currently fails to do so. Waggoner shows that Americans’ support for keeping chaplain positions in the military has always rested on a mix of political, military, and religious rationales that continue to evolve. He argues political, military, and theological reasons to eradicate bias, gender discrimination and sexual violence in the chaplain corps and to stop the use of chaplains in strategic roles abroad. Acknowledging that Christian groups are providing the strongest support for the chaplaincy’s status quo, Waggoner contests the specific theological claims that underwrite their policies. He launches a new, critical and constructive discussion about US military religion for the twenty-first century.

Serving God and Country
Serving God and Country

Author: Lyle W. Dorsett

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2013-05-07

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0425253554

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In World War II, more than twelve thousand Protestant ministers, Catholic priests, and Jewish rabbis joined the Chaplain Corps. They were men of faith under fire. And they would charge straight into Hell to save the soul of a single soldier… Representing America’s three major religious traditions, volunteers from across the country enlisted as noncombatant commissioned officers to provide spiritual strength and guidance for those fighting men who never knew if they were going to survive. Armed only with Bibles, Torahs, and the tools of their holy trade, these men of God went wherever the troops went. They prayed over men about to go into combat on land, at sea, and in the air. And, most important and difficult of all, they guided fallen fighting men of every faith as they breathed their last, and gave up their lives in the fight against tyranny. These are the personal stories of some of the bravest and most selfless men who served with the armed forces. Many lost their lives or suffered debilitating wounds as they strived to keep the military personnel spiritually awake, morally fit—and prepared to make the journey from this world to the next without fear or despair, and with the trust of the Almighty in their hearts. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Faith Under Fire
Faith Under Fire

Author: Roger Benimoff

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2010-03-02

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0307408825

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“Running away from God doesn’t work. I had tried.” —Roger Benimoff As he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God...He is my hope, strength, and focus. But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job–the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions “outside the wire” while under enemy fire–began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he’d always relied on to hold him up–his faith in God–begin to crumble. Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak. Benimoff’s spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened to shatter the family. He was assigned to work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he counseled returning soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder–until he was diagnosed himself with PTSD. Finding himself in the role of patient rather than caregiver, connecting as an equal with his fellow sufferers, and revisiting scriptural readings that once again rang with meaning and truth, he began his most decisive battle: for the love of his family and for the chance to once again open his heart to the healing grace of God. Intimate and powerful, drawing on Benimoff’s and his wife’s journals, Faith Under Fire chronicles a spiritual struggle through war, loss, and the hard process of learning to believe again.

German Military Chaplains in World War II
German Military Chaplains in World War II

Author: Mark Hayden

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9780764321566

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Amidst the many books written over the years about the Third Reich and German militaria, one subject has been largely overlooked the subject of German military chaplains in World War II. Combining a large number of period photographs from private collections and photographs of chaplain items in collections around the world, Mark Hayden examines the moral dilemma of being a priest in Hitlers Germany and the duties and obligations of the German military chaplain. He also delves into the vast array of uniforms, insignia and awards of the German and Axis chaplains of World War II.

Serving Two Masters
Serving Two Masters

Author: Richard M. Budd

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2020-05-26

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1496203682

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Chaplain Richard M. Budd has made a welcome, concise, well written and researched contribution to an overlooked chapter in chaplain history. Anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of how the professional and fully institutionalized chaplaincy of today's military came about would do well by consulting Budd's book." --Bradley L. Carter, On Point. Military chaplains have a long and distinguished tradition in the United States, but historians have typically ignored their vital role in ministering to the needs of soldiers and sailors. Richard M. Budd corrects this omission with a thoughtful history of the chaplains who sought to create a viable institutional structure for themselves within the U.S. Army and Navy that would best enable them to minister to the fighting men. Despite the chaplaincy's long history of accompanying American armies into battle, there has never been consensus on its role within the military, among the churches, or even among chaplains themselves. Each of these constituencies has had its own vision for chaplains, and these ideas have evolved with changing social conditions and military growth. Moreover, chaplains, acting as members of one profession operating within the specific environment of another, raised questions of whether they could or should integrate themselves into the military. In effect they had to learn to serve two institutional masters, the church and the government, simultaneously. Budd provides a history of the struggle of chaplains to professionalize their ranks and to obtain a significant measure of autonomy within the military's bureaucratic structure--always with the ultimate goal of more efficiently bringing their spiritual message to the troops.

Military Ministry
Military Ministry

Author: Paul E. Linzey

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-05-09

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1666735930

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The church is called to provide clergy for the military. Seminaries educate and prepare students. But there are complexities, controversies, and criticisms. Many seminary and college professors have no experience in the military. Understanding these dilemmas, Paul Linzey and Keith Travis created a much-needed resource. They both have mentored hundreds of chaplains, pastors, and ministerial students. The result is a comprehensive book about serving as a military chaplain in the twenty-first century. Drawing from their experience as chaplain, professor, endorsing agent, and chief of Army chaplain recruiting, they provide a professional resource for anyone interested in ministry to people in the military. Their records, qualifications, and expertise combine to provide a comprehensive, passionate, and authoritative look at serving as a chaplain in today’s military. The book is well-researched, true to real life, and up-to-date. It is unparalleled in scope.