Ian Fraser entered industry in 1942 as the first of what became a worker-priest/pastor movement. This book's underlying conviction is that just as ministry belongs to more than just the clergy, so does the task of theologising belong to all and not just t
Ian Fraser entered industry in 1942 as the first of what became a worker-priest/pastor movement. This book's underlying conviction is that just as ministry belongs to more than just the clergy, so does the task of theologising belong to all and not just t
The first comprehensive examination of the Catholic Church's role in the genocide against the Tutsi and its attempts at reconciliation From April to July 1994, more than a million people were killed during the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Tutsi men, women, and children were slaughtered by Hutu extremists in churches and school buildings, and their lifeless bodies were left rotting in these sacred places under the deep silence of church authorities. Pope Francis's apology more than twenty years later presents the opportunity to reimagine the essence of the Church, the missionary enterprise, theology in its multiple dimensions, the purification of memory, and the place of human dignity in the Catholic faith. Reinventing Theology in Post-Genocide Rwanda critically examines the Church's responsibility in Rwanda's tragic history and opens the dialogue to construct a new theology. Contributors to this volume offer moving personal testimonies of their journeys to reconciling the evil that has marred the Church's image: bystanders' indifference to the suffering, despite their claim as members of the Church. The first volume of its kind, Reinventing Theology in Post-Genocide Rwanda is a necessary step toward the Rwandan Catholic Church and humanity's restoration of fundamental peace and lasting reconciliation. Catholic clergy, lay people, and human rights advocates will benefit from this examination of ecclesial moral failure and subsequent reconciliatory efforts.
Many of us, proponents and critics alike, commonly make assumptions about religion. We may presume that religion is mainly about having beliefs or being good, or that it is concerned with spiritual rather than material issues, or that religious ideas and practices are meant to be somehow timeless. Such views, Peter Moore argues, work only to obscure the truth that religion is essentially humanity’s quest to become fully human. This enlightening exposition questions our very understanding of faith and contends that religions should remain open to reinventing themselves, both practically and intellectually, rediscovering neglected traditions and finding new ways forward. Written with subtlety and passion, this book gets to the heart of ongoing debates about the validity and purpose of religion.
Through an exhaustive analysis of Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Roman, illuminating answers are given to the key questions about the teachings of Paul.
Consider the woven integrated complexity of a living cell after 3.8 billion years of evolution. Is it more awe-inspiring to suppose that a transcendent God fashioned the cell, or to consider that the living organism was created by the evolving biosphere? As the eminent complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman explains in this ambitious and groundbreaking new book, people who do not believe in God have largely lost their sense of the sacred and the deep human legitimacy of our inherited spirituality. For those who believe in a Creator God, no science will ever disprove that belief. In Reinventing the Sacred, Kauffman argues that the science of complexity provides a way to move beyond reductionist science to something new: a unified culture where we see God in the creativity of the universe, biosphere, and humanity. Kauffman explains that the ceaseless natural creativity of the world can be a profound source of meaning, wonder, and further grounding of our place in the universe. His theory carries with it a new ethic for an emerging civilization and a reinterpretation of the divine. He asserts that we are impelled by the imperative of life itself to live with faith and courage-and the fact that we do so is indeed sublime. Reinventing the Sacred will change the way we all think about the evolution of humanity, the universe, faith, and reason.
We all know what church is. Likewise we are provided with a supply of set notions for God, Christ and the Bible, which make up the stock-in trade equipment for both 'believer' and 'non-believer.' This study asks fundamental questions about all these from a relational perspective, attempting to illumine the faith quest by way of clues from the common realities of human interaction. In this it is the appropriate provisions of relationships, rather than the assent to doctrines, that forms the spiritual basis of community. Such a theology of relatedness is urgently needed. We must come out of our creedal closets to be part of a new diaspora. This demands a 'secret discipline' of servant relationship at work in that no-man's-land where there is space for all manner of secular saints and doctrinal devils to discover the possibilities of their togetherness - the secret service church, in odd places and often strange company.
Ian Fraser has been a prophet in our land - and far beyond - for the lifetimes of most of us. Here he reflects on the banking crisis and the world order, getting rid of war, Israel and Palestine, the USA and Cuba, fundamentalism, proselytism and evangelism, law and grace, the theology of fashion and much more.
This text is a comprehensive introduction to mission and ministry in the contemporary Church which enables students to prepare for ministry in a changing church within a changing world.