Theology And Social

In the New York Times bestseller An Altar in the World, acclaimed author Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey by building upon where she left off in Leaving Church. With the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and the spiritual depth of Anne Lamott (Grace, Eventually), Taylor shares how she learned to find God beyond the church walls by embracing the sacred as a natural part of everyday life. In An Altar in the World, Taylor shows us how to discover altars everywhere we go and in nearly everything we do as we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world we live in.

Difference can enrich us or tear us apart. Difference can make our lives stronger, fuller, and richer or it can destroy them. Therefore, how we engage difference matters. Conflicts between different peoples around the world, the movement of refugees from nation to nation, tensions over immigration, and growing diversity within our society bring difference to our doorstep daily. We can engage people who are different constructively and compassionately, or we can allow the fear of difference to distance us from others and to demonize them. At a time when racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious differences have created heightened tensions, we need more than ever to find our bearings. We need to re-examine what we think about difference.

Author Theodore "Ted" Hiebert re-examines the Bible's stories explaining difference and its beginnings in the book of Genesis, exposing the inclination to interpret these stories as a negative view of difference. These stories recognize difference as God's intention for the world, providing us with constructive resources of living with difference today. Hiebert starts with the story of "The Tower of Babel" and moves beyond it to examine how Genesis's writers saw their unique identity and role in the world not as separate from all others but as members of the human family of which they were a part. He presents how biblical characters lived with difference and how the first Christians embraced difference. Finally, he invites the reader into new conversations about our biblical traditions that reveal a respect for difference, a generosity toward others, a desire to include rather than exclude, and a continuing interest in negotiating difference in ways that build relationships rather than destroy them.

Praise for The Beginning of Difference

"At a time of increasing diversity in American society, polarized social and political discourse, and heightened suspicions about 'the other, ' Theodore Hiebert provides this much-needed and accessible study of biblical notions of difference. His readings of texts from Genesis and Acts challenge long-standing interpretations that assume and perpetuate fear of difference and urge instead the recognition, negotiation, and celebration of human identities and differences as divine gifts. The result is an ancient and compelling call for openness, realism, empathy, and generosity with one another for the survival and flourishing of all."--Christine Roy Yoder, J. McDowell Richards Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA

"Ted Hiebert teaches a better way about diversity from the very inception of scripture. He sets forth his interpretation of Genesis and Acts extensively and compellingly. Hiebert repeatedly demonstrates that old, sectarian interpretations of Genesis are not coterminous with the book called 'The Beginning'--a book that showcases the God-ordained and God-blessed difference that relates all of us to one another."--Brent A. Strawn, professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC

Sustainability is about contributing to a society that everybody benefits from, not just going organic because you don't want to die from cancer or have a difficult pregnancy. What is a sustainable restaurant? It's one in which as the restaurant grows, the people grow with it.--from Behind the Kitchen DoorHow do restaurant workers live on some of the lowest wages in America? And how do poor working conditions--discriminatory labor practices, exploitation, and unsanitary kitchens--affect the meals that arrive at our restaurant tables? Saru Jayaraman, who launched the national restaurant workers' organization Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, sets out to answer these questions by following the lives of restaurant workers in New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Detroit, and New Orleans.Blending personal narrative and investigative journalism, Jayaraman shows us that the quality of the food that arrives at our restaurant tables depends not only on the sourcing of the ingredients. Our meals benefit from the attention and skill of the people who chop, grill, sauté, and serve. Behind the Kitchen Door is a groundbreaking exploration of the political, economic, and moral implications of dining out. Jayaraman focuses on the stories of individuals, like Daniel, who grew up on a farm in Ecuador and sought to improve the conditions for employees at Del Posto; the treatment of workers behind the scenes belied the high-toned Slow Food ethic on display in the front of the house.Increasingly, Americans are choosing to dine at restaurants that offer organic, fair-trade, and free-range ingredients for reasons of both health and ethics. Yet few of these diners are aware of the working conditions at the restaurants themselves. But whether you eat haute cuisine or fast food, the well-being of restaurant workers is a pressing concern, affecting our health and safety, local economies, and the life of our communities. Highlighting the roles of the 10 million people, many immigrants, many people of color, who bring their passion, tenacity, and vision to the American dining experience, Jayaraman sets out a bold agenda to raise the living standards of the nation's second-largest private sector workforce--and ensure that dining out is a positive experience on both sides of the kitchen door.

Christian Doctrine has introduced thousands of laity, students, and theologians to the tenets of the Christian faith. This edition reflects changes in the church and society since the publication of the first edition and takes into account new works in Reformed theology, gender references in the Bible, racism, pluralism, ecological developments, and liberation theologies.

NEW FOREWORD BY ERIC METAXAS

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century, illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus in this classic book on living as a Christian.

Dreamers is a movement book for the generation brought to the United States as children--and now fighting to live here legally

Of the approximately twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, as many as two million came as children. They grow up here, going to elementary, middle, and high school, and then the country they call home won't--in most states--offer financial aid for college and they're unable to be legally employed. In 2001, US senator Dick Durbin introduced the DREAM Act to Congress, an initiative that would allow these young people to become legal residents if they met certain requirements.

And now, more than ten years later, in the face of congressional inertia and furious opposition from some, the DREAM Act has yet to be passed. But recently, this young generation has begun organizing, and with their rallying cry "Undocumented, Unapologetic, and Unafraid" they are the newest face of the human rights movement. In Dreamers, Eileen Truax illuminates the stories of these men and women who are living proof of a complex and sometimes hidden political reality that calls into question what it truly means to be American.

Book by Knight, Henry H., III

Historians have noted the connections between the Wesleyan Methodist movement that began in the eighteenth century, the emergence of African American Methodist traditions and an interdenominational Holiness movement in the nineteenth century, and the birth of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century. This volume, written by historians, theologians, and pastors, builds on that earlier work. The contributors present a diverse array of key figures-denominational leaders and mavericks, institutional loyalists and come--outers, clergy and laity--who embodied these movements. The authors show that in spite of their differing historical and cultural contexts, these movements constitute a distinct theological family whose confident and expectant faith in the transforming power of God has significant implications for the renewal of the contemporary church and its faithfulness to God's mission in the world today.

Contributors
Corky Alexander
Estrelda Alexander
Kimberly Ervin Alexander
Leslie D. Callahan
Barry L. Callen
Douglas R. Cullum
Dennis C. Dickerson
D. William Faupel
Philip Hamner
David Aaron Johnson
J. C. Kelley
Henry H. Knight III
William C. Kostlevy
Diane K. Leclerc
Joshua J. McMullen
Rodney McNeall
Stephen W. Rankin
Harold E. Raser
Douglas M. Strong
Matthew K. Thompson
Wallace Thornton Jr.
L. F. Thuston
Arlene Sanchez Walsh
Steven J. Land
Laura Guy
John H. Wigger

"This remarkable book fills a gap in contemporary understandings of American--even global--Christianity. Scholars such as Vinson Synan and Donald Dayton have shown the genetic kinship of Wesleyan, Holiness, and Pentecostal Christianity; this book fills in the picture. With sensitivity to cultural, gender, and racial dynamics, the book offers essential historical and theological insights. Biographical studies of key leaders add flesh and blood to the account. The book is accessible to general readers, not demanding specialized knowledge of the movements covered."
--Howard A. Snyder
Professor of Wesley Studies
Tyndale Seminary, Ontario

"This is an absolutely terrific volume. It provides a whole new angle of vision--historical, theological, and pastoral--for looking again at the legacy of Wesley; it raises searching questions for the future of the Wesleyan and Pentecostal traditions which urgently demand attention; and its potential for breathing new life and hope into the contemporary church is enormous."
--William J. Abraham
Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies
Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

"From Aldersgate to Azusa Street is a panoramic survey of the lives and times of Wesley and his descendents once and twice-removed. The result is a fascinating biographical history of the emergence of world Christianity. The important contributions of these men and women make this an essential text for teachers and students of Wesleyan, Holiness, and Pentecostal movements.
--Amos Yong
J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology
Regent University

"Contrary to many convoluted texts, this remarkably readable book uses a narrative approach to embody the primary teachings and ministries defining the Wesleyan family. It focuses on leaders who have engaged in the quest for holiness from Aldersgate to Asuza. Helpful charts clearly highlight the branches and leaders of the Wesleyan family tree. For those seeking renewal of persons, church, and society, this is a must read!"
--Susie C. Stanley
Professor of Historical Theology
Messiah College

Henry H. Knight III is Donald and Pearl Wright Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of five books, including The Presence of God in the Christian Life (1992) and A Future for Truth (1997).

"God’s Welcome" is a different kind of how-to book on hospitality, one that studies the stories of God’s welcome and takes seriously the culture of hostility that sometimes masquerades as Christianity. Gather your small group or leadership group (discussion guide included in the book) and dig into the important work of gospel hospitality.

When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation with over 300,000 copies in print. This stand-alone resource applies the principles of that book specifically to short-term missions.

Helping Without Hurting in Short-Term Missions: Participant's Guide aims to train and debrief team members, preparing them to do short-term missions as effectively as possible. To do this, it provides practical examples and guidelines for team members, and it creates interaction and reflection opportunities through questions and journaling.

With eight units, six of which are built around free online video content, this book equips teams to avoid harming materially poor communities and to translate their experience into lasting and mutual engagement with missions and poverty alleviation. In conjunction with the separately available Leader's Guide, it is an ideal resource for churches, Christian colleges, mission agencies, and missionaries.

Whether a parent or pastor, child advocate or Christian educator, professional or volunteer working with children, we yearn for both comfort and challenge, vision and validation, hope and help as we seek to make a difference in the lives of children.

In Hope for the Future, Shannon Daley-Harris draws from her twenty-four years of work with the Children's Defense Fund to offer twelve meditations for those working to create a better world for our children. Each meditation focuses on passages of Scripture and weaves together moving stories of children, startling statistics about the challenges facing children, and inspiring examples from other movements and faithful leaders that came before us. Questions for faithful response after each meditation will prompt further reflection and action.

This inspirational book can be used as a devotional, in Bible study discussion, or during a social action committee's discernment.

In 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' Martin Luther King Jr. explains why blacks can no longer be victims of inequality. Also features King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered to 250,000 civil rights marchers in 196

An Invisible Thread tells of the life-long friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness.

Stopping was never part of the plan...

She was a successful ad sales rep in Manhattan. He was a homeless, eleven-year-old panhandler on the street. He asked for spare change; she kept walking. But then something stopped her in her tracks, and she went back. And she continued to go back, again and again. They met up nearly every week for years and built an unexpected, life-changing friendship that has today spanned almost three decades.

Whatever made me notice him on that street corner so many years ago is clearly something that cannot be extinguished, no matter how relentless the forces aligned against it. Some may call it spirit. Some may call it heart. It drew me to him, as if we were bound by some invisible, unbreakable thread. And whatever it is, it binds us still.

This volume in the popular Armchair series presents a short and reader-friendly introduction to the tumultuous life and theology of the fiery reformer John Knox. As leader of the Scottish Reformation, Knox notably came into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, particularly Queen Mary. He was also an outspoken advocate for education and care for the poor, and is widely regarded as the founder of the Church of Scotland. Each chapter includes a description of Knox's activities as well as a discussion of key texts that introduce Knox's theological convictions. Expertly written by Suzanne McDonald, and featuring witty illustrations from Ron Hill, this book offers an intriguing introduction to the life and work of this major theological figure.

A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST

"Extraordinary ... A sweeping history of the Palestinian-Israeli conundrum ... Highly readable and evocative." - The Washington Post

The tale of a simple act of faith between two young people, one Israeli and one Palestinian, that symbolizes the hope for peace in the Middle East - with an updated afterword by the author.

In 1967, Bashir Khairi, a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian, journeyed to Israel with the goal of seeing the beloved stone house with the lemon tree behind it that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family left fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next half century in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967. Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, demonstrating that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and transformation.

A Washington Post bestseller

While the world has made encouraging strides in the fight against global poverty, the hidden plague of everyday violence silently undermines our best efforts to help the poor. Common violence like rape, forced labor, illegal detention, land theft, and police abuse has become routine and relentless. And like a horde of locusts devouring everything in its path, the unchecked plague of violence ruins lives, blocks the road out of poverty, and undercuts development. How has this plague of violence grown so ferocious? In one of the most remarkable social disasters of the last half century, basic public justice systems in the developing world have descended into a state of utter collapse, and there's nothing shielding the poor from violent people.

Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros offer a searing account of how we got here and what it will take to end the plague. The Locust Effect is a gripping journey into the streets and slums where fear is a daily reality for billions of the world's
poorest, where safety is secured only for those with money, and where much of our well-intended aid is lost in the daily chaos of violence. While their call to action is urgent, Haugen and Boutros provide hope, a real solution and an ambitious way forward. The Locust Effect will forever change the way we understand global poverty,
and will help secure a safe path to prosperity for the global poor in the 21st century.

Mission trips have become a staple in youth ministries across the United States. The problem is many mission trips remain disconnected from the rest of a congregation's ministry. As a result, it's often difficult to integrate students' experiences on the field with their lives back home.

In this book, veteran youth worker and author, Jen Bradbury, will lay out a philosophy for mission trips that does just that: Connects what happens on the field with students' lives at home. To do so, she'll draw upon Scripture as well as stories from the 15 years she's spent leading mission trips herself, both domestically and internationally.

Regardless of how few or how many mission trips a youth worker has led, Jen's words will leave them feeling inspired and equipped to create a comprehensive missions strategy that has the chance to leave a lasting impact on teens, congregations, and the world.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable.

Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God. In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God, Keller takes his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity and uses the parable of the prodigal son to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation.

Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.

In this volume, senior scholars come together to explore how Jewish and African American experiences can make us think differently about the nexus of religion and politics, or political theology. Some wrestle with historical figures, such as William Shakespeare, W. E. B. Du Bois, Nazi journalist Wilhelm Stapel, and Austrian historian Otto Brunner. Others ponder what political theology can contribute to contemporary politics, particularly relating to Israel's complicated religious/racial/national identity and to the religious currents in African American politics. Race and Political Theology opens novel avenues for research in intellectual history, religious studies, political theory, and cultural studies, showing how timely questions about religion and politics must be reframed when race is taken into account.

2018 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalists - Multicultural

"I am a man torn in two. And the gospel I inherited is divided." Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove grew up in the Bible Belt in the American South as a faithful church-going Christian. But he gradually came to realize that the gospel his Christianity proclaimed was not good news for everybody. The same Christianity that sang, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound" also perpetuated racial injustice and white supremacy in the name of Jesus. His Christianity, he discovered, was the religion of the slaveholder. Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond. When the gospel is reconstructed, freedom rings for both individuals and society as a whole. Discover how Jesus continues to save us from ourselves and each other, to repair the breach and heal our land.

When we start with the wrong question, no matter how good an answer we get, it won't give us the results we want. Rather than joining the throngs who are asking, When will this economic crisis be over? Jim Wallis says the right question to ask is How will this crisis change us? The worst thing we can do now, Wallis tells us, is to go back to normal. Normal is what got us into this situation. We need a new normal, and this economic crisis is an invitation to discover what that means. Some of the principles Wallis unpacks for our new normal are . . .- Spending money we don't have for things we don't need is a bad foundation for an economy or a family.- It's time to stop keeping up with the Joneses and start making sure the Joneses are okay.- The values of commercials and billboards are not the things we want to teach our children.- Care for the poor is not just a moral duty but is critical for the common good.- A healthy society is a balanced society in which markets, the government, and our communities all play a role.- The operating principle of God's economy says that there is enough if we share it.- And much, much more . . .In the pages of this book, Wallis provides us with a moral compass for this new economy--one that will guide us on Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street.Embracing a New Economy Getting back to the way things were is not an option. It is time we take our economic uncertainty and use it to find some moral clarity. Too often we have been ruled by the maxims that greed is good, it's all about me, and I want it now. Those can be challenged only with some of our oldest and best values--enough is enough, we are in it together, and thinking not just for tomorrow but for future generations. Jim Wallis shows that the solution to our problems will be found only as individuals, families, friends, churches, mosques, synagogues, and entire communities wrestle with the question of values together.

In the midst of polarized communities and nations, religious leaders across the theological spectrum are seeking help with how to respond and lead in troubled times. The need for courage to speak out and act is ever-present, because every generation faces a new set of fears and troubles.

Author Ginger Gaines-Cirelli pastors a church in the heart of Washington DC, adjacent to the White House, which actively works to bring justice and help for marginalized communities, refugees and immigrants, and the endangered earth. She inspires and leads this work through preaching and by organizing and developing strong leaders, deeply rooted in a well-developed theological understanding. Pastoral warmth and compassion characterize the recommended practices. Sacred Resistance addresses these questions, among others: -When Christians see that something is wrong in our nation or community, how and when should we respond?
-When we see multiple instances of 'wrong', how do we choose which ones to address?
-How can pastors and other leaders faithfully take risks without violating relationships with the congregation or denomination?
-What historical, biblical, and theological safety nets can be relied on?
-How can we take care of ourselves and one another, so that our ministries and lives are sustained?

Before God touched his heart and transformed his life, Rudy Rasmus was a businessman running a "borderline bordello" in Houston. But thousands now know him simply as "Pastor Rudy"-with a downtown ministry at St. John's Church that he and his wife Juanita started to reach out to those who Jesus called "the least of these." TOUCH is the amazing story of Rudy's life and ministry of grace that is changing lives daily. The church has become one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country with people from every social and economic background, including the homeless, sharing the same pew. Pastor Rudy's message to touch the lives of those in our own communities has a lesson for us all. Pastor Rudy is also a featured contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine-answering questions on ethics and marking one of the few times O has asked a Pastor to serve in this manner.

The Dark Mountain Project began with a manifesto published in 2009 by two English writers--Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth--who felt that literature was not responding honestly to the crises of our time.

In a world in which the climate is being altered by human activities; in which global ecosystems are being destroyed by the advance of industrial civilisation; and in which the dominant economic and cultural assumptions of the West are visibly crumbling, Dark Mountain asked: where are the writers and the artists? Why are the mainstream cultural forms of our society still behaving as if this were the twentieth century--or even the nineteenth?

Dark Mountain's call for writers, thinkers and artists willing to face the depth of the mess we are in has made it a gathering point for a growing international network. Rooted in place, time and nature, their work finds a home in the pages of the Dark Mountain books, with two new volumes published every year.

Walking on Lava brings together the best of the first ten volumes, along with the original manifesto. This collection of essays, fiction, poetry, interviews and artwork introduces The Dark Mountain Project's groundbreaking work to a wider audience in search of 'the hope beyond hope, the paths which lead to the unknown world ahead of us.'

When the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the world lost one of the greatest moral authorities of the twentieth century. We would all benefit from hearing Martin's voice, if only he were alive today. . . .

If anyone would have insight into Martin's thoughts and opinions, it would be Clarence B. Jones, King's personal lawyer and one of his closest principal advisers and confidants. Removing the mythic distance of forty years' time to reveal the flesh-and-blood man he knew as his friend, Jones ponders what the outspoken civil rights leader would say about the serious issues that bedevil contemporary America: Islamic terrorism and the war in Iraq, reparations for slavery, anti-Semitism, affirmative action, illegal immigration, and the state of African American leadership.