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To be a follower of Jesus means to bear witness to the truth of God. In an age when so many contemporary voices portray faith as a form of personal therapy, Gene L. Davenport, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Lambuth University, has consistently reminded us in his own witness that the truth of the Gospel entails confrontation with the world that dwells in darkness. These essays in honor of Davenport address the meaning of witness in the face of racism, sexism, and religious bigotry, to name but some of the forms this darkness takes. The topics range from emerging forms of prayer to religious themes in cowboy music, from the work of white pastors in Mississippi during the growing Civil Rights Movement to the meaning of the Righteous Gentile in Jewish-Christian friendship.Contributors:D. Brent LaythamRandy CooperStanley HauerwasBilly VaughanJames T. LaneyKenneth L. CarderM. Douglas Meeks Phyllis TickleL. Edward PhillipsTex SampleCindy WesleyJoseph T. ReiffMargaret J. MeyerCharles Mayo

Despite a plurality of doctrinal statements on war, peace, and nonviolence, some United Methodists sustain a commitment to nonviolence. Through qualitative research, Practicing Discipleship draws out lived theologies of nonviolence in order to understand how nonviolent United Methodists define, ground, and practice nonviolence, and to give that voice opportunity to challenge church doctrine and thereby the wider church. An analysis of statements from the Book of Disciplines and the Book of Resolutions reveals the plurality of Methodist teachings on moral issues related to war and peace. While such plurality is indicative of the inclusive tradition of United Methodism, Johnson shows that it also causes confusion, thus hindering the vitality and authority of the church''s witness. This study''s qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with twelve nonviolent United Methodists reveals a lived theology rooted in Scripture and theological reflection: it points particularly to a christocentrism that posits nonviolence as central to Christ''s teachings and example. While study participants affirm the tradition of openness in the United Methodist Church, they also call for more tangible and extensive support for and education about nonviolence as a faithful option for Christians. Through amicable and constructive practical-theological dialogue, doctrinal plurality, and ecclesial openness are affirmed as appropriate and possible only within the context of the church''s profound commitment to serious discipleship, which includes transformation toward nonviolence. Implications of this interaction include developing and adopting a more truthful conception of a nonviolent ethics, moving toward broadly conceived Christian formation in nonviolence, and fostering ongoing ecclesial dialogue about difficult moral issues of war, peace, and nonviolence.

Wesleyans and Wesleyan theology have long been interested in the sciences. John Wesley kept abreast of scientific developments in his own day, and he engaged science in his theological construction. Divine Grace and Emerging Creation offers explorations by contemporary scholars into the themes and issues pertinent to contemporary science and Wesleyan Theology. In addition to groundbreaking research by leading Wesleyan theologians, Jurgen Moltmann contributes an essay. Moltmann''s work derives from his keynote address at the joint Wesleyan Theological Society and Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting on science and theology at Duke University. Other contributions address key contemporary themes in theology and science, including evolution, ecology, neurology, emergence theory, intelligent design, scientific and theological method, and biblical cosmology. John Wesley''s own approach to science, explored by many contributors, offers insights for how two of humanity''s central concerns--science and theology--can now be understood in fruitful and complementary ways.

Indwelling the Forsaken Other is a critical reading of Jurgen Moltmann''s ethics of discipleship. While Moltmann''s notable turn to the inner life of the Trinity as a source for his reflections on the life of the church is influential, it is not without problems. The call emerging from Moltmann''s reflection upon Trinitarian life--to copy God in our relationships--may offer some general direction for our actions; however, it also raises several questions. Two important questions for this work are, In what way are we to copy God? and What conditions make it possible to copy God? Moltmann''s answers to these questions are insufficient, and consequently he fails to protect the difference between Creator and creation in his analogia relationis. As a result, the ethical direction of Moltmann''s work seems to be increasingly muddied and, at best, paradoxical.

In his fifty-three years, Michael W. Casey made an indelible impact upon all his academic friends in the United States, Great Britain, and elsewhere in the world. His thirty some years of research and publications were multinational. Mike was especially adept at looking into archival details on the numerous subjects that interested him in communication, Scripture, and history, especially as they focused upon Churches of Christ and the Stone-Campbell Movement. If a scholar ever believed that the grandest project depends on the accuracy of the smallest component, it was Mike Casey. He believed that words were enfleshed in concrete persons. All his studies recognized the persuasive powers of committed humans. The title for this volume, therefore, is And the Word Became Flesh. The essays in this volume are divided into three sections. Those in the first section are on Restoration History. The second section is on communication studies. And the final section contains essays on a specialty of Casey''s, conscientious objection, just war, and Christian peacemaking.

Sexual revolution, terrorism, student riots, civil rights, Stonewall Riots, feminism, and the publication of Humane vitae. The year 1968 is a milestone in twentieth-century history. The papers presented in this volume mark an interdisciplinary and wide-ranging approach to a year, and indeed a decade, whose movements and events are still very much alive in contemporary society. The fruits of the conference are published in this volume to invite ongoing reflection and a critical discourse to a watershed moment in our history and culture.

Alasdair MacIntyre is one of the major philosophers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. After Virtue, first published in 1981, remains the book for which he is best known but, as this volume testifies, his phenomenal output extends over a period of seven decades. Not only is his output extensive, but its impact, unusually for philosophers, has been wide-ranging. As MacIntyre enters his tenth decade, this book pays tribute not just to his work, but to the way in which it has been influential across disciplines outside of philosophy. Beginning with an intellectual biography, the chapters which follow, written by experts in their fields, explore MacIntyre''s contributions to theology, Thomism, moral philosophy, classical philosophy, political philosophy, Marxism, the Frankfurt School, communication, business ethics, sociology, education, law, and therapeutic method. Essential reading for scholars from across these disciplines, and for anyone who wishes to understand MacIntyre''s contributions, this volume not only helps readers to appreciate what we may learn from MacIntyre, but also indicates how his work will continue to be influential.

The McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry is an electronic and print journal that seeks to provide pastors, educators, and interested lay persons with the fruits of theological, biblical, and professional studies in an accessible form. Published by McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, it continues the heritage of scholarly inquiry and theological dialogue represented by the College''s previous print publications: the Theological Bulletin, Theodolite, and the McMaster Journal of Theology.

The Toronto 2018 Symposium on Christian Higher Education provided an opportunity for leaders in the Canadian Christian higher education movement to reflect deeply on its development, current reality, and future possibilities. The Canadian Christian higher education scene comprises a wide range of institutions, including Christian universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries and graduate schools. Each type has its own distinctive history and likewise represents both challenges and opportunities. Even though they are intertwined in their common purpose, these higher educational institutions express this purpose in various ways. This volume is a collection of the papers and plenary talks designed to share the content of the symposium with a wider audience. The papers are all written by active scholars and researchers who are connected to the member institutions of Christian Higher Education Canada (CHEC). They not only illustrate the quality of the scholarship at these institutions, but they make their own critical contribution to an ongoing discussion regarding the role and place of Christian higher education within the wider society. This volume is intended to be helpful to students, faculty, staff, board members, and supporters of Canadian and other Christian higher education institutions, as well as interested individuals and scholars.

In what sense is God one? How can those who worship Jesus Christ, his Father, and the Holy Spirit claim to be monotheists? These questions were answered by the early church, and their answering analogies, models, and language have come down to the church today. However, theology is not stagnant, and the twentieth century has seen several new models of the Trinity emerge. Many of these models have focused on the three persons without adequately considering the consequences for the unity of God. The One God seeks to develop an understanding of the unity of the Triune God by examining the positions put forward by Karl Rahner, Millard Erickson, John Zizioulas, and Wolfhart Pannenberg. After carefully presenting and critically examining each of these positions, this book offers a synthesis: an understanding of the unity of God that is historically informed, theologically adequate, internally coherent, and able to explain Christian monotheism in a new century. By affirming both the singular divine essence of God and the genuine, eternal interdependence of distinct divine persons in God, The One God affirms the personal and the natural levels of ontology, both crucial for understanding God, humanity, and the world.

With his Logic of Incarnation, James K. A. Smith has provided a compelling critique of the universalizing tendencies in some strands of postmodern philosophy of religion. A truly postmodern account of religion must take seriously the preference for particularity first evidenced in the Christian account of the incarnation of God. Moving beyond the urge to universalize, which characterizes modern thought, Smith argues that it is only by taking seriously particular differences--historical, religious, and doctrinal--that we can be authentically religious and authentically postmodern.Smith remains hugely influential in both academic discourse and church movements. This book is the first organized attempt to bring both of these aspects of Smith''s work into conversation with each other and with him. With articles from an internationally respected group of philosophers, theologians, pastors, and laypeople, the entire range of Smith''s considerable influence is represented here. Discussing questions of embodiment, eschatology, inter-religious dialogue, dogma, and difference, this book opens all the most relevant issues in postmodern religious life to a unique and penetrating critique.

From the time of Martin Luther''s writing of "On War Against the Turk" in 1529 to American Lutheran military chaplains serving in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Lutheranism has had a symbiotic relationship with Islam in the Middle East, framed across cultural and religious borders. There have been those who have crossed these "borders" to engage in mission and dialogue. In Piety, Politics, and Power, David Grafton examines the origins of the American Lutheran missionary movement in the Middle East, with a focus on its encounter with Muslims and the varied Lutheran theological responses toward Islam. The narrative is placed within historical contexts to provide an overarching background of Middle Eastern history and Christian-Muslim Relations. The survey covers Lutheran missionary communities in Persia, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the work of the Lutherans working for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missionaries, the Anglican Church Missionary Society, the Lutheran Orient Mission, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Whether enthusiastic Pietists seeking the conversion of Muslims and Jews; cautious theologians in dialogue with Islam, Judaism, or Oriental Orthodoxy; or social activists working on behalf of refugees in Egypt and the West Bank, Grafton argues that these Christian missionaries were all enmeshed in the politics of the communities in which they lived, and either contributed to or suffered from the realities of Middle Eastern and international politics. Given the current reality of "Pax Americana" in the Middle East, the author asks the driving question about the role of American Lutheran missions and Lutheran-Middle Eastern Muslim dialogue in the age of American power in the Middle East.

Robert Muthiah believes a deepened theology of the priesthood of all believers is essential for answering the crucial questions of what shape the church should take in the twenty-first century, and how this theological query relates to the lived experiences of congregations. Emerging churches, which tend to develop vibrant practices of the priesthood of all believers, need to develop more fully their ecclesiological underpinnings, while historic churches, with a well-developed theology of the priesthood of all believers, need a renewed vigor to allow this theology to shape their congregational lives. With recourse to relevant New Testament texts and theological conversations, The Priesthood of All Believers in the Twenty-First Cenutry argues for a fresh understanding and embodiment of the priesthood of all believers by setting ecclesiology, postmodern culture, and congregational practices in dialogue. Elements of the discussion include ecumenical and Free church perspectives, Trinitarian correspondence, postmodern social structures, the relevance of Alasdair McIntyre''s social practices for congregations, and forms of congregational leadership.

In Glory, Grace, and Truth, Alexander Tsutserov argues that three concepts of the revelation of God as Jesus are unfolded throughout the Gospel of John in terms of a ratification of the covenant of the presence of God.The covenantal aspects of ""glory,"" confirming the presence of God, are evident in Jesus: the visible appearance of God; the intrinsic character of God; the miraculous splendor of God (in Jesus''s incomparable signs, deeds, wonders, and marvelous acts); and the divine honor of God (in the Son glorified by the Father).""Grace upon grace"" alludes to the requests to confirm the presence of God. All believers gained the grace of the presence of God in Jesus, rather than Moses alone encountering the grace of the presence at Sinai. The Gospel of John depicts ratification of the covenant of the presence of God in Jesus according with the covenantal articles.""Grace and truth"" alludes to Exodus 34:6. Each allusion in John depicts the full graciousness and integrity of God''s character. The Son possesses and bestows the Father''s character onto believers by means of the Holy Spirit, who is full of ""grace and truth."" The divine character and the divine Law complement each other in believers, thus fulfilling the Scripture.In essence, the revelations of God at Sinai and in Jesus are the same. In quality, the latter surpasses the former in all three aspects: glory, grace, and truth.

This work presents an evangelical theology of the child nurtured in the context of American evangelicalism and affluence. It employs an eclectic theological-critical method to produce a theological anthropology of the affluent American-evangelical child (AAEC) through interdisciplinary evangelical engagement of American history, sociology, and economics. Sims articulates how affluence constitutes a significant impediment to evangelical nurture of the AAEC in the ""discipline and instruction of the Lord."" Thus, the problem he addresses is nurture in evangelical affluence, conceived as a theological-anthropological problem. Nurture in the cultural matrices of the evangelical affluence generated by technological consumer capitalism in the U.S. impedes spiritual and moral formation of the AAEC for discipleship in the way of the cross. This impediment risks disciplinary formation of the AAEC for capitalist culture, cultivates delusional belief that life consists in an abundance of possessions, and hinders the practice of evangelical liberation of the poor on humanity''s underside. The result is the AAEC''s spiritual-moral ""lack"" in late modernity.Chapter 1 introduces the problem of the AAEC. Chapters 2 and 3 provide a diachronic lens for the theological anthropology of the AAEC through critical assessment of the theological anthropologies of the child in Jonathan Edwards, Horace Bushnell, and Lawrence Richards. Chapters 4 and 5 constitute the synchronic perspective of the AAEC. Chapter 4 presents an evangelical sociology of the AAEC, drawing upon William Corsaro''s theory of ""interpretive reproductions,"" and chapter 5 constructs an evangelical theology of the AAEC through critical interaction with John Schneider''s moral theology of affluence. Chapter 6, ""Whither the AAEC?,"" concludes with a recapitulation of the work and a forecast of possible futures for the AAEC in the twenty-first century.

The conclusion of Luke-Acts is regarded as one of the most important chapters of Luke''s two-volume work. Several significant Lukan themes are found in Acts 28, all of which make some contribution to the purpose and aim of the author in writing Luke-Acts: the Gentile mission, the triumph of God''s Word, and the relationship of Christianity with Judaism and Rome. Acts 28 contains many historical problems that have been debated for centuries, including the "we" statements, the figure of Paul in Acts 28, and the abrupt-ending. Puskas compares the conclusion of Acts with other important chapters of Luke-Acts: the introduction of the Gospel, the conclusion of Acts, the "defense of Paul" chapters, as well as other passages. In this significant chapter of Acts 28 there are still fundamental problems of exegesis that need to be addressed: What is the literary function of Acts 28? What is Luke trying to tell his readers in the text?

""There are many aspects to this task of rabbinic training, but four closely related questions rise to the surface as requiring primary attention. The first is a question of description: What ought to be the functions performed by a messianic Jewish rabbi? The second is a question of legitimacy: What similarities exist between the functions performed by messianic Jewish rabbis and rabbis in the wider Jewish context such that the rabbinate in both contexts may legitimately be seen to be variations on the same theme, and the messianic Jewish rabbinate therefore legitimately a rabbinate? The third is a question of differentiation: How and why are the functions performed by a messianic Jewish rabbi contextually particularistic and therefore different from those performed byChristian clergy? In other words, how is a messianic rabbi more than just a Protestant Pastor with switched labels? The fourth is a question of biblicity: Is there biblical justification or precedent for the proposed paradigm of the rabbi as a surrogate priest? Each of these questions emerges from messianic Judaism''s interaction with different but overlapping audiences. The question of description is addressed primarily to the messianic Jewish context. The question of legitimacy is addressed primarily to the wider Jewish world. The question of differentiation is addressed primarily to the church world. The question of biblicity is addressed both to the messianic Jewish context and the church world. And in all cases, looking over our shoulder is the general public."" --from the Prologue

Drawing from more than one thousand easily replicated examples, the author analyzes how biblical writers encoded messages into their texts. The Exilic Code dates portions of the Bible, establishes Ezra as an exilic person, brings to light a School-of-Daniel scripture factory, names Second Isaiah and the Suffering Servant, identifies the individual who triggered Josiah''s reforms, and traces coding from the Deuteronomistic Historian in the seventh century BCE to Daniel''s apocalypse in the second. The book also introduces a simplified form of intertextuality that one can profitably apply to biblical texts. For students of the New Testament, The Exilic Code not only identifies the substitute-king motif that underlies the synoptic gospels, but also sheds light upon why Jesus called himself Son of Man.

The Toronto 2018 Symposium on Christian Higher Education provided an opportunity for leaders in the Canadian Christian higher education movement to reflect deeply on its development, current reality, and future possibilities. The Canadian Christian higher education scene comprises a wide range of institutions, including Christian universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries and graduate schools. Each type has its own distinctive history and likewise represents both challenges and opportunities. Even though they are intertwined in their common purpose, these higher educational institutions express this purpose in various ways. This volume is a collection of the papers and plenary talks designed to share the content of the symposium with a wider audience. The papers are all written by active scholars and researchers who are connected to the member institutions of Christian Higher Education Canada (CHEC). They not only illustrate the quality of the scholarship at these institutions, but they make their own critical contribution to an ongoing discussion regarding the role and place of Christian higher education within the wider society. This volume is intended to be helpful to students, faculty, staff, board members, and supporters of Canadian and other Christian higher education institutions, as well as interested individuals and scholars.