Category: Literature (Page 14 of 24)

Here is a selection of the 292 items added to the collection in the past week. Click on a title for more information. TWU login may be required.

Adventism confronts modernity: an account of the Advent Christian controversy over the Bible’s inspiration /Robert James Mayer ; foreword by Garth M. Rosell.

Allegorical spectrum of the parables of Jesus /Suk Kwan Wong. By studying the allegorical features in parables and evaluating some former parable theories, current study hopes to bring insight to the hermeneutics of allegory in the parables of Jesus.

 An American conscience: the Reinhold Niebuhr story /Jeremy L. Sabella. This book explores how Reinhold Niebuhr, an inner-city pastor, ethics professor, and author of the famous Serenity Prayer, continues to compel minds and stir consciences in the twenty-first century. It includes interviews with leading voices as well as people who knew Niebuhr personally to help understand his enduring impact on American life and thought as cited by such public figures as Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama.

 And still we wait: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of Holy Saturday and Christian discipleship /Riyako Cecilia Hikota.

Any body there?: worship and being human in a digital age /Craig Mueller. Anybody there? is the question facing the church as it wrestles with declining religious affiliation. Mueller considers this contemporary context, and offers a response based in an incarnational spirituality accentuating the body and finding expression in corporate, multisensory liturgy. Mueller creatively weaves together topics from our digital lives with personal and congregational stories and theological, liturgical, and spiritual reflections.

 Behold the lillies: Jesus and the contemplation of nature : a primer /H. Paul Santmire.

Being Christian in the twenty-first century /Sam Gould. Being Christian in the Twenty-first Century was written to help struggling and doubting Christians develop an understanding of Christianity that avoids literalism, creeds, and doctrines. The book is well suited for individual or group study, complete with a study guide and sample lesson plans. It responds to the call for theological reform advocated by many contemporary clergy and religious leaders.

Being the Church: an Eastern Orthodox evaluation of church growth /Edward Rommen.

Bloodless atonement?: a theological and exegetical study of the Last Spper sayings /Benjamin J. Burkholder.

 Bowing toward Babylon: the nationalistic subversion of Christian worship in America /Craig M. Watts ; foreword by Michael Kinnamon.

 A brief guide to ministry with LGBTQIA youth /Cody J. Sanders.

Calling all years good: Christian vocation throughout life’s seasons /edited by Kathleen A. Cahalan, Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore. This book shows how vocation emerges and evolves over the course of an entire lifetime. The authors cover six of life’s distinct seasons, weaving together personal narrative, developmental theory, case studies, and spiritual practices. Calling All Years Good grounds the discussion of vocation in concrete realities and builds a cohesive framework for understanding calling throughout all of life.

 China’s urban Christians: a light that cannot be hidden /Brent Fulton. Looks at how massive urbanization is redrawing not only the geographic and social landscape of China, but in the process is transforming China’s growing church as well. The purpose of this book is to explore how Christians in China perceive the challenges posed by their new urban context and to examine their proposed means of responding to these challenges. Although not primarily political in nature, these challenges nonetheless illustrate the complex interplay between China’s Christian community and the Chinese party-state as it comes to terms with the continued growth and increasing prominence of Christianity in modern China.

 Church talk makes men walk: what the research shows and what to do /Woody L. Davis ; foreword by George G. Hunter, III. Church Talk Makes Men Walk corrects the myth that men are innately non-religious or non-spiritual.

 Come, let us sing to the Lord [electronic resource]: songs of scripture /edited by Katherine Kennedy Steiner. In brief meditations, twelve faculty at Wycliffe College explore Songs of Scripture in this volume to answer the questions “”Why do Scriptures tell us to sing? What are we to sing? What does singing make of us?”” Each of these meditations will give you a new appreciation for God’s gift of songs. By singing the words of Scripture, we tune our hearts to God’s song.

 The devil’s music: how Christians inspired, condemned, and embraced rock ‘n’ roll /Randall J. Stephens. The Devil’s Music tells the story of rock’s origins with the energetic Southern Pentecostal churches where Elvis, Little Richard, James Brown, and other pioneers of the genre worshipped as children. Stephens shows that the music, styles, and ideas of tongue-speaking churches powerfully influenced these early performers and argues that in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, faith served as a vehicle for whites’ racial fears.

 Divine presence: elements of biblical theophanies /Mark G. Boyer.

Drama tweens: engaging the Bible with younger adolescents /Katherine Turpin. This book explores an educational strategy of creating biblical dramas with tweens for spiritual formation and increased familiarity with the Christian tradition. The project of creating a drama for presentation to the congregation invites tweens to dig into the history of interpretation of the story, to make connections across the biblical text, and to engage with the characters in relevant ways to their own experiences. Writing and producing a small play in worship allows them to share their learnings with the rest of their faith community. The book helps prepare adult volunteers to better understand the transformations happening in the late elementary and middle school years and to lead tweens through this process with confidence. Five sample plays, all co-written and performed by the tweens of Christ Church United Methodist in Denver, Colorado, are also included.

 The early church at work and worship. Volume 1, Ministry, ordination, covenant, and canon / Everett Ferguson.

Echoes of coinherence: trinitarian theology and science together /W. Ross Hastings. This book re-imagines the universe (and the scientific study of it) through the lens of a triune Creator. It modestly proposes that Trinitarian theology, and especially the coinherent natures of the Son in the incarnation, provides the metaphysic or “”theory of everything”” that manifests itself in the subject matter of science. The presence of the image of the triune God in humanity and of traces of this God in the non-human creation are discussed, highlighting ontological resonances between God and creation.

 The final days of Jesus, the thrill of defeat, the agony of victory: a classical historian explores Jesus’s arrest, trial, and execution /Mark D. Smith.

  Free will revisited: a respectful response to Luther, Calvin, and Edwards Genesis ideology: essays on the uses and meanings of stories /David H. Aaron. Genesis Ideology explores the purpose of stories in the book of Genesis as building blocks for ancient Israelite culture. This book exposes the intersection of the author’s ideological agenda and the contemporary reader’s interpretive practice. This volume, written for a general readership, is informed by contemporary scholarly approaches to biblical literature as well as questions of contemporary relevance.

Genesis in ancient China: the creation story in China’s earliest script /Ginger Tong Chock, PhD.

God’s absence and the charismatic presence: inquiries in openness theology /Roy D. Kindelberger. The author’s theological inquiry is intended to raise questions of interpretation within the camp of openness theology and to direct a discussion on the implications of this movement for the charismatic/Pentecostal community.

 The Gospel according to Star Wars: faith, hope, and the force /John C. McDowell.

The great rift: literacy, numeracy, and the religion-science divide /Michael E. Hobart. The Great Rift is the first book to examine the religion-science divide through the history of information technology. Hobart follows numeracy as it emerged from the practical counting systems of merchants, the abstract notations of musicians, the linear perspective of artists, and the calendars and clocks of astronomers. As the technology of the alphabet and of mere counting gave way to abstract symbols, the earlier “thing-mathematics” metamorphosed into the relational mathematics of modern scientific investigation. Using these new information symbols, Galileo and his contemporaries mathematized motion and matter, separating the demonstrations of science from the linguistic logic of religious narration. Hobart locates the great rift between science and religion not in ideological disagreement but in advances in mathematics and symbolic representation that opened new windows onto nature. In so doing, he connects the cognitive breakthroughs of the past with intellectual debates ongoing in the twenty-first century.

  How children read biblical narrative: an investigation of children’s readings of the Gospel of Luke /Melody R. Briggs. This book makes a major contribution to this underexplored area by analyzing how children interpret Bible stories, focused around an empirical investigation of one group of eleven- to fourteen-year-old children, and their readings of the Gospel of Luke.

 How to talk to a movie: movie-watching as a spiritual practice /Elijah Lynn Davidson.

Husband, wife, father, child, master, slave: Peter through Roman eyes /Kurt C. Schaefer.

 Introverts in the church: finding our place in an extroverted culture /Adam S. McHugh. Explores the gifts introverts bring to the church and how they can find their place in the Christian community.

 Is this all there is?: on resurrection and eternal life /Gerhard Lohfink ; translated by Linda M. Maloney.

Jeanne Guyon’s Christian worldview: her biblical commentaries on Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians with explanations and reflections on the interior life /by Jeanne de la Mothe Guyon ; introduction and translation from the original French by Nancy Carol James.

 Jesus and the eyewitnesses: the Gospels as eyewitness testimony /Richard Bauckham. A groundbreaking work in New Testament studies expanded and updated Winner of the 2007 Christianity Today Book Award in Biblical Studies, this momentous volume argues that the four Gospels are closely based on the eyewitness testimony of those who personally knew Jesus. Noted New Testament scholar Bauckham challenges the prevailing assumption that the Jesus accounts circulated as ‘anonymous community traditions,’ asserting instead that they were transmitted in the names of the original eyewitnesses. In this expanded second edition, Bauckham is adding a new preface, three substantial new chapters that respond to critics and clarify key points of his argument, and a comprehensive new bibliography.

 Jesus in Asia /R. S. Sugirtharajah. Sugirtharajah situates the historical Jesus beyond the narrow confines of the West and offers an eye-opening chapter in the story of global Christianity.

Jewish scholarship on the resurrection of Jesus /David Mishkin.

 The journey towards home: the Christian life according to C.S. Lewis /S. Steve Park ; foreword by William Edgar. Park argues that Lewis’s theological reflections are well-informed, thoughtful and weighty.

 Karl Barth: an introductory biography for evangelicals /Mark Galli. This introduction to Karl Barth takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the life and writings of this giant of twentieth-century theology. The author pays special attention to themes and topics of concern for contemporary evangelicals, who may need Barth’s acute critique as much as early-twentieth-century liberals did–and for surprisingly similar reasons.

 Let us prey: the plague of narcissist pastors and what we can do about it /by R. Glenn Ball & Darrell Puls ; foreword by Steven J. Sandage.

Letters of Paul to the early church: a contemporary translation /Robert H. Mounce.

 The limits of forgiveness: case studies in the distortion of a biblical ideal /Maria Mayo. Mayo questions the contemporary idealization of unconditional forgiveness in three areas of contemporary life: so-called Victim-Offender Mediation involving cases of criminal injury, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa, and the pastoral care of victims of domestic violence. She shows that an emphasis on unilateral and unconditional forgiveness puts disproportionate pressure on the victims of injustice or violence and misconstrues the very biblical passages–especially in Jesus’ teaching and actions–on which advocates of unconditional forgiveness rely.

 The Lord’s radio: gospel music broadcasting and the making of evangelical culture, 1920-1960 /Mark Ward Sr. This ethnographic history presents the era’s major radio evangelists and songwriters in the own words, drawing on their writings and recordings, as well as songbooks, liner notes and “song story” anthologies of the period.

 The Mandaeans: baptizers of Iraq and Iran /Karen Baker ; foreword by Amal Bejjani. With a passion for the obscure, Karen Baker has delved into this secret sect, exploring the effects of the turmoil they have faced in their homeland, and are now facing in Diaspora.

 Martin Luther as youth worker: insights from the great reformer for modern youth and children’s ministry /Todd Hobart. Martin Luther as a Youth Worker considers the reformer from this little-studied aspect of his work. Luther’s practical care for children and youth, his educational reforms, his work in faith formation, and his view of human reason are considered. Last, the question is asked what it means to be a reformer with children and youth today.

 The meaning of belief: religion from an atheist’s point of view /Tim Crane. An atheist himself, Crane writes that there is a fundamental flaw with most atheists’ basic approach: religion is not what they think it is. The Meaning of Belief does not assess the truth or falsehood of religion. Rather, it looks at the meaning of religious belief and offers a way of understanding it that both makes sense of current debate and also suggests what more intellectually responsible and practically effective attitudes atheists might take to the phenomenon of religion.

 Medieval Latin liturgy in English translation /edited by Matthew Cheung Salisbury.

 The monk’s record player: Thomas Merton, Bob Dylan, and the perilous summer of 1966 /Robert Hudson ; foreword by David Dalton. “In 1965 Thomas Merton fulfilled a twenty-four-year-old dream and went to live as a hermit beyond the walls of his Trappist monastery. Seven months later, after a secret romance with a woman half his age, he was in danger of losing it all. Yet on the very day that his abbot uncovered the affair, Merton found solace in an unlikely place–the songs of Bob Dylan, who, as fate would have it, was experiencing his own personal and creative crises during the summer of 1966…”

 No innocent bystanders: becoming an ally in the struggle for justice /Shannon Craigo-Snell and Christopher J. Doucot.

Oikos: God’s big word for a small planet : a theology of economy, ecology, and ecumeny /Andrew Francis. Change is needed now and this book addresses that.

 Out of Adventism: a theologian’s journey /Jerry Gladson ; foreword by Edwin Zackrison. This is the true story of how one Adventist pastor, and university and seminary professor discovered Adventism’s dark secrets and learned through painful, personal experience that neither the denomination nor its doctrine could be trusted. As his odyssey takes him from pastoral assignments in rural and urban congregations and finally into teaching at universities.

 Pagans and Christians in the late Roman Empire [electronic resource]: new evidence, new approaches (4th-8th centuries) /edited by Marianne Sághy . and Edward M. Schoolman. This collection of essays, inscribes itself into the revisionist discussion of pagan-Christian relations over a broad territory and time-span, the Roman Empire from the fourth to the eighth century. A set of papers argues that if ‘paganism’ had never been fully extirpated or denied by the multiethnic educated elite that managed the Roman Empire, ‘Christianity’ came to be presented by the same elite as providing a way for a wider group of people to combine true philosophy and right religion.

 The pastor’s library: an annotated bibliography of biblical and theological resources for ministry /Robert A. Yost ; foreword by Eddie G. Grigg. In the spirit of Cyril Barber’s classic work from the 1970s, The Minister’s Library, Yost provides students and pastors with expert guidance on building a working ministerial library. From Old and New Testament languages, lexical aids, and grammatical tools, to commentaries and theologies as well as pastoral resources, Yost is a trustworthy guide.This resource is a balanced pastoral tool for pastors and students who are overwhelmed by the proliferation of literature in the fields of biblical and pastoral studies.

 Pharaohs on both sides of the blood-red Waters: prophetic critique on empire : resistance, justice, and the power of the hopeful Sizwe–a transatlantic conversation /Allan Aubrey Boesak. After the civil rights and anti-apartheid struggles, are we truly living in post-racial, post-apartheid societies where the word struggle is now out of place? This book argues that this is not so, and asks, “”What has Soweto to do with Ferguson, New York with Cape Town, Baltimore with Ramallah?”

 Postcoloniality, translation, and the Bible in Africa /edited by Musa W. Dube and R.S. Wafula. This book is critically important for Bible translation theorists, postcolonial scholars, church leaders, and the general public interested in the history, politics, and nature of Bible translation work in Africa. It is also useful to students of gender studies, political science, biblical studies, and history-of-colonization studies. The book catalogs the major work that has been undertaken by African scholars and critiques and contests colonial Bible translation narratives by privileging the importance African oral vitality in rewriting the meaning of biblical texts.

 Pounding on Bible-thumpers: do you believe everything you read in the Bible? /C. Boyd Pfeiffer.

 Preaching in the era of Trump /O. Wesley Allen, Jr. Veteran teacher, preacher, and author Allen offers a blueprint for addressing current events through a Gospel lens, persuasively and pastorally — without engaging in divisive, antagonistic rhetoric.

 Rainbow in the word: LGBTQ Christians’ biblical memoirs /edited by Ellin Sterne Jimmerson ; foreword by Viki Matson. As these testimonies show, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer Christians are inaugurating a fresh, exciting, new era in biblical interpretation. It is they whose rare insights into particular Bible stories and characters, told with poignancy and clarity, reveal a gay-friendly Bible and a gay-friendly God who cherishes and needs them just as they are.

 Reading Corinthians and Philippians within Judaism: collected essays of Mark D. Nanos, vol. 4 /Mark D. Nanos.

Rejoicing in lament: wrestling with incurable cancer and life in Christ /J. Todd Billings. This eloquently written book shares Billings’s journey, struggle, and reflections on providence, lament, and life in Christ in light of his illness, moving beyond pat answers toward hope in God’s promises. Theologically robust yet eminently practical, it engages the open questions, areas of mystery, and times of disorientation in the Christian life. Billings offers concrete examples through autobiography, cultural commentary, and stories from others, showing how our human stories of joy and grief can be incorporated into the larger biblical story of God’s saving work in Christ.

 Religion for reluctant believers /Leonard J. Swidler.

Remebering the Reformation: commemorate? celebrate? repent? /edited by Michael Root & James J. Buckley.

 The rise and fall of the complementarian doctrine of the Trinity /Kevin Giles.

Satan in the Bible, God’s minister of justice /Henry Ansgar Kelly.

 Seeking the Lord of Middle Earth: theological essays on J.R.R. Tolkien /Jeffrey L. Morrow. This present volume is an attempt to understand better the deep Christian influences on his work but also to explore the relevance of Tolkien’s work for theology today. After examining Tolkien’s fiction in order better to appreciate Christian influences, this volume takes a closer look at Tolkien’s theology of fantasy, his response to the more skeptical origins of religion research, and applies his work to contemporary questions about method in biblical studies.

 Spirituality in hospice care: how staff and volunteers can support the dying and their families /edited by Andrew Goodhead and Nigel Hartley ; foreword by the Berry Morgan. An edited collection that offers personal and professional perspectives of what spiritual care is and how it can be understood in relation to end of life and palliative care. With contributions from doctors, artists, volunteers and more, this book shows how spiritual care is not just the prerogative of chaplains.

 Still Christian: following Jesus out of American evangelicalism /David P. Gushee.

Suffer the children: how we can improve the lives of the world’s impoverished children /Gary Scott Smith ; Jane Marie Smith.

 The Spirit driven church: signs of God’s graceful presence /Terje Hegertun.

The stories we live: finding God’s calling all around us /Kathleen A. Cahalan.

 Surviving the state, remaking the Church [electronic resource]: a sociological portrait of Christians in mainland China /Li Ma and Jin Li.

Transforming Communities: How People Like You are Healing Their Neighborhoods.

 The triumph of love: same-sex marriage and the Christian love ethic /Eric Reitan.

Tug of war: the downward ascent of power /Wilmer G. Villacorta. A treatment of power, vulnerability, and suffering in the life and ministry of mid-career leaders offers a reminder of the need to rethink power. To supplement countless books on leadership models, techniques and motivation, this book offers a counter-narrative of power informed by and embedded in the message of the cross; it elaborates on a humble use of power and proposes a reframing of power as seen in Christ.

 The vehement Jesus: grappling with troubling gospel texts /David J. Neville. The Vehement Jesus composes a fresh examination and interpretation of several perplexing passages in the Gospels that, at face value, challenge the conviction that the mission and message of Jesus were peaceful. Using narrative analysis and various forms of intratextual critique in the service of a hermeneutic of shalom, the author makes the case that Gospel portrayals of the vehement Jesus are compatible with, perhaps even indispensable to, the composite canonical portrait of Jesus as the Messiah of Peace. As a result, this exploration in New Testament theology and ethics makes an invaluable contribution to the crucial conversation about the role of Jesus’ life and teaching in Christian reflection on the morality of violence today.

  Wealth, wages, and the wealthy: New Testament insight for preachers and teachers /Raymond F. Collins.

What are they saying about ancient Israelite religion? /John L. McLaughlin.

 Where have all the heavens gone?: Galileo’s letter to the Grand Duchess Christina /Edited by John P. McCarthy & Edmondo F. Lupieri.

Who is chosen?: four theories about Christian salvation /Thomas L. Humphries, Jr. Who is Chosen? introduces students to four different theories about Christian salvation. The goal is not to convince anyone to agree with a particular theory, but rather to allow students to be more informed about major lines of thought within Christian theology. Discussion questions and a short critique are provided for each major theory. There are also brief remarks concerning the vexing problem of addressing Christian salvation to those outside of the Christian Church.

 Why God?: explaining religious phenomena /Rodney Stark.

 Why people stop believing /by Paul Chamberlain. (TWU Author)

Wisdom: the good life : wisdom literature and the Rule of Benedict /Irene Nowell, OSB.

 The witness of religion in an age of fear /Michael Kinnamon.

Your Jesus is too small: the collapse of Christian character /Douglas J. Miller ; foreword by Tony Campolo. Your Jesus Is Too Small explores how a trivialized Jesus contributes to a collapsed Christian moral character.