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"Christianity is a global religion. It's a fact that is too often missed or ignored in many books and conversations. In a world where Christianity is growing everywhere but in the West, the Understanding World Christianity series offers a fresh, readable orientation to Christianity around the world. Understanding World Christianity is organized geographically, by nation and region. Noted experts, in most cases native to the area of focus, present a balanced history of Christianity and a detailed discussion of the faith as it is lived today. Each volume addresses six key'intersections'of Christianity in a given context, including the historical, denominational, sociopolitical, geographical, biographical, and theological settings. Understanding World Christianity: Russia offers a compelling glimpse into the vibrant and complex picture of Christianity in the Russian context. It's an ideal introduction for students, mission leaders, and any others who wish to know how Christianity influences, and is influenced by, the Russian context."--Publisher.

The essays included in this volume focus on specific standpoints inherent to our understandings of God. From a survey of Western philosophies, Pannenberg concludes that the Christian view of truth is distinctive because of its emphasis on the future. On the subject of faith, he asserts that rational knowledge does not oppose faith, but rather gives support to it. Also, the ideas of Feuerbach and Nietzsche as well as those of the dialectic theologians are critiqued by the author. All in all, Pannenberg's uniting of classic theological insights with contemporary life will speak to the contemporary appropriation of traditional Christian themes.In this classic, two-volume set of collected essays, Wolfhart Pannenberg gives special focus to the ways in which history, hermeneutics, reason and truth all guide and inform our various attempts at understanding God. This focus, then, offers the reader a unique insight into the revelation of God. Pannenberg writes, "To say that the revelation of God is not a supernatural event which breaks into history perpendicularly from above but rather that it is the theme of history itself, the power that moves it in its deepest dimension, is to say something about God and his relation to the world."

Schleiermacher, a German theologian at the turn of the nineteenth century, is truly one of the masters of modern theology: he sought to rebuild Protestant theology in the wake of the Enlightenment and of Kant's destruction of traditional metaphysics. He was the founder of "liberal theology" with its emphasis on inner experience and the knowledge of God as mediated through history. This volume concentrates on the key texts and ideas in Schleiermacher's thought. It presents the essential Schleiermacher for students and the general reader. Keith Clements's introductory essay and notes on the selected texts set Schleiermacher in his historical context, chart the development of his thought and indicate the significance of this theology in the development of Christian theology as a whole. Substantial selections from Schleiermacher's work illustrate key themes: Religion as feeling and relationshipThe distinctiveness of Christianity: redemption through Jesus ChristThe nature of theology as reflection and communicationHermeneutics: conversation with historyGod and the worldThe person and work of ChristNation, Church and StateChristianity and the religions

The mainline church is in a drastic decline, and that decline is hitting clergy and churches on all sides of the theological debates. Pastors are struggling, and the ever-changing trends of ministry don't seem to be staunching the decline. ... And the Church Actually Changed: Uncommon Wisdom for Pastors in an Age of Doubt, Division, and Decline arises out of N. Graham Standish's work as a spiritual director and coach to clergy of all denominations and traditions, and as the pastor of a healthy, growing, and somewhat alternative church for more than twenty-two years. He has helped pastors become healthier and more effective as they carry out the ministry to which they are uniquely called. ... And the Church Actually Changed addresses issues brought up by clergy themselves in his coaching work with them. Using an integrative approach to ministry, Standish draws on insights from counseling, spiritual direction, organizational development, and other fields. The book is written in the form of dialogues between a clergy coach and various clergy clients who are struggling in their ministry. Each chapter addresses a significant clergy leadership issue, yet the dialogue allows coach and pastor to deal with issues pragmatically by exploring both the big picture and the details of leading a healthy church.

Many congregations today are dealing with changes that have led to decline and significant loss. In Embracing God's Future without Forgetting the Past, Michael K. Girlinghouse argues that until a congregation comes to terms with its perceived losses through a healthy process of grief, it will be paralyzed in the present and unable to think creatively about the future.Acknowledging and expressing grief will give the congregation the courage to redefine its relationship with the past and draw strength and encouragement from its memories as it steps into the future.Drawing on more than thirty years of ministry experience in varied settings and concurrent study and teaching about loss, grief, and nostalgia, Girlinghouse shows clergy, church staff, and lay leaders how they can work through the experience of loss and grief, both personally and in their congregation.Part 1 discusses loss and grief using a contemporary, task-based model for the grief process. It also introduces recent research on the value of nostalgia.In part 2, Girlinghouse helps leaders tell their congregation's story, including its losses, examine how that story fits in our current social context, and explore ways to accept the reality of its losses and express grief over them.Part 3 considers ways congregations can think more adaptively and creatively about the future without forgetting or devaluing the past. Girlinghouse presents appreciative inquiry as a tool to discover and build on a congregation's strengths while coming to terms with its losses.Part 4 is about embracing God's future for the congregation, "remembering forward," and making the changes necessary to move from the sadness of loss to the joy of taking up life a

In this second of three volumes addressing Luther's outlaw God, Steven D. Paulson uses several biblical figures (Ezekiel, Jonah, Moses, David, and more) to illustrate Luther's understanding of law and gospel what this means for preaching. Paulson shows that the challenge of all preaching is revealing God's actual grace without using the law at all. The gospel is what freed Luther from thinking of the world as split into two: an obscure world where law accuses and a magical world where the law blesses. With remarkable depth and clarity, Paulson explores the question: Where do we find a gracious God? For Luther, it was not in the law, but only in the publicly executed and hated God, Jesus Christ, hidden in the cross.

"Unique among the many concepts used to discuss diversity, Creoleness is forged in the context of injustice, oppression, and empire. To become like Creoles is to envision a future marked by the interplay between cultural diversity, injustice and oppression, and intersectionality. People of faith must embrace such metaphors to be relevant and effective for ministry in the twenty-first century"--back cover.

The Fear of Islam investigates the context of Western views of Islam and offers an introduction to the historical roots and contemporary anxiety regarding Islam within the Western world.Tracing the medieval legacy of religious polemics and violence, Green orients readers to the complex history and issues of Western relations to Islam, from early and late modern colonial enterprises and theories of "Orientalism," to the production of religious discourses of otherness and the clash of civilizations that proliferated in the era of 9/11 and the war on terror.In this second edition, Green brings the reader up to date, examining the Islamophobic rhetoric of the 2016 US presidential election and the ongoing success of populist and far right parties in Europe. Green provides updated data on the rise of anti-Muslim legislation--for example, the Muslim ban in the United States and a wave of full-face veil bans in Europe--as well as the rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes on both sides of the Atlantic since 2015.This important book is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand current views of Islam and to work toward meaningful peace and understanding between religious communities.

Over the past forty years, congregations, businesses, other organizations, and communities across the United States have become increasingly divided along political and ideological lines. In When the Center Does Not Hold, David R. Brubaker, with contributions by colleagues Everett Brubaker, Teresa Haase, and Carolyn Yoder, offers relevant, practical mentorship on navigating polarized environments. Through easily accessible stories, they provide tools and processes that will equip leaders to both manage themselves and effectively lead others in highly polarized and anxious systems. Coaching includes guidance on key characteristics of effective leadership in times of polarization: managing yourself, building a strong team, clarifying identity and vision, mourning the losses, staying connected, and knowing when it's time to let go (as a leader). With years of combined experience in the fields of conflict transformation and organizational and leadership studies, Brubaker and his colleagues offer hope. Here, readers learn from leaders and communities that continue to renew the covenants that bind them, courageously address deeper needs that drive conflict, and hold on to a moral center while navigating the storms of polarization.

"What does it mean to be church today? As changes in demographics, participation, and leadership continue to roil faith communities in the Western world, questions about the historic roots of church communities have become all the more important. Scholarly investigations of the historical texture of early Christian communities continue to advance our understanding, but are often too technical for non-experts for whom the questions may be more keenly felt. Troy M. Troftgruben provides an accessible, succinct survey of what we now know about the roots of Christian community, taking an 'ancient-future' approach by engaging contemporary questions through classical sources. Rooted and Renewing turns to historical-critical and social-scientific studies to portray everyday realities in the earliest communities, especially the Pauline assemblies. Aimed at church members and leaders alike, the book encourages reflection on the church's past so as to explore how Christians are called to be the church in today's world."--Back cover

Like many Americans, Paul Wallace grew up as a church-going Christian. Also like many, he lost his faith when he started taking science classes in college. He just didn't see how the rigorous method demanded by science could coexist with the belief in things unseen required by Christianity. But, as a working astrophysicist, he started to wonder if he'd gotten something wrong. Slowly and deliberately, he investigated the claims of Christianity, while also acknowledging that science, too, has limits. Ultimately, he came back to Christianity.In Love and Quasars, Wallace shows how faith and science are pitted against one another, and he explains how the standard ways of reconciling them don't work. He then proposes a reasonable, thoughtful approach that will appeal to Christians and students of science alike. Readable and wise, Love and Quasars is an indispensable resource for people who wonder if faith and science can coexist.

"Author Anna M. Madsen's book is a fresh and challenging look at the legacy of Martin Luther and the new reformation that is calling people of faith to action today. This book is born out of the conviction that at least two gods are currently competing for our collective trust: nationalism (and its many sub-manifestations) and quietism. Both make a case for and a claim on our allegiance, each by way of different motivations of self and institutional protection. Madsen looks at today's modern context and asks: Where will the church stand in a day that is marked by globalization, polarization, racism, bigotry, and debates about justice for humanity and for the earth itself? While the Reformation church was built on the foundation of justification by grace, Madsen calls people of faith to a new reformation that will focus on standing for justice in the world. Madsen delves into who Jesus was, and how our claim that he died and was raised establishes our faith and impacts the way we live it out. She pays attention to Luther's theology and juxtaposes it with our present context. She explores recent examples of Nazi resistance, liberation theology, black and womanist theology, and feminist theology, each of which come at social justice in their unique ways, with a common conviction that justice work is central to the Christian life. She speaks of how our faith grounding and our faith history weave together and entwine themselves into our present moment, offering both warnings and encouragement. And last, a case is made that justice, anchored in justification, is our new Reformation moment, one not inconsistent with Luther's theology, but weighted differently to address the different weighty concerns of our day. A study guide is included to encourage group conversation and action."--Publisher's description.

"Drawing on his vast scholarly and practical knowledge, Safwat Marzouk offers a biblical vision of an intercultural church, one that fosters justice and diversity, integrates different cultural articulations of faith and worship, and embodies an alternative to the politics of assimilation and segregation. In a time of political polarization around global migration, this biblical vision affirms cultural, linguistic, racial, and ethnic differences as gifts from God that can enrich the church's worship, deepen its sense of fellowship, and broaden its witness to God's reconciling mission in the world. Discussion questions are provided to encourage group conversation on this complex and important topic." --

In this volume, Crystal L. Hall provides a spirited introduction to the methods and strategies for reading the Bible "from below"--from the back of church sanctuaries, from basements, from sidewalks. Drawing on these methods of reading the Bible, Hall brings biblical study into dialogue with real-world organizing and its struggle for economic justice. This dynamic process of reading the Bible unfolds at the intersections of the "hermeneutical triangle": of reality, the Bible, and community. This book is for anyone curious about how to use the Bible as a resource for literation: from faith leaders and community organizers to biblical scholars and students.--back page of cover.

Renowned Reformation scholar Timothy J. Wengert explores the genesis of Lutheran biblical interpretation, tracing its emergence in the early work of Martin Luther, through Melanchthon and other Wittenberg exegetes. This distinctly Lutheran approach interpreted Scripture in terms of 'law and gospel,' emphasized reading and translating the Greek and Hebrew texts, and centered on the theology of the cross and justification by faith. Luther and his colleagues found God working in the last place anyone would expect: on the cross, in weakness and foolishness. Using examples from Luther's sermons and biblical commentaries, Wengert shows how these key historical and theological perspectives can inform Lutheran preaching and teaching toda

The book of Jubilees (2nd century BCE) retraces the book of Genesis and parts of Exodus and is one of the earliest sustained commentaries on the narratives presented in those texts. The translation is drawn from the author's monumental two-volume Hermeneia commentary and takes into account all of the textual data now available. The translation is accompanied by carefully selected notes that illuminate the text and is ideal for classroom use.

Jim Tomberlin and award-winning writer Warren Bird provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches, so they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute mergers for church expansion and renewal

In The Missional Leader, consultants Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk address two questions: How do we do missional? and What does missional leadership look like? Drawing on their many years of experience, the authors show readers how to bring God's word into the community outside the church's walls. They focus on how to lead missionally on the ground, in the local setting, even amid leaders' experience of massive change within the church and in the wider world. The challenge for many church leaders is that they are not equipped to lead a church in shifting from a consumer model of church to one that is missional. They were trained in a Christendom mindset--to meet the needs of the church's members. This book assists leaders in shifting from dominant models of leadership rooted in strategic planning--with mission and vision statements, desired outcomes, measurements along the way, and determined goals. It provides a praxis for beginning where people are, rather than where the leader wants them to go.Roxburgh and Romanuk give frank recognition to the fact that the shift from a consumer model to a missional mindset will almost certainly be stormy, disruptive, and disorienting. This is not a book of quick fixes and slick slogans, but one that sets out a comprehensive and in-depth treatment for a different way of leading. The Missional Leader is a critical commentary that needs to be read in the light of today's realities.

They say it's lonely at the top. And it can be even lonelier when you are almost at the top. Church leaders who hold second-chair positions are under tremendous pressure. They are expected to do their jobs and provide leadership but to defer to the top leader too. It's a demanding balancing act. How can they lead effectively while serving under someone else's leadership?Leading from the Second Chair offers an invaluable resource to leaders who serve in second- (and third- and fourth-) chair roles, enabling them to become more productive, proactive, and fulfilled. The book reveals the paradoxes of second chair leadership. These leaders must be subordinate to the top leader yet lead in their own right. They should be deep in their expertise but wide in perspective. And they must be content in their jobs yet remain enthusiastic about their dreams for the future.Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson share their own and others' experiences of failure and success in this vital role. They offer support and practical advice for reshaping the way second-chair leaders can serve well and improve the overall performance of their church or organization. Leading from the Second Chair equips readers with the positive attitudes, skills, and strategies needed to become powerful leaders who will survive and thrive in God's service.

The advent of the modern, historical, and critical methods of reading Scripture is one of the most significant events in the last five hundred years of Christian history and theology. The Challenge of History traces the trajectory of this development, presenting key readings from over thirty-five theologians--from Erasmus to Ellacuria--whose writings relate to the birth of modern historical and critical exegesis and more broadly to the emergence among theologians and biblical scholars of a certain historical consciousness that characterizes vast segments of modernity. Informative introductions readable translations, and an ecumenically and geographically diverse selection of readings make this volume an ideal textbook for studying of one of the most important topics in modern theology. --Back Cover.

In A Lay Preacher's Guide: Eight Steps to Crafting a Faithful Sermon, Karoline M. Lewis provides lay preachers with an essential and accessible guide to the basics of Sunday morning preaching.Laypeople are increasingly called to serve congregations and are preaching regularly. But often they do not have immediate, reliable, or trusted access to homiletical instruction or support for their preaching. As a result, these church leaders--feeling called to ministry and to preach, and affirmed by denominational leaders to do so--are left on their own to figure out how to preach.In A Lay Preacher's Guide, Lewis gives this unique subset of preachers the foundations of biblical preaching, so they can preach faithfully in their unique contexts. She lays out in a concise and clear format the steps to preaching a faithful sermon, a process that can be immediately applied to weekly sermon preparation. This book is a go-to resource for lay preachers, providing a basic course for faithful preaching.