Bøger udgivet af William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Is it sacrilegious to claim that ordinary people can do greater works than Jesus?"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these" (John 14:12). Taking these words of Jesus seriously, Outdoing Jesus shows how the seven actions of Jesus that the Gospel of John singles out as special "signs" challenge us to live into a greater future. When Jesus asserts that his followers "will do even greater things than these," he is calling for us to extend his miracles for the benefit of all of humanity. Only a master teacher wants students to do greater than their master!Doug Pagitt uses the works and teachings of Jesus as lenses through which we see what the kingdom of God would look like if it were "at hand." We see how developments in humanities, medicine, science, technology, philanthropy, structural design, and social justice are bringing about the agenda of God for the world; and how we can participate. Outdoing Jesus is not only insightful biblical theology but a robust call to dare great things in pursuit of human flourishing.

After the landmark work of E. P. Sanders, the task of rightly accounting for Paul's relationship to Judaism has dominated the last forty years of Pauline scholarship. Pitre, Barber, and Kincaid argue that Paul is best viewed as a new covenant Jew, a designation that allows the apostle to be fully Jewish, yet in a manner centered on the person and work of Jesus the Messiah. This new covenant Judaism provides the key that unlocks the door to many of the difficult aspects of Pauline theology.Paul, a New Covenant Jew is a rigorous, yet accessible overview of Pauline theology intended for ecumenical audiences. In particular, it aims to be the most useful and up to date text on Paul for Catholic Seminarians. The book engages the best recent scholarship on Paul from both Protestant and Catholic interpreters and serves as a launching point for ongoing Protestant-Catholic dialogue.

We live spiritually when we live in the presence of God.The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is often read for his contributions to Christian theology, but he also has much to offer about spirituality--both Christian and more generally human. C. Stephen Evans assesses Kierkegaard's belief that true spirituality should be seen as accountability: the grateful recognition of our existence as gift. Spirituality takes on a Christian flavor when one recognizes in Jesus Christ the human incarnation of the God who gives us being. In this clearly written and substantive book a leading scholar on Kierkegaard's thought makes Kierkegaard's contributions to spirituality accessible not only to philosophers and theologians but to pastors, spiritual directors, and lay Christians. The Kierkegaard and Christian Thought series, coedited by C. Stephen Evans and Paul Martens, aims to promote an enriched understanding of nineteenth-century philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard in relation to other key figures in theology and key theological concepts.

A bold, historical, robust approach to reading Scripture and encountering Jesus anewNo one expects to be surprised. Yet biblical interpretation can do exactly that. Christians expect to see Jesus as they read the Bible, but when and how Jesus actually speaks through Scripture can still surprise us!Drawing on the early church's theological giants--Origen, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and more from the historical cloud of witnesses--author Jason Byassee models how we can recover ancient Christians' multiple ways of reading the Bible to our benefit. As Byassee says, God himself is Jewish, Catholic, and Pentecostal--so much larger than our own little corner on the truth--and this book offers readers a refreshingly enhanced vision of the Bible and of Jesus himself.

Second Samuel includes some of the most well-known and theologically layered episodes in the Old Testament, such as the Lord's establishment of an eternal covenant with David, David's sin with Bathsheba, and the subsequent account of Absalom's rebellion. In this second part of an ambitious two-volume commentary on the books of Samuel, David Toshio Tsumura elucidates the rich text of 2 Samuel with special attention to literary and textual issues. Tsumura interprets the book in light of the meaning of the original composition, and he provides a fresh new translation based on careful analysis of the Hebrew text.

The story of a monk, a minstrel, and the music that brought them together In 1965 writer-activist-monk Thomas Merton fulfilled a twenty-four-year 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. In this striking parallel biography of two countercultural icons, Robert Hudson plumbs the depths of Dylan's surprising influence on Merton's life and writing, recounts each man's interactions with the woman who linked them together--Joan Baez--and shows how each transcended his immediate troubles and went on to new heights of spiritual and artistic genius. Readers will discover here a riveting story of creativity and crisis, burnout and redemption, in the tumultuous era of 1960s America.

"Have faith. End hunger. Ending hunger is a moral imperative that does not stand alone. Hunger thrives on the racial, social, and economic inequalities that are eating away at the soul of our nation and pulling us apart. But ending hunger could now become the cause that brings us together across partisan lines to make our economy include everyone and work for everybody. The goal of ending hunger nationwide is not only noble but easily within reach. Taking up this goal could give us a corrective lens, a lens of hope for seeing ourselves and our country in a new way. It could also give us better vision for helping the world overcome extreme hunger and poverty. Our failure to speak and write to members of Congress about hunger consigns millions of people here and abroad to diminished lives and premature death, so it is a silence that kills. We can break that silence by urging the nation's leaders to help end hunger and humanize our economy. This book addresses all people of goodwill, including agnostics and atheists, but with a special word of concern for religious people--Christians in particular--who help through charity, but neglect to use the power of their citizenship against hunger"--

Seasoned advice for pastors facing the weekly challenge of preparing sermonsFor pastors, a new sermon comes every week. Conventional wisdom says that pastors need to sequester themselves to prepare their weekly sermon without distraction. But veteran preacher Frank Honeycutt suggests just the opposite: prepare your sermons as part of a daily, lived experience in the community.Using the days of the week as a framework, Honeycutt describes practical and essential tasks leading up to the writing and delivery of the Sunday sermon--habits that will provide lasting spiritual nourishment for pastors who plan for a long career in parish ministry. With humor and candid acknowledgment of his own mistakes and doubts, Honeycutt reflects on the joys and hazards of ministry and explains how a faithful process of preaching shapes pastors for a lifetime of healthy ministry.Monday: ListeningTuesday: HearingWednesday: ExegetingThursday: NamingReflecting: A Pastor Looks BackFriday: WritingSaturday: RehearsingSunday: Offering

In Christ and the Common Life Luke Bretherton provides an introduction to historical and contemporary theological reflection on politics and opens up a compelling vision for a Christian commitment to democracy.In dialogue with Scripture and various traditions, Bretherton examines the dynamic relationship between who we are in relation to God and who we are as moral and political animals. He addresses fundamental political questions about poverty and injustice, forming a common life with strangers, and handling power constructively. And through his analysis of debates concerning, among other things, race, class, economics, the environ­ment, and interfaith relations, he develops an innovative political theology of democracy as a way through which Christians can speak and act faithfully within our current context.Read as a whole, or as stand-alone chapters, the book guides readers through the political landscape and identifies the primary vocabulary, ideas, and schools of thought that shape Christian reflection on politics in the West. Ideal for the classroom, Christ and the Common Life equips students to understand politics and its positive and negative role in fostering neighbor love.

Explores the practice of eating together as Christian worshipThe gospel story is filled with meals. It opens in a garden and ends in a feast. Records of the early church suggest that believers met for worship primarily through eating meals. Over time, though, churches have lost focus on the centrality of food-- and with it a powerful tool for unifying Christ's diverse body.But today a new movement is under way, bringing Christians of every denomination, age, race, and sexual orientation together around dinner tables. Men and women nervous about stepping through church doors are finding God in new ways as they eat together. Kendall Vanderslice shares stories of churches worshiping around the table, introducing readers to the rising contem­porary dinner-church movement. We Will Feast provides vision and inspiration to readers longing to experience community in a real, physical way.

"The authors identify key elements that are a necessary part of change within congregations and focus on the necessary alterations in church culture and innovative spiritual practices that establish the foundation for durable, missional change"--

"In this brief book, the author calls for white, evangelical Christians in the United States to reflect on and change their ways, to repent the racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia that affect marginalized communities in their nation and the world"--

World-renowned Christian philosopher. Beloved professor. Author of the classic Lament for a Son. Nicholas Wolterstorff is all of these and more. His memoir, In This World of Wonders, opens a remarkable new window into the life and thought of this remarkable man.Written not as a complete life story but as a series of vignettes, Wolterstorff's memoir moves from his humble beginnings in a tiny Minnesota village to his education at Calvin College and Harvard University, to his career of teaching philosophy and writing books, to the experiences that prompted some of his writing--particularly his witnessing South African apartheid and Palestinian oppression firsthand.In This World of Wonders is the story of a thoughtful and grateful Christian whose life has been shaped by many loves--love of philosophy, love of family, love of art and architecture, love of nature and gardening, and more. It's a lovely, wonderful story.

The Epistle to the Hebrews has been the subject of controversy and conjecture: its author is unknown, its occasion unstated, and its destination disputed. But these questions pale in comparison to the importance of the letter''s pervasive theme: the absolute supremacy of Christ--a supremacy which allows no challenge, whether from human or angelic beings. Hughes''s introduction includes an outline and synopsis of Hebrews and discusses theme, origin, authorship, and date. His verse-by-verse study of the text is accessible to specialist and nonspecialist readers alike. Technical points are dealt with in notes and excursuses.

"This books draws together significant considerations of evangelicalism from three of the historians who have contributed a great deal to putting the subject on the map, along with selected commentary from others who have benefited from, or sometimes questioned, their work"--

In this meticulously researched study, Konrad Schmid offers a historical clarification of the concept of "theology." He then examines the theologies of the three constituent parts of the Hebrew Bible--the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings-- before tracing how these theological concepts developed throughout the history of ancient Israel and early Judaism.Schmid not only explores the theology of the biblical books in isolation, but he also offers unifying principles and links between the distinct units that make up the Hebrew Bible. By focusing on both the theology of the whole Hebrew Bible as well as its individual pieces, A Historical Theology of the Hebrew Bible provides a comprehensive discussion of theological work within the Hebrew Bible.

Does cognitive science show that religious belief is irrational?Kelly James Clark brings together science and philosophy to examine some of humanity's more pressing questions. Is belief in God, as Richard Dawkins claims, a delusion? Are atheists smarter or more rational than religious believers? Do our genes determine who we are and what we believe? Can our very creaturely cognitive equipment help us discover truth and meaning in life? Are atheists any different from Mother Teresa? Clark's surprising answers both defend the rationality of religious belief and contribute to the study of cognitive science.God and the Brain explores complicated questions about the nature of belief and the human mind.Scientifically minded, philosophically astute, and reader-friendly, God and the Brain provides an accessible overview of some new cognitive scientific approaches to the study of religion and evaluates their implications for both theistic and atheistic belief.

When asked at a press conference about the roots of his political philosophy, President Franklin Roosevelt responded, "I am a Christian and a Democrat." This volume tells the story of how the first informed the second, showing how FDR's upbringing formed him into a leader whose politics were fundamentally shaped by the social gospel.