Bücher veröffentlicht von Pickwick Publications

The body of Christ. The body of the anorexic. The altered body. The mutilated body. The Eucharist. Canonical Western thought has had an uneasy relationship with the flesh from Plato forward. Western philosophy has spent its time dwelling upon ideation, perception, cognition, and recollection, and has pursued, de facto if not de jure, a duality of mind and body that continues to this day. Western theology has followed suit, either viewing the body as humiliation, prison, or site of sin. However, movements in the twentieth century--philosophical, theological, and scientific--have all issued challenges to the longstanding tradition. These challenges invite us to reconsider long-held beliefs about cognition, the body, and human experience in the world. In particular, Wesleyan theology and philosophy are called to address our inheritance and to move beyond it. This Is My Body provides a collection of essays addressing the body from broadly Wesleyan, Christian, and philosophical perspectives, examining Wesley''s engagement with the body, embodied epistemologies, the body and the Church, and the altered body in relation to Christian Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.""This book is simply refreshing. Humbly calling Wesleyan theology to a deeper appreciation of the constitutive role that embodiment plays in all areas of human existence, this volume brings together continental philosophy, historical theology, and contemporary psychology in ways that are genuinely remarkable. It will not only enliven the contemporary scholarship, but enrich those individuals who aim to live in light of the physicality of a truly incarnational theology.""--J. Aaron Simmons, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Furman University""Remarkably the body of this book offers dazzling contributions both to the cutting edge of philosophical enquiry and to the liveliest spirit of Wesleyan theology. Here these two rarely related approaches to the body come into intimate and timely resonance. Tangibly readable, invitingly teachable, its essays have been gathered in a rare solidarity of humor, honesty, and transdisciplinary wisdom.""--Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, The Theological School, Drew University; author of The Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary EntanglementJohn Thomas Brittingham is a Teaching Fellow at Greenville College in Illinois. He is the author of several essays engaging philosophy, embodiment, and popular culture.Christina M. Smerick is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Greenville College in Illinois. She is the author of Jean-Luc Nancy and Christian Thought: The Bodies of Christ, forthcoming from Lexington Books.

As experiences of suffering continue to influence the responses of identity groups in the midst of violent conflict, a way to harness their narratives, stories, memories, and myths in transformative and nonviolent ways is needed. From Suffering to Solidarity explores the historical seeds of Mennonite peacebuilding approaches and their application in violent conflicts around the world. The authors in this book first draw out the experiences of Anabaptists and Mennonites from the sixteenth-century origins through to the present that have shaped their approaches to conflict transformation and inspired new generations of Mennonites to engage in relief, development, and peacebuilding to alleviate the suffering of others whose experiences today reflect those of their ancestors. Authors then explore the various peacebuilding approaches, methods, and initiatives that have emerged from this Mennonite narrative and its preservation and dissemination in subsequent generations. Finally, the book examines how this combined historical sensitivity and resulting peacebuilding theory and practice have been applied in violent conflicts around the world, noting both successes and challenges. Ultimately, From Suffering to Solidarity attempts to answer a question: How can a robust historical infrastructure be used to inspire empathetic solidarity with the Other and shape nonviolent ways of transforming conflict to thrust a stick in the spokes of the cycle of violence?""Oppression, injustice, suffering, violence are everywhere. So are rays of hope that these plagues may be alleviated, even some day brought to an end. Among those who have been in the forefront of nourishing these hopes throughout our sad world, are the Mennonites. In my own much too limited experience in trying to confront these tragedies, I have repeatedly found that Mennonite activists and missions are there on the ground, living and working in solidarity with the victims, supporting and protecting them, showing by their own lives and activism the power of nonviolence, empathy, dedication, moral integrity. Their work is an inspiring demonstration of what we can achieve if we can find the strength and the courage to commit ourselves to the kinds of efforts that the Mennonites have shown to us in such an exemplary way. Andrew Klager''s fine collection on the Mennonite way of proceeding ''from suffering to solidarity'' provides a most enlightening and instructive guide to these impressive contributions, and what we can learn from them.""--Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus)Linguistic Theory, Syntax, Semantics, Philosophy of Language, Massachusetts Institute of Technology""This unique, compelling, and richly textured volume derives its vitality from a powerful question: How has the Mennonite historical context shaped contemporary Mennonite peace work? Together, Klager and his varied team of contributors trace the arc of the Mennonite story from shared suffering to empathetic solidarity with others, and offer inspiring examples of how a particular experience of oppression and violence can be transformed through conviction, love of enemies, a spirited work ethic, and moral as well as narrative imagination. The result is a nuanced appreciation of Mennonite peacebuilding at its best, and in its many different forms. Highly recommended.""--Nathan Funk, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo""While Mennonites--one of the historic peace churches--have wrestled with processing painful collective memories, they are on a journey of pursuing peace with justice as they engage those suffering around them. From Suffering to Solidarity traces many steps and stories of peacemaking in this tradition. The interdisciplinary collection of articles is written by a diverse group of North American Mennonite scholars, reflecting experiences and strategies from different contexts globally. Practition

Time is running out for Khalil el Said, as his cancer treatments have become less and less effective. And so it is that his old friends Art West (and his new wife, Marissa) and Grace Levine plan something very special for Khalil, while there is still time-- the opening of an el Said wing of the Israeli Museum of Antiquities, which includes many of the items he bequeathed to the museum over many years. All of this might be quite enough, but as the Wests and others arrive in Jerusalem, a huge explosion blows the top off of the Dome of the Rock. How did it happen? Will there be war? And who is this person hiding in the shadows who seems to be the spitting image of the well-known dead villain el Tigre? Along the way new archaeological discoveries come to light, and Yelena, the adopted daughter of Grace and Manny, must decide if her future lies in Israel or not. The old friends discover they are at a crossroads in all their lives--- which avenues will they take as the future beckons?""Ben and Ann Witherington have given us another Art West adventure, which, like the previous novels, blends imagination with the realities of archaeology and the Holy Land. In reading this book you will not only be entertained, quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next, you will also be acquiring an excellent education relating to biblical scholarship, Christian origins, Jewish customs, life in Israel in the time of Jesus, history, and archaeology. In short, the Witheringtons have made entertainment educational and education entertaining!"" --Craig A. Evans, John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins and Dean of the School of Christian Thought, Houston Baptist University ""What happens when a Jewish zealot conspires to blow up Jerusalem''s temple mount with a Palestinian Muslim? Ben Witherington''s ninth Art West novel is a compelling account of murder, stolen antiquities, archaeological discoveries, and the cold case revelation of Yasser Arafat''s murder, capped off with the destruction of the temple mount. Return to Zion is a gripping story that''s hard to put down.""--Mark R. Fairchild, Luke J. Peters Professor of Biblical Studies, Chair Dept. Bible & Religion, Huntington University""The Witheringtons plant the reader between the frenzy of religious extremism--Christian, Jewish, and Muslim--and the impetus of people of good conscience toward peace and cooperation across faiths. But this is also a story about valuing life, facing death, and finding direction in the midst of danger and opportunity. The result is a story as multilayered as the archaeological digs that inevitably come into play where Art West is involved.""--David A. deSilva, Trustees'' Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Ashland Theological SeminaryBen Witherington III is Amos Professor of NT for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University, and the author of over thirty-five books, including New York Times bestseller The Brother of Jesus.Ann Witherington is Instructor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at Asbury University. Ben and Ann have been married for over thirty years.

This book brings together a variety of perspectives on how religion can be related to violence and war--both in a destructive and constructive way. Religion can justify and mobilize violence--even terrorism or guerilla wars--just like political ideology. But how is such a link between religion and violent behavior established in the first place? How can we go further in understanding this possible connection between religion and war?Is religious peace work just the flip side of religious support of war? Or can peace work be informed by knowing about how religion promotes violence and war? In the search for answers to the puzzle of religion and war, it is easy to focus on conflict and war situations, but maybe there is as much to learn from peace work as from war studies? Therefore, this book also analyses religious peace work from different contexts. The multifaceted presence of religion in conflict situations--whether justifying violence or promoting peace--is illustrated in this book using a variety of situations, in an enlightening panorama of one of today's must puzzling social connections: religion and armed conflict.Contributors: R. Scott Appleby, Goran Gunner, Mariyahl Hoole, Mark Juergensmeyer, Anne Kubai, Kjell-Ake Nordquist, Jehan Perera, Jennifer Schirmer, Nari Senanayake, and Maria Smaberg.

Reforms and processes of change have become an increasingly pervasive characteristic of European Protestant churches in the last fifteen to twenty years. Driven by perceptions of crises, such as declining membership rates, dwindling finances, decreasing participation in church rituals, and less support of traditional church doctrine, but also changes of governance of religion more generally, many churches feel compelled to explore new forms of operations, activities, and organizational structures. What is the inner dynamic and nature of these processes? This book explores this question by applying perspectives from organizational studies and bringing them into dialogue with ecclesiological categories, seeking to provide a richer understanding of the field of processes of change in churches. Among the questions asked are: What are the implications--organizationally and ecclesiologically--of viewing reform as a church practice, and how does this relate to much more comprehensive waves of public sector reforms? How is church leadership configured and exercised, how is democratic leadership related to the authority of ordained ministry, and how does leadership take on new forms in the context of churches? And how do churches incorporate organizational practices of planned change and renewal, such as social entrepreneurship?""National Protestant Churches are challenged from below and from above, and from all sides, to adopt to the modern management standards of theirs societies. Is this what the continuing reformation of Protestant churches should look like? The analyses in these well-researched papers are critical but also aware of the dilemmas facing the churches."" --Hans Raun Iversen, Director of Center for Church Research, University of Copenhagen ""This fine collection of essays provides unique insights for an English-speaking audience, especially regarding the development in the Nordic churches in times of change. Through their theoretical grounding and comparative potential, the studies also provide valuable insights for readers in other contexts.""--Harald Hegstad, Professor of Systematic Theology, MF Norwegian School of TheologyUlla Schmidt is professor of practical theology at Aarhus University, Denmark, School of Culture and Society. She has researched and published extensively on church reform processes, in particular church-state reforms and reforms of church governance in the Nordic countries. Harald Askeland is professor of religious organization and leadership at Diakonhjemmet University College, Norway, Dept. of Diakonia and Leadership. He has researched and published on leadership and organizational issues in churches and church-related organizations.

Recent theological discussions between Catholics and Evangelicals have generated a renewed appreciation for God's ongoing use of Scripture for self-mediation to the Church. Noting the significant influence of Henri de Lubac (one of the drafters of Dei Verbum and proponent of a renewal of the Patristic and Medieval emphasis on a spiritual sense of Scripture), and Kevin Vanhoozer (the leading Evangelical proponent of a theological interpretation of Scripture), Kevin Storer seeks to draw Evangelical and Catholic theologians into dialogue about God's ongoing use of Scripture in the economy of redemption. Storer suggests that a number of traditional tensions between Catholics and Evangelicals, such as the literal or spiritual sense of Scripture, a sacramental or a covenantal model of God's self-mediation, and an emphasis on the authority of Scripture or the authority of the Church, can be eased by shifting greater focus upon God's ongoing use of creaturely realities for the building of the Church in union with Christ. This project seeks to enable Evangelicals to appropriate the insights of de Lubac's Catholic Ressourcement project, while also encouraging Catholic theologians to appreciate Vanhoozer's Evangelical emphasis on God's use of the literal sense of Scripture to build the Church.

On the highways and byways of every continent, hundreds of millions of immigrants are constantly on the move. Because of growing inequalities of wealth caused by unregulated economic globalization, political and ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, instant communication, and viable means of transportation, more and more people are migrating than ever before. Crossing international borders, whether compelled or voluntarily, is a major characteristic of our present epoch. No countries or regions are immune from this reality. Facing the growing scope, complexity and impact of the current worldwide phenomenon, God's People on the Move seeks to develop appropriate biblical and missiological responses to the issue of human migration and dislocation. The book is divided into two major sections. Part one, "Biblical Perspectives on Migration and Mission," contains six essays that focus on various biblical themes or texts that deal with migration and mission. Part two, "Contemporary Issues of Migration and Mission," contains six essays that address different immigration issues around the world. The contributors to this volume are women and men from different ethnic backgrounds, working and living on five continents. The internationality of the contributors gives this volume a unique global perspective on migration and mission.

This Festschrift dedicated to S. Scott Bartchy comes on the occasion of his retirement from the Department of History at the University of California at Los Angeles. This volume contains seventeen essays contributed by Professor Bartchy's esteemed colleagues, associates, friends, and former graduate students.Beginning with his groundbreaking work on Greco-Roman slavery, Bartchy's teaching and research have been marked both by his use of social-scientific methods for studying the New Testament and by an interest in the social history of early Christianity, including the role of women in the early Christian assemblies, the Christian critique of traditional views of male honor, and the practice of table fellowship and its implications for Christian social relations. To honor Bartchy's legacy, the editors thought it appropriate to organize this collection according to the relational categories suggested by Galatians 3:28. Each essay pertains, therefore, to the social dynamics between Jews and Gentiles, slaves and freeborn, or males and females in the early church and beyond. The volume's subtitle reflects Scott's many accomplishments as a jazz musician and sounds a note of unity in diversity that characterizes the diverse perspectives and themes found in the essays of this volume.

The conviction that Jesus is the restorative Christ demands a commitment to the justice he articulated. The justice of the restorative Christ is justice with reconciliation, justice with repentance, justice with repair, and justice without retaliation. The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts portray the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the radical concept of "enemy-love." In conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jesus-for-others), John Howard Yoder (a nonviolent Jesus), Miroslav Volf (an embracing Jesus), and Chris Marshall (a compassionate Jesus), Broughton demonstrates what the restorative Christ means for us today. Following the restorative Christ faithfully involves imaginative disciplines (seeing, remembering, and desiring), conversational disciplines (naming, questioning, and forgiving), and embodied disciplines (absorbing, repairing, and embracing).

Lutheran tradition has in various ways influenced attitudes to work, the economy, the state, education, and health care. One reason that Lutheran theology has been interpreted in various ways is that it is always influenced by surrounding social and cultural contexts.In a society where the church has lost a great deal of its cultural impact and authority, and where there is a plurality of religious convictions, the question of Lutheran identity has never been more urgent. However, this question is also raised in the Global South where Lutheran churches need to find their identity in a relationship with several other religions. Here this relationship is developed from a minority perspective.Is it possible to develop a Lutheran political theology that gives adequate contributions to issues concerning social and economic justice? What is the role of women in church and society around the world? Is it possible to interpret Lutheran theology in such a way that it includes liberating perspectives? These are some of the questions and issues discussed in this book.

Since the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Lutheran traditions have had a great impact on culture and politics in many societies. At the same time Lutheran churches have impacted personal faith, basic morality, and ethics. Modern society, however, is quite different from the time of the Reformation.How should we evaluate Lutheran tradition in today's Western multicultural and post-Christian society? Is it possible to develop a Lutheran theological position that can be regarded as reasonable in a society that evidences a considerable weakening of the role of Christianity? What are the challenges raised by cultural diversity for a Lutheran theology and ethics? Is it possible to develop a Lutheran identity in a multicultural society, and is there any fruitful Lutheran contribution to the coexistence of different religious and nonreligious traditions in the future?