Bücher veröffentlicht von William B Eerdmans Publishing Co

Why Psychology Needs Theology shows how Christian insights into human nature can be integrated with psychological theory and suggests ways that a basic understanding of faith might positively impact the therapeutic process.In the first part of the book, Nancey Murphy explores the core assumptions of psychology from the vantage point of her expertise in the philosophy of science. Psychology needs theology and ethics, she argues, to help it address the question of what constitutes a good life. Taking an Anabaptist, or Radical-Reformation, perspective that emphasizes Jesus' vulnerable love for his enemies and renunciation of power, Murphy challenges psychology to take seriously the goodness of self-renunciation.In the second part of the book, other scholars extend and challenge Murphy's model, discussing such topics as gender and culture. All those who work at the intersection of religion and psychology - teachers, pastors, specialists, and professional care providers - will find this exchange fruitful and valuable.

Contours of Christology in the New Testament features first-class biblical scholars who steep readers in the biblical texts about Jesus. These essays focus on the New Testament writers' various understandings of Jesus, their differing emphases seen as contours in the common landscape of New Testament christology. Sweeping in scope, the volume begins with a look at early christology and covers the whole of the New Testament from the Gospels to Revelation.

This book brings together Jewish and Christian scholars engaged in fresh thinking about the relation of their respective covenant communities. Speaking theologically and ecumenically, the contributors introduce readers to current attempts to construct a Jewish theology of Christianity and a Christian theology of Judaism.

Against contemporary trends that conceive of Christian worship primarily as entertainment or sheer celebration, Walter Sundberg argues that repentance is the heart of authentic worship. In Worship as Repentance Sundberg outlines the history of repentance and confession within liturgical practice from the early church to mid-twentieth-century Protestantism, advocating movement away from the "eucharistic piety" common in mainline worship today and toward the "penitential piety" of older traditions of Protestant worship.

As immediate and relevant as today's headlines, this book sets forth a bold argument with direct implications for political life in America and around the world. Combining incisive cultural analysis and keen religious insight, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence maintain that American crusading - so powerfully embodied in popular entertainments - has striking parallels with Islamic jihad and Israeli militancy.According to Jewett and Lawrence, American civil religion has both a humane, constitutional tradition and a violent strand that is now coming to the fore. The crusade to rid the world of evil and "evildoers" derives from the same biblical tradition of zealous warfare and nationalism that spawns Islamic and Israeli radicalism. In America, where this tradition has been popularized by superheroic entertainments, the idea of zealous war is infused with a distinctive sense of mission that draws on secular and religious images. These crusading ideals are visible in such events as the settling of the western frontier, the World Wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and America's present war on terrorism.In exploring the tradition of zealous nationalism, which seeks to redeem the world by destroying enemies, the authors provide a fascinating access to the inner workings of the American psyche. They analyze the phenomenon of zeal - the term itself is the biblical and cultural counterpart of the Islamic concept of jihad - and address such consequential topics as the conspiracy theory of evil, the problem of stereotyping enemies, the mystique of violence, the obsession with victory, and the worship of national symbols such as flags.This critical book, however, is also immensely constructive. As Jewett and Lawrence point out, the same biblical tradition that allows for crusading mentalities also contains a critique of zealous warfare and a profound vision of impartial justice. This tradition of prophetic realism derives from the humane side of the biblical heritage, and the authors trace its manifestations within the American experience, including its supreme embodiment in Abraham Lincoln. Isaiah's "swords into plowshares" image is carved on the walls of the United Nations building, thus standing at the center of a globally focused civil religion. Grasping this vision honored by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike includes recognizing the dangers of zealous violence, the illusions of current crusading, and the promise of peaceful coexistence under international law.Instructive, relevant, and urgent, Captain America and the Crusade against Evil is sure to provoke much soul-searching and wide debate.