The deflation of the Enlightenment worldview and rise of the post-modern mood over the last decades has altered the relation of Christian faith to culture. How, in this new situation, should the church confess Christ? "Above All Earthly Powers" paints a picture of the West in all its complexity, brilliance, and emptiness.
As David F. Wells masterfully depicts it, the postmodern ethos is relativistic, individualistic, therapeutic, and yet remarkably spiritual. By placing a premium on marketing rather than truth, the evangelical church is in danger of selling authentic engagement with culture for worldly success. Christians need to confess Christ as the center in a society lacking a center, as the sovereign in a world seemingly ruled by chance, and as the one who can give meaning in a nihilistic culture. "Above All Earthly Powers" issues a prophetic call to the evangelical church that it cannot afford to ignore.
This book is a series of question and answer sessions that the author had with the entity who was Jesus of Nazareth in his last incarnation on earth.
During one of his daily meditation sessions in the mid-1980s, Henry Michaelson was contacted by Jesus and among the topics that discussed and presented in this book are: Why we feel disconnected from The Source, the meaning of karma, and the true meaning of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Drawing on his years of field experience in Galilee, the author illustrates how the archaeological record has been misused by New Testament scholars, and how synthesis of the material culture is foundational for understanding Christian origins in Galilee and the Jewish culture out of which they aros
Christians and non-Christians alike have long recognized that Jesus' life was characterized by vibrancy, love, commitment, clarity, and joy. We all yearn to share in these traits, and by studying Jesus we can discern that he sees in us the potential to become as he was. After all, Jesus didn't go around asking people to believe certain things about him--he invited them to follow him into the abundant life he wanted to share. Brian C. Taylor focuses on the fresh, immediate, liberating quality of what Jesus had to say about life. "His guidance about how to live struck me to the core," Taylor writes. Taylor's succinct summations of what Jesus taught--Don't worry; Love everybody; Help the poor; Become simple; Face into conflict; Change the world; Forgive yourself for being human, and so on--provide the basis for this series of reflections on the transformative wisdom that inspired those who had ears to hear to drop everything and follow him. Jesus continues to astonish and transform those who hear him, and Becoming Human is a deep well of wisdom for any who wish to give glory to God by becoming fully alive.
Drawn from every era of history, this collection of stories, poems, essays, traditional hymns, and celebratory songs is an essential volume for all Christian libraries--and for readers of all religions interested in learning about Christ. An impressive omnibus.--Baton Rouge State Times/Morning Advocate.
In a fascinating exploration of the biblical stories about the birth of Jesus, bestselling author Bishop John Shelby Spong shows how a literal interpretation of the Bible has led to an atmosphere of sexism and negativity towards women in Christian culture. In its place, Spong favors a more creative, or midrashish approach to scripture.
In Born of a Woman, Spong challenges the doctrine of the virgin birth, tracing its development from early accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, to its status as the prevailing belief in the early Christian church. Finally, he reveals its legacy in our contemporary attitudes toward women and female sexuality. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. As a leading spokesperson for an open, scholarly and progressive Christianity, Bishop Spong has taught at Harvard and at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has also lectured at universities, conference centers and churches in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. His books include A New Christianity for a New World, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Resurrection: Myth or Reality?, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and his autobiography, Here I Stand. "These are fascinating speculations, informed by first-rate scholarship and inspired by religious faith . . . Spong restores a flesh-and-blood humanity to the mother of Jesus . . . and beautifully reincarnates her as a feminine aspect of God." - Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy
The first definitive account of what scholars and the media are calling 'the most important archaeological discovery' about Jesus and his family.
This is the definitive story of the recent discovery of the first-century ossuary (limestone bone box) with the legend 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus', and its implications for understanding Jesus, his family (mother, father, brothers), his followers, the first Christians and the Jewish Christian movement in Jerusalem that James led. This ossuary is the first ever archaeological discovery directly confirming the existence of Jesus, and his relationship to his father, Joseph, and brother, James, who became the leader of the important Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem. No one is as qualified and well connected to recount the discovery and its authentication as Hershel Shanks, whose magazine first broke the story.
Reveals the true role of James, the brother of Jesus, in early Christianity
- Uses evidence from the canonical Gospels, apocryphal texts, and the writings of the Church Fathers to reveal the teachings of Jesus as transmitted to his chosen successor: James - Demonstrates how the core message in the teachings of Jesus is an expansion not a repudiation of the Jewish religion - Shows how James can serve as a bridge between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam James has been a subject of controversy since the founding of the Church. Evidence that Jesus had siblings contradicts Church dogma on the virgin birth, and James is also a symbol of Christian teachings that have been obscured. While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles and the "rock" on which Jesus built his church, Jeffrey B tz shows that it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. It was James, not Peter, who guided them through the Church's first major theological crisis--Paul's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. Using the canonical Gospels, writings of the Church Fathers, and apocryphal texts, B tz argues that James is the most overlooked figure in the history of the Church. He shows how the core teachings of Jesus are firmly rooted in Hebraic tradition; reveals the bitter battles between James and Paul for ideological supremacy in the early Church; and explains how Paul's interpretations, which became the foundation of the Church, are in many ways its betrayal. B tz reveals a picture of Christianity and the true meaning of Christ's message that are sometimes at odds with established Christian doctrine and concludes that James can serve as a desperately needed missing link between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to heal the wounds of centuries of enmity.
As a scholar and teacher of literature at Oxford, Lewis confronted many questions:
- Aren't all religions just humanly invented myths?
- Doesn't evil in the world indicate an absence of any personal or loving God?
- Why should what is true for one person be true for me, especially when it comes to religion?
- How can anyone claim that one religion is right?
- Why follow Jesus if he was just another good moral teacher?
This Companion's starting point is the realization that Jesus of Nazareth cannot be studied purely as a subject of ancient history, or as "a man like any other man". History, literature, theology and the dynamic of a living, worldwide religious reality appropriately impinge on the study of Jesus. This book therefore incorporates the most up-to-date historical work on Jesus with the "larger issues" of critical method--the story of Christian faith and study, as well as Jesus in a global church and in the encounter with Judaism and Islam.
