Social Issues
Showing 1101–1150 of 1310 resultsSorted by latest
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Daughters Of Hope
$18.99Add to cartIn this deeply moving book, Kay Strom and Michele Rickett tell the stories if persecuted Christian women from around the globe. From Africa to the Middle East to Asia, they give voice to our sisters persevering under the yoke of oppression and injustice. Each section provides specific prayer points and practical action steps to equip us to respond.
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Faithful Conversation : Christian Perspectives On Homosexuality
$10.00Add to cartBitter battles over the churches’ stance toward its gay and lesbian members have tested the churches’ fundamental orientation and even threatened to split whole denominations apart. The blessing of homosexual unions and ordination of gays and lesbians have proven to be special flashpoints at both local and national levels.
Part of the widespread perplexity over the issues stems from their complexity. They involve questions not only of personal ethics and church polity but also of Christian history, conflicting readings of the biblical data, and uncertainty over basic anthropological frameworks, especially as driven by findings of the social sciences. This volume, initiated by the ELCA seminary presidents in response to a churchwide mandate for study of the issues, is aimed at engendering real reflection and conversation by providing Christians with the basic tools to engage the many dimensions of this question for themselves and with each other. Based on sound scholarship but written in a readable fashion for a broad audience of laypeople and pastors, the volume includes five essays, an authors’ forum about how specific issues in the church are affected by these perspectives, a select bibliography of further readings, and directions on how this resource might be used. -
Recovering Biblical Ministry By Women
$28.49Add to cartAccording to a Christianity Today reader survey about gender roles: Seventy-eight percent of respondents think: “Christian leaders need to speak out on proper roles for men and women.” Eighty-eight percent agreed: “There is a lot of confusion about male and female roles in the Christian world today…. The key actors in the evangelical debate have clearly reached an impasse.” (March 2002) This book proposes careful but clear biblical answers to all questions: It is based on the inerrancy of Scripture and rejects the deculturizing hermeneutic. It is not egalitarian. It provides irrefutable exegetical evidence for the husband’s authority in marriage. It affirms family values. It is not radically complementarian. It provides in depth refutation of eighty-five different objections and restrictions to ministry by women in the church. It frees women to serve Christ fully. Dr. John H. Armstrong, President: “Reformation and Revival Ministries, Inc.” “I have found it the most satisfying exposition of the Holy Scriptures on this subject that I have read in thirty years of thought and exegetical work.”
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God And Ceasar
$17.49Add to cartGod and Caesar: The Biblical Keys to Good Government is an examination of the role of good government. In today’s postmordern society, where the emphasis on absolute truth has waned considerably, such an examination is necessary, particularly if the truth of God’s Word is to be preserved and acted upon. Too often evangelical Christians, including pastors, lay church leaders, and para-church ministers, are uninformed about the proper godly role that civil government plays in our lives, and the influence it can and must have in cultural, social, and civic matters. As a result, evangelials tend to view civil government as the enemy. This is simply not true. Dr. King outlines four basic keys to good government. They are: Establish a solid philosophical foundation based upon a Christian worldview of God and man; Form and understanding of the basic principles of the civil government; Identify the primary public policy areas that are at the center of evangelicals’ belief system. Activate community parctices associated with the various policy issues. Each key is intergrated with the others through the concept of self-government. Rewnal of this concept is critical to the continuation of good government at any level.
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Progressive Christians Speak
$55.00Add to cartRemaining passive under the guise of the separation of church and state and being subsumed in the media by the vocal conservative church, mainline Christians have allowed an inaccurate view of where the majority of Christians stand to dominate popular understanding. Here, members of the grassroots organization Progressive Christians Uniting implore Christian churches to take a more active role in addressing contemporary social problems, maintaining that religion is an important factor in their solutions. Issues examined include food security and the ever expanding world population, the welfare system, civil and human rights, the war on drugs, abortion, immigration, and the destruction of ecosystems.
Progressive Christians Uniting is an ecumenical Christian organization headquartered in Southern California that promotes activism that is faith motivated and well informed on the complex, compelling issues of our time. -
Principles Of Prison Ministry
$14.99Add to cartMany churches have sent teams of ministers into prisons, and nearly two-thirds of them have returned to their churches defeated. The Principles of Prison Ministry serves as a manual for such teams, giving volunteer chaplains a far better view of what prison ministry is all about. Dr. Seay’s twenty-three years of experience will help navigate you through some of the trouble areas in this difficult world of prisons.
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Justice Mercy And Humility
$29.99Add to cartJustice, Mercy and Humility explores the challenge of integral mission among the poor today. It locates the Christian response within a world of alternatives – alternatives at the macro-level of policies and advocacy and the micro-level of lifestyle and affirms the need to integrate ourselves within a total missional response to the poor. Combing case studies from around the world with Jesus’ own teaching and ministry, the book considers what it means for the church to be a countercultural ministry and in doing so raises new questions about what it means to be church.
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Serrated Edge : A Brief Defense Of Biblical Satire And Trinitarian Skylarki
$12.00Add to cartSatire is a kind of preaching. Satire pervades Scripture. Satire treats the foibles of sinners with a less than perfect tenderness.
But, if a Christian employs satire today, he is almost immediately called to account for his “unbiblical” behavior. Yet Scripture shows that the central point of some religious controversies is to give offense. When Christ was confronted with ecclesiastical obstinacy and other forms of arrogance, he showed us a godly pattern for giving offense.
In every controversy, godliness and wisdom (or the lack of them) are to be determined by careful appeal to the Scriptures and not to the fact of someone having taken offense. Perhaps they ought to have taken offense, and perhaps someone ought to have endeavored to give it.
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When Violence Is No Stranger
$21.00Add to cartThe paucity of resources for pastoral care of acquaintance-rape survivors highlights the invisibility of this growing crime and its largely uncharted pastoral challenges. In fact, more rape is by an acquaintance. Only 16 percent of such cases are reported; and because they are difficult to prosecute, only 5 percent of those reported result in guilt verdicts. Focusing on the psychospiritual effects of this sexualized violence, Kristen Leslie offers the psychological and theological tools to religious professionals for understanding the deep spiritual trauma of the survivor and how best to work with her to reconstruct a personal world of meaning, trust, and faith. Based on extensive interviews with survivors. Leslie explains the personal and theological issues they raise, what they found helpful from religious professionals, the images and metaphors most germane to their trauma and recovery, and how they coped with or healed from the experience of rape. An exemplary and important study in practical theology, Leslie’s volume will not only equip pastoral caregivers and counselors with specific guidelines. It will also enlighten them on the crucial role that theology can play in the re-construction of shattered lives
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Addiction
$21.99Add to cartChances are, no church is immune to the drug demographics in America. Pointing out that addiction is a pervasive problem in North American society, Lynn Dann provides pastors and other pastoral caregivers with crucial help in understanding the needs of the addicted, their families, and the congregations of which they are a part. He draws on years of experience as a pastor and a certified alcohol and substance abuse counselor to offer practical guidance on how to recognize the addicted and minister effectively to them.
Dann begins by outlining, in clear and accessible terms, the best contemporary thinking on the nature of addiction. From there he moves to a discussion of the particular resources that Christian churches can add to the treatment of addiction and the support of the addicted and their families. Finally, he includes tools for preaching and teaching on the nature of our drug-obsessed culture and biblical themes related to the care of the addicted. Those who are just beginning in pastoral ministry, as well as those who have engaged in it for many years, will find this an invaluable resource for knowing how to deal with this tragic and increasingly prevalent problem.
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Do No Harm
$24.00Add to cartAmong the evils addressed by Christian theology, says Stephen Ray, must be the evil perpetuated by its own well-meant theologies. His important project examines the downside of the category of social sin, especially in theologians’ used of destructive stereotypes that have kept Christians from realizing and engaging the most pervasive social evils of our time–racism and anti-Semitism. To make his case, Ray examines problematic ways in which several theologians describe the reality of social evil. “Theologians,” he contends, “often unwittingly describe (social) sin in terms that may themselves be profoundly racist, sexist, heterosexist, anti-Semitic, and classist.” He contends that they must attend more carefully to the social evils deeply embedded in their own patterns of language and thought. Ray looks specifically to the work of Reinhold Neibuhr and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to document unintended consequences of theology’s oversights and then to Augustine, Luther, and Calvin to analyze the strains and strengths of traditional notions. Not only theologians and ethicists but also ministers and laity will benefit from Ray’s thoughtful reconsideration of the social stance of Christian theology.
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Wellbeing
$30.00Add to cart“This is the first book in the new SCM “”Society and Church”” series, which attempts to make sense of the Church and Christianity in a secular society and context, and explore what the former can legitimately contribute to the latter. “”Wellbeing”” is an absolutely central concept in our secular lives, is used with increasing frequency in all sorts of contexts – eg. the Boots website is “”www.wellbeing.com”” – and it is therefore crucial that we understand how it relates to life, meaning and personal identity in the 21st century. Through a combination of story, personal reflection and philosophical analysis, Alison Webster attempts to get “”under the skin”” of wellbeing, and show how the concept is evolving in contemporary culture. She shows how the agenda generated by wellbeing is like that which traditionally has been generated by religion and spirituality: which is why “”meeting spiritual needs”” is such big business in health and social care. Webster argues that the Christian tradition still has much to offer in transf
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Mom I Hate My Life
$17.99Add to cartNavigating an adolescent daughter’s emotional life is one of a mom’s toughest challenges. A teenage girl’s volatile emotions can seemingly toss her and you like a hurricane. When a scary external world and a turbulent internal world collide, the result is sometimes overwhelming and confusing. What can you do to protect your relationship with your daughter, guide her through this chaotic time, and assure her you are truly on her side?
Your Adolescent Daughter’s Struggles Can Help Her and You to Grow and Thrive.
The good news is you are equipped with the most powerful resource available for maintaining and developing connection with your daughter: a mother’s heart. Learn how you can use hand-in-hand mothering skills to become the ally your daughter needs parenting out of love, not fear and find out how you both can experience dramatic, life-changing growth in the process.
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Charmed Life : The Spirituality Of Potterworld
$15.00Add to cartPotter fever has swept the world and shows no signs of abating. the books and the recent movie have attracted millions of followers and fans, all of them eagerly awaiting the next installments. Along with the widespread enjoyment and appreciation of Harry Potter and his friendships, however, criticism of the series has also emerged. The opposition has focused on two issues; the darkness of the novels and their apparent endorsement of witchcraft and the occult. In A Charmed Life, Francis Bridger, a theologian and pastor, argues that far from promoting the dark arts, the Potter books are firmly based in Christian values, and offer valuable insights into our characters, our relationships, our priorities, and our spirituality.
Taking readers on an entertaining tour of Potterworld, Bridger shows that each adventure presents new ways of expressing and exploring key spiritual issues, from the meaning of justice, to the need to confront fears, to the debilitating effects of evil. As Harry and his friends deal with one another, face their enemies, cope with their variously dysfunctional families, and experience the common problems o fgrowing up, Bridger domonstrates, it is their intrinsic human goodness, love, and friendship–not wizardry or magic–that allows them to triumph over evil.
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In Justice : Women And Global Economics
$18.00Add to cartThe surprisingly vehement demonstrations at recent meetings of international monetary organizations have alerted people to the dangers of new global economic arrangements. Are there any fundamental standards within economic theory? How can economics and economic proposals best be measured? What does economic justice mean today? Spurred especially by the situation of women in the global household, Ann-Cathrin Jarl in this considerable contribution focuses on promising work in feminist economics and feminist ethics. Jarl articulates feminist critiques of neoclassical economic theory, objectivity in economics, and current understandings of rights, equality, and power. She derives an alternative social theory from feminist ethics, and she lands on provision for basic human needs as the benchmark of economic justice. In her final chapters Jarl offers a theory of economic justice aimed at strengthening the global household and bring the claims of justice to the world of markets.
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Bible And Homosexual Practice
$50.99Add to cartThis is the most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the biblical texts that are generally associated with homosexual practice and of the arguments used to interpret them. Gagnon contends that the Bible unequivocally defines same-sex intercourse as sin
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Mindful Recovery : A Spiritual Path To Healing From Addiction
$17.95Add to cartIn Mindful Recovery, you’ll discover a fresh and effective method for healing from addiction that can help you handle important challenges, from managing anxiety and resisting cravings to dealing with emotional and physical imbalance.
Drawing on both ancient spiritual wisdom and the authors’ extensive clinical psychological work with their patients over many years, Mindful Recovery shows you how to use the simple Buddhist practice of mindfulness to be aware of– and enjoy– life in the present moment without the need to enhance or avoid experience with addictive behaviors. Mindful Recovery guides you step by step through ten powerful “”doorways”” to mindful recovery, giving you specific strategies that can help you cultivate a sense of calm awareness and balance in your life.
Filled with personal stories of recovery, practical exercises, instructions for meditation, and more, Mindful Recovery accompanies you on a journey of exploration and healing that will help you find the strength and the tools to change, leading you to a fresh new experience of everyday living.
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Violence In Families
$14.99Add to cartDomestic violence is an often glossed-over danger in families today, and Christian families are not immune. The warning signs can be hidden or disregarded. Reverend Al Miles confronts the issues surrounding family violence, it causes, and possible solutions. He also discusses how all people are affected and can help address the issue. With an honest and down-to-earth tone, this book provides guidance and information for lay people as well as for individuals with the complex nature of domestic violence.
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When God Says War Is Right
$11.99Add to cart176 pages
Additional Info
Across the centuries, how have Christians who follow the Prince of Peace responded to the recurring reality of war? And what guidance do they offer for believers today in the midst of global conflict?In When God Says War Is Right, Dr. Darrell Cole offers thorough and highly readable answers. His expert examination focuses on these topics:
*Relating the character of God with the use of force
*Determining when and how Christians ought to fight
*Understanding why Christian virtues are vital when using force
*Using nuclear weapons for deterrence
*Learning lessons from World War II, Vietnam, and the 1991 Gulf War
*Responding to today’s war against terrorismDr. Cole focuses on Romans 13, where Paul commands us to do what is righ” (or good or noble) in regard to our governing authorities, who have legitimate war-making authority. In the case of war, what is right for the Christian? This book answers that essential question. In today’s war-stricken world, Dr. Cole provides timely, trustworthy, and vitally needed guidance for Christians.
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Liberty And Justice For All
$55.00Add to cartIn the century between the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln and the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., America sought both to rebuff and to redeem the promise of “liberty and justice for all.” The story of slavery and the bloody civil war that abolished it has been told, but the story of the struggle for liberty and justice by and for African Americans in the half-century following the end of Reconstruction has been largely overlooked. In this highly readable narrative, distinguished historian Ronald C. White, Jr. portrays the people, their ideas, and their ongoing struggle for racial reform in the United States from 1877-1925–a vital prelude to the modern civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Trinity And Subordinationism
$35.99Add to cartIVP Print On Demand Title
Subordination has been and still is a controversial subject within the church. The concept has been vigorously debated in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity since the fourth century. Certain New Testament texts have made it part of discussions of right relations between men and women. In recent years these two matters have been dramatically brought together. Indeed, today the doctrine of the Trinity is being used to support opposing views of the right relationship between men and women in the church. At the center of the debate is the question of whether or not the orthodox view of the trinitarian relations teach the eternal subordination of the Son of God. In this book Kevin Giles masterfully traces the historic understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity from the patristic age to our own times to help resolve this important question. But he does not stop there. Giles goes on to provide an illuminating investigation of a closely related question–whether or not women, even in terms of function or role, were created to be permanently subordinated to men. By surveying the church’s traditional interpretation of texts relating to the status of women and inquiring into the proper use of the doctrine of the Trinity, Giles lays out his position in this current debate.
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Same Sex Controversy
$19.00Add to cart1. The Unthinkable Has Become Thinkable
2. Revisiting Sodom: The Lesson Of Sodom And Gomorrah
3. Recycling The Older Testament: Introducing The Leviticus Passages
4. Recycling The Older Testament: The Leviticus Passages Part 1
5. Recycling The Older Testament: The Leviticus Passages Part 2
6. Unnatural Affections Unnatural Interpretations: Romans 1
7. Desperately Defining Terms: 1 Corinthians And 1 Timothy
8. All You Need Is Love And Other Justifications
9. Conclusion: A Pastoral Appeal
254 PagesAdditional Info
A Clear Biblical Response to The Same Sex ControversyIn the guise of tolerance, modern culture grants “alternative lifestyle” status to homosexuality. Even more disturbing, some within the church attempt to revise and distort Christian teaching on this behavior.
The authors write for all who want to better understand the Bible’s teaching on the subject, explaining and defending the foundational Bible passages that deal with homosexuality-including Genesis, Leviticus, and Romans. Expanding in these Scriptures, they refute the revisionists’ arguments-including the claim that Christians today need not adhere to the Law. In a straightforward and loving manner, they appeal to those caught up in a homosexual lifestyle to repent and return to God’s plan for His people.
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Cutting Edge Bioethics A Print On Demand Title
$27.99Add to cartThis new book from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity provides a faith-based evaluation of recent technologies and trends in bioethics, including the current debate surrounding stem cell research.
Fifteen noted scholars and medical practitioners discuss some of today’s new and controversial work in biomedicine-xenotransplantation, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, and more-and evaluate from a Christian perspective both the science and the ethical questions it raises. Designed to orient general readers to the current state of biomedical research, Cutting-Edge Bioethics is must reading for anyone wishing to confront and wrestle with the challenging moral issues posed by this ever-advancing field.
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Struggling With Scripture
$18.00Add to cartChallenging the traditional meaning of Scripture is not easy, even in the face of issues that call into question those traditional interpretations. In these reflections, Brueggemann says that the Bible, as the live word of the living God, will not submit to the accounts we prefer to give of it. The Bible’s inherent, central evangelical proclamation has greater and more permanent authority than our inescapably provisional interpretations. Placher notes that taking the Bible most seriously means struggling to understand its meaning as well as affirming its truth. And Blount distinguishes what some may claim as a “last word,” which is necessarily a dead word, from the living word that is God’s word to us today.
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Wrath Of Jonah
$34.00Add to cartInternationally renowned scholar Erhard Gerstenberger here offers a radical departure from traditional treatments. Rather than a systematic approach to theological topics in the Old Testament, Gerstenberger discusses its various theological voices rooted in different social settings within ancient Israel: the family and clan, the village, the tribal group, and the kingdom. Further, he discusses the variety of Israel’s views concerning the divine – polytheism, syncretism, and monotheism. Gerstenberger concludes with his reflections on how contemporary theology is informed by the biblical witness and how it must be contextual and ecumenical in order to be authentic.
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Who Is My Enemy
$19.99Add to cartWho Is My Enemy? is designed as a popular level introduction to eight current flash-point issues in our culture. The book provides a summary overview designed to enable the reader to respond to the issues as Christ would–not by resorting to privitization of our faith, or abdication, but to engagement that leads to transformation. The book is designed to help Christians understand how the world is thinking in order to begin to develop an appropriate Christian response to each issue. Rather than presenting simplistic either/or answers, the book recognizes that each issue contains elements that biblical Christians can strongly support and also strongly oppose. The hot topics are: pluralism, postmodernism, New Age explosion, evolution, abortion/euthanasia, feminism, homosexuality, therapy idolatry, and materialism. Picture it as an extended newscast reporting on each issue and weaving biblial perspective throughout.
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Tales Of Vandelite
$16.49Add to cartWelcome to the fantasy kingdom of Vandelite, a realm of adventure, allegory and symbolism. These are the stories of forbidden caverns and perilous pathways. They are the tales of adventurers who pursue the highest treasures of hope, healing, and a higher purpose.
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Postmodern World : Discerning The Times And The Spirit Of Our Age
$20.00Add to cartThrough movies, TV, our schools—even in contemporary worship music and theology—postmodernism is everywhere. Using current events and illustrations, Erickson exposes the rising “spirit of the age.” Explaining how postmodernism is toxic to society and Christianity, this essential resource provides the tools to consistently discern and wisely respond to its influence.
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Social Justice And The Christian Church
$15.95Add to cartAn illuminating book that throws down the gauntlet to those who would capture evangelical Christianity for leftist causes. A free market champion, Nash insists that socialism caricatures capitalism and disadvantages more than it helps the needy.
An excellent presentation of the case for free enterprise … a deadly indictment of socialism in all its forms … should be read by all who are interested in the mission of the church as it relates to ‘social’ justice and especially by those who think the Bible calls for the redistribution of wealth as the epitome of true justice.
Nash’s book is a crest in the new wave of evangelical social thought which is sweeping in. This wave follows the earlier one, which was statist and anti-capitalist in direction, and promises to overtake it. It concentrates more on how wealth is produced than on how it is redistributed and thus should do the poor more good in the long run…. Many offer liberation today and give people tyranny; Nash offers liberation and gives it.
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Terrorism Jihad And The Bible
$17.99Add to cartSeptember 11, 2001 saw the deadliest attack ever launched on American soil, leaving us asking questions such as: Why did God permit such a thing to happen? Was the attack a divine judgment or was it merely an atrocity perpetrated by the forces of evil? How can human beings be capable of such diabolical savagery in the name of religion? And what is the right course of action for our government to take? John MacArthur points us to the Bible for answers to these and many other questions arising out the recent atrocities. He educates readers to the roots of the conflict, linking the religious and political issues that underlie the current turmoil to the Old Testament.
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Watching What We Watch
$30.00Add to cartTelevision has eclipsed the church and school as the most dominant storyteller in our culture. Watching What We Watch discusses the various aspects of “reading” television, helps us to understand how television creates meanings, and teaches us to assess the truth and value of those meanings. Watching What We Watch provides an accessible framework for analyzing television theologically and from the perspective of our values and beliefs. A team of experts uses examples from popular television shows to to explore the forces that drive television production and to challenge viewers to consider what things they should appreciate about television and what things they should call into question.
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Relativism : Feet Firmly Planted In Mid Air (Reprinted)
$19.00Add to cart16 Chapters
Additional Info
Many Christians are concerned about the tide of moral relativism that is rising steadily in our country. And rightly so: Relativism affects our education system, the legal system, and how people think about everyday issues. Yet little has been written on the topic outside academic circles.This void is filled by Frank Beckwith and Greg Koukl, who analyze relativism and present strategies to defend the belief in moral absolutes. Using a commonsense approach, Koukl defines relativism, traces its growth over the past few decades, and critiques the logical inconsistencies to which its supporters are led. He then presents a case for moral objectivism. Beckwith, building on Koukl’s foundation, evaluates the influence of relativism on issues including abortion, homosexuality, political correctness, multiculturalism, and tolerance. In each of these areas, he provides compelling arguments for thinking people.
Following in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer, Relativism is an important guide for those who are concerned about intellectual issues that challenge the Christian faith.
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Beleaguered Rulers : The Public Obligation Of The Professional
$55.00Add to cartProfessionals today wield an enormous public power. Collectively, their decisions affect the patient’s plight, the client’s fate, the student’s future, the city’s scape, the earth’s sustainability, the worker’s fair treatment, and the durability of institutions great and small. Yet professionals did not perceive themselves as power wielders. They feel beleagured, marginal, insufficiently appreciated, often under seige. Thus they tend to obscure for themselves their obligations to the common good. This book explores eight professions as they struggle with their double identity – as a means to a livelihood and as a “common calling in the spirit of public service.” An interpretation of American culture emerges from its pages, as social critic William May opens up the ways in which each profession answers to something deep in the American spirit.
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Earth Habitat : Eco Injustice And The Churchs Response
$21.00Add to cartThis single volume gathers theologians from around the world to address three pressing questions: How can Christianity and Christian churches rethink themselves and their roles in light of the endangered earth? What “earth-honoring” elements does justice- oriented Christianity have to contribute to the common good? And how can communities and churches respond creatively and constructively on a local level to these vast global forces? This volume captures the chief themes and presentations from the October 1998 conference on social justice, ecology, and church entitled “Ecumenical Earth” and held at Union Theological Seminary. Among the 18 contributors to this trailblazing conference are Rasmussen and Hessel, James Cone, Kusumita Pedersen, Brigitte Kahl, Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, Steven Rockefeller, Havid Hallman, Ernst Conradie, Peggy Shepard, and Troy Messenger.
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Justice Men Owe Women
$16.00Add to cartThis new Sacred Energies volume shows how the world’s major religious traditions, though largely patriarchal, can also serve as a profound resource for redressing gender injustices. This reassessment must be taken up by men themselves. The heritage of our sacred texts speaks in a male voice and almost always to male advantage. Men therefore owe it to themselves to extricate themselves from this complicity and to ask, as does this book, how our scriptures, founding prophets, and ancestors can be used today to further justice in relations between the genders.
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Gifted By Otherness
$22.95Add to cartGay and lesbian Christians are in the awkward position of trying to explain themselves to two mutually hostile audiences. On the one side, the gay-lesbian community is often deeply suspicious of anyone connected with Christianity. On the other side sits the church, which often wishes that gays and lesbians would go away, or at least disappear into the woodwork quietly. But the gay and lesbian community has a unique vocation in today’s church, one of challenging the church to be inclusive of all God’s children–the central message of the Gospel. Based on retreats they have presented to churches and seminaries, authors L. William Countryman and M.R. Ritley explore what it means to affirm, not merely accept, being gay or lesbian, as well as Christian. This pro-active and self-affirming book provides new hope for the lesbigay community, their families and their communities, confidently appropriating and re-telling the biblical story of this unique and gifted minority’s spiritual journey.
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Set Free : A Journey Toward Solidarity Against Racism
$14.99Add to cart13 Chapters
Additional Info
Racism is a name-caller. It warps self-concept, saps vibrant communities, atrophies spiritual connection. Although it takes different forms, racism works hard shaping the identities of both white people and people of color.Using story, analysis, and scriptural reflection, Set Free offers language and insight to describe the names racism calls us. This collaborative project brings together decades of mutual experience dismantling racism and the combined perspectives of an African-American woman, a Mexican Amerindian woman and a white male.
At times hopeful, consistently perceptive, and always grounded in real-life struggles, the authors have contributed a significant resource for those who are ready to tale the next step beyond surface solutions to racism’s insidious evil.
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Sacred Choices : Right To Contraception And Abortion In Ten World Religions
$15.00Add to cartAs the world teeters on the edge of overpopulation, this new addition to the Sacred Energies series aims to show how ten major religious traditions in fact contain strong affirmations of the right to family planning, including contraception and even, when necessary, abortion
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Caring For Sexually Abused Children
$22.99Add to cartDealing with sexual abuse is painful, especially when it involves a child you care about. When it happens in church families, we all bear the pain and need help in knowing how to respond. Dr. Tim Kearney has seen and felt such pain. In this warm and hopeful book he shows how the healing touch of God can come, frequently through God’s people in the Christian community.
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Who Killed Homer
$19.99Add to cartFor over two millennia, familiarity with the literature, art, philosophy, and values of the classical world has been synonymous with education itself. But today classical education is rapidly disappearing from American high school and university curricula, and as a result we are in danger of becoming illiterate about the ideas that created Western civilization.
In Who Killed Homer? acclaimed classicists Victor Davis Hanson and John Heath explain what has been sacrificed, who did it and why. Hanson and Heath argue that if we lose our knowledge of the Greeks, then we lose our understanding of who we are. With straightforward advice and informative readings of the great Greek texts, the authors show how we might still save classics and the Greeks for future generations. Who Killed Homer? is must reading for anyone who agrees that knowledge of classics acquaints us with the beauty and perils of our own culture.
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Genetic Turning Points A Print On Demand Title
$38.99Add to cart360 Pages
Additional Info
Human genetic intervention could be considered a microcosm of the larger field of bioethics. According to James Peterson, “it raises almost all the basic issues addressed in a standard bioethics course, from informed consent to the goals of medicine.” Peterson argues that it is imperative to view human genetic intervention from an ethical framework, particularly as the technology in that intervention advances at an exponential rate.Peterson’s goal in Genetic Turning Points was to tie together some of the various questions related to human genetic intervention (better known, perhaps, as genetic manipulation or genetic engineering). He begins with a look at medical technology and moves on to major issues including genetic research, genetic testing, genetic drugs, and genetic surgery (physical manipulation of human genes in the body). The issues are raised in a progressive approach. Genetic research is the foundation for genetic testing and genetic drugs, thus issues related to genetic research are looked at first, and then issues related to genetic testing and drugs. Since genetic surgery techniques are still being perfected, and are not as available as the other technologies, Peterson looks at this vital issue last.
Christians, according to LeRoy Waters, have tended to view human genetics from one of two positions (not usually both): cosmic theology and casuistic analysis. Cosmic theology simply means looking at the grand scheme of God’s plan for humanity; casuistic analysis is that which addresses the questions of practice. Peterson hopes to bring the two positions together in a cogent and effective manner. He feels that one’s understanding of God’s plan for humanity (our purpose) shapes the concrete decisions of life (the practice). Ideally, Christians should be aware of both how purpose shapes practice and how practice questions purpose. Thus, Peterson sees the medical and ethical issues as eminently practical, but defined and shaped by one’s metaphysical beliefs.
Genetic Turning Points is laid out in a progressive manner, but topics can stand on their own. Chapters are generally short and the indexes and cross-references allow one to find a particular topic quickly and easily. Since there are fifteen chapters, the book easily lends itself to undergraduate or postgraduate study (one chapter a week), but is not solely for students. It is also for professionals (doctors, clergy, etc.) and for educated lay people. Its information is timely and it
