In this study James McConnell addresses the concept of authoritative testimony in Luke-Acts. Specifically, he argues that particular elements in the narrative of Luke-Acts can be understood as instances of the topos of divine testimony through utterances and deeds, considered in some ancient rhetorical handbooks to be the most authoritative form of testimony when seeking to persuade an audience. McConnell claims the gods' testimony was used in ancient law courts and political speeches to...
In the late summer months of 2000, on a cool dark night in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, a seventeen year old boy was murdered by a young man he once considered his best friend. The calamity nearly crippled the boy's parents, especially the father who struggled mightily with grief, anger, and guilt. With the help of a very special elderly sage, the father of the boy struggled to survive the tragedy and recover from the heartbreaking ordeal. The story begins with the funeral of...
Praying–with the Saints–to God Our Mother celebrates the feminine characteristics of God by uncovering a treasury of texts that have been overlooked for centuries. Over 150 scriptural passages, both from the original biblical languages and other ancient translations, radiate the warmth and vitality of the maternal face of God. Additionally, passages from five Ecumenical Councils, all thirty-three Doctors of the Church, another thirty-six Fathers, and a total of seventy-one saints from every...
Sex, Sin, and Our Selves brings together readings in feminist theological thought and the literature of the acclaimed contemporary writers Michele Roberts and Sara Maitland. Through placing theology in conversation with Roberts's and Maitland's literary engagement with issues of religion and gender, this book explores themes of selfhood, connection, sex, sin, and self-sacrifice. In doing so, it challenges a tendency of feminist theology to seek simple and idealized answers, rather than...
Cutting-edge missional witness just got bloodier and yet more hopeful than ever! Many Christians in America have lost loved ones who gave their lives in military service to save the country and the «free world.» John Shorack is one of them. His father, Theodore James Shorack Jr., was shot down in Vietnam in 1966. Unlike many, John didn't conform to his father's legacy of military sacrifice for the nation. He found a completely different way to give his life–for Christ and his kingdom...
This book is about a Black man's reading of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for the first time while in graduate school. The story captures his emotional experience with Twain's use of the racial epithet «nigger» more than 211 times throughout the book. The visceral response to hearing the word verbalized by whites with Twain's permission, regardless of irony or satire, is a central theme of this personal history/memoir. The situation is a seminar in Richmond,...
Why a journey from Zen to Methodism? Two friends embark on a dual path of discovery while driving from Portland to Denver. The miles take them through the beautiful scenery of the Pacific Northwest as their souls traverse the spiritual landscapes of a lifetime. The journey begins in the San Francisco Bay Area of the 1960s with the nascent American Zen movement led by Shunryu Suzuki. From there it winds through the years, passing through Christianity and pop culture, John Cage and avant-garde...
Not a reference tool, this unique work is a teaching-learning guide to studying the earliest Gospel. The focus is on showing how rather than on telling what. «Maps» followed by leading questions and statements help both faculty and students to see how the Evangelist adopted and adapted his sacred texts (as well as Jewish and Greco-Roman resources) in light of his convictions about and experience of Jesus. Noticing the dominance of words and themes leads one to discover the primary concerns of...