Social Theology

As the pressures of health warnings, economic turmoil, and partisan politics continue to rise, the influence of gospel-focused Christians seems to be waning. In the public square and popular opinion, we are losing our voice right when it’s needed most for Christ’s glory and the common good. But there’s another story unfolding too - if you know where to look. In Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra counter these growing fears with a robust message of resolute hope for anyone hungry for good news.

Politics Reformed makes a provocative contribution to understanding foundational questions in an era of rising fundamentalism and emboldened secularism, inspiring listeners to rethink the importance of religion in political theory and practice, and the role of the covenant tradition in particular.

How is it that in America the image of Jesus Christ has been used both to justify the atrocities of white supremacy and to inspire the righteousness of civil rights crusades? In The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey weave a tapestry of American dreams and visions - from witch hunts to web pages, Harlem to Hollywood, slave cabins to South Park, Mormon revelations to Indian reservations - to show how Americans visually remade the Son of God time and again into a sacred symbol of their greatest aspirations, deepest terrors, and mightiest strivings for racial power and justice.

In this searing and personal book, intellectual activist and theologian Robyn Henderson-Espinoza bridges the gap between academia and activism, bringing the wisdom of the streets to the work of scholarship, all for the sake of political liberation and social change for marginalized communities. This is an invitation - a powerful and provocative call-to-action--to academic theologians to the work of social activism through movement building.

With the troubling and painful events of the last several years - from the shooting of numerous unarmed black men at the hands of police to the rallying of white supremacists in Charlottesville - it is clearer than ever that the reconciliation paradigm, long favored by white Christians, has failed to heal the deep racial wounds in the church and American society. In this provocative audiobook, originally published in 2014, Jennifer Harvey argues for a radical shift away from the well-meaning but feeble longing for reconciliation toward a robustly biblical call for reparations.

Tom Krattenmaker is part of a growing conversation centered at Yale University that acknowledges - and seeks to address - the abiding need for meaning and inspiration in postreligious America. What, they ask, gives a life meaning? What constitutes a life well led? In Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower, Krattenmaker shares his surprising conclusion about where input and inspiration might best be found: in the figure of Jesus.

Está creciendo el interés, la conciencia y la demanda por el conocimiento de que la justicia social es algo que sale de la fe cristiana. Pero esto no es algo nuevo. Por quinientos años la cultura e identidad latina han sido moldeadas por sus desafíos al statu quo religioso, socioeconómico y político, ya sea en oposición al colonialismo español, las dictaduras latinoamericanas, el imperialismo estadounidense en Centro América, la opresión de los trabajadores de campo o la explotación actual de inmigrantes indocumentados.

To take a journey, travelers must know where they are, where they are going, and how to get there. Moral theology examines the same three truths. The Christian Moral Life is a guide for moral theology that uses the theme of a journey to explain its key ethical concepts. Based on an examination of the moral methodology in The Bible, the audiobook discusses the importance of participating in divine nature through grace in order to attain eternal happiness.

God gave Israel the Year of Jubilee as a social reset. Taken together with Sabbath laws and gleaning laws (laws dealt with the harvest season), it was a way to celebrate God's gifts and put the pieces of a broken society back together again. These Old Testament economic ethics were highly practical laws with a theological vision that, if enacted, would set Israel apart as a just society in the midst of a cruel, greedy, and unjust world—not unlike our present day. José Humphreys and Adam Gustine take a close look at the economic ethics and practices of the Old Testament.

We’re not good at living with tension. It’s uncomfortable. It feels unsafe. The moment a friend, spouse, business, or political movement disagrees with us, we flee to the safety of like-minded thinkers, and dehumanize and attack anyone who thinks differently. No one wins. And if someone dares question our particular stance, we demonize them. This is killing us - families, friendships, civility, and discourse. It kills our chance to hear and be heard. We must step out of our bunkers and step into no-man’s-land....

A compilation of narratives and histories based on the largely unheard or ignored perspectives of Scientologists themselves, Among the Scientologists draws on six years of interviews, fieldwork, and research conducted among members of the Church of Scientology. This groundbreaking work examines features of the new religion's history, theology, and praxis in ways that move discussion beyond apostate-driven and expose accounts.

Humanity's diverse nationalities, ethnicities, and races were intended to be a blessing from God. However, due to sin and rebellion, these differences often result in alienation, hatred, and even violence, becoming one of the most urgent problems facing the world. Cultural divisions are unfortunately common in the church, too. How can Christians embrace God's purposes for diversity and experience renewal and unity as his people? Steven Bryan presents a biblical framework for thinking about cultural identity and experiencing cultural diversity as a positive good that God intended.

Racism. Immigration. Gun violence. Sexuality. Health care. The number of ethical issues that demand a response from Christians today is almost dizzying. How can Christians navigate such matters? What are faithful responses to these questions? Edited by two theologians with pastoral experience, this volume invites engagement with these issues and more by drawing on real-life experiences and offering a range of responses to some of the most challenging moral questions confronting the church today.

Revolution answers such questions as the following:? What is the role of the Christian and the church during these tumultuous times? How are we to respond to the racial upheaval happening in our nation? What is the church’s role in healing the divide in our fractured, divided country? Dr. Brown turns up the volume in this call to God’s remnant people to pray, repent, and act according to the teachings of Jesus - who is calling us to holy revolution.

Being pro-life means that not only do we see abortion as a murder, but we also see our apathy against injustice toward outside of the womb as a coconspirator in the fight for life. It means that we fight for racial equality. It means that we love - the woman walking into the abortion clinic - passionately with the love of Christ, and it means we embrace life no matter what label may be attached to a person's identity.

The Antichrist is a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1895. The reference to the Antichrist is not intended to refer to the biblical Antichrist but is rather an attack on the slave morality and apathy of Western Christianity. Nietzsche's basic claim is that Christianity is a poisoner of western culture and perversion of the words of and practice of Jesus.

Mark Karris offers a first-of-a-kind audiobook that explores petitionary prayer alongside theodicy, social justice, and personal moral responsibility. Divine Echoes journeys through the investigation, deconstruction, and reconstruction of petitionary prayer. Karris also reveals a revolutionary model of petitionary prayer that he refers to as "conspiring prayer". Filled with real-life examples, this audiobook will inform and equip both individuals and churches to pray transformative and subversive prayers that will increase God's love, healing, and beauty in the world.

The Religions Book clearly explains the key concepts behind the earliest religious beliefs right up to the world's newest faiths, getting to the heart of what it means to believe with jargon-free descriptions that encapsulate every aspect of religious thinking. Examine major historical developments and ideas with a universal timeline, providing a global perspective on the origins and major events that have contributed to the growth and spread of religion and spirituality.

Thoughtful observers agree that the planetary crisis we now face - climate change; species extinction; the destruction of entire ecosystems; the urgent need for a more just economic-political order - is pushing human civilization to a radical turning point: change or perish. But precisely how to change remains an open question.

Evangelical pastor Ed Dobson chronicles his year of living like Jesus and obeying his teachings. Dobson's transition from someone who follows Jesus to someone who lives like Jesus takes him into bars, inspires him to pick up hitchhikers, and deepens his understanding of suffering. As Dobson discovers, living like Jesus is quite different from what we imagine.