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Confessional writings of the Lutheran Church and other information essential to understanding the confessions.

Over the last two decades, traditional formulations of the idea of atonement have come under heavy attack from feminist theologians and others. They argue that the traditional view valorizes suffering and encourages people to acquiesce in needless self-sacrificing, that it is unseemly to think of God as demanding suffering of his son, and that the theology of the cross needs to be rethought in light of the whole life, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus.Equally committed to the insights of the theology of the cross and feminist theology, Deanna Thompson takes up these contentious issues here in a creative and nuanced way. Her work emerges from direct engagement with Martin Luther and the Heidelberg Disputation as well as with the architects of reformist feminism. She finds surprising common ground on issues of suffering, abuse, atonement, reform, ethics, and the import of Jesus, and her book culminates in a constructive and promising feminist theology of the cross.

Tomson has written an accessible, responsible analysis of the biblical accounts of Jesus' death, demonstrating how, through compounded misunderstandings, they contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment in the early church and later history.

This insightful work examines the variety of ways that collective memory, oral tradition, history, and history writing intersect. Integral to all this are the ways in which ancient Israel was shaped by the monarchy, the Babylonian exile, and the dispersions of Judeans and the ways in which Israel conceptualized and interacted with the divine-Yahweh as well as other deities.

Romans (Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament)

When stormy trials hit us, our recollection of Jesus' faithfulness can fade as worry, anger, jealousy, fear, sickness, stress, and unforgiveness threaten to rob us of the love and hope that can be found in Jesus. And yet we can experience comfort in the womb of these stormy seasons. Pondering on the stories surrounding Jesus' life presents us with practical wisdom on how to respond to the turbulent episodes we encounter. Jesus' teachings can rejuvenate and instill within us a sense of hope in his love. If we allow him, Jesus can be enough for us, in and out of the storms of life.

An extremely modern approach on how to preach, stressing the individuality of each sermon. An aid to the experienced preacher as well as the seminary student. Choice of mode, tense, proper use of voice, words, logic, etc.-all these and more topics are treated.

Greater knowledge of women's experience, this book argues, will enable all caregivers-whether female or male-to provide better pastoral care when the gender-specific presuppositions of that care are examined. Nine women collaborate to explore how women's life experience both necessitates and models a new, systematic pastoral care. It is the first book to address the broad range of women's pastoral care needs.

In tracing the development of three mythological themes - the conflict between the god of order and the chaos of the sea, the rhythm of fertility and sterility in terms of divine and human sexuality, and that quality of space known as the sacred mountain - Foster R. McCurley examines religious texts from Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Egypt, cultures which had direct contact with ancient Israel. The use of these themes in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is discussed, with the thematic development providing a basis for exploring the relationship between myth and history in biblical faith.

What are the origins of the born-again movement? How does the born-again experience relate to Baptism? Why do fundamentalists argue the literal inspiration of the Bible? Answers to these questions and many more emerge from the story of the born-again movement. Born Againism places the born-again phenomenon in historical perspective, beginning in the late eighteenth century as a movement propelled by speculations about the end time (millennialism). When millennialists merged with fundamentalists and charismatics, a powerful movement was born.In direct non-technical language, Gritsch offers an ecumenical focus that should promote honest dialogue and critical reflection on a vital aspect of contemporary religious life. An annotated bibliography of suggested additional readings is provided.

* The ideal supplemental text in courses on the Hewbrew Bible now thoroughly updated * New chapters on Gender Criticism, Cultural Criticism, and Post-colonial Criticism * Includes a glossary and index of ancient sources, topics, and names

This book explores the relationship between the practices of pastoral care and the practices of spiritual direction with the aim of enabling pastoral caregivers to draw upon the guiding principles, resources and techniques of spiritual direction within the Christian tradition. With an emphasis on both "practice" and "presence," the book reclaims the tradition of "soul care" for the pastoral ministry, thereby complementing the medical, or crisis intervention, model of pastoral care with a wellness/growth model of pastoral care.Listening for the Soul: Challenges clergy to take seriously the relationship between pastoral care and spiritual direction.Integrates theological and psychological insights with issues of spiritual life and formation.Includes a chapter on the spiritual formation of children.Provides practical guidance for integrating spiritual direction with pastoral care.Tends to the pastoral caregivers own needs for spiritual deepeningIncludes reflection questions and case studies to enable the text to function on both the individual reader and classroom levels.

Reinhold Niebuhr argued that one of the fundamental challenges to human existence is the anxiety caused by our desire to be perfect and godlike while knowing we are limited and mortal. This book explores how human adornment practices negotiate anxieties about our finitude. Through our clothing, we often shield ourselves from feeling our human frailty and from having others detect our emotional, physical, and spiritual vulnerabilities. Looking at the incarnation as a form of "dress," Saracino claims that getting naked with Jesus or embracing our vulnerability is our only hope at creating life-giving relationships with God and others in the global world.

Worship is most meaningful and engaging, according to Frank Senn, when it is done, as Paul says, "decently and in good order." This means that good liturgy must strive to avoid makeshift arrangements and disorder. But it must also be attuned to its context, sensitive to the needs and resources of local communities of faith. How does one do that? Designed as a general introduction to Christian liturgy, this book explores the meaning, history, and practice of worship in Eastern and Western, Catholic and Protestant traditions. Its chapters cover the theology of worship, the historical development of Eucharist and the Prayer Offices, the lectionary and customs of the church year, other sacramental rites, and the use of music and the arts. As such, it is a perfect textbook for students seeking to understand the basics of liturgical worship, as well as a reliable guide for worship leaders. Written in the form of a handbook and designed with questions and answers for easy reference, Introduction to Christian Worship will help both novice and experienced worship leaders make informed decisions in their liturgical choices and practices.

Ethical reflection about sexuality is increasingly controversial, complex, and conflicted. After centuries of conflicting messages from the tradition, Christians are understandably confused about how exactly the good news pertains to sexuality. Using a series of provocative questions, Marvin Ellison, a pioneer in contemporary Christian rethinking of sexuality and sexual ethics, attempts to increase readers' skills and confidence for engaging in ethical deliberation about sexuality. Redrawing the conventional, rule-based sexual morality, often rigidly and legalistically applied or broadly ignored, entails transcending fear and shame to redraw the sexual map, he argues. Ellison works to affirm a more relationally focused ethical framework, from which to deliberate about premarital and extramarital sex, marriage and divorce, homosexuality, contraception, abortion, spousal abuse, and sex -education. Students and all adults will welcome this book for enabling their personal clarity, approach to relationships, and mindful participation in respectful moral debate.

Does Martin Luther have anything to say to us today? Nearly five-hundred years after the beginning of the Reformation, Hans-Martin Barth explores that question in this comprehensive and critical evaluation of Luthers theology. Rich in its extent and in its many facets, Barths didactically well-planned work begins with clarifications about obsolete and outdated images of Luther that could obstruct access to the Reformerfor example, the question of the Peasants' War and Luther's attitude toward other religions and superstition. The second part covers the whole of Martin Luther's theology. Having divided Luthers theology into twelve sub-sections, Barth ends each one of these with an honest and frank assessment of what today can be salvaged and whats got to go. In the final section he gives his summation: an honestly critical appropriation of Luthers theology can still be existentially inspiring and globally relevant for the twenty-first century.

The place and significance of Martin Luther in the long history of Christian anti-Jewish polemic has been and continues to be a contested issue. The literature on the subject is substantial and diverse. While efforts to exonerate Luther as "merely" a man of his times who "merely" perpetuated what he had received from his cultural and theological tradition have rightly been jettisoned, there still persists even among the educated public the perception that the truly problematic aspects of Luther's anti-Jewish attitudes are confined to the final stages of his career. It is true that Luther's anti-Jewish rhetoric intensified toward the end of his life, but reading Luther with a careful eye toward "the Jewish question," it becomes clear that Luther's theological presuppositions toward Judaism and the Jewish people are a central, core component of his thought throughout his career, not just at the end. It follows then that it is impossible to understand the heart and building blocks of Luther's theology (justification, faith, liberation, salvation, grace) without acknowledging the crucial role of "the Jews" in his fundamental thinking. Luther was constrained by ideas, images, and superstitions regarding the Jews and Judaism that he inherited from medieval Christian tradition. But the engine in the development of Luther's theological thought as it relates to the Jews is his biblical hermeneutics. Just as "the Jewish question" is a central, core component of his thought, so biblical interpretation (and especially Old Testament interpretation) is the primary arena in which fundamental claims about the Jews and Judaism are formulated and developed.