In this work, eminent theologian Stanley Hauerwas shows how the sermon is the best context for doing good theology. He writes, "I am convinced that the recovery of the sermon as the context for theological reflection is crucial if Christians are to negotiate the world in which we find ourselves." The book includes seventeen sermons preached by Hauerwas, which he considers his best theological work and hopes exemplify the work of theology. The sermons are divided into four sections: seeing, saying, living, and events. Titles range from Believing Is Seeing and Was It Fitting for Jesus to Die on a Cross? to Only Fear Can Drive Out Fear and To Be Made Human. Each sermon includes where and when it was preached and references relevant Scripture passages. EXCERPT I have increasingly come to the recognition that one of the most satisfying contexts for doing the work of theology is in sermons. That should not be surprising because throughout Christian history, at least until recently, the sermon was one of the primary places in which the work of theology was done. For the work of theology is first and foremost to exposit scripture. That modern theology has become less and less scriptural, that modern theology has often tried to appear as a form of philosophy, is but an indication of its alienation from its proper work. I am, therefore, making these sermons available because I think they are not only my best theological work, but because I hope they exemplify the work of theology.

Eminent theologian Stanley Hauerwas shows how the sermon is the best context for doing theology.

In Cross-Shattered Christ, theologian Stanley Hauerwas offers a moving reflection on Jesus's final words from the cross. This small and powerful volume is theologically poignant and steeped in humility. Hauerwas's pithy discussion opens our ears to the language of Scripture while opening our hearts to a truer vision of God. Touching in original and surprising ways on subjects such as praying the Psalms and our need to be remembered by Jesus, Hauerwas emphasizes Christ's humanity as well as the sheer "differentness" of God. Ideal for personal devotion during Lent and throughout the year, Cross-Shattered Christ offers a transformative reading of Jesus's words that goes directly to the heart of the gospel.

In The Shattered Cross, Linda Carol Jones explores the lives and work of five priests of the Séminaire de Québec, the first French Catholic missionaries to serve along the Mississippi River between 1698 and 1725. Using an array of archival holdings in Québec and France, Jones provides deep insight into the experiences of these pioneer priests and their interactions with regional Native peoples and cultures. Encounters between early French Catholic missionaries and Native peoples were always complex, often misunderstood, and typically fraught with an array of challenges. As Jones demonstrates, these priests faced a combination of environmental, personal, economic, and leadership difficulties that, along with cultural misunderstandings and poorly designed strategies, made their missionary work arduous. Nevertheless, their efforts led, in some instances, to assimilation of select Christian elements into Native cultures, albeit through creative, mutual adaptation, not solely through Catholic efforts. In describing the challenges the Séminaire priests faced in their Christianization efforts, Jones reveals patches of middle ground that served to transform both missionary and Native cultures when least expected. She relates the story of Father Marc Bergier, who took the openness and compassion he felt for the Native peoples he encountered in Québec with him as he descended the Mississippi River and worked among the Tamarois. Bergier revealed a willingness to reject certain aspects of Catholic teaching in order to accept various Native traditions. Jones also investigates the case of Father Jean-François Buisson de Saint-Cosme, strongly suspected by church leaders of having an inappropriate interest in women while serving as a priest in Acadie, several years before his departure down the Mississippi. Jones suggests that Father Saint-Cosme’s subsequent sexual relations with the sister of the Great Sun of the Natchez may have been an attempt to step into a middle ground with her so as to end the Natchez tradition of human sacrifice upon the death of a Great Sun. Expectations of Séminaire leaders in Québec and Paris meant that those with the best chance for success on the Mississippi were internally driven, acknowledged a sense of calling to be a part of the overarching mission of the seminary, and adhered to the advice of its leadership. The missionary experiences of these five men—their varied encounters with Native peoples, Jesuit missionaries, and French coureurs de bois—align and diverge in unexpected ways, presenting a mosaic that adds to our understanding of both the tribulations French Catholic missionaries faced and the consequences of their efforts along the Mississippi River in the early eighteenth century.

Michael and Elizabeth Stewart discovered long ago that they could time travel through an old church’s basement on Long Island. What they didn’t realize was that their actions in First Century Jerusalem could upend life for the world as we know it. Their encounter with Roman thug, Pontius Pilate, turns life upside down for billions of future generations. Michael endures family loss and survives in a brutal and violent world with the help of a new friend, Adriel. The mystery of this forsaken world is discovered while Michael and Adriel fight off old wicked ways from a past war. Michael realizes he must return and confront Pilate and the Romans to save the world from long-suffering oppression.

An esteemed theologian examines how American identity and America's presence in the world are shaped by war.

Heather Davediuk Gingrich applies years of counseling experience to the sensitive task of treating complex traumatic stress disorder (CTSD). Writing for pastors and counselors who have not received training in complex trauma, Gingrich integrates current trauma therapy research with discussions of prayer and spiritual warfare.

Some fourteen years after its initial publication, this important and influential book, with a new, substantial, and candid introduction by the author, is available in a reasonably priced paperback edition. In this volume Hauerwas assesses recent interest in the “ethics of character” and suggests areas in his own work that now call for some corrective and/or further work.

One of the hallmarks of contemporary culture is its attitude toward aging and the elderly. Youth and productivity are celebrated in today's society, while the elderly are increasingly marginalized. This not only poses difficulties for old people but is also a loss for the young and middle-agers, who could learn much from the elderly, including what it means to grow old (and die) "in Christ." Growing Old in Christ presents the first serious theological reflection ever on what it means to grow old, particularly in our culture and particularly as a Christian. In a full-orbed discussion of the subject, eighteen first-rate Christian thinkers survey biblical and historical perspectives on aging, look at aging in the modern world, and describe the "Christian practice of growing old." Along the way they address many timely issues, including the medicalization of aging, the debate over physician-assisted suicide, and the importance of friendships both among the elderly and between the elderly and the young. Weighty enough to instruct theologians, ethicists, and professional caregivers yet accessible enough for pastors and general readers, this book will benefit anyone seeking faith-based insight into growing old. Contributors: David Aers David Cloutier Rowan A. Greer Stanley Hauerwas Judith C. Hays Richard B. Hays Shaun C. Henson L. Gregory Jones Susan Pendleton Jones Patricia Beattie Jung D. Stephen Long M. Therese Lysaught David Matzko McCarthy Keith G. Meador Charles Pinches Joel James Shuman Carole Bailey Stoneking Laura Yordy

""Folksy, eclectic, disarmingly humble, and astonishingly wide-ranging, Hauerwas offers us a provocative reading of Bonhoeffer that, not surprisingly, assimilates him closely to John Howard Yoder. At the same time, Hauerwas replies to recent criticisms of his work by Jeffrey Stout. Contending that truth depends on performance far more than on theory, Hauerwas steps forward as a pacifist gadfly for a more truly faithful church and a more recognizably democratic society."" --George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary ""This book shows how lively and fecund Hauerwas's thought remains. A dazzling performance, capable of entertaining and instructing professional theologians as much as those who think the world might be a better place without theologians in it."" --Paul J. Griffiths, University of Illinois at Chicago ""Stan Hauerwas has done it again! He is able skillfully to blend into his book the passion for truth and justice of two of his greatest influences, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and John Howard Yoder. He takes these heroic advocates for peace into his own present-day struggle for the soul of the American nation. Hauerwas, an admirable Christian pacifist himself, dares Christians to be the 'Jesus people' they claim to be and to follow Jesus into the gospel path of nonviolence."" --Geffrey B. Kelly, author of Liberating Faith: Bonhoeffer's Message for Today ""Never totally predictable. Always a fresh perspective. And yet once again in these essays--on narrative, politics, Bonhoeffer, and the church--we hear the engaging, discerning, and brilliant voice we have come to know as Stanley Hauerwas."" --Mark Thiessen Nation, Eastern Mennonite Seminary ""Contending with and learning from the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose life is often thought to provide a Christian alternative to pacifism, Hauerwas deepens the account of Christian nonviolence he has been articulating for decades. His theology is strengthened and clarified by his encounter with the exemplary figure of Bonhoeffer."" --Alan Jacobs, Wheaton College ""Without loss of the provocative edge that has made him a vital and distinctive Christian voice, Hauerwas's Performing the Faith allows him to cast a retrospective eye on his work. At the same time, in a brilliant essay under the title of the book, he develops a profoundly important description of faithfulness."" --Dennis O'Brien, University of Rochester Stanley Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School, Duke University.