This book offers an entryway to the discussion between theological interpretation of Scripture and contextual theology (i.e., tribal theology). It argues for the need to consider the importance of reading the Bible with multiple contexts in mind, while addressing the tension between church and academy in the area of biblical interpretation. Adapting from the theological method of Kevin J. Vanhoozer, it argues for a multi-contextual biblical-theological interpretation of Scripture that maintains evangelical ethos (i.e., the solas of the Reformation), recognizes canonical sense (i.e., the measuring and guiding criteria), asserts Catholic sensibility (i.e., value the contribution of the local and Catholic church), and affirms contextual sensitivity (i.e., the local/tribal confessing community). These are the contexts that enable Christians to read the Bible as what it is, namely, human and divine discourse.

This bold work culminates Hall's three- volume contextual theology, the first to take the measure of Christian belief and doctrine explicitly in light of North American cultural and historical experience.Hall is deeply critical of North American culture but also of sidelined Christian churches that struggle to gain dominance within it. "We must stop thinking of the reduction of Christendom as a tragedy!" he says. The disestablishment that the churches reluctantly enjoy can enable them to develop genuine community, uncompromised theology, and honest engagement with the larger culture. To a failed culture and a struggling church Hall shows the radical implications of a theology of the cross for the shape and practice of church, preaching, ministry, ethics, and eschatology.Hall's frank and prophetic volume is the trilogy's most practical, and the most sustained probe to date of Christian life in a post-Christian context.

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in Life Together we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship.

Experience Freedom from Sexual Sin through the Power of the Savior Many women and men trapped in sexual sin believe willpower is the key to overcoming temptation, but your shaky self-discipline doesn't have to be the source of your strength. Sharing from his personal struggles, J. Garrett Kell explains that life-long transformation rests in the supernatural power of the Savior and the support of a local church. He offers profound insights into Jesus's teachings on purity and provides you with long-term strategies for your own pathway to freedom. Written for both men and women struggling with temptation, this book is a vital resource for the church, encouraging a healthy, empathetic community to help brothers and sisters in Christ resist sin. The goal isn't purity for purity's sake, but delighting in God and trusting him for ultimate victory.

At the end of his landmark 1994 book, The Soul of the American University, historian George Marsden asserted that religious faith does indeed have a place in today’s academia. Marsden’s contention sparked a heated debate on the role of religious faith and intellectual scholarship in academic journals and in the mainstream media. The contributors to Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation expand the discussion about religion’s role in education and culture and examine what the relationship between faith and learning means for the academy today. The contributors to Confessing History ask how the vocation of historian affects those who are also followers of Christ. What implications do Christian faith and practice have for living out one’s calling as an historian? And to what extent does one’s calling as a Christian disciple speak to the nature, quality, or goals of one’s work as scholar, teacher, adviser, writer, community member, or social commentator? Written from several different theological and professional points of view, the essays collected in this volume explore the vocation of the historian and its place in both the personal and professional lives of Christian disciples.

Edited by Baptist scholars Steven A. McKinion, Christine E. Thornton, and Keith S. Whitfield, Confessing Christ: An Introduction to Baptist Dogmatics offers a unique and comprehensive exploration of Baptist theology. Grounded in the belief that theology is both exploratory and explanatory, the book introduces a historical, covenantal, ecclesial, and confessional approach to Baptist Dogmatics. Each essay delves into a specific area of dogmatic theology, covering essential topics such as God, Scripture, anthropology, Christology, salvation, ecclesiology, the sacraments, the Christian life, and eschatology. The volume editors emphasize the importance of renewing Baptist life and mission through a rediscovery of the rich theological heritage. By understanding and engaging with this tradition, Baptist Christians can express their faith more authentically in the contemporary context and future endeavors. The book's four key elements—historical, covenantal, ecclesial, and confessional—provide a structured framework for exploring core Christian doctrines within the context of Baptist dogmatics. Each chapter incorporates biblical exegesis and dialogue with at least one historical Baptist theologian. Confessing Christ stands as a significant contribution to the field of Baptist dogmatics, serving as essential reading for Baptist scholars, pastors, and church leaders seeking a deeper understanding of the Baptist theological tradition and its contemporary relevance.

In this book, author Bendangjungshi brings into dialogue the three leading Northeast Indian tribal theologians - Renthy Keitzar, K. Thanzauva, and Wati Longchar - with the Western theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who suffered martyrdom under the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. Negotiating between Bonhoeffer's political approach and Naga cultural identity, Bendangjungshi develops a liberating ecclesiology for Naga Christians, who have been suffering under Indian military occupation since the withdrawal of the British colonizers from Nagaland. (Series: ContactZone. Explorations in Intercultural Theology - Vol. 8)

This second volume of The Churches and the Third Reich, the last which the author lived to write, covers the year 1934. This year, which saw the birth of the Confessing Church and the great Synods of Barmen and Dahlem, was the year of disillusionment, in which all the hopes of 1933 were shattered one by one. The gripping narrative of the first volume is continued as in addition to the rise of a legitimate church opposition we see how the German Christians overreached themselves by seeking, without Hitler’s approval and against the law, to set up a Reich Church fully coordinated with the state. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church was running into increasing difficulties as it tried to cope with the problems left unresolved on the conclusion of the Concordat. Like the first, this volume has many illustrations.

With its relentless insistence that there is no reality beyond that which we construct, postmodern thought questions the presuppositions of many disciplines, including homiletics. Offering a lively description of the postmodern worldview and its implications for Christian faith, Confessing Jesus Christ by David Lose teaches preachers how to rise to the challenges posed by our postmodern world. Few if any books on preaching offer such a comprehensive investigation of postmodern thought or yield such a wealth of insights for relevant Christian proclamation. Significantly, Lose sees postmodernism not primarily as an obstacle to the church but as an opportunity for it to stand once again on faith alone rather than on attempts to prove the faith. According to Lose, preaching that seeks to be both faithful to the Christian tradition and responsive to our pluralistic, postmodern context is best understood as the public practice of confessing faith in Jesus Christ. He explores the practical implications of a confessional homiletic for preaching and also provides concrete methods for preparing sermons that meaningfully bridge biblical texts and contemporary congregations.

With the understanding that confession is a witness to the gospel, Confessing the Faith Today investigates how a sixteenth-century Reformation confession, the Belgic Confession, can assist contemporary Christians testify to the truth of Gods gracious turn toward creation and do so in the context of the twenty-first century's competing claims. A close examination of the internal coherence of the Belgic Confession, along with an exploration of how that confession might engage contemporary life, offers fresh insight into how Christians might articulate what is at stake in the gospel. Janssen encourages the church to enter a conversation with the forebears of the faith, acknowledging the historical nature of not only the confession but of God's involvement in all creation.