The author's theological inquiry is intended to raise questions of interpretation within the camp of openness theology and to direct a discussion on the implications of this movement for the charismatic/Pentecostal community. Open theism or openness theology affirms that the universe is open, the future is not settled, God is essentially relational love, and the risks of love and the threats against it are real. The author digs deep into this area of doctrine in order to question how far openness theology is willing to go. Is it only the future that is open to God, or are there perhaps unknown aspects to the past and present as well? What does God know about sin, and when does he know it? Is it possible for God to be totally absent from a person's life or even from an entire nation? If God can be absent, can he also be exceptionally present in the lives of believers? What would the divine presence and the charismata (spiritual ministries) look like in an open universe?

Sharing in God's Presence means far more than "getting saved" and experiencing God's blessing in our lives. As believers, his presence becomes a very personal part of who we are and what we do--God actually shares himself with us! The language that we use often fails to capture the depths of God's nature penetrating ours, the fullness of his Spirit permeating our hearts, and the innermost infusion of his presence in our lives. But the truth couldn't be more intimate: "The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him" (1 Corinthians 6:17)! This book is an invitation to share in God's presence by allowing God to share himself with you. God wants everyone to share in his embrace. As we accept our responsibility for prayer, ministry, and even revival, we share in the very precious dynamic of give and response that's involved in an intimate walk with Jesus Christ. For a general readership, this book is a reworking of material from the second half of the author's academic work God's Absence and the Charismatic Presence.

"The Messianic Matrix" is a thrilling journey of theological concepts that define the Pentecostal experience. It is a groundbreaking and sweeping endeavor that utilizes the best of modern scholarship.

This research is an investigation into the charismatic leadership of Saul, David, and Solomon. Regarding methodology the study is a synchronic reading and is keen to demonstrate the theology explicit or implicit in the text. This study assumes that charismatic leaders emerge in crisis situations and in order to resolve the crisis by the charisma granted by God. In regard to Saul, the book argues that Saul proved himself a charismatic leader as long as acting resolutely and independently from Samuel, his mentor. He failed, however, because in Samuel's shadow he could not establish himself as a charismatic leader. David was successful because of his autonomy and resolution. Also, he was a successful charismatic leader as long as he remained independent. King David, however, was gradually sidelined by Joab. Another major theme of the David narrative is the clash between the concepts of charismatic military leadership and that of oriental kingship. David's military leadership and the charisma related to it are constantly challenged by the concept of oriental kingship. Although at his emergence he had lacked charisma, Solomon wisely chose the leadership skills needed to lead Israel. Attention is, however, drawn to the tensions between Solomon's leadership benefiting Israel and the royal pretension manifest in royal projects. The relationship of the new charismatic leader with the old leader is scrutinized: how the new leader is appointed, how he emerges, how the old persists--in short the transition and succession in leadership. An evaluation of the activity of the charismatic follows; could he resolve the crisis from which he emerged and for which he was granted God's spirit? To what extent were these leaders charismatic?

Does God want to be known? Does experience matter? Does theology matter? This book is for people asking these questions. It treats them seriously and offers a testimony--a way through--from the viewpoint of evangelical and charismatic faith. The answer is yes, yes, and yes, but there are bumps in the road, problems to interrogate, assumptions to question, voices to hear, before the yes is reached.

This book, the first comprehensive study in English of Heidegger's philosophy of art, starts in the mid-1930s with Heidegger's discussion of the Greek temple and his Hegelian declaration that a great artwork gathers together an entire culture in affirmative celebration of its foundational 'truth', and that, by this criterion, art in modernity is 'dead'. His subsequent work on Hölderlin, whom he later identified as the decisive influence on his mature philosophy, led him into a passionate engagement with the art of Rilke, Cézanne, Klee and Zen Buddhism, liberating him not only from the overly restrictive conception of art of the mid-1930s but also from the disastrous politics of the period. Drawing on material hitherto unknown in the anglophone world, Young establishes a new account of Heidegger's philosophy of art and shows that his famous essay 'The Origin of the Work of Art' is its beginning, not its end.

Sacramental theology has often been a challenging area of conversation between Catholics and Protestants. In Christ's Gift, Our Response, Benjamin Durheim envisions a collaborative way forward, forging a conversation between two contemporary approaches to the connection between sacraments and ethics. Drawing primarily from Louis-Marie Chauvet and the Finnish school of Luther interpretation, Durheim constructs a mutually enriching theological dialogue. Beyond comparison and contrast, this is an attempt to draw these theologies together as sources for each other, rather than as competitors.

This book offers an introduction to some of the fundamental themes of theology. From the very beginning, however, it insists on the contribution to be found in the different Christian traditions. The reader is enabled to view these traditions as part of a common heritage. Drawing on the wealth of these understandings of what it is to be Christian can be an inspiration for those from very different church structures, and even for people who seek to understand their own spiritual journey and search for God, without identifying themselves or their journey with any particular church. A number of important theological questions are covered in the book. It starts with a look at theological method before examining the idea of divine revelation. This is followed by investigating the nature of authority and authorities in different churches and where these coincide and come into conflict. The historical and cultural contexts of theology and its roots in religious experience are also examined. Each theme has a biblical and patristic part, as well as a genuinely reciprocal discussion involving contemporary Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theologians.

Professor John Jefferson Davis shows what's really needed for the renewal of worship in our evangelical churches. Moving far beyond the "worship wars" Davis provides profound theological analysis and fresh recommendations to help us recognize obstacles to worship and learn to rightly respond to the glory and gracious real presence of God among us in our worship.

What transpires when Classical Pentecostals pray for God to intervene within their suffering, but God does not? Traditionally, Classical Pentecostals center on encountering God as demonstrated through the relating of testimonies of their experiences with God. In seeking to contribute to a theology of suffering for Pentecostals, Pam Engelbert lifts up the stories of eight Classical Pentecostals to discover how they experienced God and others amidst their extended suffering even when God did not intervene as they had prayed. By valuing each story, this qualitative practical theology work embraces a Pentecostal hermeneutic of experience combined with Scripture, namely the Gospel of John. As a Pentecostal practical theological project it offers a praxis (theology of action) of suffering and healing during times when we experience the apparent absence of God. It invites the reader to enter into the space of the other’s suffering by way of empathy, and thereby participate in God’s act of ministry to humanity through God’s expression of empathy in the very person of Jesus.