This revised doctoral dissertation, a study of the message of the Book of Jonah, consists of five main chapters: an exploration of the problems association with the interpretation of Jonah and the prmises that underlie various approaches to understanding the book's message; an attempt ot date the composition of Johan; and exploration of thematic parallels between Malachi and Jonah; a comparison of the character Jonah with 2 Kgs 14:25; an examination of the prophet's question ing of divine justice.

The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Soong-Chan Rah's prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church's relationship with a suffering world. Hear the prophet's lament as the necessary corrective for Christianity's future.

"The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager in Florida, and the subsequent acquittal of his killer, brought public attention to controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws. The verdict, as much as the killing, sent shock waves through the African-American community, recalling a history of similar deaths, and the long struggle for justice. On the Sunday morning following the verdict, black preachers around the country addressed the question, "Where is the justice of God? What are we to hope for?" This book is an attempt to take seriously social and theological questions raised by this and similar stories, and to answer black church people's questions of justice and faith in response to the call of God. But Kelly Brown Douglas also brings another significant interpretative lens to this text: that of a mother. "There has been no story in the news that has troubled me more than that of Trayvon Martin's slaying. President Obama said that if he had a son his son would look like Trayvon. I do have a son and he does look like Trayvon." Her book will also affirm the "truth" of a black mother's faith in these times of stand your ground."--

Keller explores a life of justice empowered by an experience of grace.

Within the Christian theological tradition there has always been a variety of perspectives on hell, usually distinguished according to their views about the duration of hell’s torments for the damned. Traditionalists maintain that the suffering of the damned is everlasting. Universalists claim that eventually every person is redeemed and arrives in heaven. And conditional immortalists, also known as “conditionalists” or “annihilationists,” reject both the concept of eternal torment as well as universal salvation, instead claiming that after a finite period of suffering the damned are annihilated. Conditionalism has enjoyed somewhat of a revival in scholarly circles in recent years, buoyed by the influential biblical defense of the view by Edward Fudge. However, there has yet to appear a book-length philosophical defense of conditionalism . . . until now. In Hell and Divine Goodness, James Spiegel assesses the three major alternative theories of hell, arriving at the conclusion that the conditionalist view is, all things considered, the most defensible position on the issue.

In Divine Justice, the author has ventured to ‘see’ and evaluate justice system in the frame work of the ‘laws’ beyond space and time. His ‘seeing’ transcends all written laws- scribered or statute, applicable to various regions in different times and presents a scene in which human looks absolutely hapless defending a trial initiated against him with a predetermined judgment. The hero, arrested and detained, struggles to find his way out of the process of law, in his endeavour to find acquittal. He can sense the long tentacles of the law reaching for him. His interactions with various jail inmates, followed by a counsellor show him no ‘way’ that will enlighten his path for a permanent acquittal. Eventually, he finds a possibility of a ‘way’ to jump the invisible high walls of the infinite jail from a mysterious character known as ‘invisible man’. But it’s too late by now because his day of judgment has arrived. He is fated to die like a dog, a fate no different than K’s, the hero of Kafka’s Trial. ‘A’, the ill-fated hero questions the very invincibility of the law, the choice-less-ness in each happening or unhappening that affects his life. Desperate, he cries out at one point: ‘how can I break a law when the laws allows me no cushioning to break any law, when law determines where I am and what I am doing at any given point of time, when desires, commanded by laws, rises from the pit of my core and commands me…when my hands are not my hands, my legs are not my legs….Why should I be punished for a happening when I had no conscious choice in this happening?’ At some other place he argues: ‘it’s hard to accept the laws of the jail once you become aware of the horror of your situation in the wake of the realization you are in jail.’ Authors is conscious of individualistic approach to issues confronting the mankind, He speaks out in no uncertain words through the mouth of yet another co-accused: ‘I know I spoke profanity. In the kind of turmoil, I am do you think I really care. Two hoots for this creation.

A semantic study of God’s righteousness and justice in the Hebrew Bible that draws exegetical, theological, and philosophical conclusions about the character of God and God’s relationship with humanity. God’s work of creation and salvation for the good of Israel, humanity, and the world manifests the nature of God’s being. Thus, if we can understand God’s characteristics of righteousness and justice, we can better understand God. In the Hebrew Bible, these aspects of God are not expressed by abstract concepts but by semantic elements within literary structures. From this premise, Jože Krašovec undertakes the present study to put semantics into dialogue with exegesis and theology to illuminate exactly how God’s righteousness and justice in the Old Testament should be understood. In the first part of the book, Krašovec analyzes occurrences of the Hebrew root ṣdq (meaning righteous) and other synonyms, working systematically through the entire Old Testament canon. In the second part, he builds off this lexical study with a more broadly exegetical, theological, and philosophical exploration of guilt, punishment, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Krašovec concludes, among other things, that the biblical writers use “righteousness” as an expression of God’s affection for faithful people, especially those in distress because of persecution. God’s righteousness therefore exists in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the righteousness of human individuals and communities. Justice—whether in the form of forgiveness for the penitent or punishment for those who have hardened their hearts against God—is always carried out with the goal of building better community among God’s people.

This book examines the integral role of religious beliefs and practices in Chinese legal culture.

The prodigal son. The good Samaritan. A treasure hidden in a field. Most of us have heard these parables before. Yet if these oft-repeated stories strike us as merely sweet, heartwarming, or sentimental, we can be sure we've misread them. Jesus's parables are simultaneously working to conceal and reveal profound spiritual truths about God, humanity, the world, and the future—and we must learn to plumb their depths. A careful reading of the biblical text reveals the surprising ways in which such seemingly simple stories rebuke, subvert, and sabotage our sinful habits, perspectives, and priorities. Discarding the notion that Jesus's parables are nothing more than moralistic fables, Jared Wilson shows how each one is designed to drive us to Jesus in awe, need, faith, and worship.

Unknown to many, increasing numbers of conservative evangelicals are denying basic tenets of classical Christian teaching about God, with departures occurring even among those of the Calvinistic persuasion. James E. Dolezal’s All That Is in God provides an exposition of the historic Christian position while engaging with these contemporary deviations. His convincing critique of the newer position he styles “theistic mutualism” is philosophically robust, systematically nuanced, and biblically based. It demonstrates the need to maintain the traditional viewpoint, particularly on divine simplicity, and spotlights the unfortunate implications for other important Christian doctrines—such as divine eternality and the Trinity—if it were to be abandoned. Arguing carefully and cogently that “all that is in God is God Himself,” the work is sure to stimulate debate on the issue in years to come.