Analyzes the structure of the modern social order and examines the Christian's proper goals of working for peace and justice.

World-renowned Christian philosopher. Beloved professor. Author of the classic Lament for a Son. Nicholas Wolterstorff is all of these and more. His memoir, In This World of Wonders, opens a remarkable new window into the life and thought of this remarkable man. Written not as a complete life story but as a series of vignettes, Wolterstorff’s memoir moves from his humble beginnings in a tiny Minnesota village to his education at Calvin College and Harvard University, to his career of teaching philosophy and writing books, to the experiences that prompted some of his writing—particularly his witnessing South African apartheid and Palestinian oppression firsthand. In This World of Wonders is the story of a thoughtful and grateful Christian whose life has been shaped by many loves—love of philosophy, love of family, love of art and architecture, love of nature and gardening, and more. It’s a lovely, wonderful story.

What is the Word of the Lord for a world of injustice? What does it mean to hear the cries of the oppressed? What does liturgy have to do with justice? These questions have been at the heart of Nicholas Wolterstorff s work for over forty years. In this collection of essays, he brings together personal, historical, theological, and contemporary perspectives to issue a passionate call to work for justice and peace. An essential complement to his now classic Until Justice and Peace Embrace, the forthcoming Love and Justice, and Justice, this book makes clear why Wolterstorff is one of the church s most incisive and compelling voices. Between the Times invites us not simply into new ways of thinking, but a transformational way of life.

Wide-ranging and ambitious, Justice combines moral philosophy and Christian ethics to develop an important theory of rights and of justice as grounded in rights. Nicholas Wolterstorff discusses what it is to have a right, and he locates rights in the respect due the worth of the rights-holder. After contending that socially-conferred rights require the existence of natural rights, he argues that no secular account of natural human rights is successful; he offers instead a theistic account. Wolterstorff prefaces his systematic account of justice as grounded in rights with an exploration of the common claim that rights-talk is inherently individualistic and possessive. He demonstrates that the idea of natural rights originated neither in the Enlightenment nor in the individualistic philosophy of the late Middle Ages, but was already employed by the canon lawyers of the twelfth century. He traces our intuitions about rights and justice back even further, to Hebrew and Christian scriptures. After extensively discussing justice in the Old Testament and the New, he goes on to show why ancient Greek and Roman philosophy could not serve as a framework for a theory of rights. Connecting rights and wrongs to God's relationship with humankind, Justice not only offers a rich and compelling philosophical account of justice, but also makes an important contribution to overcoming the present-day divide between religious discourse and human rights.

In addition to his notable work as a premier Christian philosopher, Nicholas Wolterstorff has become a leading voice on faith-based higher education. This volume gathers the best of Wolterstorff's essays from the past twenty-five years dealing collectively with the purpose of Christian higher education and the nature of academic learning. Integrated throughout by the biblical idea of shalom, these nineteen essays present a robust framework for thinking about education that combines a Reformed confessional perspective with a radical social conscience and an increasingly progressivist pedagogy. Wolterstorff develops his ideas in relation to an astonishing variety of thinkers ranging from Calvin, Kuyper, and Jellema to Augustine, Aquinas, and Kant to Weber, Habermas, and MacIntyre. In the process, he critiques various models of education, classic foundationalism, modernization theory, liberal arts, and academic freedom.

The Protestant doctrine of vocation has had a profound influence on American culture, but in recent years central tenets of this doctrine have come under assault. Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life explores current responses to the classic view of vocation and offers a revised statement and application of this doctrine for contemporary North American Christians. According to Douglas Schuurman, many Christians today find it both strange and difficult to interpret their social, economic, political, and cultural lives as responses to God's calling. To renew this biblical perspective, Schuurman argues, Christians must recover the language, meaning, and reality of life as vocation, and his book helps do just that. Developed in dialogue with audiences as diverse as college students, industrial workers, business leaders, church leaders, and professional theologians and ethicists, the book examines the theological and ethical dimensions of vocation as these have been understood historically and in relation to our modern social setting.

Life at the end of the twentieth century presents us with a disturbing reality. Otherness, the simple fact of being different in some way, has come to be defined as in and of itself evil. Miroslav Volf contends that if the healing word of the gospel is to be heard today, Christian theology must find ways of speaking that address the hatred of the other. Reaching back to the New Testament metaphor of salvation as reconciliation, Volf proposes the idea of embrace as a theological response to the problem of exclusion. Increasingly we see that exclusion has become the primary sin, skewing our perceptions of reality and causing us to react out of fear and anger to all those who are not within our (ever-narrowing) circle. In light of this, Christians must learn that salvation comes, not only as we are reconciled to God, and not only as we "learn to live with one another", but as we take the dangerous and costly step of opening ourselves to the other, of enfolding him or her in the same embrace with which we have been enfolded by God.

Building on both the perspective of God's new creation and the view from the neighborhood, "To Live in Peace" shows how the life of the church, the strategies of community development, and the practices of peacemaking can make a transformational difference.

What do Joseph, Joab, Jeremiah, and the Beautitudes have to do with a Christian young person in American foreign policy? Can a Christian be a diplomat, a spy, a defense industry scientist? Can a Christian impact foreign affairs as a member of Congress? Amid counsels for Christians to withdraw from the worlds of government and its power and self-interest, Ron Kirkemo argues a person embraced by God's grace should be engaged in the nation's purposes and the movement of history. Through such engagement God's children can impact history, but they will inevitably face ethical issues. This book is not about the policy of foreign policy, but about people conducting policy, the ethical issues they may and will face, and strategies for keeping one's First Love their first love. Is government ordained by God or history a movement of fate? If not, God's grae becomes a central factor in life. Is America headed the way of Babylon? If not, or if maybe, then Christians need to engage the intellectual and operational aspect of policy to prevent that decline and prevail against enemies. Is there a disconnect between the traits for success in foreign affairs and the "servant leadership" model espoused by many Christian colleges and universities? Kirkemo engages these issues and urges students to consider the Rhodes Ideal for shaping their years in college. This book will at times provoke controversy, but it always hopes to inspire and enlighten as it interprets history and Scripture, describes professional life, gives insight, offers counsel, and affirms one's openness to God and growth in spiritual life. "Based on a lifetime of theological reflection, scholarship, and experience, Ron Kirkemo offers timely wisdom based on timeless truths. His book is a passionate, nuanced, and original guide, grounded with equal depth in the Christian tradition and the policy world. For Christians, it will serve to inform current policy professionals and, one hopes, to inspire a new generation to faithful service in the two kingdoms."---William Inboden author of Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment "While this thoughtful and perceptive book particularly challenges young Christians to work in the foreign policy arena, its discussion can be an aid to Christians of all ages. The author not only provides different lessons that can be drawn from biblical narratives, but he outlines the complexities which confront policy makers as well as the particular challenges which confront Christians who choose to work within the field and remain faithful to their Christian principles."---Corwin Smidt Calvin College "Embraced and Engaged is a wonderfully written and scholarly textbook that helps students explore opportunities for serving their country in the foreign policy arena . . . Embraced and Engaged would be very suitable for a foreign policy or international relations course. Anyone interested in developing a more in-depth and Christian perspective of foreign policy would also benefit from reading this book."---Chris McHorney California Baptist University