The Christian life, concerned with both spirituality and doctrine, aims not at rationally defensible truth but at life-transforming love. Greater understanding of the truth will not settle the restlessness in a human spirit; only the redemptive power of relationship with God can calm the soul. The crux of Kierkegaard's presentation of Christianity is not that doctrine is unimportant, but that it is ultimately insufficient for a life lived in relationship with God. In Contemporary with Christ, Joshua Cockayne explores the Christian spiritual life with Søren Kierkegaard (in the guise of his various pseudonyms) as his guide and analytic theology as his key tool of engagement. Cockayne contends that the Christian life is second-personal: it seeks encounter with a personal God. As Kierkegaard describes, God invites us to live on the most intimate terms with God. Cockayne argues that this vision of Christian spirituality is deeply practical because it advocates for a certain way of acting and existing. This approach to the Christian life moves from first-reflection, whereby one acquires objective knowledge, to second-reflection, whereby one attains deeper self-understanding, which fortifies one's relationship with God. Individuals encounter Christ through traditional practices: prayer, the Eucharist, and the reading of Scripture. However, experiences of suffering and mortality that mirror Christ's own passion also enliven this life of encounter. Spiritual progress comes through a reorientation of one's will, desire, and self-knowledge. Such progress must ultimately serve the goal of drawing close to God through Christ's presence. Engaging philosophy, theology, and psychology, Cockayne invites us to join in a conversation with Kierkegaard and explore how the spiritual disciplines provide opportunities for relationship with God by becoming contemporary with Christ. --C. Stephen Evans, University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Baylor University

"In the first book devoted to representations of Jesus Christ in contemporary photography, Nathalie Dietschy presents a rich range of images from the 1980s to the present day. Acclaimed photographers such as Catherine Opie, Wang Qingsong, Joan Fontcuberta, Greg Semu, Andres Serrano, David LaChapelle, Renee Cox and Bettina Rheims offer fresh - and often provocative - depictions of Christ that address issues from race to sexuality to gender. The Figure of Christ in Contemporary Photography guides the reader through these alternative representations, analysing the complex social, political and cultural issues that the photographs bring to light."--Provided by publisher.

Stott challenges readers to move with the times, while standing firmly on the truth of God's Word. He reflects here on many of his favorite themes from decades of preaching and teaching: the human paradox, authentic freedom, evangelism and social action, the pastoral ideal, dimensions of renewal, and more.

Christology, that is, the study of Jesus, is a many-faceted subject. In this new edition of Jesus, the Christ, Brennan Hill clearly and cogently explores this critical theological area, resulting in a luminous and reliable portrait of the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. He deftly surveys both the breadth of information covered in the previous edition as well as the wealth of developments that have occurred in the field since the early 1990s. Jesus, the Christ looks at the people and places in Jesus' time, then moves to a search for the historical Jesus. Hill next looks at the many areas of Jesus' life and mission: teacher, prophet, miracle worker, man of the earth, advocate for women, savior, and liberator. He examines the main gospel stories about Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, and illustrates how the early christological doctrines developed. This new edition is written in a more informal and accessible style, enabling students to well understand and grasp the concepts and facts about the subject. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and a list of suggestions for further reading. Jesus, the Christ is eminently readable, constantly challenging, and filled with timely information in nontechnical language. It is strongly rooted in the best of modern biblical translation, and will be welcomed by students, teachers, and the general reader alike.

The Imitation of Christ is the work of at least three men: Gerard Groote, Florent Radewijns, and Thomas a Kempis. The first two were founders of the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay religious society that flourished in the Netherlands from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Working on their manuscripts, first as a compiler and editor and then as a coauthor, was Kempis. So successful were Kempis's efforts that the work became the golden treasury not only of their community but also of the contemporary spirituality movement known as the Modern Devotion. Its prescriptions might very well be known as the Perennial Devotion for its continual appeal through the centuries. In its fifteenth century Latin original the Imitation was not a silken cord of consecutive prose. Rather it was a series of scratchings, the sort that a spiritual director would note down in preparation for sermons and addresses. What wasn't always in the original was exactly how Kempis developed each topic sentence or wisdom quotation as he delivered it. In this new rendition William Griffin recovers the original experience of listening to Kempis as he taught and preached to his spiritual charges. Using a variety of literary and historical means, Griffin enhances the original, making the insights of this seminal exposition of Christian life more accessible.

Arguing for the need both to preach Christ in every sermon and to preach regularly from the Old Testament, Sidney Greidanus develops a christocentric method that will help preachers do both simultaneously. Greidanus challenges Old Testament scholars to broaden their focus and to understand the Old Testament not only in its own historical context but also in the context of the New Testament. Suggesting specific steps and providing concrete examples, this volume provides a practical guide for preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

Olson's clear and concise overview roots contemporary questions firmly in Christian responses to the Enlightenment. He discusses the range of contemporary opinions, their rationales, and what's at stake. Olson illustrates these alternate frameworks as they play out in central concerns over the being of God in relation to the universe, how to understand the figure of Christ today, and the distinctively new notions of being human. Specifically geared to the novice theologue in college or seminary settings, Olson's text includes Reflection/Research Questions, Suggestions for Further Reading, and a Glossary.