Christianity is in crisis in our North American context, especially among the cultural elite and people with progressive views. The reasons for the faith's loss of credibility have to do, in large part, with the dominant philosophical materialism of our culture and with the understanding of the faith almost universally held by Americans both inside the churches and outside them. In this book, Thomas C. Sorenson calls this understanding Biblicism, by which he means the belief that the Bible is to be understood only literally and that, in one way or another, its authority comes from its claimed origin with God. Many enlightened people also reject Christianity because the only Christianity they know is the judgmental, socially conservative faith that the most vocal and visible advocates of the faith among us so loudly espouse. This book offers a different understanding of the faith. It begins with a discussion of the universal human experience of the spiritual dimension of reality. It then discusses symbol and myth as the necessary language for communicating that experience. The book shows that all human experience is necessarily subjective and that religious truth is thus also necessarily subjective. Therefore, religious truth is relative, not universal and absolute. The work argues that the Bible is a human work expressing its authors' experience of the divine. The book then discusses other obstacles to faith and offers a different understanding of the issues they raise. The book replaces the classical theory of atonement with a theology of the cross, based mainly on the work of Douglas John Hall. It redefines salvation as having to do with this life, not with the afterlife. It closes with a section that replaces the dominant social conservatism of popular Christianity with Jesus's teachings of nonviolence, economic justice, and radical inclusivity.

In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey offers a razor-sharp analysis of the split between public and private, fact and feelings. She reveals the strategies of secularist gatekeepers who use this division to banish biblical principles from the cultural mainstream, stripping Christianity of its power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture. // How can we overcome this divide? Unify our fragmented lives? Recover authentic spirituality? With compelling examples from the struggles of real people, Pearcey shows how to liberate Christianity from its cultural captivity. She walks readers through practical, hands-on steps for developing a full-orbed Christian worldview. Finally, she makes a passionate case that Christianity is not just religious truth but truth about total reality. It is total truth.

When the beliefs of Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, assumed the spotlight during the 2008 presidential campaign, the influence of black liberation theology became hotly debated not just within theological circles but across cultural lines. How many of today's African-American congregations-and how many Americans in general-have been shaped by its view of blacks as perpetual victims of white oppression? In this interdisciplinary, biblical critique of the black experience in America, Anthony Bradley introduces audiences to black liberation theology and its spiritual and social impact. He starts with James Cone's proposition that the "victim" mind-set is inherent within black consciousness. Bradley then explores how such biblical misinterpretation has historically hindered black churches in addressing the diverse issues of their communities and prevented adherents from experiencing the freedoms of the gospel. Yet Liberating Black Theology does more than consider the ramifications of this belief system; it suggests an alternate approach to the black experience that can truly liberate all Christ-followers.

The Bible teaches, and history confirms, that to the degree that nations have applied the principles of the Bible in all spheres of life is the degree to which they have prospered, been free, and acted justly. Learn biblical principles as they apply to various spheres of life. Examine the role of the church, the family, the media, and civil government in a nation, and learn what you can do to bring Godly reform.

What is good sex from the perspective of liberation theology? Thia Cooper argues that sex can be a way to know God. God created humans with a desire to be in relation with each other. From this understanding, sexual desire, sex, and partnerships are re-imagined positively. Good sex is enjoyable and mutual, an aspect of communion. Good sexual relationships share power, empower the participants, and the wider community. From the perspective of liberation theologies and an analysis of biblical texts, the Christian tradition, and the reality of our sexual experience, this book reframes theologies of partnership, sex work, and reproduction through the celebration of desire and sex.

Roberta Grimes spent decades studying nearly 200 years of afterlife evidence and forming a detailed picture of what happens at and after death. She then discovered that two thousand years ago Jesus told us things about God, reality, death, the afterlife, human nature, and the nature of reality that perfectly match the afterlife evidence in even small details. She outlines many of these correspondences in appendices to her books The Fun of Dying (2010, 2014) and The Fun of Staying in Touch (2014). In Liberating Jesus Roberta offers compelling evidence that the earliest Christians misunderstood the meaning and the message of Jesus. She demonstrates that all the correspondences between the Gospels and the afterlife evidence amount to nothing less than a new revelation from God. And she shows us that once we put aside the magic-thinking notion that the whole Christian Bible must be the Inspired Word of God just because the earliest Christians said it was, we at last free Jesus to bring to humankind the messages directly from God that long ago were His true life's purpose. His promise remains as fresh today as it was two thousand years ago, and now it is confirmed by the afterlife evidence: if we will live according to the teachings of Jesus, we can create the Kingdom of God on earth.

Christianity Has the Resources to Address Intellectual and Cultural Issues. Do You? Christians can feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of competing worldviews in today’s pluralistic, multicultural society. Thankfully, you don’t have to memorize a different argument to answer every new issue. Instead, you can master a single line of defense, grounded in Scripture, that applies to any theory. In Romans, Paul reveals the strategy for defending the Christian message in a pluralistic culture where many are hearing it for the first time. Finding Truth is the real-world training manual that equips you to confidently address issues you’ll face in the classroom, workplace, and popular culture.