Is there still promise in the metropolis? Can modern cities have lasting value? Drawing on a wide range of resources including the writings of Paul, the Apocalypse, Greco-Roman literature, church history, theology, and socioeconomic theory, Dieter Georgi answers yes. Our cities can become more than human and ecological garbage dumps; they can aspire to be communities where people live in harmony with one another and their environment. In support of this lofty goal, Georgi unmasks economic and political theories and elements of Christian theology that have led to the demise of cities and then advocates a new praxis of urban theology, a concrete way of living together in the cities of today and tomorrow. "Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org),"

Revelation is probably the most read, but least understood book of the Bible. History is replete with examples of how not to interpret it, and books featuring end-of-world prophecy claims based on Revelation consistently top the bestseller lists. But how can the message of such an enigmatic book be applied to our lives today? In Discipleship on the Edge, Darrell W. Johnson drives home the challenging and practical message of Revelation in thirty carefully crafted sermons. Paying careful attention to the original context of Revelation and the circumstances surrounding its composition, Johnson shows that the book is not a "crystal ball" but rather a "discipleship manual." Thoroughly researched and yet accessible, this collection of sermons is a helpful resource for pastors and small group leaders who are looking for models to help them preach and teach the message of Revelation in a time when there is much confusion about the end times. Darrell W. Johnson serves as Scholar-in-Residence at The Way Church and Canadian Church Leaders Network in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A popular conference and retreat speaker, he has also served as the preaching pastor for a number of congregations in North America and the Philippines, as well as serving as Adjunct Professor of Preaching for the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Teaching Fellow at Regent College. His other books include Experiencing the Trinity and Fifty-Seven Words That Change The World.

The city is an ambiguous symbol in the Bible. The founder of the first city is the murderer, Cain. The city of Jerusalem is the place chosen by God, yet is also a place of wrong-doing and injustice. Jesus seems to have largely avoided cities except Jerusalem, where he was crucified. 'The City in Biblical Perspective' examines the archaeological and social background of the urban biblical world and explores the implications of the deliberate ambiguities in the biblical text. The book aims to deepen our understanding of both the biblical and the contemporary city by asking how the Bible's complex understanding of the city can illuminate our own ever more urban time.

In the tradition of The First Urban Christians by Wayne Meeks, this book explores the relationship between the earliest Christians and the city environment. Experts in classics, early Christianity, and human geography analyze the growth, development, and self-understanding of the early Christian movement in urban settings. The book's contributors first look at how the urban physical, cultural, and social environments of the ancient Mediterranean basin affected the ways in which early Christianity progressed. They then turn to how the earliest Christians thought and theologized in their engagement with cities. With a rich variety of expertise and scholarship, The Urban World and the First Christians is an important contribution to the understanding of early Christianity.

Who has time for community in the modern metropolis? The answer may surprise you: apparently lots of us. As this book discusses, religious communities have long been an important way for people in all parts of the modern city to come together. Whether in new suburban subdivisions, in rural areas undergoing change, or in inner-city neighborhoods, people of all social backgrounds, races, and economic means have used their congregations as a way to set down new roots and to hold on to old ones. Focusing on Indianapolis, Indiana, a city in America's geographical and cultural heartland, Souls of the City describes the range of changes to America's cities and American religion during the last decades of the 20th century. In showing the historical ability of religious congregations to become "places" of worship, this book challenges those who lament the soulless nature of modern metropolitan life.