The common misconception is that first came the church and then came the sacraments. The reality is that first came God’s grace and then came the church and then the church found visible ways to see the invisible grace God bestows. The resulting perspective shift puts Christ where Paul would have us put him, as the head of the church and author or our salvation. This book invites us to see and write about the sacraments not as mere band aids to the problems we face but as lenses for examining our church. Some of the authors delve deep into intellectual conceptions while others make plain what has always seemed so extravagant. The thread they all hold onto however is the desire to help the reader see sacramentality as something wonderous rather than archaic; and to find deep value for sacramentality and the visible signs of God’s invisible grace.

A superb, standard Christian theology text for nearly a quarter century, Daniel Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding explores all of the major Christian doctrines in freshly contemporary ways. This third edition offers new FOR FURTHER READING suggestions at the end of each chapter, a substantial expansion of the glossary, and new material incorporated throughout, including a section on Christians and Muslims. Further, the three imaginary theological dialogues culminating the book -- pointedly playful exchanges that have delighted countless readers -- are here joined by a fourth dialogue, between Karl Barth and Friedrich Nietzsche, on atheism. All in all, a new generation of students, pastors, and Christian educators, eager to better understand the rich heritage, central themes, and contemporary challenges of Christian theology, will find both guidance and stimulation in Migliore's updated work.

Why believe? What kinds of things do people believe in? How have they come to believe them? And how does what they believe - or disbelieve - shape their lives and the meaning the world has for them? For Graham Ward, who is one of the mostinnovative writers on contemporary religion, these questions are more than just academic. They go to the heart not only of who but of what we are as human beings. Over the last thirty years, our understandings of mind and consciousness have changed in important ways through exciting new developments in neuroscience. The author addresses this quantum shift by exploring the biology of believing. He offers sustained reflection on perception, cognition, time, emotional intelligence, knowledge and sensation. Though the 'truth' of belief remains under increasing attack, in a thoroughly secularised context, Ward boldly argues that secularity is itself a form of believing. Pointing to the places where prayer and dreams intersect, this book offers a remarkable journey through philosophy, theology and culture, thereby revealing the true nature of the human condition.

In self, society, religion and politics we are used to the language and discourse of Kingdom of God. But in this God is presented as an omnipotent king who is also angry at slight deviation. We get glimpses of such powerful and angry God in Old Testament as well as in many other religious traditions of the world. In such a discourse and portrayal of God, we fail to realize that God is mercy, rahim, karuna and compassion. God is our ever-awakened nurturer and He and She is continuously walking and meditating with us with mercy as well as firm challenges for self-development, mutual realizations and responsible cosmic engagement and participation. The vision and discourse of Kingdom of God has many a time been confined within a logic of power where we are prone to valorize God’s power in order to valorize our own power on Earth, especially the logic of sovereignty at the level of self and society, rather than realize God’s mercy. This book strives to transform this to Gardens of God.

This book is not a comprehensive study of Rumi and Gülen, but it seeks to explore the places where the thought of the one is echoed in the thinking of the other, either overtly or indirectly—and to note ways in which the opposite is true: that Gülen diverges from Rumi. The book is also seeking to suggest some of the larger contexts in which the thinking of both resides. Given the wide-ranging aspects of their respective writings, it should not be surprising if, minimally, we can find important foundation stones in both philosophy and theology in the edifices that they each construct.

In Youth Ministry and Theology Shorthand, David Bailey explores the dialogue between practice and theological education through the lens of youth ministry. This qualitative study illuminates how youth ministers talk about their work amongst young people. Through the slowing down of the youth ministry process it is discovered that youth ministers speak in theological shorthand. Theological shorthand is a paradox: it is both meaningful--it fuels long-term sacrificial service amongst young people--and it is problematic, as it risks untethering youth ministry from the wider narrative of the Christian story. The book will appeal to youth ministers, clergy, academics, graduate and post-graduate students, but also informed volunteers involved in youth ministry. Through the discipline of practical theology, it correlates the voices of the youth ministers, a set of materials used to deepen faith, and contemporary expressions of sung worship. These are then brought into conversation and explored via different aspects of Trinitarian theology to deepen the theological grammar within contemporary youth ministry and to help develop theological literacy.