We expect evil to appear in obvious forms: malice, cruelty, and contempt. We also expect to find villains at the helm of evil movements and organizations, leaders with dark impulses and motivations. But all too often, malevolence is more subtle, hiding behind our own best intentions. In The Church in Dark Times, cultural critic Mike Cosper unveils this dynamic in the growing crisis of abuse and other failures in modern evangelical churches. Drawing on the work of twentieth-century political theorist Hannah Arendt, Cosper explores what we can learn from her theory of the "banality of evil"--the thoughtlessness that allows ordinary people to become complicit in all manner of corruption. He uncovers the underlying causes of the breakdowns of the church and offers practices that foster healing and renewal. This book will engage Christian leaders and all followers who want to better understand how church crises keep happening--and how we can resist them and move forward.

Henri Daniel-Rops has written a history embracing not merely the development of the ecclesiastical administration, the rise and fall of churches, empires and dynasties, but giving a warmly sympathetic insight into the impact of faith upon the humble mass of its adherents, new and old, its influence upon learning, the arts and the material appurtenances it had preserved for the world, and its profound effect even upon its enemies.

This notable study of Christian faith and how it functions in "dark times" reveals the thoughts and actions of six leading theologians of the Weimar Republic/Third Reich period--Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Paul Althaus, Emanuel Hirsch, and Friedrich Gogarten--and what prompted them to either resist or support the Nazi movement. Jack Forstman examines the theological values of these theologians and considers the interconnectedness among them; their easy, uneasy, and shifting alliances with each other; and the controversies that arose within their circle. His book provides a fascinating glimpse into an important moment in the history of Christian theology. It will stimulate contemporary Christians to think how they might recognize the demonic in society and resist it.

Anna Rowlands offers a guide to the main time periods, key figures, documents and themes of thinking developed as Catholic Social Teaching (CST). A wealth of material has been produced by the Catholic Church during its long history which considers the implications of scripture, doctrine and natural law for the way these elements live together in community - most particularly in the tradition of social encyclicals dating from 1891. Rowlands takes a fresh approach in weaving overviews of the central principles with the development of thinking on political community and democracy, migration, and integral ecology, and by considering the increasingly critical questions concerning the role of CST in a pluralist and post-secular context. As such this book offers both an incisive overview of this distinctive body of Catholic political theology and a new and challenging contribution to the debate about the transformative potential of CST in contemporary society.

Part of new 'Risen Hope' church history series

Can God be good when life is not? Rediscover faith in the character, power, and presence of God. Even in the questions. Even in the hurt. "I want to believe, I want to have hope, but . . ." Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel hears these words often and has asked them himself. We want to know God, feel his presence, and trust that he hears our prayers, but in the midst of great pain, we may wonder if he really cares about us. Even when we have both hope and hurt, sometimes it's the hurt that shouts the loudest. In Hope in the Dark, Groeschel explores the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, saying, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" In the man's sincere plea, Jesus heard the tension in the man's battle-scarred heart. He healed not only the boy but the father too, driving out the hopelessness that had overtaken him. He can do the same for us today. As Groeschel shares his pain surrounding the health challenges of his daughter, he acknowledges the questions we may ask in our own deepest pain: "Where was God when I was being abused?" "Why was my child born with a disability?" "Why did the cancer come back?" "Why are all my friends married and I'm alone?" He invites us to wrestle with such questions as we ask God to honor our faith and heal our unbelief. Because in the middle of your profound pain, you long for authentic words of understanding and hope. You long to know that even in overwhelming reality, you can still believe that God is good. Hope in the Dark is also available in Spanish, Esperanza en la Oscuridad.

In this long awaited follow-up to the best-selling An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor explores ‘the treasures of darkness’ that the Bible speaks about. What can we learn about the ways of God when we cannot see the way ahead, are lost, alone, frightened, not in control or when the world around us seems to have descended into darkness?