The Once and Future Jesus PDF Download

Author: Robert Walter Funk
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
The Once and Future Jesus by John Shelby Spong (2000).

Author: Fleming Rutledge
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467451479
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully unfolds the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the church.

Author: Gregory C. Jenks
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1608999610
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book offers a way to engage with the Bible as a set of sacred texts that can serve as a song sheet for believers in exile-those people Bishop John Shelby Spong calls the "church alumni association." This includes those internally displaced persons of faith who have not yet become spiritual refugees but who feel the pressure to conform to traditional expressions of faith that no longer serve as springs of living water for the journey of life. These ancient texts come from another world and another time, but they can serve as maps for the journey of life. They can best do this when the sacred wisdom of the Bible is accepted as permission to voice the new questions we face today in the confidence that authentic faith has always required such boldness. Religious progressives are people who live the questions, not dodge them. Our task is not to guard a set of traditional answers, but to live life boldly, taking risks for God's sake and our own. One of the hallmarks of this book is that the problems posed by the Bible are acknowledged. In particular, the contributions of recent critical scholarship are embraced, rather than being ignored or neutralized by pious ambivalence. The intended reader of this book is not a traditional believer, secure in her assumptions about God and salvation, but someone struggling to live with integrity in a time when traditional religion seems increasingly irrelevant. The goal is not to persuade the reader that the Bible is credible but-more modestly-to offer an account of the Bible that may encourage religious progressives to reclaim the Bible as a valued part of our spiritual baggage.

Author: Scott J. Jones
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1501826913
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Jones argues that several unique factors remain available to The United Methodist Church today from the period of rapid growth between 1800 and 1840. Drawing on the image of Loren Mead’s Once and Future Church and Moises Naim’s analysis in The End of Power, Jones argues that a viable future for United Methodism is to recapture the dynamism of being a movement, with many of the characteristics of early 19th century Methodism coming to the fore. It will draw on three key works about Methodism in the first half of the 19th century: Nathan Hatch’s Democratization of American Christianity, John Wigger’s Taking Heaven by Storm, and Gregory Schneider’s The Way of the Cross Leads Home. The book talks about how the Wesleyan form of church contains important resources for the future of Christianity. It focuses on the United States and the first half is broadly applicable to all denominations in the Wesleyan tradition. The last half of the book discusses obstacles that are currently preventing the United Methodist Church from achieving its potential. It closes with a hopeful vision of what a renewed United Methodism might look like.

Author: Loren B. Mead
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996635
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
In 1991 The Once and Future Church by Alban Institute founder and former director Loren B. Mead created an instant sensation in congregational circles with its prophetic insights into the life of the church in a post-Christendom era. Still often-quoted and in demand, the book stands as Alban's all-time best seller. Two subsequent titles, Transforming Congregations for the Future and Five Challenges for the Once and Future Church, extended Mead's original vision with similar success. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the publication of The Once and Future Church, Alban released all three of these books as a single, special edition hardcover. In addition to these classic texts in beautiful, newly designed formats, this collection features an interview with Loren Mead discussing how his views have changed since the books' first publications and his current thoughts on directions for the church in the twenty-first century. This hardcover volume is the perfect gift for graduating seminary students, new congregational leaders, or for pastors whose original editions of these three books may be dog-eared or missing--and a wonderful addition to every church library. All who love the church and pray for the future of our congregations will value this opportunity to have Loren Mead's seminal works in a single, long-lived edition.

Author: Joe Richardson
Publisher: New Leaf Distribution
ISBN: 1934588873
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
By no means do I think that the mythos I’ve developed is the only one for you. There are many works that get you off commonly accepted paradigms and from these sources you may be able to take a little here and a little there in the search for what personally makes sense. Many of the books and films I deem valuable are cited within this text. But as to why I believe the information encased herein to be important, I must say that what I have seen for explanations of reality outside of my own belief structure still leaves many areas unexamined, so I included a number of sources; perhaps in total they will amount to something greater than their individual parts. Also, in many correct and important theories the ideas I have come in contact with do not go far enough. I see doors that I want to make ajar, windows that I seek to get unstuck; like a whale, I always want to dive deeper. And so my promise to you as the reader is that you’ll have an opportunity to see subjects that you may have thought you knew portrayed in a different light, interpretations coming from a different angle and ideas new to you.

Author: R. B. Yerby
Publisher: Donna Hess
ISBN:
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Author: William Chris Hobgood
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 125

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Book Description
Hobgood examines new pressures on clergy that are emerging in the "post-Christendom era:" financial stresses; the effects of a conflicted and confrontational culture; the needs of an increasing number of people living broken or dependent lives; dysfunctional behavior on the part of pastors and parishioners; questions regarding clergy respect and job satisfaction. How is ministry being affected by these changes? What skills will clergy need as they enter the new century? An invaluable resource thoroughly grounded in research and full of practical observations for clergy, judicatory executives, seminary professors, and long-range planners.

Author: Maggie O’Brien
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1483458369
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
""No popular culture. No gossip. Loved it."" -Clare Stephenson ""l like the history in this book"" -Michael Nally We spend a summer with an unlikely collection of strangers for whom, for whatever reason, the past is important; but it is more important than they imagine. The strands of their lives unexpectedly interweave. Each is a piece of a living jig-saw. They eventually put us in the picture. These extraordinary, ordinary people share with us a world where life's casual and inexplicable mysteries are discussed and accepted as commonplace. O'Brien explores themes of life, death, belief in a warm-hearted and easy style that is both beguiling and funny. Her undemanding intellect brings 'ologies and 'osophies out to play. There is an unworldly, fascinating mischief afoot here. You can't help but think out of the box.

Author: L. Michael White
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061985376
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
In Scripting Jesus, Michael White, famed scholar of early Christian history, reveals how the gospel stories of Jesus were never meant to be straightforward historical accounts, but rather were scripted and honed as performance pieces for four different audiences with four different theological agendas. As he did as a featured presenter in two award-winning PBS Frontline documentaries (“From Jesus to Christ” and “Apocalypse!”), White engagingly explains the significance of some lesser-known aspects of The New Testament; in this case, the development of the stories of Jesus—including how the gospel writers differed from one another on facts, points of view, and goals. Readers of Elaine Pagels, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Bart Ehrman will find much to ponder in Scripting Jesus.