The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism houses a unique and specialized Library open to the public whose holdings can be viewed on the Centre’s web site.
Visit our Online Catalogue!
Paraclete Press, P.O. Box 1568, Orleans, MA 02653, tel.: 508-255-4685, Fax: 508-255-5705; Web site [paracletepress.com]
This book offers short readings from extraordinary Christians and includes the life-changing wisdom of Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas à Kempis, Richard Rolle, Benedict of Nursia, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and others. Because each was a person of fervent life and passionate prayer, their words reveal how waiting on God, and seeking God's will, lead to a life of meaning and joy. Structured around the fifteen Stations of the Cross - from Gethsemane to the Resurrection - each chapter or station features a Scripture reading, meditation, and reflective texts for each day. Carmen Acevedo Butcher holds a Ph D. in medieval studies and teaches at Shorter College in Georgia.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com]
A Common Word - Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor, edited by Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad and Melissa Yarrington, 2010, 256 pages, $14.00USThis volume is a response to the 2007 open letter from Muslim leaders around the world to Christian leaders inviting cooperation as a step toward peace. Included here is the original letter "A Common Word between Us and You", and a collaborative Christian response: "Loving God and Neighbor Together", also known as the Yale response. Building on those original momentous documents, presentations by some of the most prominent theologians and leaders in Islam and Christianity were discussed and debated in July 2008 at a Yale university Conference "Loving God and Neighbor in word and Deed: Implications for Muslims and Christians." Articles from the Yale conference are found here as well as Muslim and Christian commentaries on the meaning of love of God and love of neighbor in both religious and the word of God as a bridge. Two chapters at the end of the book relate and respond to questions that Muslims have been asked about: "A Common Word" as well as frequently asked questions about the Yale response. Miroslav Volf is director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal is the principal drafter and political force behind the original open letter and special Advisor to H.M. King Abdullah II. Melissa Yarrington is Researcher fellow for Muslim-Christian relations at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture's Reconciliation Program.
[Top]
Brazos Press, 6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301; Tel: 616-676-9185; [www.brazospress.com]
Adventures in Daily Prayer: Experiencing the Power of God's Love, Bert Ghezzi, 2010, 166 pages; $ 17.99 US.For the past forty-five years, author Bert Ghezzi has begun each day with prayer and he cannot imagine starting his day without it. In this book, Ghezzi shares his adventures in prayer and offers readers an invitation to experience the promise and power of this faithful daily practice. For those who have struggled at cultivating a strong prayer life, he provides practical help for overcoming obstacles. Ghezzi also covers how to pray, praying for and with others, and persevering in prayer. The book includes Think, Prayer, and Act questions at the end of each chapter for further reflection and group discussion. Bert Ghezzi (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is a popular speaker and columnist living in Winter Park, Florida.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2140 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel: 616-459-4591; Toll Free: 800-253-752; [www.eerdmans.com].
Which Trinity? Whose Monotheism? Philosophical and Systematic Theologians on the Metaphysics of Trinitarian Theology, Thomas H. McCall, 2010, 263 pages, $30.00 US.Theologians and analytic philosophers of religion have both done substantive work on the Trinity, but have done so in isolation from one another. This work brings such philosophers of religion as Richard Swinburne and Brian Leftow into direct conversation with influential theologians such as including Jürgen Moltmann, Robert Jenson and John Zizioulas The author notes the approach suggested by theologian Fred Sanders: "the kind of systematic theology that is heavily informed by biblical exegesis and the history of doctrine would benefit greatly from the conceptual clarity which could be provided by the kind of philosophical theology which concentrates on analytic tasks". As well, the author points out that "the conversations on the doctrine of the Trinity taking place among analytic philosophers need to be informed by the insights and concerns of the theologians. This book attempts to build a bridge between the disciplines. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the current discussions of the 'threeness/oneness problem' in analytic philosophical theology with a description of strategies known as "Social Trinitarianism." Chapter 2 raises some important theological issues (the nature of monotheism, the worship of Jesus in context, and important definitions of views deemed heretical) which the author feels are not evaluates being adequately addressed within the current analytic discussions. In chapter3, he evaluates the various analytic proposals and Trinitarian "models" in light of the theological desiderata. Chapter 4 looks at Robert Jenson's account of the "identity" of the triune God. Chapter 5 explores some issues related to Jürgen Moltmann's influential advocacy of perichoresis. Chapter 6 examines recent discussions evangelical theologians about the subordination of the Son to the Father, and chapter 7 analyzes two important theological themes in John Zizioula's doctrine of the Trinity. In his desire to foster a conversation between theologians and philosophers on the doctrine of the Trinity, the author as a theologian tries to bring theological desiderata to bear upon the work of the philosophers, focus some metaphysical concerns upon the work of systematic theology, and suggest the next steps forward.
Evangelical, Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox Scholars and a representative of Judaism, brought together by renewed socialist of religions, Peter Berger, examine here two opposite forces - relativism and fundamentalism - and attempt it define a middle position between both extreme . Relativism recognizes no absolute truths while fundamentalism insists on sole possession of absolute truth. Both are products of the same process of modernization by means of a sociological analysis, this work shows how the two phenomena are related and points the way to a much-needed declaration of civil moderation.
In this book the Groupe des Dombes - a widely respected dialogue of Reformed, Lutheran, and Catholic scholars from French-speaking Europe - undertakes a comprehensive study of the complex issue of doctrinal authority in the church, including the role of Scripture, of confessional texts, and of decision-making bodies. While a number of previous ecumenical dialogues have studied the question of authority with a particular focus on the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, the Groupe des Dombes lays out the complex constellation of questions at issue in the differing ethos of Protestant and Catholic traditions. Various sections of his book look at doctrinal authority as treated by the Fathers of the Church, the ecumenical councils, in the medieval period, in the reformation and in the pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II Catholic Church and in New Testament writing. The closing chapters present a broad range of references to doctrinal authority which the various churches hold in common but which they relate to differently and articulate a number of doctrinal and ecumenical proposals with the potential of reconciling differences through a "differential consensus". Catherine E. Clifford is associate professor of systematic and historical theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, and editor of A Century of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Though many know the tragic story of Anne Frank, the teen whose life ended in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, few people know of Eva Schloss, Anne's stepsister who, like Anne, was imprisoned in Auschwitz at the age of 15 where she endured daily degradation at the hands of the Nazis. She survived the prison camps, but it would be decades before Eva was able to tell her survivor's tale. It was only after 2005, in conversation with friends whose knowledge of those times appeared so small, that Eva found herself going into details, some of which she had not revealed to anyone before and had, in fact, suppressed for many years. Her friends were shocked at the thought of how remote most people now are from those events and urged her to write her story. In spite of what had happened to her during the war Eva harbours no feelings of bitterness or hate, but she admits that she does not believe in the goodness of man. Eva cannot help remembering that when Anne Frank wrote in her Diary: "I still believe that deep down human beings are good at heart," she wrote this before she experienced Auschwitz and Belsen. Throughout the terrible years Eva had felt the protection of an all-powerful being, but the source of assurance had begun to give way to some troubling questions. Why had she been spared and not millions of others, including her brother and father? Was the world improving as a result of its experience of mass annihilation? Was it not necessary to tell that story again and again and to look at it from every angle? How much time was left for the handful of survivors, before their unimaginable memories, which only they could bring to life, would be forgotten? Did not Eva and other survivors owe a duty to the millions of victims to make it less likely that their deaths had been in vain? If she could move only a handful of people to care more for their fellow man, she would achieve something worthwhile and it was her duty to try to do just that. When Eva approached her friend Evelyn Kent to help her write the story of her Holocaust experiences, the immediate response was: "Eva, I've been waiting ever since I first met you twenty years ago, to write your story." Eva Schloss lectures widely in the United States, Europe, and Australia about the Holocaust and its consequences. Her story is also told through the popular play And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, written by James Still, at performances of which she often holds question-and-answer sessions.
This is the first of three volumes which will bring together the articles by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger published in the North American edition of Communio since its inception in 1974. The articles are grouped very roughly into three themes: Church, anthropology, and theological renewal. Themes explored in the current volume include: eschatology, Luther and the Unity of the Churches, the Ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the Church and World Economy, Peace and Justice, Interreligious Dialogue and Jewish-Christian Relations, Ecclesial Movements, and Vatican II and Veritatis Splendor. Most of the articles published in this and the subsequent two volumes consist of papers, book reviews, interviews, lectures, and the like completed for various occasions and made available to the national editions of Communio. Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, is the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and an outstanding theologian and teacher.
In this volume, statements issued by the Jerusalem Heads of Churches, 1988-2008, are, for the first time, collected together and presented as a body of texts. On January 22, 1988, the Jerusalem Heads of Churches issued a public statement on the situation of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land in reaction to the first Intifada. Over the next twenty years, they issued 67 more joint public statements - an unprecedented Christian testament rising out of that conflicted land. Jerusalem Testament presents these statements together for the first time. In assembling them chronologically, Melanie May has also written informative introductions describing the particular contexts - first Intifada, Oslo Accords, second Intifada, Post-Oslo - out of which the statements arose. In publishing these statements, the author wants to introduce Palestinian Christian voices more fully into Western Christian discussions of the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This testament calls Christians worldwide to a new covenant with sisters and brother in the Holy City, Jerusalem, who live under more and more dangerously deteriorated conditions of Israeli occupation and dispossession. The words of the Jerusalem Heads of Churches bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus-Christ and to the faith and hope of Palestinian Christians. Melanie A. May is Professor of Theology, vice president for academic life and dean of faculty at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York.
Saint Nerses the Gracious and Church Unity: Armeno-Greek Church Relations (1165-1173), Aram I, 2010, 251 pages. The Cilician period of Armenian history presented by the Armenian people with new horizons, perspectives, opportunities and concerns. The impact of this pluralist environment can be clearly seen in almost all aspects and spheres of Armenian life, including the Armenian Church. Church unity became one of the core issues and challenges facing the Armenian Church. The efforts towards unity (1165-1173) conducted by Catholicos Saint Nerses the Gracious, the Ecumenical Patriarch Michael and Byzantine Emperor are of critical importance within the broader context of the history of the church in the East. His Holiness Aram I spells out the complex nature of church unity in its theological, ecclesiological, political and ecumenical implications. This study may help the modern ecumenical movement in its continuous striving for visible unity. It could open a new dimension in the context of bilateral theological dialogue among the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches. His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, is an internationally known spiritual leader and ecumenical figure. He served for two terms (1991-2005) as moderator of the World Council of Churches.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com]
The history of the twentieth century physics can be read as the story of the discovery of many levels of intrinsic relationality present in the structure of the universe. The chapters offer a variety of options for how relational ontology may be understood when considered in the broadest context and the deepest manner. Insights offered by Trinitarian theology, with its understanding of the triune God whose essential being is constituted by the perichoretic exchange of mutually interpreting love between the three divine Persons are explored by Timothy Ware, Lewis Ayres and John Zizioulas. Systematic theologian, Michael Welker, draws on insights from child development studies to argue for a complex account of the nature of relationship. David Martin uses examples drawn from sociological studies to argue for a charismatic element in human relationships that will only find its complete fulfillment eschatologically. Sarah Coakley offers some reflections on Trinitarian relationality and on the philosophical analysis of the concepts of relations and causation. Polkinghorne notes in the introduction that while the influence of physics on metaphysical or theological matter will not be such as to determine finally the issues raised in that wider discourse, the practice of physics encourages the expectation that, just as physics in their own domain have found relationality to be more extensive and more surprising in its character than their expectation would have led them to anticipate, so philosophers and theologians should be open to the possibility of unexpected discovery and counterintuitive insight. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and Anglican priest, is president emeritus of Queen's College, Cambridge.The Declaration Nostra Aetate issued by the Second Vatican Council on October 28, 1965, on the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions marks a revolutionary milestone in the history of interreligious relations. The contributors in this volume do not only look to the past, but also critically articulate the challenges and obstacles confronting Jewish-Christian relations today and develop new perspectives for the theology of Jewish-Christian dialogue. Mathijs Lamberigts and Leo Declerck (Faculty of Theology, Katholieke Universteit Leuen, Belgium) sketch the historical development of the declaration with special attention to the way Nostra Aetate deals with Judaism. Moving beyond the historical perspective John Pawlikowski (Catholic Theological Union, Chicago) tries to develop a theological model for the Christian-Jewish relationship that both safeguards Christological newness while at the same time creating authentic theological space for Judaism. David Meyer (Rabbi of the Brighton and Hove New Synagogue, United Kingdom) argues that if we want to move ahead in the dialogue, Christians need to learn to listen in earnest to the Jewish other. Simon Schoon (Theoligische Universite Kampen, The Netherlands) reflects on the concept, "People of God" during and notes that in the Protestant view, the Church is the "People of God" and holy hen it is a Church of metanoia, of repentance. He hopes that the church and the Jewish people could perhaps, on their different ways to the kingdom of God could join forces in a competition for holiness to work for the restoration of the world. In her contribution, Mary C. Boys (Union Theological Seminary, New York USA) asks what happens after supersessionism? If Jews are still covenanted with God and not, as was taught for centuries, unfaithful and blind, then what, if anything, can or should we say about their salvation? While the dialogue which commenced after Nostra Aetate raises many questions, Boys remains convinced that it is in and through dialogue with Israel, that theology is enlivened. For Marianne Moyaert and Didier Pollefeyt (Katholicke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) one of the most urgent questions is whether Catholic theology has actually succeeded in overcoming supersessionism. Forty-five years after Nostra Aetate there still remains much work to be done. Focusing on the Pope's decision to revise the Good Friday Prayer, they show that Benedict XVI reveals traces of a supersessionist interpretation of the relation between Israel and the Church, which leads to a lack of clarity on the question whether the Church, which leads to a mission towards the Jews. This ambiguity shows that the ecclesial climate surrounding Jewish-Catholic dialogue no longer exhibits the same dialogical options as that of Nostra Aetate.
Moving toward a pneumatalogical theology of justification, the author shows how current ecumenical discussion has moved significantly beyond the stereotypical Protestant and Catholic approaches to justification. The recent Lutheran-Catholic and Lutheran-Orthodox ecumenical exchange are prominent parts of this newer trend. Article 15 of the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification agreed to by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation defined justification as coming about ia the triune God, in whom we partake of Christ by the Spirit. Notable Catholic theologians are now emphasizing participation through the indwelling Spirit over cooperation and habitual grace. Similarly, in dialogue with the Russian Orthodox, the Finnish Lutherans hae emphasized faith as participation in Christ through the indwelling Spirit rather than as a mere assent to the proclaimed Word or reception of an imputed status. Frank D. Macchia is professor of systematic theology at Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, California and senior editor of Pneuma. Neither Calendar nor Clock: Perspectives on the Bellar Confession, Piet J. Naudé, 277 pages, 2010, $25.00US. This book offers an astute inside look at the contemporary Belhar Confession, which arose out of the struggle against apartheid and was first adopted in 1982 by the "colored" Dutch Reformed Mission Chuch in South Africa. Piet Naudé presents and comments on the Belhar texts themselves, explores the historical background and theological significance of Belhar, and discusses its ongoing reception throughout the world. He also relates the Belhar Confession's relevance to such global issues as gender relations, economic justice, and the HIV/AIDS crisis. This work, the only up-to-date English-language book on the Belhar Confession, ultimately shows how this singular African confession powerfully articulates the gospel for the universal church today. Piet J. Naudé is professor of ethics and director of the Business School at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396; Fax: (800) 541-5113 (USA and Canada); (502) 569-8308 (outside the United States); Tel.: (502) 569-5000?; Email: customerservice@wjkbooks.com
Dualities: A Theology of Difference, Michelle Voss Roberts, 2010, 204 pages.Philosophy and theology have each struggled with the split which places God, spirit, mind, and the masculine in opposition to evil, body, matter and the feminine. These intellectual divisions support social structures that oppress rather than embrace women, the poor, people of colour, and others. This volume shows how comparative theology uproots dualism and fosters new modes of community built on cooperation instead of oppression. Dualities is at heart a close and careful comparison of the theologies of two women, Mechthild of Magdeburg and the Kashmiri Saiva theologian Lalleswari. Voss Roberts argues that both Mechthild and Lalleswari are thinkers of the fluid and the permeable. For Mechthild, the world is an overflow of a loving Trinitarian God whereas for Lalleswari the world is a flowing manifestation of Siva's comic consciousness. Although the distinction between mind/soul/spirit and the body remains meaningful, Lalleswari's yoga and Mechthild's spiritual disciplines assume their interrelation. The comparative conversation urges us to move dualism, to reach a fuller understanding of the relation of the faculties, and to cultivate their partnership. The final chapter of the book explores the viability of an element of theology that takes permeability and flux as its starting point. Michelle Voss Roberts is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee.
This collection of concise articles written by lay experts in the field is not meant as a replacement to deeper studies, but rather as a reference to give students a guide as they begin to orient themselves to the study of the Reformation. Further, each entry has a very brief bibliography of secondary sources at its conclusion. The full citations are given in the bibliography of secondary sources at the end of the book. If the reader also wants to find works by the Reformation-era authors, these are collected in the primary bibliography, also found at the end of the volume
This volume provides a compact and lucid treatment of the main elements of the theology of Martin Luther (1483-1546). Janz, a top Luther expert, discusses the theological understandings that made Luther a leading figure in the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. Luther's theology is presented here in fifty-eight discrete, alphabetically arranged essays of varying lengths covering topics from "Anfechtung" through "Worship". A Luther chronology including the dates of important writings is also included. A former graduate student at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, Denis R. Janz is Provost Distinguished Professor of the History of Christianity at Loyola University in New Orleans.
Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, Volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors, 2010, 555 pages.
These volumes offer pastors focused resources on each of the four biblical texts assigned by the Revised Common Lectionary. For each reading, preachers will find brief essays on the exegetical, theological, homiletical, and pastoral challenges of the text. Wherever they begin, preachers will find what they need in a single volume produced by writers from a wide variety of disciplines and religious traditions. David L. Bartlett is a Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. Barbara Brown Taylor is Butman Professor of Religion, Piedmont College, and Adjunct Professor of Christian Spirituality, Columbia Theological Seminary.
Baico Publishing Inc, 294 Albert Street, Suite 103, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1P 6E6, baico@bellnet.ca, www.baico.ca
Mary and the Maternal Face of God: Reimagining Ourselves as Church, Marie Azzarello, 2010, 208 pages, $24.95Like a tuning dial, this work clears the static from the patriarchal, rational, logical, linear decision-making structure clouding the current picture of the Church to bring into focus an image that embraces the interconnectedness of all creation, values mystery and the mystical, recognizes the partnership of men and women as equal disciples at all levels, the value of darkness, the Motherhood of God. This reimaging speaks to 21st century Christians seeking a more spiritual church. Inspired by sculptures, paintings, carvings and other depictions of the Madonna and her son viewed by the author on her personal pilgrimage to shrines, crypts, chapels and cathedrals across Europe, in her lengthy chapter on Black Madonnas she suggests ways that these images have the power to reconnect us to the earth and to the value of darkness and to open a door unto the Motherhood of God. "Mary is, in a sense, a mirror placed before us. From her we learn to carry out our discipleship as Christian men and women, followers of Jesus, in a maternal way...we become mothers of Christ as we give birth to the Word of God in our times and circumstances." As Meister Eckart says, "We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born." In addition to providing spiritual stimuli, this work can transform into a quasi user's manual through consultation of its rich bibliography, plentiful endnotes, a suggested format for carrying out small group discussions and reflection questions for each chapter. Marie Azzarello is an adult educator and retreat leader and author of MARY The First Disciple, A Guide for Transforming Today's Church (Novalis, 2004). A member of the Montreal-based Congregation of Notre Dame (CDN), Marie also serves on two Consultative Committees for her Congregation.
WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505, tel.: 616-459-4591, Fax: 616-459-6540, toll free: 800-253-7521, Web site [www.eerdmans.com]
How Can the Petrine Ministry Be a Service to the Unity of the Universal Church, James F. Puglisi, editor, 379 pages, 2010, $ 40 USMartin Luther along with other Reformation theologians did not reject the papacy as such, but certain characteristics of the papal office as it was exercised at that time. A papacy reformed and renewed in the light of the gospel still appeared to be possible to them. Current ecumenical dialogues are concerned with the idea of universal church unity and the search for a ministry through which this unity may be promoted. The present work publishes the proceedings of two conferences on the papal office by "theologians, canonists, ecumenists, ecclesiologists, sociologists, and Scripture experts" from Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed backgrounds gathered 2003-2004 at the International Bridgettine Centre in Farfa Sabina. The Petrine ministry in the New Testament and in early patristic traditions is explored by John P.Meier, Archbishop Ronald Minnerath and John Reumann. Gunther Gassmann, Hermann J. Pottmeyer and Michael Root examine the Protestant reaction to the development of papal authority especially Vatican I's definition of papal infallibility. The exercise of papal ministry in the light of ecclesiology is developed by Joseph A. Komonchak, Sven-Erik Brodd, Metropolitan John (Zizioulas), Johannes Brosseder and Peder Nøgaard-Højen, while Walter Cardinal Kasper, Harding Meyer, Peter Luning, André Birmelé Eero Huovinen, Geoffrey Wainwright, Hervé Legrand, OP and Jared Wicks, SJ address papal primacy as the subject of ecumenical dialogues and as a possible ministry of unity. James F. Puglisi is Professor of Catholic Theology at Graduate Theological Foundation in Mishawaka, Indiana, and director of the Centro pro Unione in Rome.
Founded by Abbé Paul Couturier in 1937, the Groupe des Dombes is a Protestant-Catholic coalition in French-speaking Europe uniting Reformed, Lutheran, and Catholic scholars in a common spirit of prayer, dialogue, and discernment. Its pioneering work of reconciliation has influenced many other official ecumenical dialogues. This volume presents six statements on Eucharist, ministry, episcope, sacraments, papacy, doctrinal dialogue, produced by the Groupe des Dombes from 1971 to 1991, and appearing here together in English translation for the first time. These substantial documents express the Groupe's keen insights into the renewal of theology and church life that is necessary for progress toward full ecclesial unity-and they invite churches to pursue fruitful dialogue, mutual understanding, harmony, and the hopeful vision of a future in full communion. Catherine E. Clifford is associate professor of systematic and historical theology and vice dean of the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario. She is also the editor of A Century of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Marvin R. Wilson, author of Our Father Abraham, has devoted much of his life to bringing Jews and Christians into dialogue with one another. This work is a collection of thoughtful articles honouring Marv Wilson on the Occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday. Nineteen Jewish and Christian scholars - friends of his and experts in their own fields- offer engaging, even groundbreaking, studies of Abraham both in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and in other ancient and contemporary traditions. In its presentation of a uniquely broad range of traditions having to do with Abraham, this work also succeeds in the task that Wilson has always encouraged - bringing Jews and Christians together in fruitful dialogue. Steven A. Hunt is associate professor of biblical studies at Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts.
This reworked and updated account of interdenominational discussions led by faculty and students of Swiss theological schools in the late 1980s makes their patterns of unity in the early church available in English for the first time. Looking first at the conflicts that hinder unity, the book offers a Bible - centered discussion on various "flash points of unity" - the authority of Scripture, the various church confessions, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the ministerial office - reflecting on early Christian struggles for unity and drawing biblical conclusions for the life of the church today. The authors show decisively that in the context of New Testament teaching, unity must be an ongoing, never-ending task of the church. Lukas Vischer (1926-2008) was a Swiss Reformed theologian noted for his ecumenical efforts worldwide. Ulrich Luz is a professor of New Testament studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Christian Link is professor of systematic theology at Ruthr University in Bochum Germany.
The last twenty years have witnessed a renewal interest in Christian social ethics and recommendations regarding Christianity's role in the search for peace, democracy and development in Africa. These practice recommendations may confirm Christianity's social relevance, but they don't explain why war, tribalism, poverty, corruption and violence have been endemic to Africa's social history. A fresh conversation about Christian social ethics is needed - one that takes seriously the narrative approach. For the author, Christian social ethics in Africa must shift its exclusive focus on strategies for fixing the structures of democracy and development and get into the business of stories. Compelling accounts of three African Christian leaders and their work - Bishop Paride Taban in Sudan, Angelina Atyam in Uganda, and Maggy Barankitse in Burundi - cap off Katongole's inspiring vision of hope for Africa. Emmanuel Katongole is associate research professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke Divinity School, founding co-director of the Duke Center for reconciliation, and a Catholic priest of the Kampala Archdiocese in Uganda. His other books include Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda and Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace, and Healing.
Liturgy, scripture, hymnody, and iconography are the instruments or "voices" of a melody of faith for the Orthodox. Presenting the fundamental beliefs of orthodox Christianity through the metaphor of music, the author weaves together the themes of creation and new creation, beginning and end sin and holiness, Incarnation and deification, sacrifice and salvation in six chapters, or "movements." Through discussing Syrian, Armenian, Byzantine, and Russian iconography and Gospel illuminations- illustrated by icons and Armenian miniatures - he further reveals how Orthodox Christianity expresses theology as much in art as through language. This work beautifully captures the spirit of orthodox Christianity and takes readers to the theological heart of the Orthodox faith. Vigen Guroian is professor if religious studies in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Serving to correct the media abetted misperception that considers the religious life of the middle East in terms of Muslims and Jews the research of betty Jean and S. Martin Bailey chronicles the history and current state of the many various Christian communities in the Volatile part of the world. Reflecting dramatic changes in the region, including massive population shifts, this second edition of the Baileys' seminal 2003 volume updates their carefully collected data on churches, church leaders, and contacts. Betty Jane Bailey is a consultant to the Middle East Office of the Common Global Ministries Board UCC/Disciples of Christ. J Martin bailey is a director of development for Worldwide Faith News and Media Consultant to the Hartford - based interfaith project Faith Communities Today. Both are obtained ministers in the United Church of Christ.
In this book, originally published in 1929, Bulgakov explores the doctrine of angels and their importance for contemporary humanity. He frames his work with meditations on the meaning of love, not as a sentimental indulgence, but as a way of understanding the deep, tender, self-sacrificing, personal knowledge that is both at the heart of a Trinitarian God and in the midst of relationships between human beings and their guardian angels. These discussions on the creation, functions on the incarnation and human nature, especially the role of the sexes, death, and the Christian hope of resurrection. Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) was the twentieth century's leading Orthodox theologian.
World Council of Churches Publications, PO Box 2100, Ch-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, www.oikoumene.org A Cloud of Witnesses: Opportunities for Ecumenical Commemoration, Proceedings of the International Ecumenical Symposium, Monastery of Bose, 29 October- 2 November 2008, Faith and Order Paper No. 209, 2010, 317 pages. Edited by Tamara Grdzelidze and Guido Dotti There is a growing awareness that witnesses to the faith, martyrs and saints, no longer belong exclusively to the confessional group in which they were formed, but are the common heritage of the one Catholic Church. What is the meaning of commemoration of saints among churches that have been divided for so long? How might such common recollections aid in the healing of wounded memories, the rediscovery of common ground and the quest for Christian unity? This work presents results from an international symposium organized by the WCC Faith and Order Commission and the Monastery of Bose in Italy, which featured contributions by dozens of theologians from a large spectrum of confessional and regional backgrounds. Authors examine the churches' varying approaches to martyrdom, public witness and spiritual reflection. The book includes liturgical material that may provide patterns for services of prayer and shared remembrance. The proceedings end with two Memoranda and a bibliography compiled of books suggested in the papers and then extended by some other sources which can be found on the website.
Participation in Christ – An Entry into Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, Columbia Series in Reformed Theology, Adam Neder, 2009, 160 pages, $ 24.95US
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
In this volume Neder explores the concept of “Participation in Christ” in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics and what it means for understanding Christian faith. He clarifies Barth’s claim that humanity as a whole, and human beings individually, participate in Jesus Christ; revelation, election, creation, reconciliation, and redemption all take place in Christ; and their meaning may only be comprehended in Christ. In these acts of inclusion and realization, the creature is incorporated into a fellowship that is nothing less than participation in the being of God. Adam Neder, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396; Fax: (800) 541-5113 (USA and Canada); (502) 569-8308 (outside the United States); Tel.: (502) 569-5000? Web : [www.ppcbooks.com/wjkmain.asp].
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
Brazos Press, 6030 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301; Tel.: 616-676-9185; [www.brazospress.com].
Covenant and Communion - The Biblical Theology of Benedict XVI, Scott Hahn, 2009, 208 pages, $21.99 USIn this volume, an introduction to the way in which the theology of Pope Benedict XVI has been shaped by the Bible, Hahn offers a probing look at Benedict's biblical theology and provides a concise introduction to his work. He argues that the heart of Benedict's theology is salvation history and the Bible and shows how Pope Benedict accepts historical criticism but recognizes its limits. The pope strives to move beyond purely historical-critical exegesis so as to apply new methodological insights that allow for a properly theological interpretation of the Bible. The door is opened for the recovery of the richness of patristic biblical interpretation, including typology, faith and reason, typology, covenant, sacrifice, liturgy an integrated understanding of the Old and New Testaments, a sense of Jesus as the interpretive key for the whole of revelation, and the deep rapport between kingdom and Church. "The parallels between the biblical theology of the pope and of evangelicals, together with their respective attempts to interpret Scripture theologically in an age marked by modern biblical criticism, are particularly fascinating," notes Kevin J. Vanhoozer, professor of theology at Wheaton College and Graduate School. Scott W. Hahn, PhD, holds the Pope Benedict XVI Chair of Biblical Theology at St. Vincent Seminary and is professor of theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is the founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and the author of over twenty books.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com]
What is Justification About? Reformed contributions to an ecumenical theme, Michael Weinrich & John P. Burgess, 2009, 281 pages, $30.00 USThis work flows from the 1999 "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. In 2001, the signatories of the Joint Declaration invited the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, along with observers from the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Church, to a theological consultation to formulate an assessment of the "Declaration" by churches that had not been involved in formulating it and to find ways to involve those churches in continuing discussion of the topic. This volume offers a reformed perspective on contemporary ecumenical discussion by exploring the biblical message of justification and then demonstrating how justification as a doctrine functions as an integrative theological principle. It also considers the relevance of justification for social ethics and contemporary cultural issues. The book was written by an international group of distinguished reformed scholars, with the support of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Editors are: Michael Weinrich is professor of systematic theology in the Protestant Theological Faculty of the Ruhr University in Germany; John P. Burgess is the James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396; Fax: (800) 541-5113 (USA and Canada); (502) 569-8308 (outside the United States); Tel.: (502) 569-5000?
Participation in Christ - An Entry into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, Columbia Series in Reformed Theology, Adam Neder, 2009, 160 pages, $ 24.95USIn this volume Neder explores the concept of "Participation in Christ" in Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics and what it means for understanding Christian faith. He clarifies Barth's claim that humanity as a whole, and human beings individually, participate in Jesus Christ; revelation, election, creation, reconciliation, and redemption all take place in Christ; and their meaning may only be comprehended in Christ. In these acts of inclusion and realization, the creature is incorporated into a fellowship that is nothing less than participation in the being of God. Adam Neder, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
This easy-to-follow book consists of seven chapters on topics related to global climate change: Water, Energy, Transportation, Food and Agriculture, People, Other Species, and Wilderness and Land Planning. Each chapter begins with a statement on how the content relates to global warming, followed by seven action items ranging from individual efforts to activities that encourage the involvement of the congregational and wider communities. Each action item covers just two pages and may offer practical suggestions, relevant facts and background material, success stories, additional sources of information and, when appropriate, scriptural references to help bridge the gap between what we believe and how we live. A "Walking the Talk" section is included, featuring examples of ways in which a person or faith community has made a difference. With illustrations throughout, Barnes-Davies's book offers a lighthearted way to address global warming while teaching us to reshape our lives to honor rather than destroy God's creation. Rebecca Barnes-Davies is an environmental activist, a consultant for Environmental and Social Justice Ministries and also served as the director of Presbyterians Restoring Creation. She is currently studying at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky.
Year C, Volume 1, 2008, 468 pages, Advent through Transfiguration, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 2, 2008, 536 pages, Lent through Eastertide, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 3, 2008, 395 pages, Pentecost and Season after Pentecost, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 4, 2008, 347 pages, Season after Pentecost 2, $39.95US
The Sunday sermon is how the preacher ministers to most of the people most of the time. It is the congregation's one opportunity to hear directly from their pastor about what life in Christ means and why it matters. This new lectionary commentary series offers one of the most extensive resources for preaching on the market today. The twelve volumes cover all the Sundays in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle, along with movable occasions, such as Christmas Day, Epiphany, Holy Week, and All Saints' Day. For each reading, preachers will find brief essays on the exegetical, theological, homiletical, and pastoral challenges of the text. Some readers may decide to focus on the Gospel passage by reading all four essays provided for that text. Others may decide to look for connections between the Hebrew Bible, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle texts by reading the theological essays on each one. This gives preachers sixteen different approaches to the proclamation of the Word on any given occasion. The editors and contributors to this series are world-class scholars, pastors, and writers representing a variety of denominations and traditions. And while the twelve volumes of the series follow the pattern of the Revised Common Lectionary, each volume contains an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers, as well as teachers and students, may make use of its contents. For more information about the series, including a list of contributors, visit [www.feastingontheword.net]. David L. Bartlett is Professor of New Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; Barbara Brown Taylor is a popular preacher, an author and an Adjunct Professor of Christian Spirituality, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Butman Professor of Religion, Piedmont College.
Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Feasting on the Word, Editors: David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor:
Year C, Volume 1, 2008, 468 pages, Advent through Transfiguration, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 2, 2008, 536 pages, Lent through Eastertide, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 3, 2008, 395 pages, Pentecost and Season after Pentecost, $39.95US
Year B, Volume 4, 2008, 347 pages, Season after Pentecost 2, $39.95US
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
The Sunday sermon is how the preacher ministers to most of the people most of the time. It is the congregation’s one opportunity to hear directly from their pastor about what life in Christ means and why it matters. This new lectionary commentary series offers one of the most extensive resources for preaching on the market today. The twelve volumes cover all the Sundays in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle, along with movable occasions, such as Christmas Day, Epiphany, Holy Week, and All Saints’ Day. For each reading, preachers will find brief essays on the exegetical, theological, homiletical, and pastoral challenges of the text. Some readers may decide to focus on the Gospel passage by reading all four essays provided for that text. Others may decide to look for connections between the Hebrew Bible, Psalm, Gospel, and Epistle texts by reading the theological essays on each one. This gives preachers sixteen different approaches to the proclamation of the Word on any given occasion. The editors and contributors to this series are world-class scholars, pastors, and writers representing a variety of denominations and traditions. And while the twelve volumes of the series follow the pattern of the Revised Common Lectionary, each volume contains an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers, as well as teachers and students, may make use of its contents. For more information about the series, including a list of contributors, visit [www.feastingonthe word.net]. David L. Bartlett is Professor of New Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary; Barbara Brown Taylor is a popular preacher, an author and an Adjunct Professor of Christian Spirituality, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Butman Professor of Religion, Piedmont College.
WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505, tel.: 616-459-4591, Fax: 616-459-6540, toll free: 800-253-7521, Web site [www.eerdmans.com]
Faith & Order in the U.S.A. - A Brief History of Studies and Relationships, William A. Norgren, 2011, 104 pages, $20.00USSince its founding in 1959, the U.S. National Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Order has worked to draw churches into discussion on points of agreement and disagreement in faith, order, and worship. William Norgren, a long-time executive director, offers readers a carefully documented summary of the Commission's background, history, and major initiatives. Though originally limited in scope to mainline Protestant, Episcopal and Orthodox churches, he shows how the Commission extended its perimeters over time to foster fruitful dialogue with Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Adventist, Holiness, and peace churches. This historical overview allots ample space to international events and documents occurring in the worldwide development of the ecumenical movement and traces their reverberation on interdenominational and inter-religious relations in the U.S. In his concluding pages, the author points to "a growing realization that visible or tangible unity is part of the identity or purpose of the church". He calls for new venues where the people of God can experience communion. For, he writes: "Unity comes as Christians serve the church's God-given purpose, and in that we see the Holy Spirit's work even now." William A. Norgren served as the Faith and Order Commission's first executive and was Ecumenical Officer of the Episcopal Church until his retirement in 1994.
A broad evangelical perspective, up-to-date research, informative articles and commentary by respected biblical scholars come together in this comprehensive reference work to make the Word of God come alive. Readers will benefit from new articles by sixty expert authors on pertinent biblical topics, background information and commentary on each book of the Bible together with maps, photos, and charts. Gordon D. Fee is professor emeritus of New Testament studies at Regent College, Vancouver, and general editor of the New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Robert L. Hubbard Jr. is professor of biblical literature at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago and general editor of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series.
Cabbagetown Press Limited - an educational division of the Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum, 156 Winchester Street, Toronto, Ontario M4X 1B6 Canada, www.crpmuseum.com. Also available from Nicholas Hoare or online from www.pollyofbridgewaterfarm.com.
Polly of Bridgewater Farm - An Unknown Irish Story, Catharine Fleming McKenty, 2009, 240 pages, $20 CanAs the author retraces the life of her great aunt, Mary Anne Noble Fleming (Polly), readers are plunged into the harsh realities of survival as Irish Protestants and Catholics with the help of their clergy contend with starvation and disease during the Great Famine of the 1840's. A local newspaper, the Tyrone Constitution, warned in August, 1845: "A fatal malady has broken out among the potato crop and destruction is everywhere." In December of 1846, the Northern Whig newspaper described the alarming onset of fever, "of a type classed by the physicians as famine-fever, which afflicted hundreds of the poor; and dysentery as well, produced by cold and want of nutritious food." The writer of a letter published in The Impartial Reporter in April of 1847 begs "to call the attention of every humane man in the community to the way in which paupers are interred at our union workhouse - the graves not being more than eighteen inches deep, and in some instances the lids of the coffins are level with the ground. Is it any wonder that dogs should mangle the remains… These stories appeared in nightmares for years after, "locked away so deeply that Polly, like many others could never talk about it. It would be more than one hundred years before this story and countless others like it would be painstakingly excavated out of the stunned silence that surrounded them, writes the author. In February of 1847, Polly's parents decide to make a long journey to "an unknown place called Canada" to make a new life for themselves. The perils of crossing the Atlantic, the conditions aboard ship and in quarantine on the island of Grosse-Île once they reached Quebec, all the more poignant as seen through the eyes of a child, are also confirmed by journal accounts and statistical records of deaths from typhus, smallpox, measles and starvation as seen in the impressions of a hospital matron of her work day published in the Journal de Québec in June of 1847: "Forty sailing ships were in quarantine, with perhaps ten thousand passengers aboard, hundreds of whom were sick. … I cannot describe the horrors and misery I saw … at least thirteen hundred cases of typhus, in addition to smallpox and measles. People died right before our eyes at all hours of the day … People perished in much greater numbers on the vessels than in the hospitals."The numerous archival photographs, documents, sketches and engravings found in these pages testify to the keen research that went into making this story an accurate reflection of the political, economic and cultural climate surrounding the historical events in Ireland, Montreal and Toronto during this period. The courage and mutual support shown by pastors and faithful across denominational lines as they reach out to help others in distress will inspire others with hope in times of adversity. Catharine Fleming McKenty lives with her husband, Neil McKenty, in Montreal where she is a long-time volunteer at Unitas Ecumenical Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality. She has completed a revised second edition of Polly of Bridgewater Farm which is available in paperback and as an ebook from Shoreline Press [www.shorelinepress.ca]. An audio book will soon be available.
BPS Books, Toronto and New York, A division of Bastian Publishing Services Ltd., {www.bpsbooks.com}
Homosexuality and Following Jesus, Paul Flaman, 2011, 169 pages, $18.95 CANMany persons with same-sex erotic attractions say they have not found churches or Christians who respond well to their needs. This book hopes to bridge that gap by offering clarity and support to those with homosexual inclinations, their family members, friends, counsellors and teachers. The author invites us to listen to them, to enter their world, acknowledge their struggles, abandon stereotypes and love them where they are. We are not asked to approve of their sexual activity, but to respect them as persons. The longish third chapter, Salvation, Healing and Christian Maturity, is devoted to outlining the possibilities and benefits of attempting sexual healing. "Over a number of years, Elaine and Penny became increasingly healed and freed from homosexuality. No longer battling with homosexual temptations and emotional entanglements, they came to relate to each other as heterosexual women." The book frequently refers to writer, Andrew Comiskey, "who has experienced same-sex erotic attractions himself and has developed an effective Christian ministry in this area." Comiskey considers homosexuality to be "but one expression of (sexual) brokenness amid myriad other disorders, mostly heterosexual in nature." In Chapter 5, Christian Morality and Human Needs, the author points out that Dr. Mark Lowery and others "have developed further reasons why same-sex genital acts are intrinsically wrong, based on human experience and God's revelation." The 1975 declaration from the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Persona Humana is also cited: "…homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of." Through inspiring accounts of courageous men and women who struggle with same-sex erotic attractions, and through plentiful suggestions of helpful resources, this book wants to offer hope to any who find abstinence from same-sex genital acts to be difficult. References to useful books, articles, documents and websites are found in the thirty pages of Endnotes at the close of the volume. Paul Flaman is an associate professor of Christian theology at St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta.
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
Baker Academic, P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287, Tel.: (616) 676-985, Fax: (616) 676-9576, Web: [www.bakeracademic.com]
Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered - Growing in Christ Through Community, James C. Wilhoit, 2008, 224 pages, $17.99USWhile many books on attaining spiritual maturity focus entirely on the individual, Wilhoit leads readers in a new direction by focusing on the influence Christian community can have on spiritual development. This work offers a historical and ecumenical introduction to spiritual formation set squarely in the local church. His four pillars of formation include receiving, or being open to God's grace; remembering, or understanding who we are and why we were created; responding in service to neighbors and the world; and building relationships in the context of community. In alternating chapters, Wilhoit gives theological and biblical foundations for each principle, and then suggests a set of practices. James C. Wilhoit, PhD, is the Scripture Press Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College, where he has taught for more than twenty years.
To remedy the crisis of content and form in today's often dry and dead or overly busy and self-involved liturgies, Webber revisits the springtime of the church's birth to uncover ancient principles and practices able to reinvigorate worship today and into the future. Beginning with the Pentecost story in Acts 2, he shows how worship tells God's story, pointing specifically toward prayer as a style of worship rather than a show or presentation. Part one of the book gives a brief description of worship as the story of God and part two applies the story of God to several acts of worship, including an example of prayer worship from the fourth-century. Robert E. Webber (1933-2007) was Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, and served as the president of the Institute for Worship Studies.
In this volume, Kenton Sparks argues that the insights from historical and biblical criticism can be valuable to evangelicals and may even yield a new set of solutions to seemingly intractable problems in biblical studies while avoiding pat answers. This constructive response to biblical criticism takes seriously both the divine and the human aspects of the Bible and acknowledges the diversity that exists in the biblical texts. The discussion is substantive, thorough, and even controversial, as the author offers challenges to the evangelical status quo. The book provides a bridge between critical scholarship and traditional views on Scripture. Kenton L. Sparks (PhD) is professor of biblical studies and special assistant to the provost at Eastern University.
Genesis Publications Inc. & Media Inc., 5803 Cornell Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario, L5M 5R5, Tel.: 1-800-285-6399, Fax: 905-858-3560 or 274-2316 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14216, Tel.: 800-285-6399, Fax: 800-965-4387, Web: [www.christiansourcebook.com]
2008 Christian Ministry Sourcebook, Edited by Stephen Froom, 2007, 532 pages, $25.95The Christian Ministry Sourcebook is an annual directory of Canadian and American Christian ministries. It includes Alcohol & Drug Treatment Centres, Baptistries, Bible Colleges, Church Headquarters, Church supplies, City Missions, Counseling Services, Family Ministries, International Missions, Publishers, Retreats, Stewardship/Fundraising, Women's Ministries and Youth Outreach.
Liturgical Press, St. John's Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500, US, Tel.: 1-800-858-5450, Web: [www.litpress.org]
Demythologizing Celibacy - Practical Wisdom from Christian and Buddhist Monasticism, William Skudlarek, OSB, 136 pages, 2008, US $ 14.95This book springs from a three-day conversation between twelve Buddhists and ten Catholics on celibacy and the monastic way of life held in 2006 at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. It seeks to demythologize, reevaluate and reflect on the meaning and practice of Catholic monastic celibacy in the light of Buddhist teachings and practices shared at the Collegeville meeting. Whereas in Christianity celibacy tends to be mythologized as a response to a divine call or as a superhuman way of life, Buddhist monks regard celibacy as simply-and profoundly-a path to freedom, peace, and happiness. One reads in the introduction that "monasticism as an institutionalized celibate way of life … flourished in the Hindu and Buddhist world of Southeast and East Asia centuries before the birth of Jesus and continues to be practiced by contemporary monks of these religious traditions," The book examines the differences in Buddhist and Catholic motives for practicing celibacy, how they practice it and how failure to remain celibate is treated in the two traditions. An entire chapter on Thomas Merton's personal combat with celibacy toward the end of his life is included "because it so clearly and dramatically demonstrates the meaning of celibacy for those called to the monastic life and the struggle of one monk to remain true to his calling."
Novalis Publishing Inc., 10 Lower Spadina Avenue, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5V 2Z2, Tel.: 1-800-387-7164, Fax:1-800-204-4140, Web:[www.books@novalis.ca]
Liturgies for Christian Unity: The First Hundred Years 1908-2008, Compiled and edited by Rev. Judee Archer-Greene, Dr. Mary Marrocco, & Rev. Richard Vandervaart, 190 pages, $ Can 27.95Liturgies for Christian Unity includes a history of modern Christian prayer for unity and an introduction to each decade, as well as an extensive selection of prayers. The prayers have been chosen for their beauty, historicity, and liturgical usefulness. Highly relevant for today's churches, they may be used on their own or several can be combined to create one's own liturgies. The book is aimed at parishes, ecumenical gatherings, retreat centres, chaplains, educators and lay people, but thematic and scriptural indexes make the anthology particularly useful for liturgists and historians.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com]
Koinonia and the Quest for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology, Lorelei F. Fuchs, SA, 2008, 565 pages, $60.00USIn this volume Lorelei Fuchs proposes the theological idea of koinonia, commonly translated as "communion" or "fellowship" as the key to moving fractured churches toward a future unity. Fuchs challenges churches to move beyond mere dialogue and to apply ecumenical insights at the local level. She begins by relating the exegetical meaning of koinonia to its ecumenical meaning, tracing the place of koinonia in the extensive and fruitful dialogues that have taken place among Lutherans, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics to finally articulate a "symbolic competence for communionality" that provides a rich and workable way forward for church unity at all levels. Encompassing the latest ecumenical thought, this volume provides a broad, thoughtful framework for realizing Christ's prayer "that all may be one … so that the world may believe." Lorelei F. Fuchs, SA, is theological consultant at the Interchurch Centre, New York. Formerly associate director of the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute; she is also coeditor of Growth in Agreement III: International Dialogue Texts and Agreed Statements 1998-2005.
50 Ways to Help Save the Earth – How You and Your Church Can Make a Difference, Rebecca Barnes-Davies, 2009, 128 pages, $14.95US
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
This easy-to-follow book consists of seven chapters on topics related to global climate change: Water, Energy, Transportation, Food and Agriculture, People, Other Species, and Wilderness and Land Planning. Each chapter begins with a statement on how the content relates to global warming, followed by seven action items ranging from individual efforts to activities that encourage the involvement of the congregational and wider communities. Each action item covers just two pages and may offer practical suggestions, relevant facts and background material, success stories, additional sources of information and, when appropriate, scriptural references to help bridge the gap between what we believe and how we live. A “Walking the Talk” section is included, featuring examples of ways in which a person or faith community has made a difference. With illustrations throughout, Barnes-Davies’s book offers a lighthearted way to address global warming while teaching us to reshape our lives to honor rather than destroy God’s creation. Rebecca Barnes-Davies is an environmental activist, a consultant for Environmental and Social Justice Ministries and also served as the director of Presbyterians Restoring Creation. She is currently studying at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky.
The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism houses a specialized Library open to the public whose holdings can be viewed on the Centre’s web site. The collection includes books, magazine articles, vertical files and audio-visual materials on a wide range of topics, in particular on the ecumenical movement, descriptions of various churches and religions, the Bible and other Sacred Scriptures, ethics, ecology, human rights, women in religion, Native Peoples’ spirituality, and more. Whenever possible, the focus is on the approach of different churches and religions to various issues.
Covenant and Communion — The Biblical Theology of Benedict XVI, Scott Hahn, 2009, 208 pages, $21.99 US
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
In this volume, an introduction to the way in which the theology of Pope Benedict XVI has been shaped by the Bible, Hahn offers a probing look at Benedict’s biblical theology and provides a concise introduction to his work. He argues that the heart of Benedict’s theology is salvation history and the Bible and shows how Pope Benedict accepts historical criticism but recognizes its limits. The pope strives to move beyond purely historical-critical exegesis so as to apply new methodological insights that allow for a properly theological interpretation of the Bible. The door is opened for the recovery of the richness of patristic biblical interpretation, including typology, faith and reason, typology, covenant, sacrifice, liturgy an integrated understanding of the Old and New Testaments, a sense of Jesus as the interpretive key for the whole of revelation, and the deep rapport between kingdom and Church. “The parallels between the biblical theology of the pope and of evangelicals, together with their respective attempts to interpret Scripture theologically in an age marked by modern biblical criticism, are particularly fascinating,” notes Kevin J. Vanhoozer, professor of theology at Wheaton College and Graduate School. Scott W. Hahn, PhD, holds the Pope Benedict XVI Chair of Biblical Theology at St. Vincent Seminary and is professor of theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is the founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and the author of over twenty books.
From Brazos Press, 6030 E. Fulton, Ada, MI 49516-6287; Tel.: 616-676-9185; [www.BrazosPress.com].
Brazos Press, 6030 E. Fulton, Ada, MI 49301; Tel.: 616-676-9185; [www.BrazorsPress.com].
Cloister Talks - Learning form My Friends the Monks, Jon M. Sweeney, 2009, 160 pages, $12.99 USIn this book, Sweeney offers a series of glimpses into his decades-long friendships with Cistercian and Benedictine monks in monasteries across the United States and shares the wisdom and insight for everyday living he has gained along the way. Their conversations on life, death, love, work, play, and spirituality offer readers a deeper understanding of this ancient way of Christianity, a much-needed antidote to the rapid pace and busyness of contemporary life. The monastics who populate these pages have spent a combined century and a half in their sacred vocation .They hold the keys to many of the things everyone longs for: stillness, solitude, simplicity, contemplation, and clarity of purpose. Jon M. Sweeney is the associate publisher of the ecumenical Paraclete Press and author of several books.
This introduction to ecclesiology offers an evangelical yet ecumenical survey of the church in mission and doctrine. Combining biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, this comprehensive text explores the church as a Trinitarian, eschatological, worshiping, sacramental, serving, ordered, cultural, and missional community. It addresses contemporary church life issues such as women in ministry, evangelism, social action, consumerism in church growth trends, ecumenism, and the church in postmodern culture. In outlining on ecumenical ecclesiology, the authors favor a mosaic-like approach which recognizes in the distinctions of the various traditions the potential to enrich the whole. While not accepting the Roman Catholic theology of apostolic succession, Evangelicals can appreciate the sense of unity it brings and admire the Catholic commitment to "stick together" in spite of differences. Those communities who tend to be individualistic and lack any real sense of connection to the whole church can benefit from the Orthodox sense of the Eucharist that at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, not only is Christ there, but so too is the entire Church, both on earth and in heaven. Brad Harper, PhD, is professor of theology at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon. Paul Louis Metzger, PhD, is professor of Christian theology and theology of culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary and director of its Institute for the Theology of Culture.
This book offers a broad-minded approach that covers Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Interdisciplinary in its approach, it draws from fields such as theology and psychology to provide a comprehensive and ecumenical survey of Christian spirituality. It is enhanced by chapter outlines and objectives, sidebars, focus boxes, charts, pictures, cartoons, chapter summaries and questions, a glossary and a seventeen-page biography. Evan B. Howard, PhD, is the founder and director of the Spirituality Shoppe and lecturer in philosophy and religion at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com]
A century of Prayer for Christian Unity, edited by Catherine E. Clifford, 2009, 143 pages, $26.00USThis book is a celebration of the one-hundred-year history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and a resource for understanding the theology and practice of common prayer for the reconciliation of the churches. Contributors to this volume represent a cross-section of perspectives both denominationally - including Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Reformed - as well as in light of their lived experience of Christian spirituality and prayer. Each essayist offers significant insights into the history, theology, and spirituality of the Week of Prayer in particular, and of ecumenical prayer in general. The editor, Catherine Clifford is assistant professor of systematic and historical theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario and a member of the Canadian Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue.
In this volume, Russian Orthodox theologian Sergius Bulgakov explores the place of Mary the Mother of God in Orthodox theology and devotional practice, in the process critiquing certain aspects of Roman Catholic Mariology. He also offers a rich explanation of the unique, mysterious role played by the Mother of God as the realization of the human capacity for divinization. In this consideration of the personal sinlessness of Mary, Bulgakov draws heavily on the Orthodox Church's liturgical texts and iconography and on his own developing Sophiology. Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) was the leading Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century. Thomas Allan Smith is associate professor of the history and theology of Eastern Christianity at the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto.
Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396; Fax: (800) 541-5113 (USA and Canada); (502) 569-8308 (outside the United States); Tel.: (502) 569-5000?
The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History, Volume One, The Early, Medieval and Reformation Eras, Robert Benedetto, Editor, 2008, 691 pages, $ 59.95USThis dictionary continues in the tradition of previous volumes by providing up-to-date immediate and accurate definitions and explanations of the major personalities, events, facts, and movements in the history of Christianity. An associate editor is responsible for each of the four periods: early, medieval, Reformation and modern. This latest volume contains nearly fourteen hundred articles written by over two hundred contributors, continues to have an ecumenical orientation and devotes substantial coverage to the modern period. It also covers a broader scope especially for the post 1700 period. All the articles are signed and each of them includes a brief bibliography leading to more detailed information. Robert Benedetto is director of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.
The Library continually updates its more than 400 vertical files containing documents, clippings and reference material on topics such as dialogues, churches, world religions, ethics, sacred scriptures, ecology, ministry, women, Native Peoples, human rights, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, justification, icons, ecumenism, death, peace, refugees, racism, Liberation Theology, Taizé, violence, sin, etc. Material is available in English and French plus some Spanish and Italian
What is Justification About? Reformed contributions to an ecumenical theme, Michael Weinrich & John P. Burgess, 2009, 281 pages, $30.00 US
These brief summaries are made from an examination of the books received at the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. They are descriptive rather than evaluative. More complete reviews are occasionally published.
This work flows from the 1999 “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. In 2001, the signatories of the Joint Declaration invited the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, along with observers from the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Church, to a theological consultation to formulate an assessment of the “Declaration” by churches that had not been involved in formulating it and to find ways to involve those churches in continuing discussion of the topic. This volume offers a reformed perspective on contemporary ecumenical discussion by exploring the biblical message of justification and then demonstrating how justification as a doctrine functions as an integrative theological principle. It also considers the relevance of justification for social ethics and contemporary cultural issues. The book was written by an international group of distinguished reformed scholars, with the support of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Editors are: Michael Weinrich is professor of systematic theology in the Protestant Theological Faculty of the Ruhr University in Germany; John P. Burgess is the James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505; Tel.: 1- 800-253-7521; (616) 459-4591, Fax: (616) 459-6540, Web: [www.eerdmans.com].
Now you can donate online!
Or as always we accept donations through the mail.
tel. 514 937-9176
fax. 514 937-4986
info@oikoumene.ca
1-877-oikoumene
(1-877-645-6863)
1819 René-Lévesque W #003
Montréal, QC H3H 2P5
CANADA
Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:00pm ET
Métro Guy-Concordia
