*With a foreword from Tim Keller* A bold vision for Christians who want to engage the world in a way that is biblically faithful and culturally sensitive. In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture. Critical theories exist to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. In doing so, they make visible the values and beliefs of a culture in order to scrutinize and change them. Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation, and asking urgent questions like: How does the Bible's storyline help us understand our society, our culture, and ourselves? How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day? How can we analyze and critique culture and its alternative critical theories through Scripture? Informed by the biblical-theological structure of Saint Augustine's magisterial work The City of God (and with extensive diagrams and practical tools), Biblical Critical Theory shows how the patterns of the Bible's storyline can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today's debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality. You'll learn the moves to make and the tools to use in analyzing and engaging with all sorts of cultural artifacts and events in a way that is both biblically faithful and culturally relevant. It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture or cultures in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible, revealing how the whole of the Bible sheds light on the whole of life. If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging, and dynamic voice in the marketplace of ideas today, we need to mine the unique treasures of the distinctive biblical storyline.

In a day when denominations are searching for identity, Created for Mission explores the purpose and mission of a district in the context of the global church.Bob Broadbooks and Gustavo Crocker challenge the assumptions and operational mind-set of every denominational leader who wants to move from the status quo to an outwardly focused organization.With practical advice and a clear model for healthy leadership, transform your district from purely administrative to an effective missional agency.

There is currently no shared language of vocation among Catholics in the developed, post-modern world of Europe and North America. The decline in practice of the faith and a weakened understanding of Church teaching has led to reduced numbers of people entering into marriage, religious life and priesthood. Uniquely, this book traces the development of vocation from scriptural, patristic roots through Thomism and the Reformation to engage with the modern vocational crisis. How are these two approaches compatible? The universal call to holiness is expressed in Lumen Gentium has been read by some as meaning that any vocational choice has the same value as any other such choice; is some sense of a higher calling part of the Catholic theology of vocation or not? Some claim that the single life is a vocation on a par with marriage and religious life; what kind of a theology of vocation leads to that conclusion? And is the secular use of the word 'vocation' to describe certain profession helpful or misleading in the context of Catholic theology?

Shortlisted for the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize Smokey Mountain, the vast garbage dump in Manila has served for many years as an emblem of third world squalor - a metaphor for a planet slowly choking on garbage and waste. But for Fr Beltran, who served for three decades as a chaplain to the scavengers who survive off this reeking heap, it is also a metaphor of hope - an emblem of the will to survive, the ability to create joy and find meaning even in the midst of abject poverty. Faith and Struggle on Smokey Mountain describes the spiritual resilience of the scavengers of Smokey Mountain, and how they taught Beltran to read the Gospel with new eyes. The lessons he learned bear a message for all who struggle for a better world.

On July 2, 2007, the federal government seized everything from me, including my reputation. The systematic process of investigation, prosecution, and incarceration, turned me into a mere memory of my former self. I eventually landed in a prison cell, wearing an orange uniform, and facing LIFE in federal prison without parole. Having absolutely no prior criminal activity in my life, I felt that this was an impossibility for anyone. However, the system sometimes knows no redemption. I cried out to God on a daily basis, but I felt like He had abandoned me. I read about Job and the suffering of Paul, but they did little to appease me. One day, I realized that life in general is not fair, and that we as human beings will be judged by the way we play the hand that we are dealt. I see now, that it took losing everything, to gain what the Bible calls, "the peace that passeth understanding." I told God that I would use this experience to glorify HIM. I began counseling other inmates because solving their problems made me, at least for that instant, forget my own. I found myself enjoying sharing my faith and Biblical Principles with everyone. I applied to a Baptist University and I eventually completed a Masters and Ph.D in Psychology and Christian Counseling. I told the university that I wanted to write a dissertation that would minister to both inmates and their families, and not just a paper that would sit in their library. That case study of counseling prisoners, through various entertaining prison engagements, became the precursor to Suicidal Kings: The Road to Redemption. For the prisoner, it provides hope. For those searching for God, it provides understanding. And for the Christian Counselor, it becomes a prescription against the thinking errors of the carnal mind. Enjoy the ride

This collection of mostly original essays by scholars and Catholic Worker activists provides a systematic, analytical study of the emergence and nature of pacifism in the largest single denomination in the United States: Roman Catholicism. The collection underscores the pivotal role of Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker movement in challenging the conventional understanding of just-war principles and the American Catholic Church's identification with uncritical militarism. Also included are a study of Dorothy Day's preconversion pacifism, previously unpublished letters from Dorothy Day to Thomas Merton, Eileen Egan's account of the birth and early years of Pax, the Catholic Worker-inspired peace organization, and in-depth coverage of how the contemporary Plowshares movement emerged from the Catholic Worker movement.