Charles E. Curran offers the first comprehensive analysis and criticism of the development of modern Catholic social teaching from the perspective of theology, ethics, and church history. Curran studies the methodology and content of the documents of Catholic social teaching, generally understood as comprising twelve papal letters beginning with Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical "Rerum novarum," two documents from Vatican II, and two pastoral letters of the U.S. bishops.

He contends that the fundamental basis for this body of teaching comes from an anthropological perspective that recognizes both the inherent dignity and the social nature of the human person -- thus do the church's teachings on political and economic matters chart a middle course between the two extremes of individualism and collectivism. The documents themselves tend to downplay any discontinuities with previous documents, but Curran's systematic analysis reveals the significant historical developments that have occurred over the course of more than a century. Although greatly appreciative of the many strengths of this teaching, Curran also points out the weaknesses and continuing tensions in Catholic social teaching today.

Intended for scholars and students of Catholic social ethics, as well as those involved in Catholic social ministry, this volume will also appeal to non-Catholic readers interested in an understanding and evaluation of Catholic social teaching.

While television today is taken for granted, Americans in the 1950s faced the challenge of negotiating the new medium's place in the home and in American culture in general. Protestant leaders--both mainstream and evangelical--began to think carefully about what television meant for their communities and its potential impact on their work. Using the American Protestant experience of the introduction of television, Rosenthal illustrates the importance of the interplay between a new medium and its users in an engaging book suitable for general readers and students alike.

Dealing with sexual abuse is painful, especially when it involves a child you care about.

And when it happens in church families, we all bear the pain and need help in knowing how to respond. We ask, should we talk about this or keep it secret to protect those involved? When it becomes known, what people or programs are available to assist? When is therapy needed, and how can the right counselor be found? Does healing really occur, and if so, when and how can we expect it? How do we handle the theological questions the crisis raises? And what should our church be doing?

Dr. Tim Kearney has seen and felt such pain. In this warm and hopeful book he shows how the healing touch of God can come, frequently through God's people in the Christian community.

Here is help with
-- recognizing the symptoms
-- how to handle disclosure
-- understanding the systems that respond to abuse
-- the "Why did God let this happen?" question
-- how a church can become abuse-aware
-- caring for caregivers as well as for the child

What is this place we call England? What does it mean to be English? What, indeed, does it mean to be the "Church of England"? Developing the work advanced in his critically acclaimed previous book, Parish: an Anglican Theology of Place, and drawing deeply on his experience of the Wiltshire landscape, English Grounds presents a series of personal essays that explore deep questions around church, place, nature, heritage and Englishness. Written in vividly evocative and lyrical style, these essays by Andrew Rumsey challenge us to think more deeply about the place of the Church in the consciousness of the English, and the place of England in the consciousness of the Church.

Foreword INDIES 2021 Finalist for Religion Religious faith reduces the risk of suicide for virtually every American demographic except one: LGBTQ people. Generations of LGBTQ people have been alienated or condemned by Christian communities. It's past time that Christians confronted the ongoing and devastating effects of this legacy. Many LGBTQ people face overwhelming challenges in navigating faith, gender, and sexuality. Christian communities that uphold the traditional sexual ethic often unwittingly make the path more difficult through unexamined attitudes and practices. Drawing on her sociological training and her leadership in the Side B/Revoice conversation, Bridget Eileen Rivera, who founded the popular website Meditations of a Traveling Nun, speaks to the pain of LGBTQ Christians and helps churches develop a better pastoral approach. Rivera calls to mind Jesus's woe to religious leaders: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4). Heavy Burdens provides an honest account of seven ways LGBTQ people experience discrimination in the church, helping Christians grapple with hard realities and empowering churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward.

By now we've all heard the word postmodernism. But what is it? Can it be defined? Does it really represent a monumental shift away from how we use to think about right and wrong, truth, the world, and even the whole cosmos? Most important, how should Christians respond? Robert C. Greer helps us grasp the nature of the shifts in thinking and believing that are taking place in our world. More important, he helps us navigate the complex debate among Christians as to how best to respond to these new challenges. Astutely he maps four different ways Christian thinkers have recommended we respond. These alternatives are represented by four theologians: Francis Schaeffer, Karl Barth, John Hick and George Lindbeck. Greer warns that being merely for or against postmodernism is inadequate. He guides us across the terrain of alternatives along a path that leads neither back to the land of modernism nor to the wild frontiers of postmodernist relativism. Acknowledging the relative strengths and weaknesses of these options, Greer turns us to a thoroughly Christian theology that points beyond them to the true Subject who makes knowledge possible through the language of revelation and relationship with God. This book is an illuminating map for all those who feel lost in the maze of conflicting analyses of postmodernism and are looking for a faithful way forward .

We all want to be tolerant. No one wants to be intolerant. But does that mean we have to accept all truth claims as true? Does this virtue rule out having any strongly held moral convictions? In this book Brad Stetson and Joseph G. Conti explore the use and misuse of this important value in academic circles and popular media. They note that the pursuit of truth and the pursuit of tolerance are often taken to be mutually exclusive, and it ends with truth having to give way to tolerance. Stetson and Conti argue just the opposite: that true tolerance requires the pursuit of truth. In the end they demonstrate that Christian conviction about religious truth provides the only secure basis for a tolerant society which promotes truth seeking. Christians can contribute to civil debate without compromising their moral and spiritual convictions.

What does it mean to be white? When you encounter people from other races or ethnicities, you may become suddenly aware that being white means something. Those from other backgrounds may respond to you differently or suspiciously. You may feel ambivalence about your identity as a white person. Or you may feel frustrated when a friend of another ethnicity shakes his head and says, "You just don't get it because you're white." So, what does it mean to be white? How can you overcome the mistakes of the past? How can you build authentic relationships with people from other races and ethnicities? In this groundbreaking book, Paula Harris and Doug Schaupp present a Christian model of what it means to be white. They wrestle through the history of how those in the majority have oppressed minority cultures, but they also show that whites also have a cultural and ethnic identity with its own distinctive traits and contributions. They demonstrate that white people have a key role to play in the work of racial reconciliation and the forging of a more just society. Filled with real-life stories, life-transforming insights and practical guidance, this book is for you if you are aware of racial inequality but have wondered, So what do I do? Discover here a vision for just communities where whites can partner with and empower those of other ethnicities.

The battle lines have been drawn. Many Christians have fallen into the trap of proclaiming "Peace Peace " when there is no peace. Hiding their eyes from the pressing issues of the day, they believe that resistance to the prevailing culture is useless. At the same time, other Christians have been too quick to declare war, mistaking battlefield casualties as enemies rather than victims. In How to Win the Culture War Peter Kreeft issues a rousing call to arms. Christians must understand the true nature of the culture war--a war between the culture of life and the culture of death. Kreeft identifies the real enemies facing the church today and maps out key battlefields. He then issues a strategy for engagement and equips Christians with the weapons needed for a successful campaign. Above all, Kreeft assures us that the war can be won--in fact, it will be won. For those who hope in Christ, victory is assured, because good triumphs over evil and life conquers death. Love never gives up. Neither must we.

Go to the right school. Become a doctor or a lawyer. Marry a nice Asian. These are some of the hopes of our Asian parents. Knowing that our parents have sacrificed for us, we want to honor their wishes. But we also want to serve Jesus, and sometimes that can seem to conflict with family expectations. Discovering our Asian identity in the midst of Western culture means learning to bridge these and other conflicting values. We need wise counsel on our parents' ways of loving us vocations that show respect for our parents and allow us to serve God the "model minority" myth and performance pressures marriage, singleness, and being male and female racial reconciliation spirituality and church experiences unique gifts Asians bring to Western culture This book, written by a team of Asian American student ministry workers who have been there, can serve as our guide on a difficult journey. The authors represent a variety of perspectives, including the immigrant experience of a Korean man, a third-generation Japanese-American's understanding of his parents' experience in the internment camps during World War II, and a Chinese American woman's struggle to communicate with her parents. Their accounts of humorous, frusrating and heartbreaking personal experiences (as well as stories from other Asian American students and adults) offer support and encouragement. And their ideas for living out the Christian faith between two cultures show us the way to wholeness.

Named One of Fifteen Important Theology Books of 2022, Englewood Review of Books This book demonstrates how two overlooked ministry models--base ecclesial communities of the Global South in the late twentieth century and hush harbors of the US antebellum South--offer proven strategies for the twenty-first-century church and contemporary social movements. These ministry models provide insight into the creation and sustenance of vital Christian community, particularly for those seeking indigenous culturally-rooted models, and show how to integrate vibrant Christ-centered faith and mission with world-changing social justice and political action. The book includes on-the-ground stories from multiethnic communities, a foreword by Robert Chao Romero, and an afterword by Willie James Jennings.

Western society moved from a period in which Christianity was the dominant spiritual force to one of nationalism and then to making the economy the object of public devotion. Today this is challenged by those seeking the health of the Earth including all its inhabitants. The World Bank is the economistic institution most open to Earthist concerns. This book evaluates the Bank's potential for leadership in broadening public goals from narrowly economic goods to inclusive ones.