What are the theological foundations of Christian ministry? What should a vital Christian ministry look like in the world today? Teacher and veteran of urban ministry Bryan Stone addresses these important questions in an engaging and challenging book. Compassionate Ministry explores systematically the relationship between Christian doctrines of God, church, and human existence, and the focus and meaning of ministry today. It offers a solid introduction to the theology of ministry through an approach rooted in the compassion of God, which Stone shows is evident throughout the scriptures and made real in the incarnation and ministry of Jesus. Compassionate Ministry locates a primary focus in the experience of suffering and poverty which marks daily life for the majority of people today. Stone builds continually on this insight, drawing out the dimensions of a humanizing ministry that participates in restoring the "image of God" in which all have been created: an image of freedom, humanity, community. Understanding God as all-compassionate, and Jesus as the Compassion of God, this book provides a model of a compassionate church as a "liberating community: " people who, knowing what they believe, work and worship together in the service of humanizing praxis in their own community, and in the world at large. Finally, this ministry call for "compassionate evangelism" which proceeds itself from the community, as a more holistic and historical approach than current consensus might suggest.

The essays in Sobrino's latest collection bear on one of the most pressing signs of the times: the existence of a "crucified people, " the poor and oppressed of our world, whose suffering presents Christian faith with an urgent demand - that we "take them down from the cross." Writing from the Salvadoran context, he presents a "theology of mercy, " reflecting on the principles of mercy and solidarity as the mode of Christian witness and discipleship in a world of conflict and suffering. In a personal introduction that sets the tone, Sobrino describes the evolution of his own thinking under the impact of the Salvadoran reality. Part One focuses on the essential character of mercy, and on the importance of shaping the mission of the church and the task of theology. Part Two analyzes the crucified reality of the Third World with specific reflections on salvation, forgiveness, and the grace of being forgiven. Part Three presents two manifestations of mercy: the reality of priesthood and solidarity. Finally, in a moving Afterword, Sobrino focuses on his martyred fellow Jesuits of the Central American University, a group who paid the ultimate price of mercy.

Original and far-reaching, this book shows the resources for Black theology within the living tradition of African-American religion and culture. Beginning with the slave narratives, Hopkins tells how slaves received their masters' faith and transformed it into a gospel of liberation. Resources include the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

This book continues the conversations begun in Emilie Townes's path-breaking A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering. Once again, Townes brings together essays by leading womanist theologians, interweaving a concern for matters of race, gender, and class, as these bear on the survival and well-being of the African-American community. In Embracing the Spirit the emphasis is not on evil and suffering, but on "hope, salvation, and transformation" for individuals and their communities.

Young adults today want authentic answers to their soul-deep questions about God. They want meaningful ways to communicate those answers to others. Most of all, they want to know that they are living a life that matters. In A Good and True Story, philosopher, apologist, and international speaker Paul Gould leads readers on an engaging journey through eleven clues that suggest Christianity is not only true but satisfies our deepest longings. This creative foray into the foundations of Christian truth explores the universe, morality, happiness, pain, beauty, and more for readers looking for culturally informed apologetics. Ideal for college-age and twentysomething readers, small group leaders, and anyone interested in the intersection of faith, philosophy, and culture, A Good and True Story reminds readers that their search for identity and purpose is a gift from a loving and purposeful God.

Unveiling Empire aims to be a fresh look, with new insights and interpretations, at the apocalyptic visions described in The Book of Revelation.'

The groundbreaking work in Hispanic theology, relates the story of the Galilean Jesus to the story of a new mestizo people.

In this work, which marked the arrival of a new era of Hispanic/Latino theology in the United States, Virgilio Elizondo described the "Galilee principle": "What human beings reject, God chooses as his very own". This principle is well understood by Mexican-Americans, for whom mestizaje -- the mingling of ethnicity, race, and culture -- is a distinctive feature of their identity. In the person of Jesus, whose marginalized Galilean identity also marked him as a mestizo, the Mexican-American struggle for identity and new life becomes luminous.

Draws on the best of the major traditions, making fresh connections between right believing, right worship and right practice

Liberal Christian theology permeates mainlines denominations and progressive circles of the church to this day. But what is liberal theology? What are progressive Christians progressing toward, and what are they leaving behind?

In Against Liberal Theology, professor and theologian Roger E. Olson warns progressive and mainline Christians against passively accepting the ideas of liberal theology without thinking through the consequences. In doing so, he examines the basic beliefs of the Christian faith, the main ideas of liberal theology, the way today's mainline and progressive Christianity relates to classic liberalism, and how classic Christian faith and liberal Christianity connect and contradict. Following in the footsteps of Gresham Machen's now-classic Christianity and Liberalism 100 years ago, Olson worries that liberal Christianity may not be Christianity but a different religion altogether.

After examining the origins of liberal theology in the nineteenth century, Olson examines how liberal theology views:

• Sources of truth
• The Bible
• God
• Jesus Christ
• Salvation
• The Future

Gentle but direct, Olson provides an even-handed assessment and critique of the ideas of liberal theology and worries that liberal Christianity has strayed too far from the classic Christian orthodoxy of the fathers and creeds to be considered "Christian" at all.

The Holy Web offers entree to the world revealed by contemporary science and the difference the new models of our life on earth make to understanding Christianity. The author shows how the church's mission is to become and to nurture a dynamic "web of relationships" in which all humanity can find itself part of a wondrous whole. Wessels offers a profound reading of biblical categories. He shows convincingly that the new universe story made popular by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme is not only open to religious interpretation but that the biblical symbols of creation, redemption, sin, grace, life and death, God-Christ-Spirit, faith, hope and love reveal the meaning of the universe to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Water Buffalo Theology marked the emergence of a self-conscious Asian Christian theology on the world scene when it was published in 1974. In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, Koyama thoroughly updates the original, adding an retrospective introduction that records how he has changed his mind on many topics but maintained his position on others. In addition to eliminating several chapters, Koyama also adds one on his "pilgrimage in mission".

Water Buffalo Theology urges readers to abide by the first calling of Christianity -- to become an incarnation of God's love.

What does Christianity stand for in the 21st century? How can we believe it? Why do we need it? In this modern classic, bestselling author Tom Wright invites you on a journey into the heart of Christianity and shows you how it can be lived authentically today. Taking the reader through the Christian faith step by step and question by question, Simply Christian offers compelling explanations for even the most hardened sceptics, while leaving believers spiritually refreshed and exhilarated. 'How can one find the words to describe a book so beautifully and skilfully written, so inspired, so full of generosity and genius?' Anne Rice 'Absolutely wonderful, radical and very powerful.' Antony Flew 'An invaluable guide for seekers and doubters as well as believers.' Os Guinness 'Exceptional. . . it is hard to think of a parallel since Lewis.' Church Times

Jon Sobrino continues the magisterial christology begun in Jesus the Liberator. In that book Sobrino examined the identity of Jesus in relation to his message, his interlocutors, and the conflict that led to his death. In this second volume he takes up the Resurrection of Christ, the christology of the New Testament, and finally the christological formulae of the early church councils.

Throughout Christ the Liberator Sobrino writes from the reality of faith, as set in motion by the event of Jesus Christ, and from the situation of the victims -- the "Crucified People" of history -- particularly the poor of El Salvador, with whom he works. With Christ the Liberator Sobrino's christology takes its place among the most significant contributions of Latin America to the church and theology today.