"Contesting Ecumenical Theology" is a major contribution to the study of the Church. It provides clear and authoritative orientation for the student, while probing deep into a range of key issues in ecclesiology and ecumenical dialogue from a critical standpoint that will stimulate discussion among scholars and ecumenists. It reclaims some old orthodoxies, while challenging some new ones, and points to a deeper and more personal engagement with the major traditions of the Christian Church as the way to fuller unity and more effective mission. "Contesting Ecumenical Theology" argues that the values of difference and diversity and the priority of mission and evangelisation must shape our picture of unity. It transcends old arguments about 'establishment', by showing that all churches are compelled to develop a constructive relationship to the modern state, wherever possible, if they are to be effective in mission. The central ecumenical notion of 'reception' is re-interpreted, not as the faithful unquestioningly receiving the teaching of church authorities, but as the process whereby the whole Church discerns the truth of new developments. The mantra 'baptism is complete sacramental initiation' is challenged, and the place of confirmation is secured within a total process of initiation. The ministry of the episcopate is affirmed, but only by being related to the gospel on which the Church is founded. The nature of communion is examined and the imperative of maintaining it against divisive tendencies is affirmed. 'The hermeneutics of unity' shows that we are shaped by each other through the conflict or rivalry of traditions: 'We are what we are because you are what you are'.

In this book, Brother David Steindl-Rast, who has been a monk for more than 50 years, argues that every sensual experience--whether the joy of walking barefoot or the fragrance of the season--should be recognized as a spiritual one.

How has Christianity engaged with democracy? In this authoritative new treatment of a sometimes troubled relationship, Donald Norwood reflects on the way that democracy has become, especially under the auspices of the United Nations and the World Council of Churches, not just an ideal but a universally applicable moral principle. Yet, as the author demonstrates, faith and democracy have not always sat comfortably together. For example, the Vatican has dealt harshly with radical theologians such as Leonardo Boff and Hans Kung; while churches with a dictatorial style have all too often shown a willingness to accommodate authoritarian regimes and even dictators. Norwood argues that if democracy is a universal norm, a basic right, it is not possible for the Church to be indifferent to its claims. Offering a sustained exposition - from Marsilius of Padua to Christian Democracy and Christian Socialism - of the often uneasy interaction between Christianity and democratic politics as both idea and ideal, this is a major contribution to church history and to wider topical debates in politics and religious studies.

Die in diesem Werk veroeffentlichten Abhandlungen von Hubert Cieslik S.J. (1914-1998) geben neue Einblicke in die vielen kaum bekannte und dramatische Fruhgeschichte des Christentums in Japan. Die Herausgeber versammelten Beitrage des Autors, die bisher nur im Erstdruck, weit verstreut in internationalen Fachzeitschriften, erschienen sind. Der in Schlesien geborene Autor lebte seit 1934 bis zu seinem Tode in Japan und widmete sich von fruh an der Erforschung des "Christlichen Jahrhunderts", d.h. der Geschichte der Christenverfolgung in Japan.

Aggiornamento, Verheutigung des Glaubens im Sinn des Konzilpapstes Johannes XXIII.: Das ist das Grundmotiv, das die Aufsatze und Vortrage durchzieht. Ziel ist die schwierige Transferarbeit der wissenschaftlichen Dogmatik, die traditionellen Glaubensformulierungen in den heutigen soziokulturellen Lebenskontext zu ubersetzen. Konkret wird in den einzelnen Beitragen auf je spezifische Weise versucht, die Relevanz des Glaubens fur das Leben der Menschen in der Welt von heute deutlich zu machen.

Fur diese Arbeit ist der Autor mit dem Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis 2002 der Evangelischen Landeskirche Baden ausgezeichnet worden. Das Spannungsverhaltnis von Mission und interreligioesem Dialog ist Gegenstand dieser Arbeit. Der Autor untersucht die wichtigsten oekumenischen und evangelikalen (Welt-)Missionskonferenzen des 20. Jahrhunderts und das II. Vatikanische Konzil nach dem Selbst- und Missionsverstandnis, die Sicht auf die nichtchristlichen Religionen sowie die missiologischen Neuansatze. Der systematische Teil entfaltet das Missions- und Dialogverstandnis der gangigen religionstheologischen Modelle Exklusivismus, Inklusivismus und Pluralismus. Dabei werden Moeglichkeiten aufgezeigt, das Dreierschema zu uberwinden. Zuletzt wird eine theologische Begrundung fur Mission und den interreligioesen Dialog sowie die konkrete Umsetzung eines interreligioesen Dialogs im Klassenzimmer vorgestellt. Dabei werden die Bedeutung der Konvivenz, des Dialogs und des Zeugnisses fur den Religionsunterricht aufgezeigt.

Agreed common texts for key Christian prayers, creeds, and the elements of historic liturgies, offered for consideration and study by those who wish to keep abreast of current thinking and scholarship in the development of liturgical language.

Frankfurt/M., Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien. Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity. Vol. 125. Edited by Richard Friedli, Jan A. B. Jongeneel, Klaus Koschorke, Theo Sundermeier and Werner Ustorf When German missiologists started to re-import their dream of a dominant Christianity to central Europe, there were more similarities between the missionary and the national socialist utopias than the post-war consensus would like to admit. Fascism to many missiologists became the desired breaking point of modernity, a revival of the Volk's deep emotions and a breakthrough of the archaic spirituality they had long been waiting for. Upon this tide they wanted to sail and conquer new territories for Christ. This study, therefore, will address the issue of mission and Nazism primarily in the light of the struggle of Christianity for a place or a home within and vis-a-vis the culture of the West as it was approaching the end of modernity. Contents: Christian missionary thinking in its broad historical context - Explicitly missionary but non-Christian movements in Germany at the time (Hitler's missiology and Hauer's neopaganism) - Attempts in the US, in Britain and the wider ecumenical movement (William Hocking, Joe Oldham, the Oxford conference of 1937) at rethinking Christianity.

"Irreplaceable as a reference to where Catholic theology is at any given moment, Concilium maps the state of the most pressing questions with solid contributions from leading theologians and cutting edge voices. Each volume addresses major issues in dialogue with wider public discourses, regularly engaging perspectives from the religions of the world. For volumes of substance, breadth and insight, Concilium provides a most impressive response to the most important issues in theology today." Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Fordham University

In 1966 the Livingston Ecumenical Experiment was launched by the induction of the Revd James Maitland, Church of Scotland, and the Revd Brian Hardy, Episcopal Church, to the new ecumenical charge of Livingston, West Lothian. This book describes the origins of the ecumenical movement, the early years in Livingston, and the close co-operation of the church with the community to solve various problems which presented themselves.