Transformation lays the groundwork for what church and Christian community can become in this new century. Author and pastor Bob Roberts Jr. is one of the architects of this unique approach to Christianity-based on biblical and missional discipleship-that he calls T-Life (transformed life), which leads to a T-World (transformed world). Ever since Jesus' commission to make disciples in his name, Christianity has transformed lives and the world at large. To those watching, it must have looked like an upstart religion led by a group of men, most of whom were martyred for their beliefs. The voice of secular culture today is no louder and no more indulgent than it was in those days. And yet much of the Western church has settled for becoming just another mass media market that's adding to the noise, instead of a movement that continues to turn the world upside down. Drawing inspiration from early church history and the emerging church in the developing world, Roberts envisions a new way of engaging the local church to achieve common goals. He calls for: Building a church culture rather than a church program. Empowering the local church to invest in the global missions field. Consistently reestablishing our relationship with Jesus Christ in order to experience true transformation. In fact, all this begins with a growing, interactive relationship with God that includes personal and corporate worship. This, in turn, results in community. As community serves others, transformation has both a global and local impact and creates transformation in the world. Transformation redefines the focus and practice of the church, not from external bells and whistles, but from the internal transformation of the very character of its people.

A Texas oilman. A brilliant female archaeologist. An unknown world underneath the Vatican.

In 1939, a team of workers beneath the Vatican unearthed an early Christian grave. This surprising discovery launched a secret quest that would last decades — a quest to discover the long-lost burial place of the Apostle Peter.

From earliest times, Christian tradition held that Peter — a lowly fisherman from Galilee, whom Christ made leader of his Church — was executed in Rome by Emperor Nero and buried on Vatican Hill. But his tomb had been lost to history. Now, funded anonymously by a wealthy American, a small army of workers embarked on the dig of a lifetime.

The incredible, sometimes shocking, story of the 75-year search and its key players has never been fully told — until now. The quest would pit one of the 20th century’s most talented archaeologists — a woman — against top Vatican insiders. The Fisherman’s Tomb is a story of the triumph of faith and genius against all odds.

Palliative Care ist eine Antwort auf grundlegende Fragen der modernen Medizin: Wie weit wollen, sollen oder mMedizin: Wie weit wollen, sollen oder mussen wir Leben erhalten, verlangern und verbessern, wenn es von unheilbarer Krankheit, Alter oder Sterben begrenzt wird? Was wird fur ein der menschlichen Wurde und Freiheit gerecht werdendes Leben und Sterben gefordert? Ist alles medizinisch Machbare zu tun, oder widerspricht dies persoenlichen und gesellschaftlichen Vorstellungen von einem guten Leben und Sterben? Und dort, wo die heutige Medizin an ihre Grenzen stoesst, wie gehen wir mit dem Leiden und Sterben um? Welche Bedurfnisse stehen in diesen Situationen im Vordergrund? Wie kann ihnen fur moeglichst alle entsprochen werden? Was ist wesentlich in der Beziehung, in Haltung und Verhalten zueinander zwischen jenen, die unheilbar krank sind, die gehen mussen, vielleicht wollen, und jenen, die sie in dieser Situation betreuen und begleiten? Das Buch "Ethik in der Palliative Care" gibt Antworten auf diese Fragen, indem es umfassend die historischen, medizinischen, ethischen und theologischen Hintergrunde von Palliative Care beschreibt und ihren Stellenwert im Schweizer Gesundheitssystem dokumentiert.

This book examines the charismatic Christian reformation presently underway in Botswana's time of AIDS and the moral crisis that divides the church between the elders and the young, apostolic faith healers. Richard Werbner focuses on Eloyi, an Apostolic faith-healing church in Botswana's capital. Werbner shows how charismatic 'prophets' - holy hustlers - diagnose, hustle, and shock patients during violent and destructive exorcisms. He also shows how these healers enter into prayer and meditation and take on their patients' pain and how their ecstatic devotions create an aesthetic in which beauty beckons God. Werbner challenges theoretical assumptions about mimesis and empathy, the power of the word, and personhood. With its accompanying DVD, "Holy Hustlers, Schism, and Prophecy" integrates textual and filmed ethnography and provides a fresh perspective on ritual performance and the cinematic.

A cultural history of how Christianity was born from its martyrs. Though it promises eternal life, Christianity was forged in death. Christianity is built upon the legacies of the apostles and martyrs who chose to die rather than renounce the name of their lord. In this innovative cultural history, Kyle Smith shows how a devotion to death has shaped Christianity for two thousand years. For centuries, Christians have cared for their saints, curating their deaths as examples of holiness. Martyrs' stories, lurid legends of torture, have been told and retold, translated and rewritten. Martyrs' bones are alive in the world, relics pulsing with wonder. Martyrs' shrines are still visited by pilgrims, many in search of a miracle. Martyrs have even shaped the Christian conception of time, with each day of the year celebrating the death of a saint. From Roman antiquity to the present, by way of medieval England and the Protestant Reformation, Cult of the Dead tells the fascinating story of how the world's most widespread religion is steeped in the memory of its martyrs.

The Order of Christ Sophia (OCS) is a small New Religion which, in the short span of eight years, has evoked intense controversy. An unusual synthesis of traditional Catholicism, esoteric cosmology, and psychotherapy, the OCS already has centers in a dozen major cities in the United States. Thus far, however, it has eluded the attention of scholars of alternative religions. A schismatic offshoot of an earlier group, the Holy Order of Man, the OCS developed a distinctive set of beliefs and practices that set it apart from the mother faith. It has cultivated some curious and provocative features for a Christian-based religion, including the elevation of women to full participation and status within the evolving sacred order. Its treatment of gender is refreshingly egalitarian; women can be priests, and Mary is deified and given equal status with Jesus. Another unusual feature of the group is its emphasis on psychology and prescription of intensive psychotherapy for all members. Beyond surveying the history, doctrines and practices of this unusual group, Lewis brings data from his study of the OCS to bear on many items of conventional wisdom in the New Religions field. He shows, for example, that far from joining the Order in response to a 'youth crisis,' the average age of new OCS members is 37. This and a number of other characteristics of the OCS membership challenge generally accepted conclusions about recruits to New Religions. Lewis also examines how various theoretical models, such as Rodney Stark's influential model of religious 'success,' pan out when applied to the OCS. Lewis shows that although some of Stark's postulates are insightful, other aspects of the model are severely deficient. In addition to the six core chapters of the book authored by Lewis, three other experts contribute chapters on: the results of personality and I.Q. tests administered to member; membership attitudes; comparison of OCS with mainstream denominations; and sex roles in the OCS.

This is My Body is a compelling and unforgettably powerful story of trauma, illness, recovery and transformation, told with honesty, courage and resilient good humour. Jennie Hogan, an Anglican priest, has a history of brain injury and illness going back to childhood. In this gripping memoir, memories of the athletic, competitive and fun-loving schoolgirl jostle alongside accounts of invasive emergency medical treatments and the long processes of recovery. She reflects on what it means to live with uncertainty, to become reconciled with a new identity, and how trust and hope can be regained as a vocation flowers despite the odds. Jennie draws on her experience and her beliefs to pose challenging questions about our relationships with our bodies in an age that is obsessed with body image and physical perfection. She explores the nature of faith in times of crisis, the reality of pain and disability, and what it means to be human and vulnerable, yet made in the image of God.

Seit der ersten Verurteilung der Freimaurerei durch Papst Clemens XII. (1738) wird die Mitgliedschaft von Katholiken in Freimaurerlogen mit kirchlichen Strafen belegt. Trotz nationalhistorisch bedingter Unterschiede innerhalb der Freimaurerei und trotz des Bemuhens um eine differenzierte Betrachtung blieb die Haltung der massgebenden kirchlichen Autoritaten gegenuber der gleichzeitigen Mitgliedschaft von Katholiken in Freimaurerlogen und der katholischen Kirche bis heute unverandert rigoros. Ausgehend von den historischen Anlassen der kirchlichen Verurteilungen werden im kanonistischen Teil der Arbeit die Strafnormen bis zur geltenden Rechtslage analysiert, Entwicklungen skizziert und schliesslich die Frage nach der unbedingten Unvereinbarkeit, Katholik und Freimaurer zu sein, erneut gestellt.

God's Belongers should transform our thinking about what it means to belong to church. Uniquely, David Walker replaces the old and worn division between 'members' and 'nonmembers' with a fourfold model of belonging: through relationship, through place, through events, and through activities. From his extensive practical research, the author shows how 'belonging' can encompass a far wider group of people than those who attend weekly services. This opens up creative opportunities for mission in today's world. 'In this excellent book David Walker brings together his considerable gifts as a first-rate mathematician and theologian in a highly accessible manner. The result is not only fascinating and thought-provoking: its insights have the potential significantly to renew the mission of the church in its efforts to make the love of God in Jesus known. I hope it will be very widely read.' The Right Revd Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester

Das im 19. Jahrhundert im heutigen Iran entstandene Baha'itum ist nach seinem Selbstverstandnis und religionswissenschaftlicher Einordnung eine Weltreligion. Als dezidierte Rechtsreligion verfugt es uber ein Offenbarungsrecht, dessen Kern ein Rechtssetzungsrecht bildet - ermachtigt wird eine demokratisch zu bestellende Koerperschaft, die das Offenbarungsrecht anwendbar machen und erganzen soll. Die Arbeit unternimmt es, die theologischen Grundlagen dieses Baha'i-Rechts aufzuarbeiten. Sie untersucht den in der Baha'i-Schrift dokumentierten theologischen Zusammenhang, auf den dieses Recht seinen Inhalt, seine Anspruche und Funktionen zuruckfuhrt. Im Rahmen der Darstellung von vier rechtstheologischen Dimensionen weist sie das Baha'i-Recht als ius divinum aus.

For 17th and 18th century Bavaria, the political and diplomatic relations with the Papacy were one of the most important constants in its foreign policy. The Bavarian Legation in Rome was the central conduit for representing Bavariaa (TM)s interests there. Bettina Scherbaum examines the time, staffing and organisational frameworks of the legation and elaborates its manifold activities and functions. Her study affords detailed insights into the practice of diplomacy in one of the most important European diplomatic centres of that time.

Die Gewahrung der religioesen Vereinigungsfreiheit und die Zulassung neuer Religionsgemeinschaften sind nicht nur historisch wesentliche Aspekte der korporativen Religionsfreiheit. Mit der Zunahme neuer religioeser Bewegungen sah sich der oesterreichische Gesetzgeber gezwungen, das noch aus dem 19. Jahrhundert stammende Anerkennungsrecht zu reformieren. Ziel dieses Buches ist es, mit Blick auf die religionsrechtliche Lage, in Deutschland die umfangreichen grundrechtlichen Probleme des gegenwartigen Religionsgemeinschaftenrechts in OEsterreich aufzuzeigen. Neben der Darstellung der historischen und verfassungsrechtlichen Grundlagen werden die gesetzliche Anerkennung und die sonstigen Organisationsformen fur Religionsgemeinschaften ebenso kritisch beleuchtet wie die Rechtsprechung der Hoechstgerichte.