Zum ersten Mal wird anhand der Originalakten aus den Archiven des Malteserordens und preussischer Behoerden die Grundung der Rheinisch-Westfalischen Malteser-Genossenschaft erzahlt. Zusammen mit einer Vereinigung in Schlesien bildete sie von der Mitte des vorherigen Jahrhunderts an die offizielle Vertretung des neunhundert Jahre alten Ordens vom Hl. Johannes in Deutschland, bis beide 1993 in der Deutschen Assoziation des Ordens zusammenfanden. Nach dem Ende des alten Grosspriorats Deutschland des Ordens in der Sakularisation suchten die Malteser aus den preussischen Westprovinzen in einem muhseligen und jahrelangen Ringen ihren Platz im nach wie vor altem Denken verhafteten Orden und der liberal gepragten preussischen Gesellschaft. Beobachtungen zur Stellung der Genossenschaft im politischen Katholizismus der Zeit und vor dem Hintergrund der Lage des Adels im Rheinland und in Westfalen werden hier zum ersten Mal getroffen. Fur den Malteserorden ist die Genossenschaft bei der Entwicklung neuer Mitgliederstrukturen hoch bedeutsam.

The recent celebration of the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has helped to stimulate a renewed interest in its teaching and fundamental contribution to Anglican identity. Archbishop Cranmer and others involved in the English Reformation knew well that the content and shape of the services set out in the Prayer Book were vital ways of teaching congregations biblical truth and the principles of the Christian gospel. Thus the aim of this series of booklets which focus on the Formularies of the Church of England and the elements of the different services within the Prayer Book is to highlight what those services teach about the Christian faith and to demonstrate how they are also designed to shape the practice of that faith. As well as providing an account of the origins of the Prayer Book services, these booklets are designed to offer practical guidance on how such services may be used in Christian ministry nowadays. In this overview of the Book of Common Prayer, Peter Adam brings us back again and again to its emphasis on the 'very pure word of God', setting the gold standard and hallmark of all our liturgy. Peter Adam served as Vicar of St Jude's Carlton, and as Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne Australia. He is currently Vicar Emeritus of St Jude's, and Canon of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne.

Recent studies on the development of early Christianity emphasize the fragmentation of the late ancient world while paying less attention to a distinctive feature of the Christianity of this time which is its inter-connectivity. Both local and trans-regional networks of interaction contributed to the expansion of Christianity in this age of fragmentation. This volume investigates a specific aspect of this inter-connectivity in the area of the Mediterranean by focusing on the formation and operation of episcopal networks. The rise of the bishop as a major figure of authority resulted in an increase in long-distance communication among church elites coming from different geographical areas and belonging to distinct ecclesiastical and theological traditions. Locally, the bishops in their roles as teachers, defenders of faith, patrons etc. were expected to interact with individuals of diverse social background who formed their congregations and with secular authorities. Consequently, this volume explores the nature and quality of various types of episcopal relationships in Late Antiquity attempting to understand how they were established, cultivated and put to use across cultural, linguistic, social and geographical boundaries.

This is a controversial and important new examination of the origins of Christian mission, set against the background of ancient Judaism and the pagan culture of the Roman Empire. The author's startling conclusions suggest that mission was not inherent in either early Judaism or Christianity, and was only sporadically practised in antiquity by these religions. Clear, accessible, and at the same time displaying considerable scholarship, this book will provide an important challenge and a stimulus to both theologians and historians, and is likely to provoke keen and lively debate among scholars of these disciplines. It invites a total re-consideration of the grounds for religious mission in both Christianity and Judaism.

The discovery and imparting of knowledge are the essential undertakings of any university. Such purposes determined John Carroll, SJ's modest and surprisingly ecumenical proposal to establish an academy on the banks of the Potomac for the education of the young in the early republic. What began earnestly in 1789 still continues today: the idea of Georgetown University as a Catholic university situated squarely in the American experience.

Beautifully designed with over 300 illustrations and photographs, "A History of Georgetown University" tells the remarkable story of the administrators, boards, faculty, students, and programs that have made Georgetown a leading institution of higher education. With a keen eye for detail, historian Robert Emmett Curran -- a member of the Georgetown community for over three decades -- explores the broader perspective of Georgetown's sense of identity and its place in American culture.

Volume One traces Georgetown's evolution during its first century, from its beginnings as an academy within the American Catholic community of the Revolutionary War era through its flowering as a college before the Civil War to its postbellum achievements as a university. Volume Two highlights the efforts of administrators and faculty over the next seventy-five years to make Georgetown an ascending and increasingly diverse institution with a range of graduate programs and professional schools. Volume Three examines Georgetown's remarkable rise to prominence as an internationally recognized research university -- both culturally engaged and cosmopolitan while remaining grounded in its Catholic and Jesuit character.

Each volume features numerous illustrations, photographs, and appendices that include student demographics, enrollments, and lists of board members.

Der Ausgangspunkt fur die Analyse umfangreichen Quellenmaterials ist der Vergleich theoretisch-abstrakter Ausgangsuberlegungen zur Struktur des religioesen Bewusstseins und zum Verhaltnis von Religion und Gesellschaft mit dem historisch-konkreten Material. Der Zusammenhang zwischen sozial-oekonomischer und politischer Entwicklung einerseits und Veranderungen im sozialen Bewusstsein religioeser Volksmassen andererseits wird ersichtlich. Dieses Vorgehen schliesst die Aufdeckung historischer Grundlagen gegenwartiger Entwicklungen ebenso ein wie eine Periodisierung der Basisgemeindenentwicklung. Des weiteren erfolgt die Analyse weltanschaulicher und politisch-ideologischer Auffassungen von Gemeindemitgliedern, d.h. eine ideologiekritische Untersuchung sowie die Analyse der Zusammenarbeit von Marxisten und Christen in Zentralamerika.

A publication of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio, "Letter & Spirit" is a new journal of Catholic biblical theology which seeks to foster a deeper conversation about the Bible. In light of the advancements of the last century in recapturing the historical and literary context of Scripture, "Letter & Spirit" embraces the challenge of the next century--linking the scientific study of Scripture to its liturgical sense in the Church's living tradition.

This companion to "History of the World Christian Movement explores how varied and multi-cultural Christian origins and history really are.

Paul Jones offers a fundamental and comprehensive approach to spiritual direction. He describes the eight major types of spiritual direction and indicates basic characteristics expected of a spiritual director. In addition to providing insights for personal spiritual direction, Jones advances a chapter for doing communal spiritual direction based on John Wesley's model of covenant groups.

While examining foundational principles of spiritual direction, Jones's book rests in concrete clarity. He concerns himself with teaching people how to do spiritual direction. Jones explores Christian faith as a process of redemption, detailing how spiritual direction particularizes healing for each unique person.

This comprehensive manual employs case studies. The book includes appendixes that include Group Consensus Discernment, Myers-Briggs usages, the Enneagram, TDF Inventory, Family Systems, and the Jo-Hari Window. Jones's approach makes this book an exceptional textbook for colleges and seminaries as well as for those who seek understanding of spiritual direction.

What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians? For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, loneliness, and torture. But what he discovered by trial and error has revolutionized then world of missions.

Bruchko, which has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide, has been called "more fantastic and harrowing than anything Hollywood could concoct." Living with the Motilone Indians since 1961, Olson has won the friendship of four presidents of Colombia and has made appearances before the United Nations because of his efforts. Bruchko includes the story of his 1988 kidnapping by communist guerrillas and the nine months of captivity that followed. This revised version of Olson's story will amaze you and remind you that simple faith in Christ can make anything possible. " Bruchko is] an all-time missionary classic. Bruce Olson is a modern missionary hero who has modeled for us in our time the reaching of the unreached tribes." --Loren Cunningham Co-founder, Youth With A Mission

The Catholic Church has gone through more change in the last sixty years than in the previous six hundred. These changes have caused a significant shift in the future outlook of Catholic higher education as the United States has developed a culture that has grown less receptive to religious traditions and practices. Drawing upon his extensive experience, James Heft lays out the current state of Catholic higher education and what needs to be done to ensure that Catholicism isn't fazed out of the educational system. Heft analyzes the foundational intellectual principles of Catholic Higher Education, and both the strengths and weaknesses of the present day system in order to look at possibilities for its future. Drawing upon both history and current cultural trends, The Future of Catholic Higher Education critiques the secularization thesis, explores the role of bishops, theologians, dissent, the sensus fidelium, the role of women and freedom of conscience, the relationship between theology and religious studies, hiring practices and curricular designs. Using the image of the "open circle," Heft advances a vision of the catholic university that is neither a "closed circle" of only Catholics nor a "market place of ideas with no distinctive mission." His "open circle" is one that fosters the Catholic intellectual tradition by including scholars of many religions, rooting Catholic social thought in Catholic doctrine, defending academic freedom and the mandatum.

Uncover the ways the Christian church has changed in recent years-from the decline of the mainline denominations to the mega-churchification of American culture to the rise of the Nones and Exvaneglicals-and a hopeful reimagining of what the church might look like going forward. The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation- moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief. Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues. But it also accepts the dismantling of what has come before and try to help readers reinvent the path forward. This book looks at the future of organized religion in America and outline the options facing churches and other faith groups. Will they retreat? Will they become irrelevant? Or will they find a new path forward? Written by veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana, Reorganized Religion is a journalistic look at the state of the American church and its future. It draws on polling data, interviews with experts, and reporting on how faith communities old and new are coping with the changing religious landscape, along with personal stories about how faith is lived in everyday life. It also profiles faith communities and leaders who are finding interesting ways to reimagine what church might look like in the future and discuss various ways we can reinvent this organization so it survives and thrives. The book also reflects the hope that perhaps people of faith can learn to become, if not friends with the larger culture, then at least better neighbors.

In the "twinkling of an eye" Jesus secretly returns to earth and gathers to him all believers. As they are taken to heaven, the world they leave behind is plunged into chaos. Cars and airplanes crash and people search in vain for loved ones. Plagues, famine, and suffering follow. The antichrist emerges to rule the world and to destroy those who oppose him. Finally, Christ comes again in glory, defeats the antichrist and reigns over the earth. This apocalyptic scenario is anticipated by millions of Americans. These millions have made the Left Behind series--novels that depict the rapture and apocalypse--perennial bestsellers, with over 40 million copies now in print. In Rapture Culture, Amy Johnson Frykholm explores this remarkable phenomenon, seeking to understand why American evangelicals find the idea of the rapture so compelling. What is the secret behind the remarkable popularity of the apocalyptic genre? One answer, she argues, is that the books provide a sense of identification and communal belonging that counters the "social atomization" that characterizes modern life. This also helps explain why they appeal to female readers, despite the deeply patriarchal worldview they promote. Tracing the evolution of the genre of rapture fiction, Frykholm notes that at one time such narratives expressed a sense of alienation from modern life and protest against the loss of tradition and the marginalization of conservative religious views. Now, however, evangelicalism's renewed popular appeal has rendered such themes obsolete. Left Behind evinces a new embrace of technology and consumer goods as tools for God's work, while retaining a protest against modernity's transformation of traditionalfamily life. Drawing on extensive interviews with readers of the novels, Rapture Culture sheds light on a mindset that is little understood and far more common than many of us suppose.

The Monastery of Pantokrator, founded by John II Komnenos and his wife Piroska-Irene, is not only one of the most important and most impressive monastic complexes of the Komnenian age, it is also one of the few to occupy a key position in the life of Constantinople in the Palaiologan age, given that its mortuary chapel (Heroon) was also the last resting place of many members of the latter dynasty. The first attempt to chronicle its history, based on the texts known at the time, was undertaken by G. Moravscik (1932). Interest was rekindled by P. Gautier's critical edition of its Typikon (1971), and more recently by restoration work on its buildings. This volume brings together a comprehensive selection of all the texts concerning or connected with the Monastery of Pantokrator, and through them it demonstrates the Monastery's importance and its role throughout the history of the Byzantine Empire-a role that has received insufficient attention, given that older studies have tended to focus on the 12th century. The texts cover the situation in Constantinople before the Monastery was founded, the historical and cultural context within which it was established, its Typikon (monastic formulary), the descriptions of Slav and Western travellers, the Byzantine texts (homiletic, historical, hagiographic, and poetic) relating to the Monastery and its history from the 12th to the 15th century, the Byzantine officials associated with it, and the celebration of the principal festivals in its churches. It also contains critical editions of and commentaries on the two versions of the Synaxarion of Irene Komnene, a speech referring to the Empress's associate in the construction of the Monastery, another on the translation of the icon of St. Demetrios from the Church of St. Demetrios in Thessalonica to the Monastery of Pantokrator, an Office of the Translation of the Holy Stone, the verse Synaxarion composed for the consecration of the Monastery, and the known and unpublished poems by Byzantine poets (12th-15th c.) relating to it, as well as an extensive bibliography.

An evangelical classic for a new generation of Christian readers Back in print for the first time in many years, John Stott's classic treatise on confession discusses a neglected Christian practice. Though the Bible clearly teaches that confession is a necessary part of the redemption story, many Christians are uncertain how and to whom they should confess their sins. Stott offers vital answers in Confess Your Sins: The Way of Reconciliation. After presenting the necessity of confession, Stott distinguishes between three types of confession-in secret to God, in private to a person whom our sin has injured, and in public in the presence of a Christian congregation. He shows how this threefold distinction is biblically grounded, and he critically examines the practice of confessing to a priest. Offering assurance of forgiveness to Christians, this little book opens the door to fruitful conversation about the practice of confession.

Ob im Norden, Suden, Westen oder Osten - uberall in der Bundesrepublik, OEsterreich und der Schweiz sind Ordensgemeinschaften beheimatet. Es sind Institutionen, die als Zentren der Einkehr, der Spiritualitat und der tatigen Nachstenliebe in einem Netzwerk von Klosterorten und -statten wirkten. Bis in das Reformationsjahrhundert spielten sie in Mittel- und Norddeutschland auch fur die soziale Entwicklung eine beachtliche Rolle und gaben nachhaltige Initiativen fur Kultur, Wissenschaft und Barmherzigkeit. Dieser Band beschaftigt sich nun insbesondere mit der suddeutschen Klosterlandschaft. Dabei rucken Schwerpunkte aus Kultur, Religion, Politik und Umwelt in den Fokus.

Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung stehen die Herausforderungen des interkulturellen Zusammenlebens, die in Interviews, welche der Autor mit Ordensbrudern gefuhrt hat, deutlich wurden. Er geht der Frage nach, wie mit Differenzen umgegangen wird, und formuliert als Ziel, einen sensiblen Ansatz zu entwickeln, in dem die Diversitat von Kulturen ernst genommen und beachtet wird, um gegebene Differenzen in Kraftquellen fur eine interkulturelle Gemeinschaft zu verwandeln.

Das Buch prasentiert eine kritische Gesellschaftsanalyse. In einem sozialphilosophischen beziehungsweise sozial-ethischen Kontext finden moderne statistische Methoden bei der Behandlung von vier Untergangsmechanismen Anwendung: Gesellschaftliche Sklerosis, Isolationsneurose, Gesellschaftliche Immunschwache und Institutioneller Krebs. Mit der Gesellschaftlichen Sklerosis geht der Prozess der De-Institutionalisierung einher. In der Isolationsneurose stellt sich die Frage nach den richtigen Prioritaten, dem ubergreifenden "Zweck der Zwecke". Gesellschaftliche Immunschwache zeigt sich als verhangnisvoll, gleichmachende, aber auch beruhigende Einheitskost. Institutioneller Krebs uberbetont die grossen Einheiten und verwirklicht sich in der Konzentration von sozialen und wirtschaftlichen "Dinosauriern". Die Untergangsmechanismen sind hierbei vertikal-komplementar sowie horizontal in den entsprechenden Loesungsansatzen von "Lebensbereich vor System", "Immaterielles vor Materiellem", "Langfristigkeit und Ganzheitlichkeit" und "Alternative Sanftheit" zu verstehen. Ihre Komplementaritat ist eine Machtigkeit hoeherer Ordnung, die in einem Wechselspiel der Komponenten in Erscheinung tritt.