This book explores opportunities and limitations with regard to transferring knowledge and tools from the corporate world to manage monasteries or other types of religious institutions. To do so, the contributing authors analyze both the ideological and practical implications of employing modern organizational theory in the context of religious institutions, and seek to strike a balance between preserving traditions and promoting modernization. In this regard, they draw on experience gained in the course of long-standing collaborations between religious institutions, such as monasteries, and business and management schools.

Throughout the age of Western colonial expansion, Christian missionaries were important participants in the encounter between the West and peoples throughout the rest of the world. Mission schools, health services, and other cultural technologies helped secure Western colonialism, and in some cases transformed or even undermined colonialism's effect. The very breadth of missionaries's focus, however, made the involvement of women in missionary work both possible and necessary.
Missionary groups thus faced more immediately the destabilizing challenges that colonial experience posed to their own ways of organizing relations between women and men. Examining the changing prospects for professional women in the missions, the contributors to "Gendered Missions" ask how these shaped, and were shaped by, crucial practical, political, and religious developments at home and abroad. While the focus is on the tumultuous period that historian Eric Hobsbawm calls "The Age of Empire" (1875-1914), attention also is paid to how gender has been debated in later colonial and post-colonial missions.
Scholars from any field concerned with colonial and postcolonial societies or with gender and women's history should find this book of special interest. In addition, "Gendered Missions" should appeal to readers in church history, mission studies, and the sociology of religion.
Mary Taylor Huber is Senior Scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Nancy C. Lutkehaus is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Southern California.

Die langste Zeit wahrend der Kulturgeschichte haben Menschen Vorstellungen von "Parallelwelten" gepflegt - von einer diesseitigen Sphare und von einer jenseitigen Sphare, die von ubersinnlichen Gestalten bevoelkert ist. Seit jeher waren die Menschen darum bemuht, die Intentionen der Instanzen in der jenseitigen Sphare zu ergrunden, um deren Wohlwollen fur sich zu erlangen. Die Sphare des UEbersinnlichen erschliesst sich uber die Religion. Das Gemeinsame in allen Religionen ist deren weitgehend ahnlich strukturiertes Fundament. Und der Baustoff dieses Fundaments ist Spiritualitat. Sprache, Schrift und Bilder, diese wichtigen Komponenten zum Aufbau von Kultur, werden fur die religioese Kommunikation eingesetzt und in Riten und Ritualen aktiviert. In dieser Studie werden die Umrisse fur eine Urgeschichte der Transzendenz skizziert, respektive fur eine anthropologische Konstante in allen Kulturen.

Das Buch stellt den katholischen Theologen, Priester und Dichter Joseph Wittig (1879-1949) als Sprachlehrer des Glaubens vor. Seine Hauptwerke werden unter Einbeziehung der Zeit- und Lebensgeschichte historisch-theologisch detailliert analysiert. So zeigt sich, dass Wittig jenseits von Modernismus, Antimodernismus und Reformkatholizismus eine neue Sprache des Glaubens entdeckt hat. Diese eigenstandige Form narrativer Theologie ermoeglicht es ihm, komplizierte theologische Lehraussagen in einer poetischen, von eigener Lebenserfahrung gesattigten Sprache fruchtbar zu machen fur den eigenen Glaubensvollzug seiner Lesergemeinde. Zudem zeigen bisher unerschlossene Quellen, was es heisst, Christsein und Glaubenstreue teilweise gegen seine Kirche und gegen den Nationalsozialismus zu bewahren.

Das Deuteronomium unterscheidet sich in seiner Sprache und literarischen Gestaltung deutlich von den anderen alttestamentlichen Buchern. Es ist "deuteronomisch". Andere Bucher und Texte ahneln ihm, sie sind "deuteronomistisch". Man spricht von "deuteronomistischer Literatur" und von "deuteronomistischer Bewegung". Dahinter stehen inhaltliche Beziehungen, aber zugleich gemeinsame Sprache und literarische Technik. Unsere Kenntnis der Welt des alten Orients ist inzwischen immens gewachsen, die Sprachwissenschaft bluht auf, die Fragestellungen verandern sich, der Computer ermoeglicht neue Zugriffsmoeglichkeiten. Auch in Bezug auf Deuteronomium und Deuteronomismus ist es an der Zeit, die alten Basisfragen neu zu stellen und neu zu tasten nach Bestatigung, Abwandlung, Neukonzeption. Dieses Buch will dazu einen Beitrag leisten.

Using an innovative methodological approach combining field experiments, case studies, and statistical analyzes, this book explores how the religious beliefs and institutions of Catholics and Muslims prompt them to be generous with their time and resources. Drawing upon research involving more than 1,000 Catholics and Muslims in France, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey, the authors examine Catholicism and Islam in majority and minority contexts, discerning the specific factors that lead adherents to help others and contribute to social welfare projects. Based on theories from political science, economics, religious studies and social psychology, this approach uncovers the causal connections between religious community dynamics, religious beliefs and institutions, and socio-political contexts in promoting or hindering the generosity of Muslims and Catholics. The study also provides insight into what different religious beliefs mean to Muslims and Catholics, and how they understand those concepts.

When asked by his son why some churches have smoke machines, worship pastor Manuel Luz found himself responding, "Well, technically, you need smoke machines to see the lasers." But when you take down the smokescreen, what do you have left? Where do we encounter the Holy in the midst of all this? Where can we worship with our full selves-heart, soul, mind, and body-in Spirit and truth? Drawing from his own experience leading worship in a large congregation and feeling the pull of performance, Manuel Luz guides us on a journey through worship that takes us far beyond style and deep into our own souls. He calls us back to an honest worship that moves past facades and pulls us inward toward the true self that God is forming within each of us. Each chapter ends with a spiritual practice designed to help us set aside pretense and enter into the very presence of God.

Ephrem the Syrian was born in Nisibis (Nusaybin, Turkey) around 306 CE, and died in Edessa (Sanliurfa, Turkey) in 373. He was a prolific author, composing over four hundred hymns, several metrical homilies, and at least two scriptural commentaries. His extensive literary output warrants mention alongside other well-known fourth-century authors, such as Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil of Caesarea. Yet Ephrem wrote in neither Greek nor Latin, but in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic. His voice opens to the reader a fourth-century Christian world perched on the margins between the Roman and Persian Empires. Ephrem is known for a theology that relies heavily on symbol and for a keen awareness of Jewish exegetical traditions. Yet he is also our earliest source for the reception of Nicaea among Syriac-speaking Christians. It is in his eighty-seven Hymns on Faith - the longest extant piece of early Syriac literature - that he develops his arguments against subordinationist christologies most fully. These hymns, most likely delivered orally and compiled after the author's death, were composed in Nisibis and Edessa between the 350s ans 373. They reveal an author conversant with Christological debates further to the west, but responding in a uniquely Syriac idiom. As such, they form an essential source for reconstructing the development of pro-Nicene thought in the eastern Mediterranean. Yet, the Hymns on Faith offer far more than a simple Syriacpro-Nicene catechetical literature. In these hymns Ephrem reflects upon the mystery of God and the limits of human knowledge. He demonstrates a sophisticated grasp of symbol and metaphor and their role in human understanding. The Hymns on Faith are translated here for the first time in English on the basis of Edmund Beck's critical edition.

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.

Der Band ist die erste groessere Studie zur Vita von Josef Busnaya. Diese Quelle beschreibt in grossem Detailreichtum das alltagliche Leben im 10. Jahrhundert in einem ostsyrischen Kloster und seinem ruralen Umfeld in einer ansonsten schlecht dokumentierten Zeit und Region. Der Autor veranschaulicht das alltagliche Leben im Kloster, seine oekonomische Grundlage und das Verhaltnis der Moenche zu ihrem christlichen und nicht-christlichen Umfeld und analysiert es im Kontext seiner historischen Situation. Das Ergebnis ist eine Momentaufnahme mit erstaunlichen Einsichten in das alltagliche, multireligioes gepragte Leben im Nordirak des 10. Jahrhunderts. Allerdings sind diesen durch die Natur der Quelle als hagiographischer Text Grenzen gesetzt.

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.

Das Buch befasst sich mit der Frage, welche Bedeutung einem ehelosen Leben zukommt und vertritt die These, dass die Ehelosigkeit in den synoptischen Evange-lien immer eng mit der Nachfolge Jesu verbunden sei. Die Autorin untersucht diese Frage anhand neutestamentlicher Zeugnisse. Als Ausgangspunkt dient die lukanische Fassung des Gesprachs Jesu mit den Sadduzaern (Lk 20,27-40). Die Autorin analysiert, unter welchem Einfluss und aus welchem Grund das Lukasevangelium eine veranderte Fassung des ersten Teils der Antwort Jesu im Gesprach mit den Sadduzaern schildert, was diese AEnderung bedeutet und wie diese interpretiert werden soll.

This is one of the first academic books about Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and preacher, and the civic movement he inspired in Turkey and ultimately throughout the world. The movement is rooted in moderate Islam and is committed to educating youth, fostering interfaith and intercultural dialog, assisting the needy in society and contributing to global peace. Based on interview data and visits to Gulen-inspired institutions, the book describes the movement from a sociological perspective, especially through the lens of social movement theory. It is the first book, grounded in empirical methodology, to describe the movement to a Western audience. It will be of special interest to social scientists interested in religious movements, religious scholars seeking information on Islamic movements and the general public eager to discover a moderate Islam that promotes humanitarian projects.

Was ist der Mensch? Diese Frage stellt sich angesichts von Verfuhrbarkeit, Totalitarismus und Barbarei im 20. Jahrhundert mit grosser Dringlichkeit. Die Analyse menschlicher Existenz spielt deshalb fur den Religionsphilosophen Eugen Biser (1918 bis 2014) eine fundamentale Rolle. Wo liegen religioese Potentiale des Einzelnen? Was vermag therapeutische Theologie? Welche Moeglichkeiten des Menschseins eroeffnen sich im 21. Jahrhundert? Um solche Fragen zu beantworten, fuhrte ein Berliner Symposium Forscherinnen und Forscher, Wissenschaftler, Kunstlerinnen und Politiker zusammen, um mit Blick auf Eugen Biser die Zeichen der Zeit geistesgegenwartig zu deuten.

The conventional wisdom about mainline Protestantism maintains that it is a dying tradition, irrelevant to a postmodern society, unresponsive to change, and increasingly disconnected from its core faith tenets. In her provocative new book, historian and researcher Diana Butler Bass argues that there are signs that mainline Protestant churches are indeed changing, finding a new vitality intentionally grounded in Christian practices and laying the groundwork for a new type of congregation. The Practicing Congregation tracks these changes by looking at the overall history of American congregations, noting the cultural trends that have sparked change, and providing evidence of how mainline churches are reappropriating traditional Christian practices. The signs of life that Bass identifies lead the reader beyond the crumbling "liberal vs. conservative" dualities to a more nuanced and fluid understanding of the shape of contemporary ecclesiology and faithfulness. In so doing, she helps readers understand tradition in new ways and creates an alternative path through the culture wars that today arrest the energies of most denominations. Invigorated by stories from Bass s own experience, The Practicing Congregation provides a hopeful and exciting vision for the church. The imaginative "retraditioning" she identifies and celebrates will guide pastors and other leaders on this "pilgrimage of creating church" and convincingly counter the naysayers that long ago gave up on the viability of the mainline church."

Over the past seventy years, World Vision has grown from a small missionary agency to the largest Christian humanitarian organization in the world, with 40,000 employees, offices in nearly one hundred countries, and an annual budget of over $2 billion. While founder Bob Pierce was an evangelist with street smarts, the most recent World Vision U.S. presidents move with ease between megachurches, the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, and the corridors of Capitol Hill. Though the organization has remained decidedly Christian, it has earned the reputation as an elite international nongovernmental organization managed efficiently by professional experts fluent in the language of both marketing and development. God's Internationalists is the first comprehensive study of World Vision—or any such religious humanitarian agency. In chronicling the organization's transformation from 1950 to the present, David P. King approaches World Vision as a lens through which to explore shifts within post-World War II American evangelicalism as well as the complexities of faith-based humanitarianism. Chronicling the evolution of World Vision's practices, theology, rhetoric, and organizational structure, King demonstrates how the organization rearticulated and retained its Christian identity even as it expanded beyond a narrow American evangelical subculture. King's pairing of American evangelicals' interactions abroad with their own evolving identity at home reframes the traditional narrative of modern American evangelicalism while also providing the historical context for the current explosion of evangelical interest in global social engagement. By examining these patterns of change, God's Internationalists offers a distinctive angle on the history of religious humanitarianism.

FEW BOOKS ON episcopacy deal with the inner life or practical problems of being a bishop, but this volume gives an inside view. It describes the initial challenge of adjusting to a new role with little preparation, and indicates the main ongoing pressures. This account combines personal experience with theological reflection. Convinced that being comes before doing, David Tustin first considers vital elements in the bishop's personal way of life: inner life, outer lifestyle, home and hospitality, and careful use of time. The rationale of what bishops actually do is then examined in seven key areas, together with suggestions about translating ideals into reality: teamwork; caring for people within and beyond the church; conducting worship; spreading the Christian message; sending new ministers; building bridges in society and within the church; fostering visible Christian unity. Emphasis is laid on bishops sharing their ministry with others, and reaching out beyond the church. This book offers examples of good practice. It draws together resources useful for new bishops, including excerpts from classic writers (Gregory the Great and Bernard of Clairvaux) and pointers to an ecumenical range of contemporary material unlikely to be in the hands of most readers. It is relevant to all who share in senior church leadership. A bibliography and index are included. DAVID TUSTIN was Bishop of Grimsby from 1979 to 2000, and since retirement has been an assistant bishop in the diocese of Lincoln. He was awarded a Lambeth DD in 1998 in recognition of his contribution to Christian unity, both in this country and internationally.

God on High examines cannabis-based religious groups in Canada and the United States. These religious groups are on the rise as cannabis use is further decriminalized or legalized. In examining these groups, Laurie Cozad explores the triangular relationships between cannabis, religion, and the law, and the ways in which the shifting discourse of medical science impacts this trio.

Dieses Buch analysiert die Modelle der biblischen Gestalten in der Prosa von Georg Trakl. Fur Trakl gilt die Bibel nicht nur als eine grosse Inspirationsquelle. Sie ist auch als ein standiger Bezugspunkt zu betrachten, der ihn seine eigene Position in der Welt bestimmen lasst. Der Autor untersucht auch die Prosadichtungen, die in formaler Hinsicht den Charakter der Prosa aufweisen. Mit der Aufnahme der Gedichte zielt der Autor nicht nur darauf ab, die behandelte Problematik in moeglichst vollem Umfang darzustellen, sondern auch Trakls Rezeption des Christentums in ihrem chronologischen Verlauf zu erfassen.

Description: This is a collection of Joan Kavanaugh's post-9/11 public pastoral prayers delivered at The Riverside Church in New York City. Written with a ""newspaper in one hand and Bible in the other,"" they address the issues of human struggle and world crisis that have touched all of our lives in this era of terrorism, anxiety, and global conflict. Prophetic and pastoral, the prayers focus on contemporary themes of conflict, violence, poverty, racism, injustice, hope, and human longing from spiritual, psychological, and biblical perspectives. They are a resource for all who want to deepen their faith as they face a world deep in turmoil. Endorsements: ""The remarkable thing about these prayers is the way they chronicle signal events impacting the life of the church, the nation, and the global community."" --James A. Forbes Jr., from the Foreword ""Joan Kavanaugh is a spirit-filled poet whose masterful use of language conveys a deep wisdom that lights up the worship service in prophetic Riverside Church. Her public prayers inspire us all "" --Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary ""Joan Kavanaugh is that rare clergyperson who touches the personal and global, weaving together poetry, activism, and a profound degree of openness to the human experience. Not only did I love this book for my personal reading, I will turn to it again and again as I lead my congregation in public prayer for God's broken world. Simply stated: every minister should have a copy in his or her library "" --R. Scott Colglazier, Senior Minister, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles ""Joan Kavanaugh's eloquent prayers provide a prophetic and sweeping vision of human possibility in an impossibly conflicted world. They call us to live in the presence of a God whose love is radically inclusive, giving voice to our perennial longing for justice and deep connection."" --Sam Keen, author of In the Absence of God and Fire in the Belly ""Combining poetic wit, prophetic passion, and pastoral wisdom, Joan Kavanaugh prays us into spaces of imagination that are rare and wonderful. She shows us what it means to be human; she gives us an anatomy of our souls. And she shows us what it means to live together; she gives us a map of the world. With our souls and world map in hand, she prays us into the arms of God, and lets us see life eternal in the here and now."" --Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary About the Contributor(s): Joan L. Kavanaugh is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ who served as clergy and the founding director of the Pastoral Counseling Center at The Riverside Church in New York City for thirty-three years. Currently she is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City.