Demonstrates the critical use of religion to challenge oppression in the U.S. In the nascent United States, religion often functioned as a justifier of oppression. Yet while religious discourse buttressed such oppressive activities as slavery and the destruction of native populations, oppressed communities have also made use of religion to critique and challenge this abuse. As Liberation Theologies in the United States demonstrates, this critical use of religion has often taken the form of liberation theologies, which use primarily Christian principles to address questions of social justice, including racism, poverty, and other types of oppression. Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas and Anthony B. Pinn have brought together a stellar group of liberation theology scholars to provide a synthetic introduction to the historical development, context, theory, and goals of a range of U.S.-born liberation theologies. Chapters cover Black Theology, Womanist Theology, Latino/Hispanic Theology, Latina Theology, Asian American Theology, Asian American Feminist Theology, Native American Theology, Native Feminist Theology, Gay and Lesbian Theology, and Feminist Theology. Contributors: Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Nancy Pineda-Madrid, Robert Shore-Goss, Andrea Smith, Andrew Sung Park, George (Tink) Tinker, and Benjamin Valentin.

This volume examines what it means to proceed in the path of wisdom by beginning with fear of God, that is, mindfulness always and everywhere of God's being and presence. Michael Allen describes the praxis of fearing the Lord, how that posture of contemplative pursuit marks the theological task and defines our theological method; in so doing it takes up the significant topics of divine revelation, theological exegesis, intellectual asceticism, and retrieval/ressourcement from a distinctly doctrinal perspective. In each of these conversations, doing theology in the presence of God functions as a consistent thread. God is not mere object but truly functions as subject in the process of theological growth, though God's presence and agency fund rather than negate creaturely theological responsibility. The Fear of the Lord: Essays on Theological Method explores some of the most central questions of contemporary theological method - revelation, Scripture, theological interpretation, retrieval, intellectual asceticism, scholastic method - by asking in each and every case what it means to think fundamentally of the perfect and present God involved and active in these spheres.

Although Maimonides is now known as one of the greatest Jewish theologians and philosophers of the middle ages, his writings were denounced from the outset - first in the East then in the West. In fact, by the mid-1230's the so-called Maimonidean Controversy that had begun within the Jewish community had spread to encompass much of the Christian scholarly world as well. Daniel Silver's Maimonidean Criticism constitutes a landmark in the historiography of Maimonideanism in general and of the controversy of the 1230s in particular. Brill has thus brought this important book back into print for students wishing an introduction to this debate.

This is an introduction to the problems of reading Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-200), known as 'the first great Catholic theologian'. This book is a fully revised and extended edition of Denis Minns' standard introduction to the theology of Irenaeus. Readers will find it comprehensive, informative, lucid, and elegantly written. The book is chiefly aimed at those approaching him for the first time, but it is based on the most recent scholarship and provides much help for those who wish to work on him as a more advanced level. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-200) has been called 'the first great Catholic theologian'. As this book explains, the description is accurate, since the Christianity represented by Irenaeus is recognizably that of the Catholic Church, though unfamiliar in its primitiveness. The thought of Irenaeus represents an important stage in the development of Christian orthodoxy. Denis Minns explains why Irenaeus, the 2nd-century theologian, deserves his place in history. He explains why, though unfamiliar in its primitiveness, the Christianity represented by Irenaeus is recognizably that of the Catholic Church. Minns takes account of the recent scholarly work on Irenaeus and his period which has been done in recent years, but this book is principally an introduction to the problems of reading him. It is aimed mainly at those approaching Irenaeus for the first time.

This is the first full-scale, verse-by-verse commentary on 4 Baruch. The pseudepigraphon, written in the second century, is in large measure an attempt to address the situation following the destruction of the temple in 70 CE by recounting legends about the first destruction of the temple, the Babylonian captivity, and the return from exile. 4 Bruch is notable for its tale about Jeremiah's companion, Abimelech, who sleeps through the entire exilic period. This tale lies behind the famous Christian legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and is part of the genealogy of Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle." Allison's commentary draws upon an exceptionally broad range of ancient sources in an attempt to clarify 4 Baruch's original setting, compositional history, and meaning.

This book contains a wide-ranging discussion of the literature of religious apologetic composed by pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Roman empire up to the time when Constantine declared himself a Christian. The contributors are distinguished specialists from the fields of ancient history, Jewish history, ancient philosophy, New Testament studies, and patristics. Each chapter is devoted to a particular text or group of texts with the aim of identifying the literary milieu and the circumstances that led to this form of writing. When appropriate, contributors have concentrated on whether the notional audience addressed in the text is the real one, and whether apologetics was regarded as a genre in its own right.

This is a major reference work on all aspects of theology in the reformation period. This book will introduce the main theological topics of Reformation theology in language that is clear and concise. Theology in the Reformation era can be complicated and contentious. This volume aims to cut through the theological jargon and explain what people believed and why. The volume will begin with an essay aimed at explaining to students how one can approach the study of sixteenth century theology. It will include a guide to major events, persons, doctrines, and movements. Finally, in-depth essays by noted scholars will complete the volume.