Transforming Exclusion is concerned with the interface between the study of religion & theology and issues surrounding exclusion. Religious beliefs can be important in shaping attitudes that can lead to the exploitation or marginalization of both humans and non-humans. At the same time, religious beliefs and practices have much to offer in transforming the world, creating a more equitable place for all who occupy it. At other times, the voices of members of religious communities are suppressed and marginalized by other more dominant religious or secular individuals or communities. This book addresses all of these aspects of social exclusion and aims to demonstrate that the study of theology and religion, in addressing religious communities and society more widely, have important contributions to make in creating a more just world. The issue of exclusion is engaged with from a range of different perspectives by scholars involved in fieldwork with religious communities, systematic, contextual and practical theologians, and practitioners involved in the preparation of individuals and groups for a range of ministries and professions.

2011 Reprint of 1949 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Also known as "The Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals." This is Kant's first contribution to moral philosophy. It argues for an a priori basis for morality. Where the "Critique of Pure Reason" laid out Kant's metaphysical and epistemological ideas, this relatively short, primarily meta-ethical, work was intended to outline and define the concepts and arguments shaping his future work, "The Metaphysics of Morals." The treatise is broken into a preface, followed by three sections. Kant's argument works from common reason up to the supreme unconditional law, in order to identify its existence. He then works backwards from there to prove the relevance and weight of the moral law. The third and final section of the book is famously obscure, and it is partly because of this that Kant later, in 1788, decided to publish the Critique of Practical Reason.

A practical and balanced approach to the physical and spiritual wealth as a tangible manifestation, this simple guide offers tools and techniques for a daily life in partnership with God. From building a money magnet to the concept of personal tithing, financial wisdom is combined with spiritual practice to create greater daily abundance.

A thought-provoking collection of essays on Buddhist ethics by some of the leading thinkers in the field. The reader is provided with engaging explorations of central issues in Buddhist ethics, insightful analyses of the ways Buddhist ethical principles are being applied today in both Asian and Western countries, and groundbreaking proposals about how Buddhist perspectives might inform debates on some of the core ethical issues of the modern world, including consumerism, globalization, environmental problems, war, ethnic conflict, and inter-religious tensions. The leading figure in identifying the field of Buddhist ethics and articulating some of its core issues is Professor Damien Keown of the University of London. This book brings together a group of eminent scholars who have all been influenced by Keown's work, and who are also friends and close colleagues. The result is a wonderful volume for those who are struggling with practical issues of ethical concern. This will be a valuable resource in the study of ethics for years to come.

Nature around us and indeed, our own human nature are constantly changing. The question before us then is not if there will be change, but rather whether we will be conscious and conscientious about the course of that change. In Changing Human Nature, James Peterson helps us to think through what our part should be from a Christian perspective.

Description: What is the moral criterion for those who hold power positions and authority in governments, corporations, and institutions? Ahn answers this question by presenting the concept of the positional imperative. The positional imperative is an executive moral norm for those who hold power positions in political and economic organizations. By critically integrating the Neo-Kantian reconstructionism of Jurgen Habermas with the Neo-Augustinian reconstructionism of Reinhold Niebuhr, through the method of ""co-reconstruction,"" Ahn identifies the positional imperative as an executive moral norm embedded in all power positions: ""Act in such a way not only to abide by laws, but also to come by the approvals of those affected by your positional actions."" By uncovering this executive moral norm, Ahn argues that a position holder is not just a professional working for the system, but a moral executive who is willing to take the responsibility of his or her positional actions. Endorsements: ""How should Christians and non-Christians live moral lives in the tightly defined roles characteristic of modern corporate and bureaucratic societies? This is a seldom-asked question in our age that celebrates spontaneity and flexibility. But this fine book both asks this difficult question and answers it with the resources of Christian ethics and political philosophy. It is an important study that creatively investigates new territory in social ethics."" --Don Browning Alexander Campbell Emeritus Professor of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences, University of Chicago ""In this compelling book, Ilsup Ahn addresses a burning contemporary issue: are there moral criteria for those in corporate, governmental, or institutional positions of power? Engaging the philosopher Jurgen Habermas and the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, Ahn identifies a 'positional imperative.' In light of this norm, power holders are moral executives who bear responsibility for their actions. In our time when moral responsibility has been denied or ignored in financial institutions and governments, Ahn makes a singular contribution to thought. I highly commended this work for anyone interested in current political and moral questions."" --William Schweiker Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics University of Chicago About the Contributor(s): Ilsup Ahn is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at North Park University, where he teaches philosophical, religious, and social ethics.

What is possibly the most exquisite single group of psalms - 120 - 134 - describe themselves as 'songs of ascents'. They recall the journeys of pilgrims from all over the land 'up' to Jerusalem to keep the feasts of the Lord. And as the people walked, they sang. God's people today may not make quite such a journey but, as Alec Motyer contests, in living the Christian life we have all embarked on a pilgrimage of the heart. The life of faith is to be lived on the move; through varying terrains but with a single destination - as we walk with eyes fixed on Jesus. A devotional read to hearten both weary and sure-footed travellers.

It is true and troubling that we humans are able to control and manipulate nature in many ways, and this ability seems to be growing exponentially. In this book Allen Verhey addresses this reality and seeks to show the importance of bringing a Christian voice into the debate.
Verhey identifies the various narratives under which people view the term nature and then questions these narratives or myths at work in our culture. He presents the biblical narrative as an alternative story capable of providing a different understanding of nature and altering it. Finally Verhey shows the relevance of the Christian story to many forms of discourse in our society, including contemporary ecological wisdom and analytical and political discourse.
Nature and Altering It is Verheys effort to nurture minds formed and informed by the Christian story that are capable of challenging the minds that shape our cultures attitudes toward nature and our use of it.

In Church and Countryside, Tim Gibson offers a primer in rural theology. He sees the rural church as having a distinctive character that is grounded in its sacramental life. He also makes practical suggestions about ways in which the church in the countryside can contribute to the flourishing of the communities it serves. Gibson's work is informed by his own experience of ministry in rural areas. It is shot through with his enthusiasm for, and deep love of, the rural context. Gibson's insights are derived from an intimate knowledge of the issues facing rural communities in the early twenty-first century, and a genuine desire to see the church responding to these issues. For Gibson, the rural church has a unique story to tell about what it means to live in community with one's fellow creatures. This book is an attempt to explore that story, and to find ways in which the Church's members can live it. Tim Gibson is a writer and lecturer, with a particular interest in rural affairs, ethics and theology. He lives in rural Somerset and teaches at the Southern Theological Education & Training Scheme. 'In this thoughtful, reflective and imaginative book, Tim Gibson has given us an outstanding insight into rural ministry today. He offers a shrewd, perceptive and wise analysis of the opportunities and challenges that face the rural church. He is able to articulate the hope and prospects for future ministry, and offers a theologically vibrant and tenacious vision for the rural church. Spiritually vivid and imaginatively written, this is a superb book for all those who want to explore how the rural church can conduct its mission and ministry in today's world.' Martyn Percy, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon 'In this insightful and refreshing analysis of the rural church and countryside concerns (food, farming, rural services, landscape and leisure), Tim Gibson takes theology seriously and demonstrates that theology matters. Here is a sustained attempt in rural theology that is both worth the attention of clergy and accessible to lay people.' Leslie Francis, Professor of Religions and Education at University of Warwick, and Canon Theologian at Bangor Cathedral 'Dr Gibson offers an account of rural theology that is accessible, hopeful and realistic. It will be a valuable catalyst for discussion in very many rural contexts. His stress on the centrality of the eucharist is particularly timely and challenging at a juncture at which eucharistic life is tending to diminish within ever-larger groupings of churches. Warmly recommended.' Christopher Southgate, Research Fellow in Theology, University of Exeter

This book investigates interreligious hospitality from five different religious perspectives: Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic. "Hosting the Stranger" features ten powerful meditations on the theme of interreligious hospitality by eminent scholars and practitioners from the five different wisdom traditions: Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic. By gathering thinkers from different religious traditions around the same timely topic of what it means to "host the stranger," this text enacts the hospitality it investigates, facilitating a hopeful and constructive dialogue between the world's major religions. The first part of the volume offers five different hermeneutic readings that each wrestle with what interreligious hospitality means and what it demands. The second part is divided equally between the five different religious perspectives on hosting the stranger, with two thinkers representing each religion. Together these essays remind us of the urgent need for interreligious hospitality, and more importantly, they testify to its ongoing possibility.

Do we meet Jesus in a church or in a soup kitchen? In a Bible camp or in a housing project?

Such distinctions are false, says Arthur Paul Boers. We cannot experience God in heaven without loving the needy on earth. Nor can we truly love the needy on earth if not empowered by God in heaven.

2010 Reprint of 1918 Edition. The Social Gospel movement was a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially social justice, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospel leaders were overwhelmingly post-millennialist in the sense that they believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind had rid itself of social evils by human effort. Social Gospel leaders were predominantly associated with the Progressive Movement and most were theologically liberal, although they were typically more conservative when it came to their views on social issues. Walter Rauschenbusch was one of the leaders of this important Christian movement.

Description: From its very beginning, Christian faith has been engaged with religious violence. The first Christians were persecuted by their co-religionists and then by imperial Rome. Jesus taught them, in such circumstances, not to retaliate, but to be peacemakers, to love their enemies, and to pray for their persecutors. Jesus's response to religious violence of the first century was often ignored, but it was never forgotten. Even during those centuries when the church herself persecuted Christian heretics, Jews, and Muslims, some Christians still struggled to bear witness to the peace mandate of their Lord. In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas wrote a theology to help his Dominican brothers persuade Cathar Christians to return to their Catholic faith peacefully. Ramon Lull, a Christian student of Arabic and the Qur'an, sought to help his fellow Christians recognize the elements of belief they shared in common with the Muslims in their midst. In the fifteenth century, Nicholas of Cusa, a Church Cardinal and theologian, expanded Lull's project to include the newly discovered religions of Asia. In the seventeenth century, Lord Herbert, an English diplomat and lay Christian, began to identify the political union of church and government as a causal factor in the religious warfare of post-Reformation Christendom. One and a half centuries later, Thomas Jefferson, a lay theologian of considerable political stature, won a political struggle in the American colonies to disestablish religion first in his home colony of Virginia and then in the new nation he helped to found. All five of these theologians reclaimed the peace mandate of Jesus in their response to the religious violence of their own eras. All of which points us to some intriguing Christian responses to religious violence in our own century as recounted in the epilogue. Endorsements: ""Peacemaking and Religious Violence brings careful scholarship and a refreshing clarity of expression to a burning contemporary concern: the way that religions either foster violence or defuse it. In a series of marvelously lucid historical vignettes, Johnson illuminates crucial moments in Christianity's response to religious difference. He demonstrates that there is more to this story than is commonly assumed. Alongside the all-too-real exclusivist claims and crusading zeal, he lifts up a series of thinkers in different periods who sketched an alternative history, a path not taken by the majority church, but one urgently in need of appropriation today. Peacemaking and Religious Violence is an extraordinary work: mature, balanced, original. Its unpretentious clarity will commend it to general readers. Its ability to throw striking new light on major gures and topics in Christian theology and history will impress academics. Anyone interested in questions of religious pluralism and social con ict will be enriched and instructed by this study."" --S. Mark Heim Samuel Abbot Professor of Christian Theology, Andover Newton Theological School ""Roger Johnson utilizes in this volume his formidable historical and theological knowledge to appraise two contemporary tides in our culture: a growing Christian peace witness and a growing public concern about religious violence . . . This welcome study enriches our awareness of historical figures some of whom are less well-known and it connects them all in instructive ways. It brings the Constantinian and the contemporary eras into comparative focus, something too rarely done. This is a deeply illuminating and carefully researched text that deserves to be widely read and taken to heart."" --Gene Outka Dwight Professor of Philosophy and Christian Ethics, Yale University ""Sad to say, the peace ethic of Jesus long ago became a minor (some said heretical) part of Christian witness. Yet it has persisted. Today, when we are faced with growing inter-religious violence, Roger Johnson does us a huge service by shining the light of his research on fi

This book addresses a current, frontline issue in the perennial exchange between science and religion. Jersild surveys the contemporary scene in genetic research and the visionary goals of a number of scientists concerning the human future. He focuses on human identity - "Who Are We?" - as the critical question, first addressing our biological origins in light of evolution and presenting a holistic understanding of human nature. He then turns to the world of biotechnology and the tension between human limitations and human potential in light of prospective genetic enhancements. The implications of genetic engineering, the impact of pharmacology, and the human desire for perfection and immortality all enter into a volatile mix of ideas and aspirations concerning the human future. Jersild brings a Christian perspective to these developments in spelling out a responsible stance.

In Creaturely Theology a wide range of first-rate contributors show that theological reflection on non-human animals and related issues are an important though hitherto neglected part of the agenda of Christian theology and related disciplines. The book offers a genuine interdisciplinary conversation between theologians, philosophers and scientists and will be a standard text on the theology of non-human animals for years to come. It is wide-ranging in terms of coverage and accessibly written. It is ideal as a key text in any postgraduate course engaging with the ethics, theology and philosophy of the non-human and the post-human. Ab Professor Celia Deane-Drummond is Professor of Theology and the Biological Sciences and Director of the Centre for Religion and Bioscience at the University of Chester.Dr David Clough is Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Chester.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.