Pro-Justice Ethics: From Lament to Nonviolence is an original work within Christian social ethics and is based upon the civil rights movement, the philosophy of non-violence, and the biblical lament tradition. The author formulates the justice imperative as an ethic of duty and defines justice as an act of protesting, preventing, and remedying injustices that cause human suffering. Formally, injustice is the violation of fairness, equality, and dignity, but in its primal form injustice is child abuse. Birth and death are discussed from a justice perspective beyond the dichotomy of pro-life and pro-choice. Special attention is devoted to the injustices of globalization, international human rights abuses, and corporate violations of the natural rights of water in the earth commons.

Cynthia Hess offers a thoughtful reconstruction of Christian nonviolence through an examination of both theological and theoretical works. She shows how contemporary understandings of violence and the human person challenge traditional views of nonviolence as pacifism and the refusal of military violence. Hess begins with an analysis of the extensive writings on nonviolence by John Howard Yoder, one of the foremost twentieth-century thinkers on this subject. She then seeks to deepen his view by probing the insights of trauma scholars who explore the powerful and lasting effects of traumatic violence on individuals and communities. These scholars often maintain that many survivors continue to hold the reality of traumatic violence within their bodies and minds, so that it becomes part of them as they move through time. In light of this claim, Hess argues that Christian nonviolence must move beyond pacifism to directly address the problem of internalized violence. In conversation with resources in Yoder's work as well as feminist theory and trauma studies, she analyzes an often-overlooked dimension of religious nonviolence: the creation of communities in which traumatized persons can survive and flourish. With its highly interdisciplinary character, this book presents a fresh perspective on Christian nonviolence that not only challenges traditional views but also reclaims the centrality of nonviolence for contemporary Christian theology and practice.

This book examines the historical antecedents of the concept of general chapter, the supreme authority in an institute of consecrated life. This provides the basis for an examination of the contemporary understanding of the nature of its power and authority, as portrayed in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The general chapter is analysed in terms of its juridic status, collegial nature, participative character and representative function as well as its dynamic aspects and faith dimension. The author applies the findings to one institute of consecrated life, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary Loreto Branch. This application provides an example of the challenges inherent in working participatively and collaboratively within a hierarchical structure. Because consecrated life has an inalienable ecclesial dimension, understanding authority and power and their exercise in institutes of consecrated life has relevance for understanding authority and its exercise in other organs of authority at all levels in the church.

Human language is the only proper tool through which man's intelligence is capable to attain the truth of reality. In deciphering the truth of reality, however, the human intelligence can establish a twofold meaning of things, namely, 'meaning-content' and 'meaning-value'; the former concerning the objectivity of beings, the latter expressing the existential dimensions of human subjectivity. In his philosophy of man and his axiology of human behavior, Karol Wojtyla tries to keep a balance between the objective and subjective truth of man conceived as a person. But, considering human nature as it is found in each and every individual person, Wojtyla tries to establish a synthesis between the language that expresses the truth of man's beingness in his/her objectivity, and the language that unfolds various existential values of one's own unique subjectivity. In view of the twofold language of meaning, Karol Wojtyla was able to synthesize the traditional metaphysics of being with the contemporary axiology of human moral experience and behavior.

Development aid has recently become an important part of international politics in general and Norwegian foreign policy in particular. This study explores the moral discourse of contemporary Norwegian development aid organisations and professional development workers. Adopting a discourse-analytical and multi-disciplinary approach, key concepts such as human rights, charity, justice and compassion are discussed. Furthermore, the notions of professionalism and partnerships in development are addressed, as well as the role and life-style of the individual development worker. The following development agencies have been analysed: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Church Aid, Save the Children Norway, and Norwegian People's Aid. Twenty-three staff members and representatives of these organisations have been interviewed.

Black Mirror, Netflix's dystopian anthology, probes what it means to be human in a technological world. While the show raises interesting, if not disturbing, questions, it refrains from giving answers, putting the onus on viewers to continue the conversation. Accordingly, Theology and Black Mirror engages questions and prominent themes in Black Mirror with resources from the Christian tradition, including the academic disciplines of biblical studies, theology, philosophy, and ethics.

Two principles capture the essence of the official Catholic position on the morality of sexuality: first, that any human genital act must occur within the framework of heterosexual marriage; second, each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. In this comprehensive overview of Catholicism and sexuality, theologians Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler examine and challenge these principles. Remaining firmly within the Catholic tradition, they contend that the church is being inconsistent in its teaching by adopting a dynamic, historically conscious anthropology and worldview on social ethics and the interpretation of scripture while adopting a static, classicist anthropology and worldview on sexual ethics.While some documents from Vatican II, like "Gaudium et spes" ('the marital act promotes self-giving by which spouses enrich each other'), gave hope for a renewed understanding of sexuality, the church has not carried out the full implications of this approach. In short, say Salzman and Lawler: emphasize relationships, not acts, and recognize Christianity's historically and culturally conditioned understanding of human sexuality. "The Sexual Person" draws historically, methodologically, and anthropologically from the best of Catholic tradition and provides a context for current theological debates between traditionalists and revisionists, regarding marriage, cohabitation, homosexuality, reproductive technologies, and what it means to be human. This daring and potentially revolutionary book will be sure to provoke constructive dialogue among theologians, and between theologians and the Magisterium.

Originally published between 1926 and 1986, the books in this series provide an extensive exploration of Christianity covering a wide range of different perspectives and topics, including the relationship between Christianity and other religions; the history and development of Christianity; Christian theology and philosophy; the presence of Christianity across the world; women and the Church; approaches to the study of Christianity; and poetry inspired by religious architecture.

What might the often cited phrases from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's prison theology mean for the ethical discourse at the beginning of the 21st century? Which hermeneutical concepts might enable contemporary religious thinkers to enter into a dialogue with Bonhoeffer's thought? This collection of lectures will address questions like these both by examining the intellectual, cultural and historical origins of Bonhoeffer's Tegel Theology and by drawing out the ethical consequences of Bonhoeffer's contribution for current political discourses. Going Bonhoeffer and Beyond - as the title indicates - means interpreting contemporary issues like religious pluralism and political ethics in the light of Bonhoeffer's key ideas such as his Christological «life-concept or his ethical distinction between the «ultimate and the penultimate things.

This book rediscovers a spiritual way of preparing the actor towards experiencing that ineffable artistic creativity defined by Konstantin Stanislavski as the creative state. Filtered through the lens of his unaddressed Christian Orthodox background, as well as his yogic or Hindu interest, the practical work followed the odyssey of the artist, from being oneself towards becoming the character, being structured in three major horizontal stages and developed on another three vertical, interconnected levels. Throughout the book, Gabriela Curpan aims to question both the cartesian approach to acting and the realist-psychological line, generally viewed as the only features of Stanislavski's work. This book will be of great interest to theatre and performance academics as well as practitioners in the fields of acting and directing.

This book rediscovers a spiritual way of preparing the actor towards experiencing that ineffable artistic creativity defined by Konstantin Stanislavski as the creative state. Filtered through the lens of his unaddressed Christian Orthodox background, as well as his yogic or Hindu interest, the practical work followed the odyssey of the artist, from being oneself towards becoming the character, being structured in three major horizontal stages and developed on another three vertical, interconnected levels. Throughout the book, Gabriela Curpan aims to question both the cartesian approach to acting and the realist-psychological line, generally viewed as the only features of Stanislavski's work. This book will be of great interest to theatre and performance academics as well as practitioners in the fields of acting and directing.

This book investigates the signs of the church in the theology of Hans Kung as de scribed in his The Church (1967). As Kung does not go beyond the traditional signs of the church, the author makes a thorough analysis of the unity, catholicity, holiness and apostolicity of the church with plentiful references to other contemporary theologians such as Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Edward Schillebeeckx, Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, and even Joseph Ratzinger. The relevance of the book consists in its approach to classical theological issues which lay the foundation for a contemporary reassessment of the church. The author is concerned not to defend particular doctrines but to see how Kung's theology of the signs of the church fits within the context of his time.

Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, Nobel Peace Laureate, theologian, and musician, developed a character-oriented ethics focused on self-realization, nature-centered spirituality, and moral idealism which anticipated the current renaissance of virtue ethics. Schweitzer's idea of 'reverence for life' underscores the contribution of moral ideals to self-realization, connects ethics to spirituality without religious dogma, and outlines a pioneering environmental ethics that bridges the gap between valuing life in its unity and valuing individual organisms. In this book Mike W. Martin interprets Schweitzer's 'reverence for life' as an umbrella virtue, drawing together all the more specific virtues, in particular: authenticity, love, compassion, gratitude, justice and peace loving, each of which Martin discusses in an individual chapter. Martin's treatment of his subject is sympathetic yet critical and for the first time clearly places Schweitzer's environmental ethics within the wider framework of his ethical theory.

In this multi-disciplinary collection, we ask the question, 'What did, and do, Quakers think about good and evil?' There are no simple or straightforwardly uniform answers to this, but in this collection, we draw together contributions that for the first time look at historical and contemporary Quakerdom's approach to the ethical and theological problem of evil and good. Within Quakerism can be found Liberal, Conservative, and Evangelical forms. This book uncovers the complex development of metaethical thought by a religious group that has evolved with an unusual degree of diversity. In doing so, it also points beyond the boundaries of the Religious Society of Friends to engage with the spectrum of thinking in the wider religious world.

In the first two seasons of the HBO series Westworld, human guests pay exorbitant fees to spend time among cybernetic Hosts-partially sentient AI robots-and live out often violent fantasies. In Theology and Westworld, scholars from a range of disciplines within religious studies examine the profound questions that arise when the narrative of Westworld interacts with the study of religion. From transhumanism and personhood to morality and divinity, this book contributes to, confounds, and challenges ideas that are found in the study of religion and philosophy. Taken together, the chapters further our understanding of what it means to live in a world where the hard questions of human existence are explored through the medium of popular culture.

The Collection of Anselm of Lucca (1081-1083), which was named by Cardinal Alphons M. Stickler 'the best Gregorian work' comprises papal letters, conciliar canons, patristic material and Roman law texts. The text analysis of twelfth century manuscripts has been improved by the understanding of the origin of this collection's recensions, which constituted the instruction at the cathedral school. Prof. Manlio Bellomo's opinion looks upon the traditional idea of the 'intact literary work' as an exploded idea with regard to the written works of the university instruction system. This opinion can also be affirmed regarding Anselm's Collection.

This book examines the recent phenomenon in Latin America of National Truth and Reconciliation commissions. Few studies have examined the role of Churches of religion in political processes that proclaim valued theological terms as their agenda - truth, forgiveness, and reconciliation. This book questions the role of religion, specifically of established Churches. The impact of such reconciliation commissions on Indigenous Native Americans is also examined, as is the role of women and how both Commissions and Churches or religions were challenged by their experiences. The contributors offer differing perspectives on one or more national truth and reconciliation processes and thus offer a collection that serves as valuable source for the disciplines of Religious Studies, Ethics, Theology, Political Science, Social Sciences and Women's Studies.

Divided into four parts-Earth, Air, Fire, and Water-this book takes an elemental approach to the study of religion and ecology. It reflects recent theoretical and methodological developments in this field which seek to understand the ways that ideas and matter, minds and bodies exist together within an immanent frame of reference. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature focuses on how these matters materialize in the world around us, thereby addressing key topics in this area of study. The editors provide an extensive introduction to the book, as well as useful introductions to each of its parts. The volume's international contributors are drawn from the USA, South Africa, Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, and South Korea, and offer a variety of perspectives, voices, cultural settings, and geographical locales. This handbook shows that human concern and engagement with material existence is present in all sectors of the global community, regardless of religious tradition. It challenges the traditional methodological approach of comparative religion, and argues that globalization renders a comparative religious approach to the environment insufficient.

What could it mean, in terms of strengthening multilateral diplomacy, if the UN, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union, and other regional diplomatic frameworks engaged more creatively with a religious perspective? In this ground-breaking volume it is argued that international organisations, backed by governments, can and should use their convening power to initiate new, multi-layered frameworks of engagement, inclusive of the representatives of religion. This can make multilateralism more fit for purpose and have a major impact over time on our planetary future. The book is divided into an introduction and six chapters: Towards a culture of encounter inclusive of the world's religious traditions Structural questions in 21st-century diplomacy Knowing what we ought to know: the issues that face 21st-century diplomacy Towards the global objective of a common peace for humanity Understanding how change happens The diplomacy of the two standards The development of new frameworks of engagement A brief outline is offered of what an all-European initiative - an agora for Europe - might look like if, in the 2020s, there were the political will to inaugurate a European regional process reflecting the orientation and methodology proposed in the book. Combining cutting-edge research and reflection, with concrete recommendations for academics, religious actors, policy makers, and practitioners, this concise and accessible volume helps to build bridges between these oftentimes separated spheres of engagement. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003053842, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Through the rich stories of eight participants, the author explores the psychological, spiritual, and ritual dimensions of religious trauma among queer people. Drawing on current scholarship in the field of trauma studies, the author makes a case for religious trauma as an important frame to understand the experiences of queer people in non-accepting faith communities. Though previous scholarship has limited the recovery from religious trauma to those who exit religious communities, in this research the author analyzes participant stories to understand how queer people might find healing in accepting religious communities. Using self-psychology to understand the depth of trauma experienced in non-accepting communities, the author explores the experience of God and sexual identity within non-accepting communities. Through these narratives, the author demonstrates the potential for post-traumatic growth and life beyond conservative faith communities. Petersen argues for a number of key recommendations for congregations and pastoral caregivers that seek to welcome those who have experienced religious trauma.

One of the controversial issues in theology in the contemporary, modern world is the issue of moral autonomy. Who determines what is moral and ethical? What part do the individual and the community respectively play in this regard? In this book the author explores and analyses the position of the individual in an African community. This research aims to be a pointer to other ethical, political and social systems in the world to dialogue with African ethics. On the one hand, the author proposes to the Western world, which is becoming more and more individualistic and is trying to get rid of old traditional values, to review some of its present ethics and cultural values. On the other hand, he suggests to the African world to re-examine its present cultural practices, to reconsider and appreciate some good cultural values handed down to them by their ancestors and also to take cognisance of the emerging world ethical realities.

This title 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.

Practical Theology has emerged as an important discipline in recent decades, making a major contribution both in the academy and amongst reflective practitioners on the ground. The Journal Practical Theology celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2018 and this book presents ten journal articles chosen from over 180 that were published in that period. Reflecting on the progress the discipline has made and indicating some future directions in the field, the book is a 'showcase' of examples of good practical theology utilising a wide range of methodologies and written by an interesting cross-section of authors from a variety of backgrounds. This is a book which answers the question 'what is practical theology?' with real live examples that are accessible, readable and engaging.

The book is the first major study to bring together the two early twentieth-century theologians Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor, and Simone Weil, French philosopher and convert to Christianity. Both were victims of Nazi oppression, and neither survived the war. The book explores the two theologians' reflections on Christian responsiveness to God and neighbour, being the interdependence of the two great commandments of the Jewish Law reiterated by Jesus. It sets out the common ground and the differing emphases in their interpretations. For Bonhoeffer, responsiveness was the transformation of the whole person effected by faith (Gestaltung), and the responsibility (Verantwortung) for one's actions which it implies. For Weil, responsive ness was the hope and expectation of grace (attente) reflected in attention, the capacity to listen to, understand and help others. Both Bonhoeffer and Weil faced a world dominated by aggression and horrendous suffering. Both endeavoured to articulate their responses, as Christians, to that world. The relevance of their thought to the twenty-first century is explored, in relation to perspectives on grace and freedom, on aggression, suffering, and forgiveness, and on the role of the church in society. Conclusions are illustrated by reference to contemporary theologians including Rowan Williams, Daniel Hardy, Frances Young and David Tracy.

Four centuries of African American preaching has provided hope, healing, and heaven for people from every walk of life. Many notable men and women of African American lineage have contributed, through the art of preaching, to the biblical emancipation and spiritual liberation of their parishioners. In African American Preaching: The Contribution of Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Gerald Lamont Thomas offers a historical overview of African American preaching and its effect on the cultural legacy of black people, nothing the various styles and genius of pulpit orators. The book's focus is on the life, ministry, and preaching methodology of one of this era's most prolific voices, Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, and should be read by everyone who takes the task of preaching seriously.