This book offers an ideal introduction to the Gospels and explains why it is that scholars and lay people have such different understandings of the person of Jesus. The first half of the book looks at the main sources for the life of Jesus, principally the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but also the so-called apocryphal Gospels. The second half of the book begins with an examination of the criteria employed by scholars to determine the earliest and most reliable forms of the tradition. The third edition interacts with developments in modern scholarship, particularly the advance of memory studies. With study questions at the end of each chapter, updated reading lists, and a new chapter bringing scholarship up to date the third edition of this classic text will provide a perfect companion for students coming to grips with academic study of Jesus and the Gospels.

Theology and Breaking Bad explores the brutal and seemingly nihilistic moral landscape of the AMC neo-Western crime drama Breaking Bad (2008-2013) with insights into the characters, their struggles, and the moral consequences resulting from their actions. Throughout the book, the contributors find telltale traces of theological themes that have been woven into the storylines by the writers and directors and bring them out for the reader in ten essays that span topics from Greek mythology to the Hebrew Bible, and extend into Eastern and Western Christendom. Readers will find provocative reflections that will add to their appreciation of this show, as well as its spinoff series, Better Call Saul (2015-2022). This volume also advances academic inquiries in such fields as popular culture and theology, hermeneutics, biblical studies, Patristics, film studies, diasporic and colonial studies, and explores such themes as antihero redemption, penance, salvation, and forgiveness. This book will be of interest to both academics and fans alike.

Drawing a comparison between religion and cinema-going, this text examines a range of contemporary films in relation to key theological concepts. Cinema as a religion-like activity is explored through cognitive, affective, aesthetic and ethical levels, identifying the religious aspects in the social practice of cinema-going.

Written by a leading expert in the field, Theology Goes to the Movies analyzes:

• the role of cinema and Church in Western culture
• the power of Christian symbols and images within popular culture
• theological concepts of humanity, evil and redemption, eschatology and God.

This is an ideal text for students seeking a new way into the study of theology.

Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers is an accessible, practical and easy to understand guide that will allow any manager to gain confidence in understanding financial matters, managing a budget and dealing with bankers, accountants and finance professionals. A source of invaluable expert advice on all the essential aspects of financial management within the context of running a business, it covers: business structures, accounting and financial statements, analysis and ratios, planning, budgeting, product and service costing, setting selling prices, investment appraisal, finance and working capital, taxation and international transactions. This book explains financial literacy in the context of management, showing how improved awareness of finances can lead to increased value creation and protection for your business. Aimed at the practicing business manager, Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers includes case studies, spreadsheets and worked examples to accompany key skills and practices explained in the book. Online supporting resources for this book online template spreadsheets for planning, budgeting and variance analysis.

A good business model should describe how an organization creates and delivers value, meaning that financial modelling is a vital tool for business strategy, allowing hypotheses and scenarios to be translated into numbers. It enables a company to experiment with different ideas and scenarios in a safe, low-risk environment, to consider what it is aiming to achieve, and to prioritize accordingly. Business and Financial Models provides an accessible introduction to these essential strategic practices, with guidance on using Microsoft Excel for projection and analysis. The book takes you through the process of building your model from the initial phase of formulating questions through modelling cash flow, budgets, investment appraisal and 'dashboard' tools for monitoring performance. Ideal for both small and large companies, Business and Financial Models also includes coverage of new visual thinking techniques, like Structured Visual Thinking, and how these can be incorporated into conventional business modelling. Online supporting resources for this book include downloadable figures from the book.

Life is an intricate tapestry of stories. Stories help us better to understand the world around us, our relationships with other people, and even ourselves. We use them in our daily life and work; churches and other communities use them to build from within and to reach out to others; and stories enrich our knowledge of God and help us grow in faith. What can we learn from other people's stories? How can we better express our own story, and hold it alongside the stories of God? How can a deep engagement with all these stories be helpful to our life and witness, and on what occasions can they be unhelpful? This inspiring new book explores these questions, and can be studied privately or in groups. Each chapter includes points for reflection, points for connection, and a suggested prayer.

This book offers an ideal introduction to the Gospels and explains why it is that scholars and lay people have such different understandings of the person of Jesus. The first half of the book looks at the main sources for the life of Jesus, principally the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but also the so-called apocryphal Gospels. The second half of the book begins with an examination of the criteria employed by scholars to determine the earliest and most reliable forms of the tradition. The third edition interacts with developments in modern scholarship, particularly the advance of memory studies. With study questions at the end of each chapter, updated reading lists, and a new chapter bringing scholarship up to date the third edition of this classic text will provide a perfect companion for students coming to grips with academic study of Jesus and the Gospels.

Pop music is now an ever-present force shaping citizens in the West. Even at funerals, pop music is often requested over hymns. But how does popular music work? And what roles does it play for listeners who engage it? This new addition to the critically acclaimed Engaging Culture series explores the theological significance of the ways pop music is listened to and used today.
The authors show that popular music is used by religious and nonreligious people alike to make meaning, enabling listeners to explore human concerns about embodiment, create communities, and tap into transcendence. They assess what is happening to Christian faith and theology as a result. The book incorporates case studies featuring noted music artists of our day--including David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Sigur Ros, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and Lady Gaga--and includes practical implications for the church, the academy, and daily musical listening. It also includes a foreword by Tom Beaudoin, author of "Virtual Faith."

There aren't many serious works of systematic theology which engage with Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory, Crazy Heart, theories of capital and positive psychology, as well as the Isenheim Altarpiece and Handel's Messiah. This lively, contemporary study of salvation does precisely that. Christian doctrine cannot simply repeat what has gone before, even as it recognises the value and richness of the traditions Christianity carries with it. Clive Marsh acknowledges this in exploring how doctrine interweaves with life experience and cultural consumption. A Cultural Theology of Salvation considers how salvation is to be understood and articulated now, when the theme of 'redemption' appears outside of Christianity in the arts and popular culture. Marsh also assesses whether contemporary interest in 'happiness' has anything to do with salvation. The first part of the book sets the enquiry in the context of how theology operates as a discipline, and the cultural climate in which theology has to be done. The second part offers a number of case-studies (in art, music, TV, film, positive psychology, and economic life) exploring how the concerns of a doctrine of salvation are addressed directly and indirectly in Western culture. The third part distils the results of the case-studies in formulating a contemporary exposition of salvation, and concludes by showing what this means in practice.

Drawing a comparison between religion and cinema-going, this text examines a range of contemporary films in relation to key theological concepts. Cinema as a religion-like activity is explored through cognitive, affective, aesthetic and ethical levels, identifying the religious aspects in the social practice of cinema-going.

Written by a leading expert in the field, Theology Goes to the Movies analyzes:

• 
  
• the role of cinema and Church in Western culture
• 
  
• the power of Christian symbols and images within popular culture
• 
  
• theological concepts of humanity, evil and redemption, eschatology and God.

This is an ideal text for students seeking a new way into the study of theology.

British Methodism is reshaping itself. At a time of uncertainty about the future, owing to declining numbers and an ever-closer relationship with the Church of England, a collection of the liveliest theological minds in contemporary Methodism have written a book which shows how recent theology can be a resource for the future. Methodism has always had an active concern with both evangelism and social welfare and by means of its central organization it is able to coordinate efforts in these areas. The book asks challenging questions about how this may develop in the complex post-modern secular world.

Christ in Focus demonstrates why the figure of Christ is so central for Christian faith and thought. It starts by asking what constitutes the focus or centre of Christian theology? In opposition to the way in which the trinity is being reasserted as the lynchpin of Christianity, this book argues that Christianity loses its soul when it is not Christocentric. Part One examines the way in which Christian theology works methodologically. Christology may not be the starting point of a systematic Christian theology, but this book argues that it must be the focus. The dangers in seeking to maintain a Christocentric focus are drawn out as a catalogue of distortions of Christocentricism. Part Two turns attention to the kind of Christology needed to sustain such a radical Christocentricism. In a series of critical dialogues, with the work of Schleiermacher, Rauschenbusch and Brock respectively, the author develops a corporate Christology adequate for today. It is argued that talk of 'dependence upon Christ' has, to date, turned Christians inward, or found them appealing to a past, isolated male saviour figure. In critiquing such an approach, an understanding of the contemporary Christ is developed; Christ as an empowering presence, for the many communal settings in which people live their lives today.