HONOURING THE DECLARATION provides academic resources to help The United Church of Canada and other Canadian denominations enact their commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and offers a framework for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Featuring essays from scholars working from a range of disciplines, including religious studies, Indigenous legal studies, Christian theology and ethics, Biblical studies, Indigenous educational leadership within the United Church, and social activism, the collection includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices, all of whom respond meaningfully to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. The texts explore some of the challenges that accepting the UN Declaration as a framework poses to the United Church and other Canadian denominations, and provides academic reflection on how these challenges can be met. These reflections include concrete proposals for steps that Canadian denominations and their seminaries need to take in light of their commitment to the Declaration, a study of a past attempt of the United Church to be in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, and discussions of ethical concepts and theological doctrines that can empower and guide the church in living out this commitment.

From its inception in the early 1900s, The United Church of Canada set out to become the national church of Canada. This book recounts and analyzes the history of the church of Canada's largest Protestant denomination and its engagement with issues of social and private morality, evangelistic campaigns, and its response to the restructuring of religion in the 1960s. A chronological history is followed by chapters on the United Church's worship, theology, understanding of ministry, relationships with the Canadian Jewish community, Israel, and Palestinians, changing mission goals in relation to First Nations peoples, and changing social imaginary. The result is an original, accessible, and engaging account of The United Church of Canada's pilgrimage that will be useful for students, historians, and general readers. From this account there emerges a complex portrait of the United Church as a distinctly Canadian Protestant church shaped by both its Christian faith and its engagement with the changing society of which it is a part.

Honouring the Declaration provides academic resources to help The United Church of Canada and other Canadian denominations enact their commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and offers a framework for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Featuring essays from scholars working from a range of disciplines, including religious studies, Indigenous legal studies, Christian theology and ethics, Biblical studies, Indigenous educational leadership within the United Church, and social activism, the collection includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices, all of whom respond meaningfully to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. The texts explore some of the challenges that accepting the UN Declaration as a framework poses to the United Church and other Canadian denominations, and provides academic reflection on how these challenges can be met. These reflections include concrete proposals for steps that Canadian denominations and their seminaries need to take in light of their commitment to the Declaration, a study of a past attempt of the United Church to be in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, and discussions of ethical concepts and theological doctrines that can empower and guide the church in living out this commitment.

Synopsis: Jesus Christ for Contemporary Life is an understanding of Jesus as the Word of God, grounded in what can be known historically of Jesus and informed by subsequent reflection upon him, which hopes to help shape a Christian identity characterized by "bounded openness." In Jesus Christ for Contemporary Life, Don Schweitzer explores the significance of the person, work, and relationships of Jesus Christ for contemporary life. He moves from the historical Jesus to the present in three parts. In the first part Schweitzer develops an understanding of Jesus as the Word of God, who became incarnate to give the goodness and beauty of God further expression in time and space. Second, he explores how various atonement theories articulate ways in which Jesus empowers people to further express this beauty and goodness in their own lives. And finally, Schweitzer explores how Jesus relates to people in the church, to the events and movements in history, to other religions, and to Christians in their dialogue with God in prayer. Endorsements: "Professor Schweitzer offers here a fresh approach to Christology, deeply rooted in the Trinitarian tradition of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of the Word of God. Writing intentionally out of a Canadian/North Atlantic context, he draws upon contemporary studies of the historical Jesus, faces critical challenges to doctrines of atonement, and explores the significance of Jesus for movements of resistance to domination. A nuanced, non-reductive treatment of religious plurality, and of prayer, adds to the richness of this volume--an excellent educational tool for theological students and scholars." --Harold G. Wells Emeritus professor of systematic theology, University of Toronto Author of The Christic Center: Life-Giving and Liberating (2004) "Fresh, wide-ranging, and highly readable, Schweitzer's exploration of the singular personhood, saving work, and essential relationships of Jesus with others is an impressive accomplishment. A recurring motif of the book is that Jesus is the decisive embodiment in space and time of the beauty, goodness, and love of the triune God. The volume will serve well as a text for college and seminary courses in Christology." --Daniel Migliore Emeritus professor of systematic theology, Princeton Theological Seminary Author of The Power of God and the Gods of Power (2008) "Who is Jesus today? Don Schweitzer enters the theological realm around Jesus as Christ . . . to offer an engaging Christology for contemporary challenges--that is, to make sense of Jesus in a multireligious world with complex ethical and moral challenges. Schweitzer has succeeded in presenting a Christology . . . capable of having 'saving significance' in the work of seeking justice and resisting domination amidst a plethora of plurality. Schweitzer tackles a difficult topic with grace, knowledge, and creativity." --Heather Eaton Full professor/professeure titulaire, Saint Paul University Author of Introducing Ecofeminist Theologies (2005) Author Biography: Don Schweitzer is McDougald Professor of Theology at St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon, Canada. He is the author of Contemporary Christologies (2010).

While many know of the signal contributions of such twentieth-century giants as Paul Tillich or Karl Barth or Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the important work since their time often goes unremarked until some major controversy erupts. Here is a smart and helpful survey of the chief approaches and thinkers in today's understanding of the person, significance, and work of Jesus Christ. Schweitzer offers an insightful introduction to the contemporary context of Christology, in which basic questions in the discipline (and soteriology) are being rethought in light of globalization, postmodernity, and the contemporary experience of evil. He then offers a kind of typology of the current approaches and voices: - Jesus, Revealer of God (like the Gospel of John): Karl Rahner, Dorothee Soelle, Roger Haight - Jesus, a Moral Exemplar (like Abelard): Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mark Lewis Taylor, Carter Heyward - Jesus as Victor (like Origen): Luis Pedraja, James Cone, Elizabeth Johnson - Jesus as Representative (like Anselm): Douglas John Hall, Marilyn McCord Adams, Jurgen Moltmann - Jesus as Source of Openness (like Francis of Assisi): Raimon Panikkar, John B. Cobb, Jacques Dupuis Schweitzer's volume concludes with a reflection on the recent past and present imperatives of a discipline that virtually defines what Christianity has to offer the present age. Chapter 1 Adobe Acrobat Document Contents Adobe Acrobat Document Introduction Adobe Acrobat Document Preface Adobe Acrobat Document Samples require Adobe Acrobat Reader Having trouble downloading and viewing PDF samples? "Surveys succeed when they illuminate the character of a given historical epoch and inspire readers to explore the original works they examine. Most surveys, in my experience, fail on both counts. They fail spectacularly when they function as substitutes for their own primary sources. Professor Schweitzer's book seems to me an exception. His generalizations about the post-War period in Christological thought are well worth contemplating; and his brief, interesting introductions to the thinkers whom he has chosen to study ought certainly to send his readers to the originals." -Douglas John Hall, C.M. Professor of Theology Emeritus McGill University, Montreal "Five major trajectories in christology are here explored in the works of fifteen leading Protestant and Catholic theologians from around the world. Well researched and deftly portrayed, Don Schweitzer invites readers to consider how these theologies have arisen from the life and social context of each theologian and how they address the animating concerns that define our age." -Bradford Hinze Professor of Theology Fordham University