Protestantism, at its best, grounds both its religious and its social critique in the faith of the prophets and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as understood and lived by the church. Its teachings and desired practice stand in start contrast to complacent religion that seems to be at ease with imperial greed, domination, and violence. Resistance and Theological Ethics collects the edited and updated essays that emerged from the meeting of the Theological Educators for Presbyterian Social Witness in Geneva, Switzerland and southern France in 1999. Inspired there by the sixteenth century forces of renewal unleashed through resistance to an imperial church and society, the writings of these educators and ethicists combine to sound a clarion call for the church to stand in resistance to social, economic and political forces that threaten while embracing those that foster social justice, peace and human welfare. Each author emphasizes a specific call to nonviolent resistance against powers grounded in particular forms of sin: religious pride, greed, violence and domination. Divided into three parts, the book details social forces to be resisted, presents historical and biblical examples of resistance, and concludes with theological analysis and advocacy for action in contemporary American society."

The word "evangelism" evokes strong reactions among Christians. Conflict about what it is, whether to do it, how to go about it, and the desired results divides churches, demonstrating the need for new theologies and methods that address today's religiously pluralistic and secular contexts. This book offers a comprehensive treatment of evangelism, from biblical models to contemporary practice. Frances Adeney shows that understanding different contexts and approaches to evangelism and accepting the views of others on this crucial topic can help replace the "evangelism wars" (social action vs. proclamation) with a more graceful approach to sharing God's good news with the world.

The current religious climate poses unique challenges to those engaged in mission. Thus the authors of this book propose a new, yet very biblical, model for interacting with people of other faiths. They term this model giftive mission, as it is based on the metaphor of free gift. We bear the greatest gift possible--the gospel message. Adopting this perspective not only has the potential for greater missionary success but also enables us to more closely imitate God's gracious activity in the world. The core of the book explores eleven practices that characterize giftive mission. Each practice is illustrated through the story of a figure from mission history who embodied that practice. Further discussion shows how to incorporate these practices in specific mission settings.