One Man, Two Cultures, Two Gods


Book Description

One Man, Two Cultures, Two Gods By: Edward Gãmes Edward Gãmes has traveled most of the USA and Europe, had a Catholic education, is a Navy Vietnam veteran and was part of the Apollo 11 recovery team. He also graduated from University of Texas El Paso. Gãmes has 28 years experience in the social service field and worked some interesting part-time jobs, from a concierge to a truck driver. He is bi-lingual, bi-cultural, and speaks 40% French and 40% Italian. Gãmes is also working on a children’s book about a boy looking at the USA from the outside and thinking that he could be the President.




Living in God's Two Kingdoms


Book Description

Modern movements such as neo-Calvinism, the New Perspective on Paul, and the emerging church have popularized a view of Christianity and culture that calls for the redemption of earthly society and institutions. Many Christians have reflexively embraced this view, enticed by the socially active and engaged faith it produces. Living in God's Two Kingdoms illustrates how a two-kingdoms model of Christianity and culture affirms much of what is compelling in these transformationist movements while remaining faithful to the whole counsel of Scripture. By focusing on God's response to each kingdom—his preservation of the civil society and his redemption of the spiritual kingdom—VanDrunen teaches readers how to live faithfully in each sphere. Highlighting vital biblical distinctions between honorable and holy tasks, VanDrunen's analysis will challenge Christians to be actively and critically engaged in the culture around them while retaining their identities as sojourners and exiles in this world.




Making Sense of God


Book Description

We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.




God Is Samoan


Book Description

Christian theologians in the Pacific Islands see culture as the grounds on which one understands God. In this pathbreaking book, Matt Tomlinson engages in an anthropological conversation with the work of “contextual theologians,” exploring how the combination of Pacific Islands culture and Christianity shapes theological dialogues. Employing both scholarly research and ethnographic fieldwork, the author addresses a range of topics: from radical criticisms of biblical stories as inappropriate for Pacific audiences to celebrations of traditional gods such as Tagaloa as inherently Christian figures. This book presents a symphony of voices—engaged, critical, prophetic—from the contemporary Pacific’s leading religious thinkers and suggests how their work articulates with broad social transformations in the region. Each chapter in this book focuses on a distinct type of culturally driven theological dialogue. One type is between readers and texts, in which biblical scholars suggest new ways of reading, and even rewriting, the Bible so it becomes more meaningful in local terms. A second kind concerns the state of the church and society. For example, feminist theologians and those calling for “prophetic” action on social problems propose new conversations about how people in Oceania should navigate difficult times. A third kind of discussion revolves around identity, emphasizing what makes Oceania unique and culturally coherent. A fourth addresses the problems of climate change and environmental degradation to sacred lands by encouraging “eco-theological” awareness and interconnection. Finally, many contextual theologians engage with the work of other disciplines— prominently, anthropology—as they develop new discourse on God, people, and the future of Oceania. Contextual theology allows people in Oceania to speak with God and fellow humans through the idiom of culture in a distinctly Pacific way. Tomlinson concludes, however, that the most fruitful topic of dialogue might not be culture, but rather the nature of dialogue itself. Written in an accessible, engaging style and presenting innovative findings, this book will interest students and scholars of anthropology, world religion, theology, globalization, and Pacific studies.




Elect Alex


Book Description

Elect Alex is a short book offering a new interpretation of both the Bible and the Quran. Author Alex J. Clark Jr. emphasizes peace, love, and kindness as a solution to the many crimes he sees in the world around us.




Speaking With God's Voice


Book Description

The world today groans under the weight of many crushing problems, but it's not intellectuals, presidents, or political parties who have the solutions. The rescue agents are born-again believers who fall under the "great commission," and that's you. This command for you to go into the whole world is not given by One who would leave you an orphan. God will equip you, but you must do it His way. Once you're a believer, God appoints you to two roles immediately: One as the receiver of God's word; one as the deliverer of God's word. Many faithful men and women have little problem understanding the first role. They see themselves as student-learners who must grow in God's word and get enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. Many faithfully fulfill the biblical prerequisites of prayer and preparation, and they become quite good at understanding the scriptures. Over the years, the Holy Spirit guides them into deeper and deeper insights into God's word. It is as they move into the role of deliverer of God's word that they have problems. Many people will "shut" them out; the delivery has failed to adopt a biblically required role change. To be effective in this new role, God's messengers must "Speak with God's Voice". This means they must speak authoritatively and prophetically. These biblical prerequisites have been very much misunderstood and abandoned, leaving the message from God's word a mere man-made endeavor. God may bless this type of message, but the only way to guarantee God's anointing is to deliver it His way with His voice. This book explains in detail how these scriptural requirements are put into effect. Remember! The power of the Holy Spirit is available to ALL believers, but it is not automatic. A dear evangelical preacher of more than thirty years, who pastors a church on the New York - Pennsylvania border, read this book and made the following comment: "I would highly recommend this book as required reading for every minister and ministerial student. It is one of the most practical cries for, and description of, 'anointed preaching' that I have read. For too long the church has tried to dazzle people with new music, new technologies and methods, and missed the high calling of preaching the Word under the power of the Holy Spirit! Thanks, Louie, for your inspiring words!"




Daughters of God, Subordinates of Men


Book Description

Christianity faces a dilemma with regard to the status of women. Despite advances, female subordination remains a predominant social and religious paradigm in a number of modern cultures. Among Christians, the primary justification for patriarchy has been the story of Adam and Eve, along with seven key New Testament texts rooted in the notion that female subordination is the will of God. This book provides a critical analysis of womanhood in the major cultures that formed the backdrop for the emergence of Christianity: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Judaism, Greece, Rome and the Mystery Cults. The author connects the subordination of women to slavery and other forms of social and political dominance that were taken for granted in the ancient world, and demonstrates their influence on various New Testament texts concerning the status of women in the home and church.




Religion and Doctor Who


Book Description

Doctor Who has always contained a rich current of religious themes and ideas. In its very first episode it asked how humans rationalize the seemingly supernatural, as two snooping schoolteachers refused to accept that the TARDIS was real. More recently it has toyed with the mystery of Doctor's real name, perhaps an echo of ancient religions and rituals in which knowledge of the secret name of a god, angel or demon was thought to grant a mortal power over the entity. But why does Doctor Who intersect with religion so often, and what do such instances tell us about the society that produces the show and the viewers who engage with it? The writers of Religion and Doctor Who: Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith attempt to answer these questions through an in-depth analysis of the various treatments of religion throughout every era of the show's history. While the majority of chapters focus on the television show Doctor Who, the authors also look at audios, novels, and the response of fandom. Their analyses--all written in an accessible but academically thorough style--reveal that examining religion in a long-running series such as Doctor Who can contribute to a number of key debates within faith communities and religious history. Most importantly, it provides another way of looking at why Doctor Who continues to inspire, to engage, and to excite generations of passionate fans, whatever their position on faith. The contributors are drawn from the UK, the USA, and Australia, and their approaches are similarly diverse. Chapters have been written by film scholars and sociologists; theologians and historians; rhetoricians, philosophers and anthropologists. Some write from the perspective of a particular faith or belief; others write from the perspective of no religious belief. All, however, demonstrate a solid knowledge of and affection for the brilliance of Doctor Who.







Decoding The Universe 2


Book Description

Decoding The Universe 2 continues along the same lines as the first book, demonstrating that the elements that forged history, such as gold, silver, and nickel, or gases like oxygen, and nitrogen, are connected to the parameters of the various aspects of the solar system in such a way that seems to tell us something very mysterious is going on where our existence is concerned, and that the universe has a grand design.