In Search of Human Dignity


Book Description

Our human dignity can be taken from us in unjust relationships, which makes resistance and a search for dignity necessary. This search can take place in different ways – in this book through academic studies in theology, ethics and education. Human dignity relates to human rights, which are also explored here; moreover, perspectives from gender and postcolonial theory inform the studies. The reflection on human dignity ends in a discussion of education, making the book a resource in addressing contemporary value issues in education. This collection of lectures, articles and papers covers a certain time period. In the texts particular themes recur, which contributes to continuity and coherence. The focus of more recently written chapters takes the discussion in new directions. Karin Sporre, with a PhD in Ethics from Lund University, Sweden, is Professor in Education focusing on values, gender and diversity at Umeå University, Sweden. Since 2001 she has been actively engaged in co-operation with South African colleagues. This has inspired comparison between South Africa and Sweden, exemplified in some of the chapters in her book "In Search of Human Dignity".




Mary and Human Liberation


Book Description

The submissive figure of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has influenced the Church's attitude to women for 2000 years. Yet Mary, in the Gospels, has a radical and challenging message to convey, of central importance for feminist and other liberation theologians. This is a book which caused a furore in the Roman Catholic Church and the excommunication of its author.




Documents of the Christian Church


Book Description

This selection of writings from the most important moments in the history of Christianity has become established as a classic reference work. This new edition brings the anthology up-to-date with a new section looking at issues facing the twenty-first century churches.




A Church of the Poor


Book Description

Using resources ranging from scripture to Catholic social teaching to the early Church Fathers, the author examines how Pope Francis's emphasis on the Church of the Poor is calling us to a new epistemic practice, involving an understanding of orthodoxy as discipleship, and discipleship as a new way of getting to know and understand the world.




Edward Schillebeeckx and Interreligious Dialogue


Book Description

If Schillebeeckx had been Asian, how would he have responded to the phenomenon of religious pluralism? This book attempts to answer that question, beginning with a dialogue with the Vatican Declaration Dominus Iesus and discerning how Schillebeeckx's methodology has been applied in Asian theology. Employing the hermeneutical-critical method, Schillebeeckx asserts that the Word of God did not come "down to us, as it were, vertically in a purely divine statement"--it must be interpreted! In today's context of so many religions, so many cultures, and so many poor, God's Word invites the church to be a "sacrament of dialogue." Through dialogue the church will be "challenged by other religions and challenge them in return." Christianity will then be "put in its place, as well as given the place which is its due."




Holy Confrontation


Book Description




John Paul II


Book Description

The Papacy of John Paul II lasted twenty seven years. The third longest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Rowan Williams has said 'He never wavered in the struggle for what was right', but this in itself was a matter of controversy.Here a group of highly intelligent Roman Catholic writers, all regular contributors to The Tablet, provide their own assessment of the Papacy of John Paul II. The Pope, who understood the media and how to make use of it, devoted his life to propounding the Christian Gospel tirelessly as he saw it. At the time of his death, he was the leader of a Church with membership of a billion people. He changed the course of history by his part in toppling the Communist powers of Eastern Europe, but faced with the crisis of sexual scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and the ruthless advance of Aids in the African continent, some may feel his response was less adequate.Already called Pope John Paul the Great, his influence will continue to be felt for centuries.>




Shamanism, Catholicism, and Gender Relations in Colonial Philippines, 1521-1685


Book Description

In Shamanism, Catholicism and Gender Relations in Colonial Philippines, 1521–1685, Carolyn Brewer explores the cultural clash that ensued when Hispanic Catholicism came into contact with Filipino Animism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Brewer explores the way indigenous women were represented in various early modern sources. She writes the female shamans back into the history of the Philippines and elucidates the processes by which the Christian missionaries reviled and then supplanted them. Finally, using inquisition documents, she reconstructs indigenous gender relationships, showing how high class Zambal men and boys collaborated with the Spaniards to banish the shaman women and eradicate their influence. Brewer demonstrates the connections between religion, ideology and power. A meticulously researched book, Shamanism, Catholicism, and Gender Relations constitutes a sustained examination of how contact with Christianity reshaped gender roles in the early modern Philippines.




The Advent of Peace


Book Description

A major theme in the Gospels is 'peace'; indeed Jesus proclaimed: 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you'. Yet when we look at the world, peace can seem an elusive dream. Mary Grey looks at how the Advent story encourages forgiveness and reconciliation, both essential for peace, and how the Gospels can be key tools to help Christians work towards peace. She ties the Advent story in with current situations in the UK and in the Middle East and the book has both a personal and a global outlook. The book will make ideal reading for Advent and Christmas, either on your own or in a group. It is sure to challenge you to ask 'how can I help to make peace a reality for all God's children?'




Methodist Theology


Book Description

Methodism is serious about worship, public and personal, since it wants to celebrate the reality of God's presence with God's people - that is, as Methodists understand it, with all God's people. This volumes focuses on the origins of this theological tradition, its foundations, key concepts, eminent thinkers and historical development.