Theology of the Gap


Book Description

Between the Councils of Nicaea (AD 325) and Constantinople (AD 381), the Trinitarian controversy turned on a heated and complex discourse about the possibility of discourse. Theology of the Gap examines how the Cappadocians initially turned to the limitations of language to defeat their Neo-Arian opponents, and discovered in the process the very resources for their own production of theology and the promotion of a certain style of Christian becoming. Scot Douglass uses insights from literary theory in order to re-open the gaps central to the Cappadocians' construction of created reality, and also to map out the coherencies they forged between the diastemic and kinetic structures of creation, language, theology, truth, spirituality, and silence. In doing so, Douglass invites the reader not only to reconsider how diastemic epistemology works itself out in Cappadocian thought, but also how this register of the Cappadocian voice speaks to contemporary notions of post-Christian theology.




The Purpose Gap


Book Description

In The Purpose Gap, Patrick Reyes reflects on a family member's death after a long struggle with incarceration and homelessness. As he asks himself why his cousin's life had turned out so differently from his own, he realizes that it was a matter of conditions. While they both grew up in the same marginalized Chicano community in central California, Patrick found himself surrounded by a host of family, friends, and supporters. They created a different narrative for him than the one the rest of the world had succeeded in imposing on his cousin. In short, they created the conditions in which Patrick could not only survive but thrive. Far too much of the literature on leadership tells the story of heroic individuals creating their success by their own efforts. Such stories fail to recognize the structural obstacles to thriving faced by those in marginalized communities. If young people in these communities are to grow up to lives of purpose, others must help create the conditions to make that happen. Pastors, organizational leaders, educators, family, and friends must all perceive their calling to create new stories and new conditions of thriving for those most marginalized. This book offers both inspiration and practical guidance for how to do that. It offers advice on creating safe space for failure, nurturing networks that support young people of color, and professional guidance for how to implement these strategies in one's congregation, school, or community organization.




Unformed and Unfilled


Book Description

Everyone's heard of it. Many believe it. Is there a 'gap in time' between the first two verses in Genesis? Does this alleged gap really represent a vast amount of time? Weston Fields' classic treatment of this subject is now being published by Master Books, and promoted by such important organisations as Answers in Genesis. In this book, Fields makes a detailed study of the gap theory, paying particular attention to the Hebrew of Genesis. His conclusion -- that this theory is not a reasonable compromise with modern evolutionary theory, but a dangerous diversion from biblical truth -- helps readers who struggle with the question of the time taken during the creation week. Was it really six days? Can Christians find a workable solution to the debate about creation and time? An important book. Features: A presentation of a variety of views espoused by Christians of all denominations; A professional, scholarly look that can be easily understood by laymen; A fascinating study of the original Hebrew text.




The Word Leaps the Gap


Book Description

This is a collection of essays to celebrate Richard Hays' 60th birthday. It is written by colleagues and friends whose scholarly imaginations have been sparked in numerous ways by his insights.




Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality


Book Description

What do we do when Gods promises seem to fall short of reality? Abrahams story points weary believers to the gospel, providing an example and profound encouragement for us today.




Fallen


Book Description

From marital infidelity to global war, the world is obviously broken, leaving people desperate to find an explanation for our universal sin problem. In the latest addition to the Theology in Community series, Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson have assembled an interdisciplinary team of evangelical thinkers to explore the biblical doctrine of sin from a variety of angles. Among other contributors, popular scholar D. A. Carson discusses the contemporary significance of sin; seasoned professor Paul House details sin in the Old Testament law, prophets, and writings; and New Testament expert Douglas Moo explores sin from Paul's vantage point. This team of top-notch scholars offers modern readers a comprehensive overview of this oft-neglected, biblical theme so that readers might learn to live better in a sinful world. Part of the Theology in Community series.




Between Cross and Resurrection


Book Description

For much of Christian history the church has given no place to Holy Saturday in its liturgy or worship. Yet the space dividing Calvary and the Garden may be the best place from which to reflect on the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. This superb work by the late Alan Lewis develops on a grand scale and in great detail a theology of Holy Saturday.The first comprehensive theology of Holy Saturday ever written, Between Cross and Resurrectionshows that at the center of the biblical story and the church's creed lies a three-day narrative. Lewis explores the meaning of Holy Saturday -- the restless day of burial and waiting -- from the perspectives of narrative (hearing the story), doctrine (thinking the story), and ethics (living the story). Along the way he visits as many spiritual themes as possible in order to demonstrate the range of topics that take on fresh meaning when viewed from the vantage point of Holy Saturday.Between Cross and Resurrection is not only incisive and elegantly written, but it is also a uniquely moving work deeply rooted in Christian experience. While writing this book Lewis experienced his own Holy Saturday in suffering from and finally succumbing to cancer. He considered Between Cross and Resurrection to be the culmination of his life's work.




THE GAP IS NOT A THEORY!


Book Description

What has been called the “Gap Theory” was a popular and consistent explanation of the first chapter of Genesis among fundamental, evangelical Christians up through the mid 1900s. With the rise of Young Earth Creationism, the gap theory was simply pushed to the background and ridiculed as a past effort to satisfy the claims of modern evolutionary science. In effect, the new teachers buried this doctrine with the debris of Noah’s flood deposits. However, we shall see in this study that the YEC effectively left the literal Biblical record of Genesis 1 and leaped into the realm of pseudo-science to claim that Noah’s flood deposited all the various sedimentary strata of the whole earth. In addition, they pontifically assert that the whole heavens and earth are only about 6000 years old. This study is going to prove that the YEC are the very ones who do not take the Scriptures literally. This study will prove conclusively that Moses did not make the blunder of either stating or inferring the earth is only 6000 years old. There is an abundance of biblical evidences that the Gap is not a theory, but a fact! In this study you will find that certain of the prophets and an apostle were inspired of God to look back in time, even to the “backside of earth’s history,” We shall be surprised to find that the past is as captivating as the future. In fact, as we better understand the past, we shall better comprehend the future. The cover picture is from two pages of the Jewish Sarajevo Haggadah, as seen in the Saravejou museum in Spain. This work was done in 1400 CE. The pictures on each page are to be read in the Hebrew manner from right to left. The pictures graphically depict the six-day activity of God in preparing the earth of man’s habitation. Two things are to be noted: first, these six days are preceded by a scene of the earth in a chaotic condition as described in the second verse of Genesis 1 (first fame, upper right hand corner); second, on the first day light was made and nothing else ( third verse of Genesis 1, second frame). Obviously, this six hundred year old work was not influenced by modern scientific theories, rather it represents a long standing interpretation in Judaism.




Mind the Gap


Book Description

Do you want to understand Jesus of Nazareth, his apostles, and the rise of early Christianity? Reading the Old Testament is not enough, writes Matthias Henze in this slender volume aimed at the student of the Bible. To understand the Jews of the Second Temple period, it’s essential to read what they wrote—and what Jesus and his followers might have read—beyond the Hebrew scriptures. Henze introduces the four-century gap between the Old and New Testaments and some of the writings produced during this period (different Old Testaments, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls); discusses how these texts have been read from the Reformation to the present, emphasizing the importance of the discovery of Qumran; guides the student’s encounter with select texts from each collection; and then introduces key ideas found in specific New Testament texts that simply can’t be understood without these early Jewish “intertestamental” writings—the Messiah, angels and demons, the law, and the resurrection of the dead. Finally, he discusses the role of these writings in the “parting of the ways” between Judaism and Christianity. Mind the Gap broadens curious students’ perspectives on early Judaism and early Christianity and welcomes them to deeper study.




Between Two Horizons


Book Description

This book constructively explores the question: What effects should an interest in theology produce in the reading of Scripture? Since the onset of historical consciousness in biblical studies over two centuries ago, the work of biblical exegetes and systematic theologians have largely followed two paths. In this book, nine prominent scholars work to bridge the longstanding gap between biblical studies and theology by concentrating on the nature of a biblical hermeneutics approach to doing theology. The range of concerns presented by these scholars seeks to reintegrate biblical exegesis with contemporary theology in the service of the church.