Can the categories of classical Lutheran Christology be unleashed to express the vitality of christological existence, an existence situated between Promise and experience? If, as Martin Luther famously asserted in his Heidelberg Disputation (1518), “true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ,” then such a theological point of departure not only bore radical implications for his Christology, but indeed also bears profound significance for theological discussions around the Word of Promise, its structure, its experience, its plurality. With regard to the elaboration of the two natures of Jesus Christ, such a point of departure permits a delineation of Promise—“the body of Promise”—who is bound to, who suffers, the nihil of human existence. Which means: such a point of departure affords us equally the opportunity to consider and probe the implications of the nihil as the medium of both threat and Promise. Is this a promising threat? Or a threatening Promise? Ultimately, Promise is delineated from within hermeneutical origins—the christological function of Scripture, the text—and, developed through to its diverse expression as the body of Promise, translated into christological existence. Within this context, categories of classical Lutheran Christology begin to express new vitality. Along the way, the Word of Promise—as developed within the trajectory of Luther’s theology of the cross and his radical delineation of the two natures of Jesus Christ—receives further sharpening within the context of discussion with such theological voices as John Caputo and Jacques Derrida, Hans Holbein the Younger, Albert Schweitzer, Matthias Grünewald, Carl Braaten, Karl Barth, Michael Welker, and Samuel Terrien. Ultimately, we are permitted to confess: There is one Crucified. And he is plural.

Sixteen church historians here examine Martin Luther in an uncommon waynot as Reformer or theologian but as pastor. Luther's work as parish pastor commanded much of his time and energy in Wittenberg. After first introducing the pastoral Luther, including his theology of the cross, these chapters discuss Luther's preaching and use of language (including humor), investigate his teaching ministry in depth, especially in light of the catechism, and explore his views on such things as the role of women, the Virgin Mary, and music. The book finally probes Luther's sentiments on monasticism and secular authority. Contributors: Charles P. Arand James M. Estes Eric W. Gritsch Robert Kolb Beth Kreitzer Robin A. Leaver Mickey L. Mattox Ronald Rittgers Robert Rosin, Reinhard Schwarz Jane E. Strohl Christoph Weimer Dorothea Wendebourg Timothy J. Wengert Vftor Westhelle H. S. Wilson

Witnessing the Disaster examines how histories, films, stories and novels, memorials and museums, and survivor testimonies involve problems of witnessing: how do those who survived, and those who lived long after the Holocaust, make clear to us what happened? How can we distinguish between more and less authentic accounts? Are histories more adequate descriptors of the horror than narrative? Does the susceptibility of survivor accounts to faulty memory and the vestiges of trauma make them any more or less useful as instruments of witness? And how do we authenticate their accuracy without giving those who deny the Holocaust a small but dangerous foothold? These essayists aim to move past the notion that the Holocaust as an event defies representation. They look at specific cases of Holocaust representation and consider their effect, their structure, their authenticity, and the kind of knowledge they produce. Taken together they consider the tension between history and memory, the vexed problem of eyewitness testimony and its status as evidence, and the ethical imperatives of Holocaust representation.

From the time they’re born, boys are given a “code” to live by: don’t cry, don’t play with dolls, don’t be a wimp...you get the picture. For a middle school guy, it’s tough enough to figure out what it means to just be yourself—let alone how to become a man. Breaking the Code is an eight-week study that will help them discover what it really means to be a man. With fun, interactive activities and age-appropriate discussion questions, you’ll find that this study will help small groups of middle school guys learn how they can become the men God created them to be. In this study, you’ll help guys:• critically examine what they’ve been taught about what it means to be a man• explore the rich heritage of men in the Bible• discover their identity in God• find new ways to feel confident Help the guys in your group begin the journey to manhood with a clear perspective on what it means to be a man. Help break the code.**After you’ve helped guys break the code, you can help them study the ultimate man—Jesus, in Breaking the Code (book 2). Focusing on the life of Christ, they will learn to deal with the issues most guys face.

In today's rapidly changing society, the rules you learned as a child may no longer apply, causing you to experience restlessness and confusion. The Eight Masks of Men: A Practical Guide in Spiritual Growth for Men of the Christian Faith will encourage you to come out from behind your mask of solitude and loneliness--one of man's most obtrusive masks--and reach out for help and community. By answering questions commonly asked by men of various religious and personal backgrounds, this book will help you tune into your feelings, innermost thoughts, and that void you feel inside. As you become consciously aware of how the eight masks are a part of your being, you will recognize the true gift beneath each one.The Eight Masks of Men is the first book to combine historical, theological, and sociological perspectives with a practical approach for personal growth. To help you divest yourself of your inhibitions and experience inner harmony, it blends personal stories, humorous anecdotes, biblical research, and clinical information. The eight masks that men wear and what they hide that author Rev. Dr. Frederick G. Grosse explores include: mask: loneliness; hides: desire for community mask: rage and anger; hide: pain and hurt mask: compulsion; hides: desire for love mask: performance; hides: desire for acceptance mask: control; hides: desire for friendship mask: producing; hides: desire to just “be” mask: competition; hides: desire for humility mask: institutional religion; hides: desire for spiritual growth Don't let tragedy or desperation strike before you commit to building a healthier relationship with yourself, the people important to you, and God. Men who feel out of touch with their spiritual sides, retreat and spiritual direction leaders, pastoral counselors, chaplains, marriage and family counselors, and members of the clergy will find in The Eight Masks of Men the inspiration and insight they need to guide themselves and one another to a season of union with God.

This is a book offering Balthasar’s theological oeuvre as a kerygma of Christ’s love proclaimed theologically as Christ’s esthetics of glory in his mission to reinvent himself, the world and us as beauty and glory. Balthasar’s hypothesis is that there is true theology and there is false theology. For him, theology is the unique science across the methods of which the decision of faith cuts, and divides it into two halves that cannot be united to each other: a genuine theology, which presupposes faith and does its thinking within the nexus of Christ and the Church; and a false theology, which rejects faith as methodologically dubious and irresponsible, and subsumes the truth of the phenomenon which discloses itself, under an anthropological truth (however this may be understood). In William Newell’s book he deeply reflects on the radical thinking being done in Catholic theology since the 1940s in Europe and now in the United States. Each chapter, each excursus, each elision, ushers the reader towards consolations without previous causes, the essence of mysticism in its first stages. The book, as with true theology, is a ‘come and see’ beckoning the reader to an endless furtherance of the archetypal experience of Christ.

Richard H. Bliese draws on historic architecture of eight-sided churches to call attention to an important but often overlooked emphasis on the eighth day of creation. Early Christians were focused on God's new creation that began in Christ's resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week. But these Christians understood resurrection as the continuation of God's creative and redemptive activity. So the first day of the week became the eighth day of creation, and therefore the day of resurrection work and time to join with Christ in transforming the world. Christian disciples do this work by living out their baptismal vocations, especially in their daily work and through their ethical economic choices. The author turns to Martin Luther and the Reformation to outline an evangelical spirituality that invested in people and their vocations as worker-priests. Daily life, work, and family were underscored as the place where discipleship came alive. Bliese describes this as an architectural "design" for faithful living. He further draws on parts of Luther's Small Catechism (Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer) as keys to this evangelical design. Five additional architectural designs for eighth-day disciples are included. The final chapter describes how eighth-day disciples are called to live by faith in freedom and responsibility. Making disciples today needs to revolve around a gospel story that links one's personal faith with one's work and economic life. Such faith gives us ears to hear God's unfolding drama and eyes to see the needs of the neighbor. The book includes a study guide for personal reflection and group conversation.

Such desperately cheery responses from your students don't fool you---you've been in youth ministry long enough to sense when they're up to their ears in life's tough stuff. You know it better than most adults: There's just a lot of brokenness out there---families splitting up and recombining, abuse of all kinds (physical, psychological, sexual, substance), rampant sexual pressures, violence, isolation . . . the list seems endless. So let Tough Stuff be your guide through these deep and painful issues. It's a 12-session curriculum that not only familiarizes you with the complex roots and symptoms of these major hurts, but also informs and inspires your high schoolers on dealing with them from the inside out. Tough Stuff can start the healing process in the areas of--- Denial (escaping denial and admitting our pain) Parents (God is the perfect parent---not Mom or Dad) Masks (removing the facades and living confidently as the real you) Abuse (healing the hurts of abuse from the inside out) Forgiveness (how forgiveness sets us free) Temptation (resisting temptation and breaking addictions) Boundaries (how boundaries affect . . . everything!) Orientation (making sense of gender identity) . . . and more. And don't think you'll be doing all the talking---Tough Stuff is full of engaging and provocative teaching tools: improv and drama, thematic worship, video and music clips, inductive discussions, as well as creative exercises. Tough Stuff is everything you need to navigate your kids through the heartrending realities that they (and their friends) are facing daily. Get into this curriculum, and let the healing begin.

Pastors and leaders of the classical church--such as Augustine, Calvin, Luther, and Wesley--interpreted the Bible theologically, believing Scripture as a whole witnessed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Modern interpreters of the Bible questioned this premise. But in recent decades, a critical mass of theologians and biblical scholars has begun to reassert the priority of a theological reading of Scripture. The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret Scripture for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places. In this addition to the series, esteemed theologian Robert W. Jenson presents a theological exegesis of Ezekiel.

What exactly is cancer? And where is God and what is love amidst the complex evolutionary development of all cancers? In Chance, Necessity, Love: An Evolutionary Theology of Cancer, Hummel and Woloschak address these questions that arise for many people with cancer and in all who grapple with making meaning of science about cancers. In order to do so, the authors first clarify new scientific findings about cancer and then offer faithful and wise theological perspectives on these discoveries. In doing so, they make plain what cannot and can be changed about cancer. And, in doing so, they show how cancer is an evolutionary disease that develops according to the same dynamics of chance (that is, random occurrences) and necessity (law-like regularities) at work in all other evolutionary phenomena. Therefore, they ask: where is God and what is love within the evolutionary chance and necessity operative throughout all aspects of cancer? They offer the readers thoughtful responses to this question and many others--life, death, hope, acceptance, and love--given the evolutionary nature of cancer.