The most popular source of theological hope for American Christians is that of Jurgen Moltmann. Preachers, teachers, and lay people reflect Moltmann's influence, with their hope in a this-worldly eschatology and a suffering God. However, an exclusive reliance on that hope deprives the church of crucial resources in the face of global economic, environmental, and military crises. This book explores Moltmannian hope and considers its costs before looking elsewhere for additional contributions, from Thomas Aquinas's theological virtue of hope to nihilism and beyond, in order to encourage the church to sustain and practice hope in Jesus Christ, our only hope.

Hope is not about uncertain possibility. There is a robust sense of hope: something has happened, and it has happened in a certain way. This volume addresses the question: What is the way of Christian hope? What does it mean to act with hope? And in particular, what does it mean to act, to live, with hope in our churches and in society today?

This volume brings together original essays by both seasoned professionals and emerging scholars who examine state-of-the-art scholarship and pedagogy in ecologically-alert theology. Authors assess what various theologians have to offer, and draw implications for reshaping religious and environmental studies, as well as preparing the next generations of church leaders or pastoral workers. What needs to be done, these authors ask, to bring biblical studies, systematics, social ethics, practical theology, spiritual formation, and liturgy up to speed with eco-justice thought and action on environmental questions?

Since The Christian Hope was first published in 1984, eschatology has remained a central concern of Christian Theology. This updated edition allows a new readership to engage afresh with questions of eschatology in a twenty-first century context. --Book Jacket.

We know the bedrock themes upon which the Christian faith stands: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. As Christians, we live within these great moments of God’s plan for humanity and all of his creation. In other words, our lives are part of Christian theology—every part of our lives, even surgery. As a part of Zondervan’s Ordinary Theology series, The Scalpel and the Cross recounts New Testament professor Gene Green’s encounter with open-heart surgery and carefully examines the many ways in which Christian doctrine spoke into the experience. The result is a short book that avoids shallow explanations and glib promises, instead guiding readers to deeper understanding and enduring hope in the face of one of modern life’s necessary traumas.