Public Theology is an indispensable dimension of the calling of the church. As minister, bishop and academic teacher Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, in this collection of articles in English language, draws on a multitude of experiences in theological reflection as well as in pastoral praxis. The contributions of this volume include fundamental reflections on the role of churches and religion in the public sphere. But they also deal with issues of material ethics such as human rights, economic justice, overcoming violence, ecology or interreligious dialogue. The volume shows how theology can give moral guidance not only for the church but also for society as a whole.

Prompted by the 2017 commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this book examines the legacy of Martin Luther in the life, work, and reception of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the most widely read modern Lutheran theologian. Framing the commemoration of the Reformation in conversation with Bonhoeffer’s legacy places much more than Bonhoeffer’s connection to Luther at stake. Given the fraught relationship of the Lutheran Bonhoeffer with the German Protestant Church under National Socialism, the question inevitably arises: “What happened to Luther’s church in Germany?” This in turn prompts the question: “How did the Protestant tradition play out in public life in other nations?” And these historical issues in turn encourage reflection on a question that exercised both Luther and Bonhoeffer: “What will be the shape of the church in the future?” In these pages, an international group of scholars and practitioners from both church and state pursues these questions.

One of the strongest heritages of the Reformation for Christianity was to return to the central role given to the Bible, translated in local dialects. Christianity expanded thanks to the translation of the Bible in vernacular languages worldwide. Most importantly, the people who had been victims of prejudices of race supremacy could now have access to God in their own language, culture, and idioms without intermediaries. It is largely thanks to Bible translations that the majority of those churches in Africa, born of European mission activities, continued to develop positively after the end of the colonial age, and that independent African churches emerged. (Series: Theology in the Public Square / Theologie in der Ã?Â?ffentlichkeit, Vol. 10) [Subject: African Studies, Christian Studies]

This volume explores current understandings of the global meaning of faith and suffering in the context of COVID-19 and interrogates responses to the pandemic that have emerged from World Christianity. It includes chapters by a range of international contributors approached from a variety of angles within Global Christian theology. They provide reflections and analyses focused on the question of God, human suffering, structural injustice, the role of the church and Christian praxis in the milieu of COVID-19, where misery and dying is a daily routine. This book will be of interest to scholars of Missiology, World Christianity, biblical/public/contextual theology and various Contemporary Christian studies.

The official monthly record of United States foreign policy.

It has been nearly fifty years since Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Appraisals of King's contributions began almost immediately and continue to this day. The author explores a great many of King's chief ideas and socio-ethical practices: his concept of a moral universe, his doctrine of human dignity, his belief that not all suffering is redemptive, his brand of personalism, his contribution to the development of social ethics, the inclusion of young people in the movement, sexism as a contradiction to his personalism, the problem of black-on-black violence, and others. The book reveals both the strengths and the limitations in King's theological socio-ethical project, and shows him to have relentlessly applied personalist ideas to organized nonviolent resistance campaigns in order to change the world. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Martin Luther is known for challenging the Roman Catholic church; yet reading God's Word was what Luther considered his primary task. Though he is often portrayed as reading the Bible with a bare approach, Todd R. Hains considers how Luther's interpretation of the text was actually guided by the church's established practice of hermeneutics.

Preserving the legacy of one of the twentieth century’s most influential advocates for peace and justice, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., is described by one historian as being the "equivalent to a conversation" with King. To Save the Soul of America, the seventh volume of the anticipated fourteen-volume edition, provides an unprecedented glimpse into King’s early relationship with President John F. Kennedy and his efforts to remain relevant in a protest movement growing increasingly massive and militant. Following Kennedy’s inauguration in January 1961, King’s high expectations for the new administration gave way to disappointment as the president hesitated to commit to comprehensive civil rights legislation. As the initial Freedom Ride catapulted King into the national spotlight in May, tensions with student activists affiliated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were exacerbated after King refused to participate in subsequent freedom rides. These tensions became more evident after King accepted an invitation in December 1961 to help the SNCC-supported Albany Movement in southwest Georgia. King’s arrests in Albany prompted widespread national press coverage for the protests there, but he left with minimal tangible gains. During 1962 King worked diligently to improve the effectiveness of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) by hiring new staff and initiating grassroots outreach. King also increased his influence by undertaking an overcrowded schedule of appearances, teaching a course at Morehouse College, and participating in an additional round of protests in Albany during July 1962. As King confronted these difficult challenges, he learned valuable lessons that would later impact his efforts to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963.