Kai-Hsuan Chang engages with the longstanding scholarly debate concerning the development of Paul's resurrection theology, by investigating the correlation between his bodily experiences and his diverse articulations about resurrection. Drawing on insights from cognitive linguistics, Chang considers Paul's ideas about resurrection as fundamentally grounded in recurrent patterns of bodily experience, arguing that such experience of some religious activities in Paul's time-death rites, spirit possession, and baptism-contributed to the formation and development of his resurrection theology. Chang demonstrates that developments in Paul's ideas about “bodily transformation at resurrection” - reflected in 1 Corinthians 15 - resulted from a change in the experiential patterns on which his new idea is constructed, rather than “transformation during heavenly ascent” as seen in Jewish traditions of resurrection. He thus applies cognitive linguistic tools to two considerations; first, whether Paul had contextual reasons to generate his innovation in 1 Corinthians 15, and second, whether Paul's innovation recurred or had continual effects in Christian groups. In so doing, Chang shows that Paul's innovation directly addressed a contextual issue of death rites in Corinth and exerted a continuing effect on Paul's later ideas of transformation, spirit possession, and baptism.

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining. "Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him," Borg writes. "Rather, it means to give one's heart, one's self at its deepest level, to . . . the living Lord." Drawing on his own journey from a naive, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life—one not rooted in creeds or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community. In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus' character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith. For questioning believers, doubters, and reluctant unbelievers alike, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time frees our understanding of Jesus' life and message from popular misconceptions and outlines the way to a sound and contemporary faith: "For ultimately, Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus—the living one who comes to us even now—will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."

"In a world in which absolute truth, values and authority have lost their place, the evangelical church needs most of all to be a beacon of truth and light. Yet the relativistic mindset of our culture is seeping in, pushing aside biblical content to make way for personal experience even in churches that once held firmly to the doctrines of the faith. The result, a watered-down Gospel, is having little impact on society or individual lives. It is a challenge that must not go unmet. In A Confessing Theology for Postmodern Times, twelve confessing Christian scholars from various denominational backgrounds provide you with ideas and strategies for rising to that challenge. They explore your resources for " doing" theology in a postmodern world, as well as the obstacles and the opportunities it entails. There is a crisis of truth in the world. This volume is evidence that you "can reach out to those who need the life-changing message of the Gospel and still hold firm to a systematic, biblical theology in postmodern times."--! From book jacket.

Many of the numbers are translations and/or reprints of previously published works.

The reality of suffering is the greatest challenge to faith in the goodness of creation and the possibility of salvation. In Unbroken Communion, Kathleen Anne McManus, O.P., shows how the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx not only takes this into account, but dialectically turns suffering into hope.

A handbook of Christian theology (1958) contained 101 essays that introduced students and interested laity to a basic understanding of theological terms, concepts, and trends. The New handbook contains 148 fresh articles to map the contours of a changed theological terrain. Annotation copyright Book

Includes section "Reviews of recent literature."