This book about religious struggle studies four texts from postexilic Judah and applies them first to Judah and then, importantly, to modern America. Two of these texts--the books of Jonah and Job--speak out in favor of the theology of grace and against the theology of retribution, as advocated by the Jerusalem hardliners. This struggle to define God continues even today. Despite the biblical evidence--especially the example of Jesus--many Americans still believe in the God of retribution. Two other texts--the book of Ruth and the story of Rahab--demonstrate that if people reject xenophobia/nativism and misogyny, the entire community is blessed. Since xenophobia/nativism and misogyny are rampant in modern America, this message is rather timely. The last chapter argues that it is the mission of both synagogues and churches to define God correctly and then to help people overcome their resentment and prejudices and become partners with God, but that many predominantly white churches have failed in their mission, as evidenced by the fact that so many of their members voted for Donald Trump.

The meaningful juxtaposition of academics (“experts”) with the day-to-day lives of nonacademics (“nonexperts”) has animated Gerald O. West’s work from the beginning. Seeking to bridge this chasm, West’s approach of reading the Bible with the “ordinary people” (typically marginalized communities) became a core practice not only of his church work but of his scholarship. West has been a strong proponent of taking seriously the “ordinary reader” as a viable and legitimate contributor to our understanding of biblical interpretation. Not only does this undo the “ivory tower” elitism that tends to pervade academic halls of learning, but it also reflects a form of scholarly humility that has been a mainstay of West’s and should be perpetuated more broadly in biblical scholarship.

Focuses on the developmental process of religion and spirituality across the human life span.This encyclopedia joins a recent trend in research and scholarship aimed at better understanding the similarities and differences between world religions and spiritualities, between expressions of the divine and between experiences of the transcendent.

Conflicts between protestants and Catholics intensified as the Cromwellian invasion of 1649 inflamed the blood-soaked antagonism between the English and Irish. In the ensuing decade, half of Ireland's landmass was confiscated while thousands of natives were shipped overseas - all in a bid to provide safety for English protestants and bring revenge upon the Irish for their rebellion in 1641. Centuries later, these old wounds linger in Irish political and cultural discussion. In his new book, Crawford Gribben reconsiders the traditional reading of the failed Cromwellian invasion as he reflects on the invaders' fractured mental world. As a tiny minority facing constant military threat, Cromwellian protestants in Ireland clashed over theological issues such as conversion, baptism, church government, miraculous signs, and the role of women. Protestant groups regularly invoked the language of the "Antichrist," but used the term more often against each other than against the Catholics who surrounded them. Intra-protestant feuds splintered the Cromwellian party. Competing quests for religious dominance created instability at the heart of the administration, causing its eventual defeat. Gribben reconstructs these theological debates within their social and political contexts and provides a fascinating account of the religious infighting, instability, and division that tore the movement apart. Providing a close and informed analysis of the relatively few texts that survive from the period, Gribben addresses the question that has dominated discussion of this period: whether the protestants' small numbers, sectarian divisions and seemingly beleaguered situation produced an idiosyncratic theology and a failed political campaign.

We are living in a time where we need answers. KM Johnson gives the reader biblical answers to many of lifes questions that plague them on a daily basis. KM invites the reader on a journey to find understanding, knowledge, and to rebuild their faith in God. Knowing The Struggle Is Over takes the reader through a 3-step process in restoring their faith in GOD. This spiritual journey proves to the Christian believer that having faith in GOD is the only tool needed to overcome any struggle. Knowing The Struggle Is Over discusses how different circumstances in life may lead to doubt, unbelief, and fear. Ms. Johnson shares her experience on how she learned to stop complaining, let go and let God, and finally acknowledge that GOD is truly in control. Knowing The Struggle Is Over incorporates several exercises that keep the reader fully interacted throughout their entire journey. The 3-step process may be shared with others and practiced daily. Knowing The Struggle Is Over addresses changes in todays world, the new religions that have transpired, and many of the tragedies we have encountered. The need for revisiting the foundation that Christianity is built, is fulfilled through scripture references, and comments on biblical passages profoundly embedded within each chapter. Knowing the struggle is over entails real-life applications in addition to practical messages. Whatever your situation or circumstance as you conquer this spiritual journey together with the author, you will find your pathway to Knowing The Struggle Is Over.

In The Struggle over Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter, Amanda Nell Edgar and Andre E. Johnson examine the surprisingly complex relationship between Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter as it unfolds on social media and in offline interpersonal relationships. Exploring cultural influences like family history, fear, religion, postracialism, and workplace pressure, Edgar and Johnson trace the meanings of these movements from the perspectives of ordinary participants. The Struggle over Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter highlights the motivations for investing in social movements and countermovements to show how history, both remembered and misremembered, bubbles beneath the surface of online social justice campaigns. Through participation in these contemporary movements, online social media users enact continuations of American history through a lens of their own past experiences. This book ties together online and offline, national and local, and personal and political to understand one of the defining social justice struggles of our time.

Through close readings of Karl Barth's theological work from 1916 to 1929 this book offers an exposition of Barth's doctrine of sanctification in his earlier theology - arguing that from his earliest writings after 1915 the doctrine of sanctification was one of the key theological components used in describing the encounter between God and humanity in a positive and concrete manner. This book both fills an important gap in Barthian scholarship and responds to the appeal by other recent interpreters of Barth's theology for a more balanced and careful exposition of his work. Throughout the course of this exposition the force of Eduard Thurnyesen's wonderfully insightful comments about Barth show themselves to be fruitfully borne out within his work from early on. That is, 'Karl Barth's theological thinking was from the beginning directed to the life of man ... the life of man, on the one side, and on the other the Word of God that meets this life, lays hold of it, and transforms it.'

This book is about how we go through all types of struggles in our lives and the only way we can and have survived them is with God. Life isn't easy but we have to know that we will have struggles in this life some harder than others, but with God on your side you have the victory over Satan's schemes. The devils wants to destroy our lives because he knows what God has planned for us. This book is about my life and what many didn't know about me. It is also about how God set me free and gave me the victory over the enemy even unto death. As you read this book it will help you to understand and the know that you can survive anything with God.