This is a fascinating, major articulation of a contemporary theology of the cross in response to the soteriological challenge of Karl Marx's anthropological 'Weltanschauung.' The author focuses primarily on the much neglected 'Early Writings' (1844 Manuscripts), in which Marx himself provides a necessary humanistic critique of officialÓ Marxism. The theology of the cross, which the author articulates, is centered in Luther's 'theologia crucis,' Moltmann's crucified God,Ó and Latin American (liberation) theology's divine identification and solidarity with the poor and oppressed.Ó Specifically, the context of the work is the Caribbean and the Americas.

Dieser Sonderband beinhaltet die Vorträge von 26 Theologinnen und Theologen aus 12 verschiedenen Ländern, die sich zu einer einwöchigen Internationalen Sommerschule an der Universität Regensburg versammelten, um darüber nachzudenken, wie sich Mission und friedliche Koexistenz miteinander vereinbaren lassen. Eine zu beobachtende Zunahme nationalistischer und fundamentalistischer Strömungen in vielen asiatischen Ländern, in denen Christen weitgehend Minderheiten darstellen, aber auch einige Entwicklungen in Deutschland, wie Säkularisierung und Migrantenbewegung, zeigen die Dringlichkeit der Auseinandersetzung mit dieser Thematik. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes reflektieren Themengebiete wie Bildung, Ökumene und Historie. Teilnehmer und Autoren sind überwiegend Schüler und Schülerinnen des Regensburger Systematikers Hans Schwarz, dessen Arbeitsgebiete sich in den einzelnen Themengebieten widerspiegeln. The special volume in the series Glaube und Denken contains papers presented by 26 theologians from 12 different countries. The authors convened at the university of Regensburg for a week-long International Summer School. They pondered how mission and peaceful co-existence can be achieved under newly emerging conditions. They observed a rise of nationalistic and fundamentalist currents in many Asian countries in which Christians are often a minority. Furthermore, developments in Germany, such as secularization and the increasing number of believers of other religions through the influx of immigrants, show the urgency to reflect on this new situation. The collected papers touch topics such as education, ecumenism, and history. Most of the participants are students of the Regensburg systematic theologian Hans Schwarz whose special fields of interest are mirrored in these topics.

The cross has long been not only a scandal but also a profound paradox: filled with saving significance and power, it is at the same time a sobering tragedy. In Saved from Sacrifice theologian Mark Heim takes on this paradox, asserting that the cross must be understood against the whole history of human scapegoating violence. In order to highlight the dimensions of his argument, Heim carefully and critically draws on the groundbreaking work of French theorist and biblical scholar René Girard. Yet Heim goes beyond Girard to develop a comprehensive theology of the atonement and the cross through his fresh readings of well-known biblical passages and his exploration of the place of the victim.

This volume considers the New Testament in the light of anthropological study, in particular the current trend towards theological anthropology. The book begins with three essays that survey the context in which the New Testament was written, covering the Old Testament, early Jewish writings and the literature of the Greco –Roman world. Chapters then explore the anthropological ideas found in the texts of the New Testament and in the thought of it writers, notably that of Paul. The volume concludes with pieces from Brian S. Roser and Ephraim Radner who bring the whole exploration together by reflecting on the theological implications of the New Testament's anthropological ideas. Taken together, the chapters in this volume address the question that humans have been asking since at least the earliest days of recorded history: what does it mean to be human? The presence of this question in modern theology, and its current prevalence in popular culture, makes this volume both a timely and relevant interdisciplinary addition to the scholarly conversation around the New Testament.

Free in Deed serves as a primer in Lutheran ethics for faith and the church as the body of Christ. It captures the fruit of Craig L. Nessan's teaching of ethics and his research and reflection on Christian ethical existence over his entire career. The heart of Lutheran ethics, Nessan claims, involves serving neighbors. When Christ sets us "free indeed" (John 8:36), we are set free to serve others "in deed." Ethics involves intentional and disciplined reflection, together in community, on the choices we must make in living out our lives in the world. While the focus on loving the neighbor is not unique to Lutheran ethics, the author contends in this book that it is the most distinctive feature of ethics in the Lutheran perspective. To that end, Nessan explores biblical authority and Lutheran hermeneutics alongside the authority of the traditional elements of tradition, reason, and experience. He moves on to explore what gospel freedom looks like in the current American context. Nessan acknowledges the misinterpretation of Luther's two-kingdoms teaching, opting to describe Luther's two kingdoms as God's two strategies to bring forth the kingdom (shalom) of God. Also addressed are the themes of justification and sanctification, the vocation of the universal priesthood, the ethics of the cross, Lutheran ethics and political advocacy, and the ethics of forgiveness. The book is accessibly written with theology students, pastors, and interested lay readers in mind.

A study on the pneumatology of the German theologian Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt.

What does the cross, both as a historical event and a symbol of religious discourse, tell us about human beings? In this provocative book, Brian Gregor draws together a hermeneutics of the self—through Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Taylor—and a theology of the cross—through Luther, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, and Jüngel—to envision a phenomenology of the cruciform self. The result is a bold and original view of what philosophical anthropology could look like if it took the scandal of the cross seriously instead of reducing it into general philosophical concepts.

According to the Nicene Creed, Christ died for us and for our salvation. But while all Christians agree that Christ's death and resurrection has saving significance, there is little unanimity in how and why that is the case. In fact, Christian history is littered with various accounts of the redemptive value of Christ's death, and new models and motifs are constantly being proposed, many of which now stand in stark contrast to earlier reflections. How then should contemporary articulations of the cross's saving significance be judged? At the heart of this book is the contention that Christian reflection on the atonement is faithful inasmuch as it incorporates the intention that Jesus himself had for his death. In a wide-reaching study, the author draws from both classical scholarship and recent work on the historical Jesus to argue that not only did Jesus imbue his death with redemptive meaning but that such meaning should impact expressions of the cross's saving significance.

The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion draws on the expertise of leading scholars and thinkers to explore the violent origins of culture, the meaning of ritual, and the conjunction of theology and anthropology, as well as secularization, science, and terrorism. Authors assess the contributions of René Girard’s mimetic theory to our understanding of sacrifice, ancient tragedy, and post-modernity, and apply its insights to religious cinema and the global economy. This handbook serves as introduction and guide to a theory of religion and human behavior that has established itself as fertile terrain for scholarly research and intellectual reflection.