From wealth creation to wealth distribution and social ethics, from urban mission to religious studies and psychology the work of John Atherton was breathtaking in scope and variety. Unifying all of his work however, was a concern with engaging the work of theology with wider society.With contributions from some of the leading lights in public theology today, this book offers not only an appreciation of John Atherton's work within a prodigiously large array of disciplines, but also an attempt to ask 'what next', taking his work forward and considering where the future of public theology might lie. John Atherton's last published article is also reproduced.

The book is a unique stocktaking, by a leading international group of theologians, social scientists and other scholars, on issues facing public theology at the beginning of the 21st century. It combines retrospect and prospect, in that it reflects on the issues and approaches that have characterized public theology in the 20th century, especially its latter half, and attempts to anticipate those which will or should come to the fore in the 21st century, seeking to discern continuities and changes. Three opening chapters deal with the overall theme of public or political theology, with Jurgen Moltmann giving a critical historical account from the Second World War onwards, Raymond Plant relating such theology to cultural pluralism, and Andrew Morton illustrating it from the work of Duncan Forrester. These are followed by pairs of contributions relating public theology to more specific topicsr: History; Technology and Creation; Globalization; Spirituality; Punishment and Forgiveness; Medical Ethics; Tolerance and Human Rights; Social Exclusion and Equality.

Pirate radio in the Hauraki Gulf and the first DC8 jets landing at Mangere; feminists liberating pubs and protests over the closing of Post Offices; kohanga reo and carless days: Changing Times is a history of New Zealand since 1945. From a post-war society famous around the world for its dull conformity, this country has become one of the most ethnically, economically and socially diverse countries on earth. But how did we get from Nagasaki to nuclear-free? What made us embrace small-state, free-market ideology with such passion? And were we really leaving behind a society known for its fretful sleepers and 'the worship of averages'? In Changing Times, Jenny Carlyon and Diana Morrow answer those questions, taking us from the 'Golden Weather' of post-war economic growth, through the globalisation, economic challenges and protest of the 1960s and 1970s, and on to the free market revolution and new immigrants of the 1980s and 1990s. Throughout, stories from the lives of New Zealanders are key: a tank driver yelling in his sleep after World War II, a woman in the Wairarapa discovering The Feminine Mystique, a Tapawera forestry worker losing his job. This is a powerful history of the transformation of New Zealand life.

Senior RSS leader J Nandakumar, in Hindutva for the Changing Times, states that Hindutva (Hindu-ness) is the apt expression that captures the spiritual, intellectual, religious, philosophical and political dimensions of the millennia-old Dharmic civilization. The book will interest academicians, political thinkers, sociologists and intellectuals, as it is the first time that an RSS leader has attempted to analyze topics such as Multiculturalism versus Hindu Universalism, Cultural Marxism, Environmentalism, Dataism through the Hindutva prism. He states Hindu Rashtra will remain the unchanging core of the RSS. Vedic scholar David Frawley has written the foreword for this thought-provoking book.

A survey of the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Simple to understand. Life transformational.

This volume, commissioned by a group of Bishops in hard-hit dioceses, looks to develop strong theological foundations for local social action initiatives by churches, especially for activists who are not familiar with the Church of England’s tradition of social theology, developed by William Temple and others a century ago.

This book represents a breakthrough in our understanding and development of the practices, ethics and theories of religious studies through engagement with the world of daily life and its breath-taking transformation since 1800, as revealed particularly in living standards, life expectancy and subjective wellbeing. Together with the equally disturbing growth of inequalities between and within nations, this constitutes the profound paradox of development. What is of particular interest is the book’s rigorous treatment of the question why religion is better at delivering greater subjective wellbeing and how it does so. To build such arguments always involves engaging with key related disciplines, experiences and practices, including economics, psychology, sociology and economic history. But it will also increasingly offer religion the opportunity to participate in such developments but always and increasingly through collaboration with other such disciplines and experiences, and always with the objective of furthering the greater wellbeing of all people in and through their environments.

Contingency refers to an event that may be happening in future, but also may not happen. The concept plays has a long history dating from Aristotle who defined contingency as that which is possible but not necessary. The concept of contingency and related concepts as free will, the rejection of essentialisation and priority of the possible put a major challenge to theology in the 21st century. The book addresses this challenge from the perspective of practical theology. In doing so, it connects to the general debate in theology on naming God, hermeneutics, human agency and methodology.

The theological and cultural vigor of these seven French Dominicans--Sertillanges, Chenu, Congar, Lebret, Loew, Liege, and Couturier--eventually influenced the entire church through the breakthrough of Vatican II. They read the signs of the times and saw what the Holy Spirit was doing in a changing world. The Catholic Church is more alive because of them.

A number of outstanding public intellectuals such as Jonathan Jansen, Crain Soudien and Lis Lange have been invited to present papers to clarify the conceptual challenge and what this might entail for theology. Well-known theologians such as Conrad Wethmar, Allan Boesak and Martin Prozesky reflect on the nature of theology and religion at universities amidst social exigencies. Two international theologians – Harold Attridge from the prestigious Yale Divinity School and Bram van de Beek from the Free University of Amsterdam – share their experiences of institutions that exemplify excellence and ecumenical openness.