As an Anabaptist, John Howard Yoder is often depicted as Christ-centered in his theology but with a creation-deficient approach to culture. In this clearly reasoned study, Branson Parler argues that Yoder advocates a trinitarian theology of culture that upholds the continuity between God’s work in creation and in redemption. For Yoder, Jesus’ humanity makes him directly relevant to culture while Jesus’ divinity connects him directly to creation. Yoder’s writings, says Parler, affirm that Jesus restores and re-establishes the politics of creation. In Things Hold Together, Parler joins a growing number of writers from outside Anabaptist or Mennonite traditions who are finding resonance with Yoder, one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century. “Interpreters who dismiss Yoder’s call to discipleship find comfort in suggesting he lacked a doctrine of creation or in finding him to be at best a heterodox theologian. Parler takes the ground away from such critics. His book sets the bar for any future reception of Yoder's theology.”—D. Stephen Long, author of Speaking of God: Theology, Truth and Language "Things Hold Together helps us see that John Howard Yoder was from first to last a trinitarian thinker. Parler therefore provides an illuminating context for interpreting Yoder's critique of H. Richard Niebuhr." —Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe professor of theological ethics, Duke University

How can we live faithfully in a world that feels like it is coming apart at the seams? In All Things Hold Together, Stephen C. Shaffer offers an invitation to return to an older, more humble, and yet more confident Christian faith. In Christ, all things hold together. Apart from him, things fall apart. The multitude of fractures in our world result from the removal of our center in Christ. Worldview is not a weapon. It was meant to mend the fractures opened up by the modern world. The recovery of a theological center, of a Christian worldview, is intended as a way of sewing back together what the modern world is ripping apart. Worldview serves to give voice to a way before and beyond the fractures, a world we have abandoned in order to rule ourselves. All Things Hold Together works to recover this original purpose of Christian worldview and present it as a gift for faithfully navigating our contemporary culture.

The book tracks Jesus's story and its implications in prose and poetry--in scripture, story and song, sketches and snippets of essay. After starting with a chapter on ways of being with scripture (taking it seriously but often not literally) and suggestive chapters on God and the Old Testament, it moves from Jesus's incarnation through his ministry and passion for the Kingdom of God to his Passion and bodily resurrection. These are followed by chapters on "what happened next," including two chapters on contemporary Christianity, the good and the bad of it. The "take" on Jesus, as both title and sub-title suggest, is broad, in some ways quite orthodox but insisting on his call for compassion, social justice, inclusiveness and wholeness for all. It's also about Jesus alive and with us now, albeit in a different dimension from those with which we are familiar. The many meditations are often brief, and the poetry is "for people, and not just for critics and other poets"! There is much here to think about, but it's not an academic tome. It can be provocative, and often it's just plain fun!

As Christians engage controversial cultural issues, we must remember that "all things hold together in Christ" (Col. 1:17)--even when it comes to science and faith. In this anthology, top Christian thinkers--including Robert Barron, Timothy George, Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre, Mark Noll, and N. T. Wright--invite us to find resources for faithful, creative thinking in the riches of the church's theological heritage and its worship traditions.

Volume 6 of the Bible Exposition Commentary 6-volume set

For decades the world has been telling us that God is dead and science has proven it, but is that really true? As the evidence has continued to accumulate, the tide has turned. God is back to full health and not only that, but He is far more awesome and ingenious than we ever imagined. Now it is the scientific establishment that is on the ropes as a century of errors and deception has been unearthed. In Loving Science – But Not the Empire, experimental scientist Jay Sonstroem helps readers discern between the findings of real science and fables, which have been pushed by an entity he calls The Empire. Jay provides short, readable chapters to reveal both the wonders of creation and the schemes and blunders of The Empire, which have resulted from its hijacked version of science. Topics include the hidden truth of DNA, the wonders of biology, the fine-tuning of the universe, and evolution and Darwinism debunked. Is it possible to love science but not worship it? You bet. Does a person who believes in God have to give up Reason? No. Come along and piece together the puzzle of life, the universe, and everything in between. What you believe about your origins has everything to do with what you believe about your destiny. Follow the light, find the Truth, and together, let’s free science from a Godless agenda.

Colossians and Philemon have traditionally been overshadowed by other New Testament texts thought to express Pauline theology more clearly. In this notable commentary, however, Marianne Meye Thompson shows how these two epistles provide a unique formulation of the gospel in terms of creation and reconciliation rather than justification by faith. In Colossians she finds an overarching narrative of the Bible's grand creation-redemption story and an important emphasis on the relationship between creation and Christology, while her exploration of Philemon casts brighter light on the significance of Paul's familial metaphors for the church and the meaning of new humanity in Christ. Throughout her work on these two epistles, Thompson continually connects her insights to theological concerns, making this volume an excellent addition to the Two Horizons series.

Mr Kakoulides shows it is the Christian right to worship Jesus

Truth in Translation is a critical study of Biblical translation, assessing the accuracy of nine English versions of the New Testament in wide use today. By looking at passages where theological investment is at a premium, the author demonstrates that many versions deviate from accurate translation under the pressure of theological bias.

This book provides an original translation methodology applicable to the New Testament, one that remains rooted in the literal Greek; considers its paleographic and philological characteristics as well as its socio-historical context; understands the text as part of a canonical whole; reflects its reception history in church doctrine and liturgy; accounts for “classical” formulations of its translation-tradition; yet speaks with contemporary literary style. In developing a new methodology, the book appropriates ancient and modern insights into the relationship of thought and language not previously considered in the context of translation. Further, the book is premised on the understanding that Scripture is the divinely communicated Word of God made incarnationally present in the words of the Bible. As the viva vox evangelii, biblical texts thus have ongoing effects in the continuum of church history and tradition. The book argues that contemporary translators of the Bible should therefore be aware of their own situatedness in and shaping by this continuity of linguistic and cultural transmission. As such, the book provides a pathway to translating the Scriptures in such a way as to capture, recapitulate, and incorporate the living sweep of the timeless Word in words that cross time.