This groundbreaking book examines the anarchic aspects of Jesus' message, and suggests that the demise of the church as pillar of social order gives it a fresh opportunity to exercise its prophetic role - challenging injustice, shaking institutions and undermining some of the central values and norms on which post-Christian society is built.

The book that changed the American church, with new essays that "prove that one can be a dedicated Christian and a social reformer at the same time" ( The New York Times Book Review).Published at the beginning of the twentieth century, Christianity and the Social Crisis is the epoch-making book that dramatically expanded the church's vision of how it could transform the world. This 100th anniversary edition updates this classic with contemporary es...

Stanley Hauerwas is one of the most widely read and oft-cited theologians writing today. A prolific lecturer and author, he has been at the forefront of key developments in contemporary theology, ranging from narrative theology to the “recovery of virtue.” Yet despite his prominence and the esteem reserved for his thought, his work has never before been collected in a single volume that provides a sense of the totality of his vision.The editors of The Hauerwas Reader, there...

At a time when barbarous acts of terrorism are being committed globally and society ponders whether the perpetrators are legitimate religious adherents, Marcus Paul makes an unflinching and counter-cultural examination of some of the worst periods in the Church's history.Were the crusades entirely inexcusable religious wars? Was the Inquisition the bloody and sadistic "Black Legend" of popular imagination? How can we understand the goodness of God after two brutalising world wars?

Pilar Hogan Closkey and John Hogan have brought together the annual Archbishop Oscar Romero Lectures (2001-2007) to consider the life and death of Archbishop Romero and the daily struggles of the poor in our world, especially in the city of Camden, New Jersey-one of America's poorest cities. Romero's 'dangerous memory' provides the background, while urban poverty and the option for the poor are the foreground. Romero's commitment to the poor compels us to look at ourselves, and the authors...

Perpetua, a 19 year old girl from South London, says that she is God. She gathers a motley collection of followers and begins her travels, performing miracles and spreading her gospel of unconditional love along the way.Her message provokes a strong and ultimately lethal reaction from Christianity's warring factions, politicians and journalists bent on profit instead of the truth. Her story is told by four people: Jack, a tabloid journalist; Claire, a social worker...

This is a rich, informative, and inspiring compendium of the Christian tradition of prayer and contemplation from the earliest days of the Church to the present day. Included are selections from St. Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, St. Clement of Rome, St. Gregory of Nyssa, John Cassian, St. Augustine, St. Gregory of Sinai, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence...

The tranquil development of the Perpetuan movement is disrupted by Gregg, a former US Secret Service operative and charismatic sex maniac. He subverts Perpetua’s message in a series of aggressive emails, pushing the movement’s non-combative leadership to breaking point.After a series of bizarre and spectacular appearances, Gregg discredits himself and the movement, but is reconciled through the direct intervention of Perpetua. Can the movement survive the ordeal? T...

There is an increasingly intense interest in political theology amongst contemporary scholars and students. Yet, while there are many authors engaging in political theology, there are very few resources about political theology which aim to orient students and other recent new-comers to the field. This is a concise and accessible advanced introduction which distinguishes various approaches to political theology, and which explores several of the central issues addressed in politic...

In The Givenness of Desire, Randall S. Rosenberg examines the human desire for God through the lens of Lonergan’s "concrete subjectivity." Rosenberg engages and integrates two major scholarly developments: the tension between Neo-Thomists and scholars of Henri de Lubac over our natural desire to see God and the theological appropriation of the mimetic theory of René Girard, with an emphasis on the saints as models of desire. With Lonergan as an integrating thread, the author engag...

Marriage as an institution faces many challenges today. This volume presents essential wisdom from the 2000 year-old Christian tradition that is as true and valuable today as it always was. The readings present positive resources for understanding the sacrament of marriage as a beautiful and sacred Christian vocation, a context in which difficult times can be worked through with grace. Marriage also involves family, even if the couple has no children. In marrying a spouse, one marries his ...

Christian Political Ethics brings together leading Christian scholars of diverse theological and ethical perspectives--Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anabaptist--to address fundamental questions of state and civil society, international law and relations, the role of the nation, and issues of violence and its containment. Representing a unique fusion of faith-centered ethics and social science, the contributors bring into dialogue their own varying Christian understandings wit...