Hospital and hospice chaplains are expected to assist individuals and families face the reality of their mortality via a gentle, calming presence. To the greatest extent possible, chaplains help people die with an awareness of being loved, of loving and forgiving, and of gratitude for the life they have lived. But terminal agitation and spiritual distress are common components of the final stage of life. How do professional chaplains honor and attend to each individual's spiritual/religiou...

How can Christians talk with one another about things that matter? How can we make an argument without having an argument? This book offers a way forward. Drawing on John Wesley as well as contemporary thinkers, Knight and Saliers show how doctrines--those things we teach and believe--directly shape Christian life and faith and should be the subjects of regular conversation in our churches and denominational assemblies. They also show that how we talk about the things we believe, including...

The United Methodist Church is at a crossroads, and nothing is more important than reclaiming our sacramental distinctiveness in times of great divisiveness. This book takes a fresh look at Wesley's core teachings on the Lord's Supper, letting each unique feature of Wesley's communion theology become a lens to navigate troubled waters. The author explores the historical background of each characteristic, finds evidence in writings of John and Charles Wesley, and applies them to the struggl...

We in mainline churches are uneasy, maybe even scared. Why are our voices not heard? After all, we are the reasonable Christians, the updated Christians, the respectable ones who have dominated the cultural landscape since colonial times. This book presumes that trying to reverse the loss of our traditional status in society is both futile and beside the point. What's called for when we find ourselves in a state of crisis is to rediscover the big picture, the Christian hope projected on a ...

As part of the growing literature on theology and the arts, God's Mind in that Music explores the substantial theological insight expressed in the music of jazz legend John Coltrane. Focusing on eight of Coltrane's pieces, themes under consideration include lament ("Alabama"), improvisation ("My Favorite Things" and "Ascension"), grace ("A Love Supreme"), and the Trinity ("The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost"). By attending to the traditions of theology and of jazz criticism, and thr...

In his teaching and his writing, Paul L. Holmer (1916-2004), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota (1946-1960) and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (1960-1987), made many important contributions to recent American theology. One of the most insightful American students of Kierkegaard of his generation, Holmer perceived early on Wittgenstein's importance for theology, and employed both thinkers to inspire his own fresh consideration of ...

Music does not make itself. It is made by people: professionals and amateurs, singers and instrumentalists, composers and publishers, performers and audiences, entrepreneurs and consumers. In turn, making music shapes those who make it—spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, socially, politically, economically—for good or ill, harming and healing. This volume considers the social practice of music from a Christian point of view. Using a variety of methodological perspectives, the e...

Music and Theology will be a volume in the Horizons in Theology series. It will offer a relatively brief but highly engaging essay on the major concerns and questions regarding Music as it intersects with theology—past and present. Don Saliers is a senior scholar in this field, one who is able to address in a clear and concise style the scope and contours of this question as it relates to theological inquiry and application. He will sketch the nature and significance of the subject, the hi...

In Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, top-selling author and Anglican bishop, N.T. Wright tackles the biblical foundations of Christian hope and shows how most Christians get it wrong. We do not “go to” heaven; we are resurrected and heaven comes down to earth—a difference that makes all of the difference to how we live on earth as part of the mission of the Church.Following N.T. Wright’s resonant explora...

Not since C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity has such a wise and informed leader taken the time to explain what Christianity is and how it is practiced. In Simply Christian, renowned biblical scholar and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright makes a case for Christianity from the ground up. Walking the reader through the Christian faith step-by-step and question by question, Wright’s Simply Christian offers explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled skeptics, leaving beli...

How to have faith—or even think about God—without having to stifle modern rational thought is one of the most vital challenges facing many of us today. Marcus J. Borg, author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, traces his personal spiritual journey to the discovery of an authentic yet fully contemporary understanding of God. In a compelling, readable way, he leads us from the distant, authoritarian God of our childhood to an equally powerful, dynamic adult image of G...

An important and respected voice for liberal American Christianity for the past twenty years, Bishop John Shelby Spong integrates his often controversial stands on the Bible, Jesus, theism, and morality into an intelligible creed that speaks to today's thinking Christian. In this compelling and heartfelt book, he sounds a rousing call for a Christianity based on critical thought rather than blind faith, on love rather than judgment, and that focuses on life more than religion.