This book explores the shifting role of the minister in light of the experiences of college men in the United States. Young men frequently struggle to know what it means to be a man and doubt that churches can supply the meaning and direction for which they hunger. These men are not necessarily lost, but they do need a certain kind of spiritual accompaniment that is likely to push many ministers outside of postures and practices with which they have grown comfortable. This interdisciplinar...

Opening the Field of Practical Theology introduces students to practical theology through an examination of fifteen different approaches—ranging from feminist to liberationist, Roman Catholic to evangelical, Asian American to Latino/a.After an introduction to the field of practical theology and its broad range of practice today, the book features chapters written by leading experts in the discipline. Each chapter has an identical structure to facilitate comparison, covering histori...

Pop music is now an ever-present force shaping citizens in the West. Even at funerals, pop music is often requested over hymns. But how does popular music work? And what roles does it play for listeners who engage it? This new addition to the critically acclaimed Engaging Culture series explores the theological significance of the ways pop music is listened to and used today.The authors show that popular music is used by religious and nonreligious people alike to make meaning, enab...

When the basic conceptions of the world held by whole generations in the West are formed by popular culture, and in particular by the music that serves as its soundtrack, can theology remain unchanged? The authors of the essays in this important volume insist that the answer is no.These gifted theologians help readers make sense of what happens to religious experience in a world heavily influenced by popular media culture, a world in which songs, musicians, and celebrities influenc...

This Very Short Introduction provides both the believer and non-believer with a balanced survey of the central questions of theology. David Ford's approach draws us in to considering the principles underlying religious belief, including the centrality of salvation to most major religions, the concept of God in ancient, modern, and postmodern contexts, the challenge posed to theology by prayer and worship, and the issue of sin and evil. He also probes the nature of experience, know...

Is it still possible in an age of religious and cultural pluralism to engage in Christian apologetics? How can one urge one's faith on others when such a gesture is typically regarded with suspicion if not outright resentment? In Humble Apologetics John G. Stackhouse brings his wide experience as a historian philosopher journalist and theologian to these important questions and offers surprising--and reassuring--answers. Stackhouse begins by acknowledging the real impediments to Christian ...

The split between the Gospel and culture is without doubt the drama of our time," wrote Paul VI in 1975. Since that time there has been an increasingly urgent awareness that inculturation is an indispensable task of the church. But inculturation, the dialogue between church and cultures, demands first of all that we who would enter into the dialogue understand what "culture" itself means and what dialogue entails. To that end, cultural anthropologist Father Gerald Arbuckle gives us this im...

Through a series of essays contributed by leading experts in the field, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology presents an introduction to practical theology as a major area of Christian study and practice, including an overview of its key developments, themes, methods, and future directions.The first comprehensive reference work to provide a survey, description and analysis of practical theology as an area of studyA range of leading scholars i...

Much has been written by practitioners advocating the emerging church phenomenon, but confusion about the nature and beliefs of those who identify with the emerging church still exists. Now that the movement has aged a bit, the time has come for a more rigorous, scholarly analysis. Here four influential authors, each an expert in his field, discuss important cultural, theological, philosophical, and biblical underpinnings and implications of the emerging church movement. Their sympathetic ...

Faith and learning, scholarship and piety, Christian tradition and intellectual inquiry, head and hearts: How do these things come together in an informative, enriching, and interdependent way?The calling of Christian higher education is to reflect the life of Christ and to shine the light of truth. That distinctive mission cannot be forced into an either/or framework but rather a both/and calling. It is a commitment to Jesus Christ himself, who is both fully God and fully human an...

The Gold Medallion Award-winning book that presents a persuasive case for Christ as the only way to God in light of contemporary religious pluralism.A great majority of social commentators attempting to define modern Western culture land on a common characteristic: pluralism. This isn't unique to secular culture. Many modern approaches to Christian hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation, have given credence to contemporary pluralism. What began as a refr...

We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives?In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cann...