Awaiting the King (Cultural Liturgies Book #3)

Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493406604
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Book Description
In this culmination of his widely read and highly acclaimed Cultural Liturgies project, James K. A. Smith examines politics through the lens of liturgy. What if, he asks, citizens are not only thinkers or believers but also lovers? Smith explores how our analysis of political institutions would look different if we viewed them as incubators of love-shaping practices--not merely governing us but forming what we love. How would our political engagement change if we weren't simply looking for permission to express our "views" in the political sphere but actually hoped to shape the ethos of a nation, a state, or a municipality to foster a way of life that bends toward shalom? This book offers a well-rounded public theology as an alternative to contemporary debates about politics. Smith explores the religious nature of politics and the political nature of Christian worship, sketching how the worship of the church propels us to be invested in forging the common good. This book creatively merges theological and philosophical reflection with illustrations from film, novels, and music and includes helpful exposition and contemporary commentary on key figures in political theology.

Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies)

Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441211268
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
Malls, stadiums, and universities are actually liturgical structures that influence and shape our thoughts and affections. Humans--as Augustine noted--are "desiring agents," full of longings and passions; in brief, we are what we love. James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in Desiring the Kingdom, the first book in what will be a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God. Ultimately, Smith seeks to re-vision education through the process and practice of worship. Students of philosophy, theology, worldview, and culture will welcome Desiring the Kingdom, as will those involved in ministry and other interested readers.

Imagining the Kingdom

Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 9780801035784
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
2013 Word Guild Award (Academic) How does worship work? How exactly does liturgical formation shape us? What are the dynamics of such transformation? In the second of James K. A. Smith's three-volume theology of culture, the author expands and deepens the analysis of cultural liturgies and Christian worship he developed in his well-received Desiring the Kingdom. He helps us understand and appreciate the bodily basis of habit formation and how liturgical formation--both "secular" and Christian--affects our fundamental orientation to the world. Worship "works" by leveraging our bodies to transform our imagination, and it does this through stories we understand on a register that is closer to body than mind. This has critical implications for how we think about Christian formation. Professors and students will welcome this work as will pastors, worship leaders, and Christian educators. The book includes analyses of popular films, novels, and other cultural phenomena, such as The King's Speech, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, and Facebook.

Introducing Radical Orthodoxy

Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441206116
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Although God is making a comeback in our society, popular culture still takes its orders from the Enlightenment, a movement that denied faith a prominent role in society. Today, many are questioning this elevation of reason over faith. How should Christians respond to a secular world that continues to push faith to the margins? While there is still no consensus concerning what a postmodern society should look like, James K. A. Smith suggests that the answer is a reaffirmation of the belief that Jesus is Lord over all. Smith traces the trends and directions of Radical Orthodoxy, proposing that it can provide an old-but-new theology for a new generation of Christians. This book will challenge and encourage pastors and thoughtful laypeople interested in learning more about currents in contemporary theology.

Resurrection and Moral Order

Author: Oliver O'Donovan
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
ISBN: 1789740185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
In this truly seminal work, the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University illuminates the distinctive nature of Christian ethics with profound thought and massive learning. By grounding Christian ethics in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he avoids both a revealed ethics that has no contact with the created order and one that is purely naturalistic. For this second edition Professor O'Donovan has added a prologue in which he enters into dialogue with John Finnis, Martin Honecker, Karl Barth and Stanley Hauerwas. Essential reading for advanced students of theology and ethics and their teachers.

Awaiting the King

Author: James K. A. Smith
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 9780801035791
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Hear the Ancient Wisdom

Author: Charles R. Ringma
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1621895785
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 422

Book Description
There is a hunger in the modern world for spirituality. One vast resource of spiritual wisdom comes from the pre-Reformation church--from the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity, through the long tradition of monasticism, to the medieval Christian mystics. These are the deep wells of Christian reflection from persons such as John Chrysostom, Augustine, Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure, Bernard of Clairvaux, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich, to mention just a few. The spiritual insights of over seventy men and women of pre-Reformation Christianity are found in these pages. From these figures we can learn more about the practices of prayer and contemplation, a life of following Christ, the relevance of community, the challenge of asceticism, the movement of withdrawal and engagement, the love of God for God's own sake, living the gospel, sacrificing for the kingdom of God, the longing for union with God, the practices of justice, and a life of prophetic witness. For us, so embedded and shaped by the modern world, this ancient wisdom will come as refreshing water and as a breath of fresh air, with the wings of the Spirit and whispers of angels.

Migrations of the Holy

Author: William T. Cavanaugh
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802866093
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Book Description
Whether one thinks that religion continues to fade or has made a comeback in the contemporary world, there is a common notion that religion went away somewhere, at least in the West. But William Cavanaugh argues that religious fervor never left it has only migrated toward a new object of worship. In Migrations of the Holy he examines the disconcerting modern transfer of sacred devotion from the church to the nation-state. In these chapters Cavanaugh cautions readers to be wary of a rigid separation of religion and politics that boxes in the church and sends citizens instead to the state for hope, comfort, and salvation as they navigate the risks and pains of mortal life. When nationality becomes the primary source of identity and belonging, he warns, the state becomes the god and idol of its own religion, the language of nationalism becomes a liturgy, and devotees willingly sacrifice their lives to serve and defend their country. Cavanaugh urges Christians to resist this form of idolatry, to unthink the inevitability of the nation-state and its dreary party politics, to embrace radical forms of political pluralism that privilege local communities and to cling to an incarnational theology that weaves itself seamlessly and tangibly into all aspects of daily life and culture. William Cavanaugh continues to provide leadership and vision in the field of political theology. He addresses essential questions about the religious status of the nation-state, the political character of the church, and how the tradition of Christian political thought might be brought to bear upon contemporary politics. . . . Unfolds a theological response to present political conditions and a political response to our theological condition. Luke Bretherton King s College London Another vigorous but distinct voice in the burgeoning conversation about the role of religion generally and the church specifically in political life. . . . Worth a careful read. Robert Benne

The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass

Author: Andrew Kirkman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521114128
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Book Description
Kirkman sheds new light on the polyphonic Mass, exploring the hidden meanings within its music and its legacy today.

Muslim Women in War and Crisis

Author: Faegheh Shirazi
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 029277494X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
Representing diverse cultural viewpoints, Muslim Women in War and Crisis collects an array of original essays that highlight the experiences and perspectives of Muslim women—their dreams and nightmares and their daily struggles—in times of tremendous social upheaval. Analyzing both how Muslim women have been represented and how they represent themselves, the authors draw on primary sources ranging from poetry and diaries to news reports and visual media. Topics include: Peacebrokers in Indonesia Exploitation in the Islamic Republic of Iran Chechen women rebels Fundamentalism in Afghanistan, from refugee camps to Kabul Memoirs of Bengali Muslim women The 7/7 London bombings, British Muslim women, and the media Also exploring such images in the United States, Spain, the former Yugoslavia, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, and Iraq, this collection offers a chorus of multidimensional voices that counter Islamophobia and destructive clichés. Encompassing the symbolic national and religious identities of Muslim women, this study goes beyond those facets to examine the realities of day-to-day existence in societies that seek scapegoats and do little to defend the victims of hate crimes. Enhancing their scholarly perspectives, many of the contributors (including the editor) have lived through the strife they analyze. This project taps into their firsthand experiences of war and deadly political oppression.