Religious Ethics

The church needs a new perspective on its responsibility for the deep racial brokenness at the heart of American culture. This book makes a compelling historical and theological case for the church's obligation to provide reparations for the oppression of African Americans. Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson articulate the church's responsibility for its promotion and preservation of white supremacy throughout history, investigate the Bible's call to repent and make restitution, and offer concrete examples of the work of reparation at the local level.

Whether the issue of the day on Twitter, Facebook, or cable news is our sexuality, political divides, or the perceived conflict between faith and science, today's media pushes each one of us into a frustrating clash between two opposing sides. Polarizing, us-against-them discussions divide us and distract us from thinking clearly and communicating lovingly with others. Scott Sauls, like many of us, is weary of the bickering and is seeking a way of truth and beauty through the conflicts.

Michael Reagan's life is much more than just an interesting story. It is a testimony of how Christ allowed him to find healing from many of the issues that confront our culture today, such as sexual abuse, divorce, loneliness, the feeling of rejection, and the belief that God does not care about us. Michael Reagan's first adoption gave him an identity, but he did not find his true identity until he found Christ.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has become a lightning rod in American politics and evangelical Christianity. This book offers a critical but constructive and sympathetic introduction to CRT written from a perspective rooted in Scripture and Christian theology. The authors take us beyond caricatures and misinformation to consider how CRT can be an analytical tool to help us understand persistent inequality and injustice—and to see how Christians and churches working for racial justice can engage CRT in faithful and constructive ways.

Barbara Crain Major and Joseph Barndt bring ninety combined years of experience as community organizers, teachers, and anti-racism trainers in community and church settings to this book. In Deconstructing Racism, they propose the deconstruction of racism's roots within systems and institutions that have been created, both structurally and legally, to serve white people.

When most people think of Mother Teresa, they think of a saint - a spiritual hero of extraordinary humanitarian accomplishments, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But Mother Teresa was also the leader of one of the world's largest and most successful organizations: the Missionaries of Charity.

The Bible and the Ballot demonstrates the proper use of scripture in contemporary political discussions. Christians regularly invoke the Bible to support their positions on many controversial political topics - gay marriage, poverty, war, religious liberty, immigration, the environment, etc. - and this book will help facilitate those conversations. Tremper Longman provides a hermeneutical approach to using the Bible in this manner, then proceeds topic by topic, citing important scriptures to be taken into consideration in each case and offering an evangelical interpretation.

It's time for a reality check. Ecopiety offers an absorbing examination of the intersections of environmental sensibilities, contemporary expressions of piety and devotion, and American popular culture. Ranging from portrayals of environmental sin and virtue such as the eco-pious depiction of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey, to the green capitalism found in the world of mobile-device "carbon sin-tracking" software applications, to the socially conscious vegetarian vampires in True Blood.

Thus Spake Zarathustra is a philosophical novel by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The work’s hybrid narrative encompasses philosophical sayings, fiction, and poetry, and also serves as a parody of and amendment to the Bible. The plot, a chronicle of fictitious speeches and travels attributed to the ancient sage Zarathustra or Zoroaster, emerges only sporadically throughout the text. Quite different from the historical figure, Nietzsche’s Zarathustra turns morality around and severely criticizes religion, which he views as "the worship of death".

This audiobook is about learning to live the message of the Good Samaritan in the context of the globalized world of the 21st century. This means learning to love our global neighbor wisely by harnessing the resources at our disposal - our time, talents, opportunities, and money - on behalf of those who are victims of injustice, disease, violence, and poverty.

Was passiert mit deinem Körper, wenn du stirbst? Was fühlst du - Trauer, Schmerz? Und dann, wenn dein Herzschlag verstummt ist? Was geschieht mit deinem Leichnam, bis du bestattet wirst? Wie wird man um dich trauern? Sterben, Tod und Trauer sind unumgänglich, für jeden von uns. Und doch wissen wir kaum etwas darüber. Wer diese Frage stellt, nähert sich einem Tabu - aber auch einer Wissenslücke. Minutiös und eindringlich beschreibt Roland Schulz, was wir während unserer letzten Tage und Stunden erleben.

Words communicate. Christians often use words to communicate to others; however, these words aren't understood by many of those outside the church. We can be so absorbed in our "christianese" that we don't realize others don't understand the jargon and cannot figure out what it is we mean by what we are saying. Static listeners will become aware of what we are saying so we can re-focus our thinking to communicate clearly to those outside the church.

In this bold and hopeful book, theologian Daniel C. Maguire writes that traditional, supernatural aspects of Christianity can be comforting but are increasingly questionable. A century of scholarly research has not been supportive of the dogmatic triad of personal god, incarnate savior, and life after death. Demonstrating that these beliefs have questionable roots in historical traditions, Maguire argues for a return to that brilliant and revolutionary moral epic of the Hebrew and Christian Bible.

Spirituality in Patient Care has earned a reputation as the authoritative introduction to the subject for health professionals interested in identifying and addressing the spiritual needs of patients. The body of research on religion, spirituality, and health continues to grow at a dramatic rate, creating an urgent need for a new edition of this landmark work. In this, the third edition, Harold G. Koenig, M.D., updates every chapter by incorporating the newest research and introducing sensible ways of translating that research into caring for patients.

In this graphic, thought-provoking book, Ed Griffin-Nolan depicts the experiences of Witness for Peace (WFP), a group of Americans who bore witness to the war in Nicaragua - an event that resulted in the killing and wounding of many innocent Central American civilians. Griffin-Nolan explains how WFP participants spent weeks in the war zones in order to understand the impact of U.S. policy on simple people living, as one member of the group phrased it, "at the end of a gun barrel."

Do you believe human life is inherently valuable? Unfortunately, in the secularized age of state-sanctioned euthanasia and abortion-on-demand, many are losing faith in the simple value of human life. To the disillusioned, human beings are a cosmic accident whose intrinsic value is worth no more than other animals. The Death of Humanity explores our culture's declining respect for the sanctity of human life drawing on philosophy and history to reveal the dark road ahead for society if we lose our faith.

Widely respected pastor and ethicist Robin Lovin offers sage counsel in this helpful book, arguing that to resist the trend of polarization in our church we must rediscover how the gospel teaches us to understand ourselves, our neighbors, and the purpose of politics. With questions for discussion and reflection aligned with the content of each chapter, What Do We Do When Nobody Is Listening? provides an accessible road map for navigating out of the morass of polarization into a brighter future of church unity, during election seasons and beyond.

Do you think idols are merely statues from a false religion? Think again. In this first volume, you'll think about the primary values of your faith and learn the history behind some of today's difficult issues: When did the Pledge of Allegiance change and why? How did Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh taint the original “America First" movement? Who was the first monarch in history to grant the full freedom of religion and which Christian minister made it happen?

Those who want to avoid simplistic partisan rhetoric and use words in a challenging, spirited way need practical strategies. This audiobook offers a range of them. Drawing upon the work of exemplary contemporary writers, Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict shows how to speak and write clearly and generously.

Declining church attendance. A growing feeling of betrayal. For Christians who have begun to feel set adrift and disillusioned by their churches, Where Goodness Still Grows grounds us in a new view of virtue deeply rooted in a return to Jesus Christ’s life and ministry.