Social Theology

InThe Jesus of Suburbia, Mike Erre reveals that we've created a Jesus in our own image. In a fresh, startling manner, Erre helps us understand that the real Jesus is calling us to live, act, and think in ways that overturn the status quo.

The author of the "dazzling epic" (Lev Grossman, Time) Brilliant delivers an indelible view of the ways silence affects those who seek it and those who have it imposed upon them. Through her original, intertwined histories of the penitentiary and the monastery, Jane Brox illuminates the many ways silence is far more complex than any absolute; how it has influenced ideas of the self, soul, and society.

Right now, you're living in an era defined by global pandemics, natural disasters, political strife, and ever-shifting morality. Though at times you may feel tempted to question God's presence or goodness, these events actually signal that His promises will soon be fulfilled. In Aftershocks, best-selling author Jeff Kinley reveals how current societal and global trends fit into Bible prophecy and foreshadow the nearness of the end times - and how those prophecies can renew your passion to live wisely as you proclaim Christ to a suffering world.

We live in a distracted, secular age. These two trends define life in Western society today. We are increasingly addicted to habits - and devices - that distract and "buffer" us from substantive reflection and deep engagement with the world. And we live in what Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor calls "a secular age" - an age in which all beliefs are equally viable and real transcendence is less and less plausible. Drawing on Taylor's work, Alan Noble describes how these realities shape our thinking and affect our daily lives.

We are living in historic times. Not since the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s has our country been as vigorously engaged in the reconciliation conversation. There is a great opportunity right now for culture to change, to be a more perfect union. However, it cannot be done without the church, because the faith of the people is more powerful than any law government can enact.

In his most important book yet, widely acclaimed author and speaker Brian McLaren proposes a new faith alternative, one built on "benevolence and solidarity rather than rivalry and hostility." This way of being Christian is strong but doesn't strong-arm anyone, going beyond mere tolerance to vigorous hospitality toward, interest in, and collaboration with the other. Blending history, narrative, and brilliant insight, McLaren shows readers step-by-step how to reclaim this strong-benevolent faith.

This illuminating and insightful audiobook analyzes problems with the culture's underlying worldviews and suggests how Christians can offer solutions to current problems as a way to rebuild culture and faith.

Anthropologists have invariably engaged in their discipline as a form of redemption, whether to escape from social restriction, nourish their souls, reform their home polities, or vindicate "the natives". Redeeming Anthropology explores how in pursuit of a secular science sired by the Enlightenment, adherents to a "faith in mankind" have vacillated between rejecting and embracing theology, albeit in concealed and contradictory ways.

How have Christian theologies of religious superiority underwritten ideologies of white supremacy in the United States? According to author Hill Fletcher, the tendency of Christians to view themselves as the "chosen ones" has often been translated into racial categories as well. In other words, Christian supremacy has historically lent itself to white supremacy, with disastrous consequences. Fletcher proposes strategies that will help foster racial healing in America.

Está creciendo el interés, la conciencia y la demanda por el conocimiento de que la justicia social es algo que sale de la fe cristiana. Pero esto no es algo nuevo. Por quinientos años la cultura e identidad latina han sido moldeadas por sus desafíos al statu quo religioso, socioeconómico y político, ya sea en oposición al colonialismo español, las dictaduras latinoamericanas, el imperialismo estadounidense en Centro América, la opresión de los trabajadores de campo o la explotación actual de inmigrantes indocumentados.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."

On January 18th, 1989, Don Piper died in a car accident. Ninety minutes later, after a preacher prayed over him, Piper came back to life with an extraordinary story. He'd been to heaven. So began the phenomenon of 90 Minutes in Heaven.

Mark Karris offers a first-of-a-kind audiobook that explores petitionary prayer alongside theodicy, social justice, and personal moral responsibility. Divine Echoes journeys through the investigation, deconstruction, and reconstruction of petitionary prayer. Karris also reveals a revolutionary model of petitionary prayer that he refers to as "conspiring prayer". Filled with real-life examples, this audiobook will inform and equip both individuals and churches to pray transformative and subversive prayers that will increase God's love, healing, and beauty in the world.

We are witnessing things today that the prophets of Israel longed to see. God is fulfilling his word in our generation! If you want to understand what God is doing in these last days, you must understand what he is doing with Israel. It is here that the Bible's prophecies regarding the end of the age will all unfold.

Despite Jesus' prayer that all Christians "be one", divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ from the beginning to the present. We cluster in theological groups, gender groups, age groups, ethnic groups, educational, and economic groups. We criticize freely those who disagree with us, don't look like us, don't act like us, and don't even like what we like. With a personal touch and the trained eye of a social psychologist, Cleveland brings to bear the latest studies and research on the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others.

Grace/Truth 1.0 is a five-week small group learning experience that introduces Christians to LGBT+ people, the language to use and avoid, a theologically faithful view of marriage and sexuality, and practical guidance on how to embody the love of Christ toward sexual and gender minorities. This learning experience is designed for Bible studies, discussion groups, elder teams, pastoral staff, or any other small group of Christians who desire to engage questions of faith, sexuality and gender with both grace and truth.

One of the most fiercely debated topics in modern Christianity centers on the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities into the full life of the church. Dozens of scholars have stepped forward, seeking to make a compelling case for LGBT+ inclusion based on their contextualized reading of the six traditional passages that refer to homosexuality in Scripture. But these arguments alone fall short of providing a comprehensive framework for radical inclusion of LGBT+ people.

“God isn’t really good.” "God doesn’t want the best for you.” “God could never forgive that sin." “God could never truly love you." These lies are as old as time, and yet how readily we still believe them to this day. Believing the lies of Satan leads to a life of defeat and despair. But it doesn’t have to be this way! In The Devil’s Newsroom, Pastor Jeff Schreve tackles Satan’s fake news head on.

From Genesis to Revelation, a unified thread unfolds that teaches us what clothing means. In Beyond Modesty, Scott Brown traces the biblical theology of clothing from Adam and Eve in the Garden to the white-robed saints in Revelation.

Radical theology and political theology are terms that have gained a lot of currency among philosophers of religion today. In this visionary new book, Jeffrey W. Robbins explores the contemporary direction of these movements as he charts a course for their future. Robbins claims that radical theology is no longer bound by earlier thinking about God and that it must be conceived of as post-secular and post-liberal.