God, Neighbor, Empire

God, Neighbor, Empire PDF Author: Walter Brueggemann
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781481306027
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Justice, mercy, and the public good all find meaning in relationship--a relationship dependent upon fidelity, but endlessly open to the betrayals of infidelity. This paradox defines the story of God and Israel in the Old Testament. Yet the arc of this story reaches ever forward, and its trajectory confers meaning upon human relationships and communities in the present. The Old Testament still speaks. Israel, in the Old Testament, bears witness to a God who initiates and then sustains covenantal relationships. God, in mercy, does so by making promises for a just well-being and prescribing stipulations for the covenant partner's obedience. The nature of the relationship itself decisively depends upon the conduct, practice, and policy of the covenant partner, yet is radically rooted in the character and agency of God--the One who makes promises, initiates covenant, and sustains relationship. This reflexive, asymmetrical relationship, kept alive in the texts and tradition, now fires contemporary imagination. Justice becomes shaped by the practice of neighborliness, mercy reaches beyond a pervasive quid pro quo calculus, and law becomes a dynamic norming of the community. The well-being of the neighborhood, inspired by the biblical texts, makes possible--and even insists upon--an alternative to the ideology of individualism that governs our society's practice and policy. This kind of community life returns us to the arc of God's gifts--mercy, justice, and law. The covenant of God in the witness of biblical faith speaks now and demands that its interpreting community resist individualism, overcome commoditization, and thwart the rule of empire through a life of radical neighbor love.

God, Neighbor, Empire

God, Neighbor, Empire PDF Author: Walter Brueggemann
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781481306027
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

Get Book Here

Book Description
Justice, mercy, and the public good all find meaning in relationship--a relationship dependent upon fidelity, but endlessly open to the betrayals of infidelity. This paradox defines the story of God and Israel in the Old Testament. Yet the arc of this story reaches ever forward, and its trajectory confers meaning upon human relationships and communities in the present. The Old Testament still speaks. Israel, in the Old Testament, bears witness to a God who initiates and then sustains covenantal relationships. God, in mercy, does so by making promises for a just well-being and prescribing stipulations for the covenant partner's obedience. The nature of the relationship itself decisively depends upon the conduct, practice, and policy of the covenant partner, yet is radically rooted in the character and agency of God--the One who makes promises, initiates covenant, and sustains relationship. This reflexive, asymmetrical relationship, kept alive in the texts and tradition, now fires contemporary imagination. Justice becomes shaped by the practice of neighborliness, mercy reaches beyond a pervasive quid pro quo calculus, and law becomes a dynamic norming of the community. The well-being of the neighborhood, inspired by the biblical texts, makes possible--and even insists upon--an alternative to the ideology of individualism that governs our society's practice and policy. This kind of community life returns us to the arc of God's gifts--mercy, justice, and law. The covenant of God in the witness of biblical faith speaks now and demands that its interpreting community resist individualism, overcome commoditization, and thwart the rule of empire through a life of radical neighbor love.

God The Helpful Neighbor

God The Helpful Neighbor PDF Author: Egenis
Publisher: GA Publishing
ISBN: 0645809209
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Book Description
You don't have actually to believe in God, or the power of God, to get Him to do the heavy lifting in your life. To achieve your satisfaction of your desires. To get what you want. Maybe you can't see how God could even fit into the modern world. Maybe you can't see how God could do stuff. How God may exist or act in the 21st century are questions answered in these pages. One extraordinary power of God The Almighty is His ability to respond to each and every human being individually and timelessly. That might be too broad a remit for any of us to comprehend comfortably. But such is the nature of the Eternal. You could say, God The Whole Big Picture, although that would not be the half of it. Nothing is off the table. Nothing is too bizarre to imagine. If, for instances, humans wish to conquer disease, or to defeat the threat of death, or even to open the doors of Heaven to raise the faithful departed (even the unfaithful departed), then those goals and objects are distinct from the existence of God the Everlasting. We see God is distinct from the incidents of the Creation. If we want to raise the dead, we need to learn to do it ourselves, of course, perhaps with the help of all our good neighbors. We can see the dot and know that the dot is not the point. Both are things. The point, however conceived in your mind, is an object. The full stop on the page is another object. There are separations between those two objects. They are of different dimensions, of distinct measures, but both within your mind as well as without. You can hold in your mind two validly opposing or different views of the same objective phenomenon. You can accept the existence of God Your Good Neighbor without believing such exists.

Neighborliness

Neighborliness PDF Author: David Docusen
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 078528933X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Do you want to love your neighbor as yourself but don’t know where to start? This practical, accessible guide to bridging the dividing lines of politics, race, and economics, both individually and as the church, will help you amplify Jesus in your community and build God’s kingdom. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus gave a two-part answer: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and also “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love God. Love others. Jesus’ simple command to love your neighbor can feel overwhelming when your neighbor looks, lives, and votes differently than you do. Racial and economic tensions across the country have resulted in deep dividing lines that seem really intimidating to cross. Docusen breaks down these lines in approachable chapters, including topics like these: how to actively seek out people you can benefit and encourage, what it means to find a diverse and supportive community that fulfills needs, examples of real-life experiences, including highlights and missteps of Docusen’s ongoing journey, and how churches can teach on difficult topics with grace and truth. Neighborliness is a practical guide to bridging those dividing lines and learning to recognize and amplify the beauty of God in our communities. Backed by David’s speaking and training through the Neighborliness Center, this book will help individuals and churches reach out to their neighbors, love them through Christ, and build God’s kingdom.

Holy Bible (NIV)

Holy Bible (NIV) PDF Author: Various Authors,
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310294142
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 6793

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Book Description
The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

Loving God and Neighbor with Samuel Pearce

Loving God and Neighbor with Samuel Pearce PDF Author: Michael A. G. Haykin
Publisher: Lexham Press
ISBN: 1683592700
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
The love of God and neighbor is the heart of the Christian faith. Forgotten saint Samuel Pearce teaches us how to live a life faithful to the greatest commandment. Pearce was a Baptist pastor known in eighteenth-century England for his moving preaching and strong, pious character. In his short life, he supported believers in his own parish as well as in the many cities where he preached and helped send missionaries. Yet his personal faith, founded on the "holy love" of God, formed his most compelling witness to the world. By getting to know Pearce's story, readers will learn from his example what it looks like to love God and neighborâ€"in good times as well as challenging and seemingly mundane ones. The Lived Theology series explores aspects of Christian doctrine through the eyes of the men and women who practiced it. Interweaving the contributions of notable individuals alongside their overshadowed contemporaries, we gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation of their work and the broad tapestry of Christian history. These books illuminate the vital contributions made by these figures throughout the history of the church.

God and My Neighbour

God and My Neighbour PDF Author: Robert Blatchford
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agnosticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description


Mercy for Today

Mercy for Today PDF Author: Jonathan Parnell
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1535959266
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
You cannot make it without God’s mercy. Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread. There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll discover: how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51 how to practice daily repentance and soul care how to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.

Putting God Second

Putting God Second PDF Author: Donniel Hartman
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807063347
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Why have the monotheistic religions failed to produce societies that live up to their ethical ideals? A prominent rabbi answers this question by looking at his own faith and offering a way for religion to heal itself. In Putting God Second, Rabbi Donniel Hartman tackles one of modern life’s most urgent and vexing questions: Why are the great monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—chronically unable to fulfill their own self-professed goal of creating individuals infused with moral sensitivity and societies governed by the highest ethical standards? To answer this question, Hartman takes a sober look at the moral peaks and valleys of his own tradition, Judaism, and diagnoses it with clarity, creativity, and erudition. He rejects both the sweeping denouncements of those who view religion as an inherent impediment to moral progress and the apologetics of fundamentalists who proclaim religion’s moral perfection against all evidence to the contrary. Hartman identifies the primary source of religion’s moral failure in what he terms its “autoimmune disease,” or the way religions so often undermine their own deepest values. While God obligates the good and calls us into its service, Hartman argues, God simultaneously and inadvertently makes us morally blind. The nature of this self-defeating condition is that the human religious desire to live in relationship with God often distracts religious believers from their traditions’ core moral truths. The answer Hartman offers is this: put God second. In order to fulfill religion’s true vision for humanity—an uncompromising focus on the ethical treatment of others—religious believers must hold their traditions accountable to the highest independent moral standards. Decency toward one’s neighbor must always take precedence over acts of religious devotion, and ethical piety must trump ritual piety. For as long as devotion to God comes first, responsibility to other people will trail far, far behind. In this book, Judaism serves as a template for how the challenge might be addressed by those of other faiths, whose sacred scriptures similarly evoke both the sublime heights of human aspiration and the depths of narcissistic moral blindness. In Putting God Second, Rabbi Hartman offers a lucid analysis of religion’s flaws, as well as a compelling resource, and vision, for its repair.

Next Door as It Is in Heaven

Next Door as It Is in Heaven PDF Author: Lance Ford
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1631464981
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
There was a time when neighbors knew each other’s names, when small children and the old and infirm alike had more than their families looking out for them. There was a time when our neighborhoods were our closest communities. No more. Neighborhoods have become the place where nobody knows your name. Into this neighborhood crisis the words of Jesus still ring true: Second only to the command to love God is the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In Next Door as It Is in Heaven, Lance Ford and Brad Brisco offer first principles and best practices to make our neighborhoods into places where compassion and care are once again part of the culture, where good news is once again more than words, and where the love of God can be once again rooted and established.

Finding God among Our Neighbors

Finding God among Our Neighbors PDF Author: Kristin Johnston Largen
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1451430906
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Students of theology live in a world defined by interreligious dialogue. This supplemental theology text prepares students for the real task of understanding and articulating their Christian beliefs in a religiously and culturally diverse world. Concentrating on the anchoring subjects of God, creation, and humanity, she explores these loci in the broader context of interreligious dialogue with Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam to better understand the Christian tradition.