Singleness and Marriage after Christendom

Singleness and Marriage after Christendom PDF Author: Lina Toth
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532635567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Momentous change is taking place in Western societies and churches. Singleness is on the rise, along with growing interest in different pathways to human happiness. However, we still largely consider coupledom as the norm and a symbol of the good life. This is especially true in the Christian context, where the decline of “traditional” marriage and family patterns is often presented as an erosion of the Christian way of living. Yet when the church was very young, the world was also very concerned with the demise of traditional family ways—but the culprits accused of destroying family values were none other than Christians. A considerable number of them willingly chose to forego marriage, embracing Jesus’s vision of a new kind of a family: the church. This book follows the changes in the practice of marriage and singleness, from those early days of the Christian movement to our modern preoccupation with romance and coupledom as essential ingredients of a happy, fulfilled life. It argues that the current surge in the number of single people is actually an opportunity for us to reconsider both singleness and marriage in the larger context of a community of faith.

Singleness and Marriage after Christendom

Singleness and Marriage after Christendom PDF Author: Lina Toth
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532635567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book Here

Book Description
Momentous change is taking place in Western societies and churches. Singleness is on the rise, along with growing interest in different pathways to human happiness. However, we still largely consider coupledom as the norm and a symbol of the good life. This is especially true in the Christian context, where the decline of “traditional” marriage and family patterns is often presented as an erosion of the Christian way of living. Yet when the church was very young, the world was also very concerned with the demise of traditional family ways—but the culprits accused of destroying family values were none other than Christians. A considerable number of them willingly chose to forego marriage, embracing Jesus’s vision of a new kind of a family: the church. This book follows the changes in the practice of marriage and singleness, from those early days of the Christian movement to our modern preoccupation with romance and coupledom as essential ingredients of a happy, fulfilled life. It argues that the current surge in the number of single people is actually an opportunity for us to reconsider both singleness and marriage in the larger context of a community of faith.

Missional Discipleship After Christendom

Missional Discipleship After Christendom PDF Author: Andrew R. Hardy
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 153261893X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
It is not a changing culture, reduced resources, or a rescinding Christian memory that creates the greatest challenges for the church in the West. It is the lack of a clear commitment to the intentional, authentic, and contextual expressions of missional disciple-making, which will shape current and future generations of followers of Jesus to express the values of the Kingdom today. This book offers stimulating historical, biblical, and theological reflections on discipleship and considers some of the possibilities and opportunities afforded to us by our post-Christian context. Missional discipleship allows the missio Dei to shape us in our engagement our practices and sustain us in the lifelong journey of becoming and developing disciples that follow Jesus today.

After Christendom

After Christendom PDF Author: Stanley Hauerwas
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 142672201X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Liberal/conservative and modern/postmodern concepts define contemporary theological debate. Yet what if these categories are grounded in a set of assumptions about what it means to be the church in the world, presuming we must live as though God's existence does not matter? What if our theological discussion distracts us from the fact that the church is no longer able to shape the desires and habits of Christians? Hauerwas wrestles with these and similar questions constructing a theological politics necessary for the church to be the church in the world. In so doing, he challenges liberal notions of justice and freedom.

Re-Membering the Body

Re-Membering the Body PDF Author: Anthony R. Cross
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532677057
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
This volume celebrates the ministry and theological contribution of Dr. Ruth Gouldbourne, one of the foremost Baptist and Free Church women ministers and scholars in Britain and Europe. Following studies at St Andrews University, and King’s College London, and ministerial training at Spurgeon’s College, she served at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, the Free Church Bunyan Meeting, Bedford, and had been a Tutor, after which she returned to the local pastorate at Bloomsbury then Grove Lane Baptist Church, Cheadle. Her doctorate explores gender and theology in the writings of the radical reformer, Caspar Schwenckfeld, and she has recently earned her MA in Shakespearean Studies. She has served the Baptist Union on the Baptist Women in Ministry and Training group, the Covenant 2000 Committee, the Working Groups on Membership, and Superintendency, as well as the Baptist Historical Society. Internationally, she chaired the Academic Board of the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTSC), and its the Board of Trustees, and her ecumenical commitment has included sitting on the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission, and serving Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. An Associate Fellow of Spurgeon’s College, she is also Senior Research Fellow of IBTSC Amsterdam, and a Research Fellow of Bristol Baptist College.

Single for a Greater Purpose

Single for a Greater Purpose PDF Author: Luanne Zurlo
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
ISBN: 1622826574
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
In these fascinating pages, author Luanne Zurlo shows that, contrary to popular opinion, single life is often a holy, joyful vocation lived out, sometimes in a hidden way, by souls who have had an authentic encounter with Christ. Here she sheds light on this little-understood vocation discerned and embraced by a growing number of single persons who neither marry nor enter religious life. These souls are joyfully single for a greater purpose, nourishing both the world and the Church with the unique spiritual strengths and graces that God gives to souls who deliberately remain single for Him — in the world but not of it. Read these pages to learn: Why dedicated single life is uniquely suited to our times How it builds on our baptismal vocations The special role that dedicated singles have in the Church How the dedicated-single vocation complements marriage and religious life How celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom yields a fruitful spousal relationship with Christ How dedicated singles can follow the evangelical counsels of obedience and poverty without the structured life of a religious community The vows that singles can take to dedicate themselves to such service of God within the world In the face of mounting difficulties within our world and our Church, God is now calling for an army of dedicated singles — laymen for the Kingdom of God — nourished from within and empowered by an authentic, personal encounter with Him alone.

God and Marriage

God and Marriage PDF Author: Geoffrey William Bromiley
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
"Far too many people, Christians not excluded, are self-centeredly preoccupied with their own marital problems and their attempt to engineer solutions to them. A theology of marriage can help them to achieve a God-centered look at the larger situation of which their marriages constitute a small, if by no means unimportant, part. In the long run a few look means a new understanding, and a new understanding means a new practice." - Geoffrey Bromiley Offering a new look at the increasingly unfashionable institution of marriage, Geoffrey Bromiley presents here a timely theological study which, unlike others books on marriage, aims exclusively to relate marriage to God as Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit. Bromiley observes that God's work on reconciliation makes it possible for his people also to achieve reconciliation with one another, particularly in the marriage relationship. In addition to thoroughly discussing the relationship of the Trinity to marriage, Bromiley examines such topics as incest, adultery and fornication, celibacy, the permanency of marriage, and remarriage after the death of a partner. "Dr. Bromiley pays close, cautious, and sensitive attention to virtually every Scriptural passage about marriage, even the passages that are particularly difficult for our own era to cope with. He makes no attempt to rewrite the Bible in the interest of some specially modern idea. It is a book rooted deeply in the immeasurable principles of Creation and Redemption, and is full of sane, courageous, sound teaching." - Thomas Howard Gordon College "I am very pleased with the book and feel it will fill a very special place in the available literature on Christian marriage. . . . It stands apart from the superficial writing that all but characterizes our time. How-to books are of little value apart from the basic theological understanding which must precede them. This is a book I would like to have written, and a book which will be required reading for my students." - Dwight Small Westmont College Geoffrey W. Bromiley is professor emeritus of Church History and Historical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He is best known as the translator of numerous theological books, including the 9-volume Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

The Meaning of Singleness

The Meaning of Singleness PDF Author: Danielle Treweek
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 1514004860
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
Drawing upon ancient and contemporary theologians, Dani Treweek offers biblical, historical, cultural, and theological reflections to retrieve a theology of singleness for the church today. Far from being a burden, she shows that singleness presents the church with a foretaste of the eschatological reality that awaits all of God's people.

The New Anabaptists

The New Anabaptists PDF Author: Stuart Murray
Publisher: MennoMedia, Inc.
ISBN: 1513813005
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
What does it look like to be an Anabaptist community in the modern world? And why does it matter? A new incarnation of Anabaptism is emerging, but not where we might expect. In the United Kingdom—a post-Christendom context with little historical Anabaptist presence—Christian communities are embodying fresh expressions of Anabaptist faith and practice. In this companion to The Naked Anabaptist, author Stuart Murray identifies 12 common practices of such churches and communities that are shaped by an Anabaptist vision. Murray explores how these practices—which include encouraging economic radicalism in the face of rampant consumerism, truth-telling in a “post-truth” society, and accountability in an individualistic culture that knows little about the Christian story—might shape emerging Christian communities and inspire those seeking fresh expressions as cultural changes accelerate. The book concludes with three one-the-ground reports from ministry leaders pursuing this Anabaptist vision in their own post-Christendom contexts. ​ The New Anabaptists provides foundational resources for followers of Jesus in many different settings as they rise to the challenge of faithful and radical discipleship in local communities.

Women and Men After Christendom

Women and Men After Christendom PDF Author: Fran Porter
Publisher: Authentic Media Inc
ISBN: 184227905X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
This book explores the way that gender relationships changed under Christendom and then after Christendom, challenging us to rethink gender relations in both church and society. Fran Porter goes beyond the personal aspects of gender identity to structural, philosophical and theological considerations; and offers a paradigm for gender relationships different to the oppositional models that currently prevail. "This is an accessible read about the complex topic of gender, Christendom and post Christendom. For those seeking to explore the history of gender relationships in the church from the first century this is an excellent introduction." Dianne Tidball, East Midland Baptist Association, UK "Through careful handling of the argument, Fran Porter helps us to glimpse that vision of what the new community of Christ, the new kin-work he inaugurated, could look like - and how the church, in the way she is in the world, can be radical good news for men and women everywhere." Sian Murray Williams, Tutor in Worship Studies at Bristol Baptist College

Singleness and the Church

Singleness and the Church PDF Author: Jana Marguerite Bennett
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190462620
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Singleness is a much overlooked treasure in Christian tradition. In these pages, Christians (single and married alike) can rediscover the richness of singleness in its great variety. This book offers thought-provoking cultural and theological analysis, along with voices of single Christian people down through the centuries.