Description: Children are the focus of marriage in African cultures. Marriage is considered full and functional only if the couple has children--in many cultures preferably a boy. Becoming a parent also contributes to one's full adulthood in the sense that childlessness blocks ascent towards full personal dignity as an adult person in the community. As a result, childlessness is often a major disaster for both of the spouses. It has social, economical, and personal consequences, quite often including divorce. This book explores in depth how childlessness is perceived, dealt with, and coped...
Description: Children are the focus of marriage in African cultures. Marriage is considered full and functional only if the couple has children--in ma...
Perhaps no era in Christian history since the time of the apostles presented a greater challenge to the spread of faith than the twentieth century. The First World War in particular resulted in nearly disastrous losses for the world mission movement. Christian countries were engaged in fratricidal conflict, missionaries were forced to return to their homelands, and traditional sources of mission funding dried up. In response to the missions crisis, American Catholic youth devoted themselves to a program of ""prayer, study, and sacrifice""--the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade. Beginning...
Perhaps no era in Christian history since the time of the apostles presented a greater challenge to the spread of faith than the twentieth century. Th...
In a globalized world and an "age that cannot name itself," how do Christian communities sustain a recognizable gospel identity? How might examining tradition and identity formation from both theology and cultural anthropology help churches approach the challenges of being a follower of Jesus today? With these questions in focus, Colleen Mallon studies symbol systems in the works of anthropologists Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, and Clifford Geertz and places her findings in dialogue with a "thick description" of discipleship gleaned from the great Roman Catholic ecclesiologist Yves Congar, OP....
In a globalized world and an "age that cannot name itself," how do Christian communities sustain a recognizable gospel identity? How might examining t...
Description: ""For Thais, face is a fact,"" writes Flanders. However, ""whether in theology, evangelism, or issues involving sin, salvation, or atonement, Thai Christians and missionaries alike seem either uninterested in or possibly incapable of addressing issues related to face. This glaring incongruity between the value of face for Thais and the lack of intentional engagement within the Thai Christian community is deeply troubling. ""Surely, such a lack of careful attention to face is a dangerous posture. Uncritical views of face, furtively attaching to the theology of the Thai church, are...
Description: ""For Thais, face is a fact,"" writes Flanders. However, ""whether in theology, evangelism, or issues involving sin, salvation, or atonem...
Theologies of Power and Crisis provides a case study for Eric Wolfs research directive to better comprehend the interplay of cultural (webs of meaning) and material (webs of power) forms of social life. More specifically, the book demonstrates how theological discourse and practice engage with historical and material relations of power. It has been normative to speak of power in terms of political and economic processes and theology in terms of interpretive and symbolic experiences. This work breaks new ground by linking theological ideas with political-economic processes in terms of the...
Theologies of Power and Crisis provides a case study for Eric Wolfs research directive to better comprehend the interplay of cultural (webs of meaning...
Description: Street Signs is an engaging missiological inquiry into the cultural and theological meaning of the city. Through the lens of Seattle's Rainier Valley, one of the most ethnically and socioeonomically diverse communities in the US, this work constructs an urban, missional, and contextual theology that is shaped by the local realities of urban neighborhoods but relevant to cities everywhere. Focused on the themes of incarnation, confrontation, and imagination, Street Signs explores the contours of missional theology in urban contexts marked by physical density, social diversity, and...
Description: Street Signs is an engaging missiological inquiry into the cultural and theological meaning of the city. Through the lens of Seattle's Ra...
