Crucifixion - in the ancient world and the folly of the message of the cross.

* Offers historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives * Drafts blueprints for a culturally sensitive "theology of human rights"

From this engrossing portrait of first-century Palestine, Jesus emerges as the catalyst of nonviolent social revolution that anticipates the renewal of Israel. This fascinating analysis opens up a new perspective of the Roman-dominated Jewish Palestine of Jesus' time, viewing it as an "imperial situation" in which individual acts of violence were responses to institutionalized repression and injustice. Richard A. Horsley reveals the fiercely nationalistic Zealots as largely the fabrication of historians and exposes the erroneous view of Jesus as the sober prophet of nonviolence. In claiming...

What was crucifixion? Why was Jesus of Nazareth executed and what really happened? Gerard Sloyan begins with history and traces the development of the New Testament accounts of Jesus' death. He shows how Jesus' death came to be seen as sacrificial and how the evolving understandings of Jesus' death affected those who suffered most from it - the Jews. He then traces the emergence and development - in theology, liturgy, literature, art - of the conviction that Jesus' death was redemptive, as seen both in soteriological theory from Tertullian to Anselm, in the Reformation and modern eras, and in...

Using a model of orientation--disorientation--new orientation, Brueggemann explores how the genres of the Psalms can be viewed in terms of their functions. The result is a fresh reading of these ancient songs that illuminate their spiritual depth.

Taking the English text from the International Q Project's authoritative "The Critical Edition of Q", this compact volume presents the Sayings Gospel Q for the first time in an accessible format. It includes citations of the Matthew and Luke passages and topical headings. Perfect for use in congregations and classrooms alike.

Well introduced and contextualized by Craig Nessan and Renate Wind, this volume consists of excerpts from Bonhoeffer's 1933 lectures, which are strikingly relevant today, along with other, contemporary writings from and about him.

In this small book, Wink shows that the Christian tradition of nonviolence is needed as an alternative to the dominant and death-dealing powers of our consumerist culture and fractured world.

In this bracing call to serious thought, esteemed biblical theologian Patrick Miller looks to the First Commandment in the fight against the misappropriation of theological themes for political ends-''the coalescence of God and country, the takeover of the language of faith in the speech of politics, and the confusion of loyalty with obedience.''

Is war inevitable? Is it so woven into the fabric of our being that it always was and always will be? "Early Christians," says Maguire, "were unanimous in opposing this view." They didn't see war as normal but an outrage and even a sacrilege. Maguire argues that later Christians succumbed to the supposed "normalcy" of war and developed what later became known as the "just-war theory," which was actually devised as a deterrent to the rush to war.