Over the past decade, scholars and policy makers interested in Canadian multiculturalism have begun to take religion much more seriously. Moreover,... Christian communities have become increasingly aware of the impact of ethnic diversity on church life. However, until very recently almost no systematic academic attention has been paid to the intersection between the ethnic and religious identities of individuals or communities. This gap in both our academic literature and our public discourse represents an obstacle to understanding and integrating the large numbers of "ethnic Christians," most of whom either join existing Canadian churches or create ethnically specific congregations.In Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada, eleven scholars explore the complex relationships between religious and ethnic identity within the nine major Christian traditions in Canada. The contributors discuss the ways in which changes in the ethnic composition of these traditions influence religious practice and identity, as well as how the nine religious traditions influence communal and individual ethnic identities. An introductory chapter by Paul Bramadat and David Seljak provides a thorough discussion of the theoretical, historical, and empirical issues involved in the study of Christianity and ethnicity in Canada. This volume complements Religion and Ethnicity in Canada in which the authors address similar issues within the six major non-Christian communities in Canada, and within Canadian health care, education, and politics.

Although Rwanda is among the most Christian countries in Africa, in the 1994 genocide, church buildings became the primary killing grounds. To explain... why so many Christians participated in the violence, this book looks at the history of Christian engagement in Rwanda and then turns to a rich body of original national and local-level research to argue that Rwanda's churches have consistently allied themselves with the state and played ethnic politics. Comparing two local Presbyterian parishes in Kibuye prior to the genocide demonstrates that progressive forces were seeking to democratize the churches. Just as Hutu politicians used the genocide of Tutsi to assert political power and crush democratic reform, church leaders supported the genocide to secure their own power. The fact that Christianity inspired some Rwandans to oppose the genocide demonstrates that opposition by the churches was possible and might have hindered the violence.

Machens classic defense of orthodox Christianity established the importance of scriptural doctrine and contrasts the teachings of liberalism and... orthodoxy on God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and the church. Though originally published nearly seventy years ago, the book maintains its relevance today. It was named one of the top 100 books of the millennium by World magazine and one of the top 100 books of the century by Christianity Today.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove... books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

An investigation of the transformation from paganism to Christianity between the fourth and eighth centuries. It reassesses the triumph of Christianity,... contending that it was neither tidy nor quick, and it shows that two religious systems were both valid during this interactive period.

This selection of source readings brings together diverse materials from the Christian tradition in order to help students think theologically about the... implications of religious plurality.

It is not simply for rhetorical flourish that politicians so regularly invoke God's blessings on the country. It is because the relatively new form of... power we call the nation-state arose out of a Western political imagination steeped in Christianity. In this brief guide to the history of Christianity and politics, Pecknold shows how early Christianity reshaped the Western political imagination with its new theological claims about eschatological time, participation, and communion with God and neighbor. The ancient view of the Church as the "mystical body of Christ" is singled out in particular as the author traces shifts in its use and meaning throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods-shifts in how we understand the nature of the person, community and the moral conscience that would give birth to a new relationship between Christianity and politics. While we have many accounts of this narrative from either political or ecclesiastical history, we have few that avoid the artificial separation of the two. This book fills that gap and presents a readable, concise, and thought-provoking introduction to what is at stake in the contentious relationship between Christianity and politics.

“If someone were to ask, ‘Where is God?,’ how would you respond?” Joseph A. Bracken, S.J., uses this question as a springboard to introduce the... process-relational metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and other process theologians as he reconciles the sometimes-conflicting views of traditional Christian doctrines and the modern scientific world. To present this material in an accessible manner to a wider audience, Bracken discusses Whitehead’s “model” of the God-world relationship, showing that God is involved in an ongoing, ever-changing relationship with humans and other creatures. He also discusses the work of other contemporary theologians to help Christians come to terms with their role in our multi-dimensional pluralistic society. Bracken examines divine and human creativity, the collective power of good and evil, divine providence and human freedom, prayer, and altruism, and he addresses the question, “What is truth?” He shows how Whitehead’s process thought approach to these issues in fact “harmonizes” traditional Christian beliefs and contemporary culture, benefiting both faith and reason. Understanding the God-world relationship subtly influences our attitude toward ourselves, toward other human beings, and indeed toward all of God’s creatures, says Bracken. His study of Whitehead’s metaphysical vision of a cosmic community shows how modern views of the world and God can be accepted and kept in balance with the traditional biblical views found in the Christian faith and how this balance can help Christians make better choices in a world shaped both by contemporary natural science and by traditional Christian spirituality.

Christianity and Public Culture in Africa takes the reader beyond Africa’s apparent exceptionalism. African Christians have created new publics, often... in ways that offer fresh insights into the symbolic and practical boundaries separating the secular and the sacred, the private and the public, and the liberal and the illiberal. Critical reason and Christian convictions have combined in surprising ways when African Christians have engaged with vital public issues such as national constitutions and gender relations, and with literary imaginings and controversies over tradition and HIV/AIDS.The contributors demonstrate how the public significance of Christianity varies across time and place. They explore rural Africa and the continent’s major cities, and colonial and missionary situations, as well as mass-mediated ideas and images in the twenty-first century. They also reveal the plurality of Pentecostalism in Africa and keep in view the continent’s continuing denominational diversity. Students and scholars will find these topical studies to be impressive in scope. Contributors: Barbara M. Cooper, Harri Englund, Marja Hinfelaar, Nicholas Kamau-Goro,Birgit Meyer, Michael Perry, Kweku Okyerefo, Damaris Parsitau, Ruth Prince,James A. Pritchett, Ilana van Wyk

This parallel history of Judaism and Christianity presents both separate and integrated account of the first six centuries in the development of both... religions in one understandable volume. This book begins where its companion volume "Ancient Israel" ends.

Did Christianity transform the Roman world in which it began, or did the Roman world shape Christianity? This work explores current debates and new... interpretations of Early Christianity in Roman Society. Adopting an interdisciplinary and thematic approach, it offers the student unfamiliar with the Christian tradition, a comprehensive introduction to its role in the Roman world.

The book surveys the ways in which Christian ideas and institutions shaped sexual norms and conduct from the time of Luther and Columbus to that of... Thomas Jefferson. It is global in scope and geographic in organization, with chapters on Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and North America. All the key topics are covered, including marriage and divorce, fornication and illegitimacy, clerical sexuality, same-sex relations, witchcraft and love magic, moral crimes, and inter-racial relationships. Each chapter in this second edition has been fully updated to reflect new scholarship, with expanded coverage of many of the key issues, particularly in areas outside of Europe. Other updates include extra analysis of the religious ideas and activities of ordinary people in Europe, and new material on the colonial world. The book sets its findings within the context of many historical fields- the history of sexuality and the body, women's history, legal and religious history, queer theory, and colonial studies- and provides readers with an introduction to key theoretical and methodological issues in each of these areas. Each chapter includes an extensive section on further reading, surveying and commenting on the newest English-language secondary literature.

The fourth edition of Christianity and Social Work is written for social workers whose motivations to enter the profession are informed by their... Christian faith, and who desire to develop faithfully Christian approaches to helping. Christianity and Social Work is organized around four themes: a) Christian Roots of the Social Work Profession; b) Christians Called to Social Work: Scriptural Basis, Worldviews and Ethics; c) Human Behavior and Spiritual Development in a Diverse World; d) Christians in Social Work Practice: Contemporary Issues. Chapters address a breadth of curriculum areas such as social welfare history, human behavior and the social environment, social policy, and practice at micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Containing over 20 chapters and more than 400 pages, this revised edition of CSW include six new chapters in response to requests by readers of previous editions, including chapters on issues of sexual orientation, Evidence-based Practice (EBP), models of integrating faith and practice, as well as an enhanced section on the role of Christianity in social welfare history. NACSW provides upon request (info@nacsw.org) an accompanying electronic resource entitled Instructor Resources for Christianity and Social Work (2012) by Mary Anne Poe. This resource offers outlines, suggestions regarding specific core competencies found in the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education, summaries of key concepts and terms, learning objectives, discussion questions, suggested class activities and assignments, and annotated bibliographies for each chapter. In organizing this 4th edition, NACSW has carefully considered the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) from the Council on Social Work Education. It is important for schools of social work to show how they prepare students to demonstrate specific competencies in social work practice. To help with this integration CSW includes Appendices with charts that guide readers toward potential connections. These tools will be a helpful guide for both instructors and students.

This extensively-revised third edition of Christianity and Social Work, 11 new chapters, is written for social workers whose motivations to enter the... profession are informed by their Christian faith, and whose desire is to further develop Christian approaches to helping. It is organized around four themes: 1. A Christian Worldview and Social Work offers Christians in social work a variety of frameworks to help link their Christian faith, personal identity, and professional social work practice; 2. Exploring Foundational Christian Beliefs and Values for Social Work articulates how Christians social workers can relate or evaluate the values of the social work profession with the values and beliefs derived from a biblical perspective; 3. Spiritual and Religious Dimensions in Social Work Practice introduces the reader to differing models for incorporating Christian spirituality in a variety of practice areas; 4. The Changing Environment in Social Work Practice addresses the current call for community and faith-based organizations, as well as congregations, to take increasing responsibility for social and economic needs of their communities. Christianity and Social Work is intended for a variety of audiences, including social work practitioners, educators, and students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is organized so that it can be used as a textbook or supplemental text in a social work class, or as a training or reference materials for practitioners. Readings address a breadth of curriculum areas such as social welfare history, human behavior and the social environment, social policy, and practice at micro, mezzo, and macro levels.