Flexible, understandable, and filled with sound pedagogy--the ideal core text for teaching students how to read the Old Testament! A... first-of-its-kind text to integrate the most recent research on the Hebrew Scriptures into a historical context. This is NOT a passive textbook. Instead, this is a text that focuses on reading strategies to encourage and empower students to read the Bible on their own. Dr. Carvalho helps students learn about the social and cultural contexts out of which these texts were produced, helps them understand the variety of interpretations of the text, and encourages students to claim ownership of their own interpretations. And she does all this while sparking students' interest in theological questions by connecting their queries to their everyday world. Features include: Active learning techniques help students to develop critical reading skills. A balance of classical concepts and contemporary approaches to interpretation allows students to connect theological questions to their everyday world. A contagiously enthusiastic, narrative voice avoids jargon, draws students in, and encourages them to stick with it. Outstanding pedagogical aids--like chapter overviews and summaries, a glossary, images, maps, and guided readings of key biblical texts as well as unique sidebars focusing on different aspects of, themes in, and methods for interpreting biblical text--make the concepts clear. Liberal use of contemporary experiences helps to explain ancient customs clearly. Excellent references to New Testament passages show students how the two books relate. Unique and interesting "In Case You Were Wondering" sections focus on questions students ask every day.

The new second edition of Corrine Carvalho's widely popular core text maintains the features, pedagogy, and engaging style that made the first edition... so effective and successful, while adding a new element that makes it accessible to even more students than ever. The tone of the text is inclusive and does not presume a specifically Christian or religious reader; there's a new key to biblical texts discussed in the book, listed in canonical order in the front matter of the book; and the style of the book brings the stories of the Old Testament to life for students. Flexible, understandable, and filled with sound pedagogy--chapter overviews and summaries; guided readings of key biblical texts; and unique sidebars focusing on different aspects of, themes in, and methods for interpreting biblical text--Encountering Ancient Voices sparks students' interest in theological questions by connecting their queries to their everyday world. With its focus on reading strategies and active learning techniques throughout, it's an approach that empowers students to read the Old Testament on their own.

Freshman Composition.   Encountering Cultures is a composition reader that integrates issues of language and culture, domestic cultural... diversity, and global cultural diversity with an unprecedented range of readings, authors, and views. The premise of the second edition, like that of the first, is that increasing cultural diversity in North America can best be understood in a global context; the 42 “Brief Encounters” and 60 full-length selections emphasize interactions across cultural boundaries of all types, both at home and abroad. The new thematic arrangement of readings and the enhanced editorial apparatus facilitate for students and instructors a comprehensive view of cultural issues and a critical thinking approach.

How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia,... Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the so-called Third World? And what will happen when development ideology collapses? To answer these questions, Arturo Escobar shows how development policies became mechanisms of control that were just as pervasive and effective as their colonial counterparts. The development apparatus generated categories powerful enough to shape the thinking even of its occasional critics while poverty and hunger became widespread. "Development" was not even partially "deconstructed" until the 1980s, when new tools for analyzing the representation of social reality were applied to specific "Third World" cases. Here Escobar deploys these new techniques in a provocative analysis of development discourse and practice in general, concluding with a discussion of alternative visions for a postdevelopment era.Escobar emphasizes the role of economists in development discourse--his case study of Colombia demonstrates that the economization of food resulted in ambitious plans, and more hunger. To depict the production of knowledge and power in other development fields, the author shows how peasants, women, and nature became objects of knowledge and targets of power under the "gaze of experts."

How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia,... Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the so-called Third World? And what will happen when development ideology collapses? To answer these questions, Arturo Escobar shows how development policies became mechanisms of control that were just as pervasive and effective as their colonial counterparts. The development apparatus generated categories powerful enough to shape the thinking even of its occasional critics while poverty and hunger became widespread. "Development" was not even partially "deconstructed" until the 1980s, when new tools for analyzing the representation of social reality were applied to specific "Third World" cases. Here Escobar deploys these new techniques in a provocative analysis of development discourse and practice in general, concluding with a discussion of alternative visions for a postdevelopment era. Escobar emphasizes the role of economists in development discourse--his case study of Colombia demonstrates that the economization of food resulted in ambitious plans, and more hunger. To depict the production of knowledge and power in other development fields, the author shows how peasants, women, and nature became objects of knowledge and targets of power under the "gaze of experts." In a substantial new introduction, Escobar reviews debates on globalization and postdevelopment since the book's original publication in 1995 and argues that the concept of postdevelopment needs to be redefined to meet today's significantly new conditions. He then calls for the development of a field of "pluriversal studies," which he illustrates with examples from recent Latin American movements.

The book of Ecclesiastes speaks eloquently to the uncertainties and anxieties that people have experienced through the centuries. James Limburg brings... this ancient book to life for readers in our probing, questioning twenty-first-century times. He illuminates the contemporary existential themes in Ecclesiastes -- the quest for meaning in life, the incompleteness of our knowledge, the place of work in human lives, and the need to discover God amid life's uncertainties. A fresh, relevant discussion, arising from Limburg's extensive teaching experience, Encountering Ecclesiastes is ideal for any reader seeking to understand the timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes.

Eight prominent philosophers and theologians confront the problems posed by natural and human evil for theistic belief. Each thinker sets out his or her... theodicy and its connections to current social and philosophical debates. The other contributors then offer critiques of each theodicy, to which its author subsequently responds. The result is a valuable introduction to philosophical and theological perspectives on contemporary evil and to the nature of discourse in the philosophy of religion.

Religion scholar Diana Eck is director of the Pluralism Project, which seeks to map the new religious diversity of the United States, particularly the... increasing presence of Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim communities. In this tenth-anniversary edition of Encountering God, Eck shows why dialogue with people of other faiths remains crucial in today's interdependent world--globally, nationally, and even locally. She reveals how her own encounters with other religions have shaped and enlarged her Christian faith toward a bold new Christian pluralism

Surveys the content of the Fourth Gospel with over sixty photographs, maps, and line drawings. The perfect resource for teaching the Gospel of John in a... variety of settings.

This new volume in the award-winning Encountering Mission series is for current and future missionaries. It provides practical guidance regarding... getting ready for the mission field and the realities of life on the field. The authors are well qualified to write such a manual, each having served as a missionary for more than twenty years and each having taught missions in seminary.The authors begin by examining the contemporary context for missions, including the recognition that the world's mission fields are in constant and often rapid change. They then discuss aspects of preparing oneself for the mission field, beginning with home-front preparations and moving to on-the-field preparations. The final section deals with practical issues and challenges of missionary life.

Using historical and biblical accounts, the authors present practical advice for evangelizing practitioners of new religions with approaches similar to... those used to reach foreign people groups.

Encountering Revolution looks afresh at the profound impact of the Haitian Revolution on the early United States. The first book on the subject in more... than two decades, it redefines our understanding of the relationship between republicanism and slavery at a foundational moment in American history. For postrevolutionary Americans, the Haitian uprising laid bare the contradiction between democratic principles and the practice of slavery. For thirteen years, between 1791 and 1804, slaves and free people of color in Saint-Domingue battled for equal rights in the manner of the French Revolution. As white and mixed-race refugees escaped to the safety of U.S. cities, Americans were forced to confront the paradox of being a slaveholding republic, recognizing their own possible destiny in the predicament of the Haitian slaveholders. Historian Ashli White examines the ways Americans—black and white, northern and southern, Federalist and Democratic Republican, pro- and antislavery—pondered the implications of the Haitian Revolution. Encountering Revolution convincingly situates the formation of the United States in a broader Atlantic context. It shows how the very presence of Saint-Dominguan refugees stirred in Americans as many questions about themselves as about the future of slaveholding, stimulating some of the earliest debates about nationalism in the early republic.

Encountering Revolution looks afresh at the profound impact of the Haitian Revolution on the early United States. The first book on the subject in more... than two decades, it redefines our understanding of the relationship between republicanism and slavery at a foundational moment in American history. For postrevolutionary Americans, the Haitian uprising laid bare the contradiction between democratic principles and the practice of slavery. For thirteen years, between 1791 and 1804, slaves and free people of color in Saint-Domingue battled for equal rights in the manner of the French Revolution. As white and mixed-race refugees escaped to the safety of U.S. cities, Americans were forced to confront the paradox of being a slaveholding republic, recognizing their own possible destiny in the predicament of the Haitian slaveholders. Historian Ashli White examines the ways Americans—black and white, northern and southern, Federalist and Democratic Republican, pro- and antislavery—pondered the implications of the Haitian Revolution. Encountering Revolution convincingly situates the formation of the United States in a broader Atlantic context. It shows how the very presence of Saint-Dominguan refugees stirred in Americans as many questions about themselves as about the future of slaveholding, stimulating some of the earliest debates about nationalism in the early republic.

Bryan E. Beyer follows previous bestselling texts with this comprehensive introduction to the book of Isaiah. Here is a survey with depth, presenting... the prophet's overarching themes and sweeping issues while including copious details that round out a study of the man and his work. Chapters begin with outlines and objectives that allow easy entry into the discussion and end with conclusions and study questions that aid comprehension and recall. Informative sidebars delve further into the language, theological connections, and controversies of Isaiah. This volume is useful to any serious student of the Bible.