Sharon H. Ringe, beginning with this Lukan text, addresses the Jubilee images and traditions in the Synoptic Gospels, especially in Jesus' proclamation of the reign of God. She illuminates how the Jubilee traditions served as a source for early Christian ethics and Christology: to confess Jesus as the Christ - herald of the Jubilee, messenger, and enactor of liberation - is to participate in acts of liberation. Ringe concludes that the agenda of liberation constitutes the very core of both the gospel message and biblical faith: the word of God fulfilled in the presence of Jesus of Nazareth is alive with images of liberation. In the final chapter, In Christ We Are Set Free, she explores further the implications of her findings for contemporary ethical and christological reflection.

This tenth anniversary edition of the landmark pastoral letter includes both A Decade After Economic Justice for All and A Catholic Framework for Economic Life.

In the contemporary biblical studies climate, proposals regarding the theological interpretation of Scripture are contested, particularly but not only because they privilege, encourage, and foster ecclesial or other forms of normative commitments as part and parcel of the hermeneutical horizon through which scriptural texts are read and understood. Within this context, confessional approaches have been emerging, including some from within the nascent pentecostal theological tradition. This volume builds on the author's previous work in theological method to suggest a pentecostal perspective on theological interpretation that is rooted in the conviction that all Christian reading of sacred Scripture is post-Pentecost, meaning after the Day of Pentecost outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh in anticipation of the coming reign of God. In that respect, such a pentecostal interpretative perspective is not parochially for those within the modern day movement bearing that name but is arguably apostolic in following after the scriptural imagination of the earliest disciples of Jesus the messiah and therefore has ecumenical and missional purchase across space and time. The Hermeneutical Spirit thus provides close readings of various texts across the scriptural canon as a model for Christian theological interpretation of Scripture suitable for the twenty-first-century global context.

In this introduction to the first five books of the Old Testament, Victor Hamilton moves chapter by chapter through the Pentateuch, examining the content, structure, and theology. Hamilton surveys each major thematic unit of the Pentateuch and offers useful commentary on overarching themes and connections between Old Testament texts.

As an Anabaptist, John Howard Yoder is often depicted as Christ-centered in his theology but with a creation-deficient approach to culture. In this clearly reasoned study, Branson Parler argues that Yoder advocates a trinitarian theology of culture that upholds the continuity between God’s work in creation and in redemption. For Yoder, Jesus’ humanity makes him directly relevant to culture while Jesus’ divinity connects him directly to creation. Yoder’s writings, says Parler, affirm that Jesus restores and re-establishes the politics of creation. In Things Hold Together, Parler joins a growing number of writers from outside Anabaptist or Mennonite traditions who are finding resonance with Yoder, one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century. “Interpreters who dismiss Yoder’s call to discipleship find comfort in suggesting he lacked a doctrine of creation or in finding him to be at best a heterodox theologian. Parler takes the ground away from such critics. His book sets the bar for any future reception of Yoder's theology.”—D. Stephen Long, author of Speaking of God: Theology, Truth and Language "Things Hold Together helps us see that John Howard Yoder was from first to last a trinitarian thinker. Parler therefore provides an illuminating context for interpreting Yoder's critique of H. Richard Niebuhr." —Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe professor of theological ethics, Duke University

Why do so many feel so lonely today? Are our friendships in breakdown mode, or are they just changing? Why are we burdened with the creeping sense that our communities are falling apart? Sociologists report that in recent decades the number of Americans who have no one in whom to confide may have tripled. Likewise, church attendance, participation in local clubs and groups, even the number of times we invite one another over to supper are all in decline. Meanwhile, some of us have more "friends" than ever on social media. The question of friendship, its definition, virtue, and quality, is not a new one to the church or the culture in which Christianity was birthed. Greco-Roman ethicists were fascinated by the virtue of friendship. Taking a cue from Jesus, the New Testament authors transformed Greco-Roman friendship notions to express visions of Christian community that were spiritually fulfilling, sustainably flourishing, and socially just. This book traces the New Testament transformation of friendship in specific passages in Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Philippians, and James, and connects them to contemporary issues and cutting-edge experiments in Christian community. It is New Testament Theology for the twenty-first century.

How can people celebrate the gospel of life in their daily lives? What about cloning? Is euthanasia morally acceptable in certain cases, such as terminal illness? In case of health reasons, mental illness, pregnancy due to rape, etc., is abortion morally acceptable? Are you in favor of the use of contraceptives, both natural and artificial? A Morally Complex World will not answer such complex questions in detail, but it does provide a framework for trying to grapple better with the first question of how we should lead our moral lives in general, as well as some of the concrete ethical issues the other three questions raise. A Morally Complex World is an accessible introduction to moral theology covering the methodology of moral theology; basic concepts such as conscience and moral agency; natural law, moral norms; how the Bible can be used in Christian ethics; how to dialogue on contested ethical issues; how to consider sin and moral failure; and finally, how to mediate moral principles and moral teaching in a pastorally sensitive manner in concrete life situations. Chapters are Mapping a Moral Methodology, The Natural Law and Moral Norms: Moving Along the Rational Claim Axis, Scripture and Ethics: Moving Along the Sacred Claim Axis, The Sanctuary of Conscience: Where the Axes Intersect, Modes of Moral Discourse: Navigating Towards a Common Ground, Navigating in the Morally Complex World: Casuistry with a Human Face, and Sin and Failure in a Morally Complex World. James T. Bretzke, SJ, STD, is associate professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, and an adjunct professor of moral theology at the Jesuit School of Theology-at-Berkeley. He has written three books, including Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary, published by Liturgical Press, which won an award from the Catholic Press Association. He has also authored over fifty articles and scholarly reviews in the areas of Roman Catholic moral theology and cross-cultural ethics. "