Faithful Imagining

In the past thirty years there has been a sea change in North American intellectual life regarding the role of religious commitments in academic endeavors. Driven partly by postmodernism and the fragmentation of knowledge and partly by the democratization of the academy in which different voices are celebrated, the appropriate role that religion should play is contested. Some academics insist that religion cannot and must not have a place at the academic table; others insist that religious values should drive the argument. Faithful Imagination in the Academy takes an approach based on dialogue with various viewpoints, claiming neither too much nor too little. All the authors are seasoned academics with many significant publications to their credit. While they all know how the academy operates and how to make worthwhile contributions in their respective disciplines, they are also Christians whose religious commitments are reflected in their intellectual work. Book jacket.

Written from different perspectives, attending in some cases to particular writers and artists and in others to broader topics, each of these essays illumines some aspect of the imaginative component in religion. These studies analyze some of the ways in which nature, self, and community have been imagined religiously. Included are essays on Augustine, Dante, Jonathan Edwards, William James, Charles Peirce, Frida Kahlo, and Richard R. Niebuhr, and on such varied topics as the Manichaeans, the Qur'an, ecology, meditation, and contemporary conceptions of university and church. The authors and editors have prepared them as a tribute to Richard R. Niebuhr, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard University.

The "Gentleman's magazine" section is a digest of selections from the weekly press; the "(Trader's) monthly intelligencer" section consists of news (foreign and domestic), vital statistics, a register of the month's new publications, and a calendar of forthcoming trade fairs.

This volume brings together essays -- three of them previously unpublished -- on the epistemology, ethics, and politics of memory by the late feminist philosopher Sue Campbell. The essays in Part I diagnose contemporary skepticism about personal memory, and develop an account of good remembering that is better suited to contemporary (reconstructive) theories of memory. Campbell argues that being faithful to the past requires both accuracy and integrity, and is both an epistemic and an ethical achievement. The essays in Part II focus on the activities and practices through which we explore and negotiate the shared significance of our different recollections of the past, and the importance of sharing memory for constituting our identities. Views about self, identity, relation, and responsibility (all influenced by traditions in feminist philosophy) are examined through the lens of Campbell's relational conception of memory. She argues that remaining faithful to our past sometimes requires us to re-negotiate the boundaries between ourselves and the collectives to which we belong. In Part III, Campbell uses her relational theory of memory to address the challenges of sharing memory and renewing selves in contexts that are fractured by moral and political difference, especially those arising from a history of injustice and oppression. She engages in detail Canada's Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where survivor memories have the potential to illuminate the significance of the past for a shared future. The study of memory brings together philosophers, psychologists, historians, anthropologists, legal theorists, and political theorists and activists. Sue Campbell demonstrates a singular ability to put these many different areas of scholarship and activism into fruitful conversation with each other while also adding an original and powerful voice to the discussion.

The relatively recent "worship wars" over styles of worship — traditional, contemporary, or blended — have calmed down, and many churches have now reached decisions about which "worship style" defines them. At a more fundamental level, however, change has yet to begin. In From Memory to Imagination Randall Bradley argues that fallout from the worship wars needs to be cleaned up and that fundamental cultural changes — namely, the effects of postmodernism — call for new approaches to worship. Outlining imaginative ways for the church to move forward, this book is a must-read for church leaders and anyone interested in worship music.

In Intimate Diversity Paul Smith explores the question, 'What grace can be found in the gift of interreligious marriage?' He investigates the experience of interfaith couples for theological themes and from a mssional standpoint.

Even believers sometimes have doubts. Many followers have issues of faith at some point in their spiritual journeys. Some are content to ignore those questions, and eventually, their faith may wane. Even those who don't leave their churches do not have the spiritual lives they could have. Others, however, look to discover the reasons behind their doubts or other concerns and become stronger in their faith. In Hope for the Journey: Reflections of God's Faithfulness, author Richard Parrish MDiv helps believers work through their faith issues. Sometimes that requires a major overhaul of who we believe God to be. Through this devotional, Parrish shows us how to adopt a different view of the Deity and become closer to God, to know God, and not just in the religious sense. Questions for reflection help you think deeply about and internalize what you've read.

The metaphor of performance has been applied fruitfully by anthropologists and other social theorists to different aspects of human social existence, and furnishes a potentially helpful model in terms of which to think theologically about Christian life. After an introductory editorial chapter reflecting on the nature of artistic performance and its relationship to the notions of tradition and identity, Part One of this book attends specifically to the phenomenon of dramatic performance and possible theological applications of it. Part Two considers various aspects of the performance of Christian identity, looking at worship, the interpretation of the Bible, Christian response to elements in the contemporary media, the shape of Christian moral life, and ending with a theological reflection on the shape of personal identity, correlating it with the theatrical metaphors of 'character' and 'performing a part' in a scripted drama. Part Three demonstrates how art forms (including some technically non-performative ones - literature, poetry, painting) may constitute faithful Christian practices in which the tradition is authentically 'performed', producing works which break open its meaning in profound new ways for a constantly shifting context.