From Exclusion Toward Embrace

Life at the end of the twentieth century presents us with a disturbing reality. Otherness, the simple fact of being different in some way, has come to be defined as in and of itself evil. Miroslav Volf contends that if the healing word of the gospel is to be heard today, Christian theology must find ways of speaking that address the hatred of the other. Reaching back to the New Testament metaphor of salvation as reconciliation, Volf proposes the idea of embrace as a theological response to the problem of exclusion. Increasingly we see that exclusion has become the primary sin, skewing our perceptions of reality and causing us to react out of fear and anger to all those who are not within our (ever-narrowing) circle. In light of this, Christians must learn that salvation comes, not only as we are reconciled to God, and not only as we "learn to live with one another", but as we take the dangerous and costly step of opening ourselves to the other, of enfolding him or her in the same embrace with which we have been enfolded by God.

On the four corner lots formed by the intersecting of Main and Church Streets in Palmyra, NY, one finds four large Protestant churches today. Two centuries ago on the Smith family farm a few blocks to the south, a teenage Joseph Jr. found himself caught in the rivalry between such churches contentiously competing to claim the allegiance of repentant converts from the most recent revival. He wrote that, while praying in a grove of trees a short walk from his log cabin home, “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong.” He would go on to organize a new church, which—ironically—would soon claim to be “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.” Over the years Protestant denominational loyalties and exclusivity claims have faded and expressions of mutual embrace are not uncommon. However, the lines between these churches and the one founded by Joseph Smith Jr.—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—have remained stark and at times harsh. How does Jesus Christ, himself, perceive this excluding of one another? In the Lord’s prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus appears to anticipate these divisions arising among his would-be followers. So he prays repetitively and passionately that they be protected from these. At stake is the validity of their witness to the world of his own exclusive claims. To be sure, differing beliefs as to what those claims are should not be superficially dismissed. But, in the light of how Jesus prayed, should they not be honestly and prayerfully discussed in a mutually respectful way? To stimulate and facilitate this discussion is the intent of this book, using as our guide the simple but profound petitions Jesus taught us in the more well-known Lord’s Prayer. “I came to know and admire Bill Heersink in a formal theological dialogue between Evangelical Christians and Latter-day Saints. Bill has chosen to look carefully at the beliefs of Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints through the lens of a scriptural passage beloved by both groups—the Lord’s Prayer. And how better could we hope to achieve unity of purpose and ‘convicted civility’ than through Jesus Christ?” —Robert L. Millet is Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, where he served as Dean of Religious Education. “Bill Heersink, seminary professor and participant in many dialogues, brings his most irenic and upbeat spirit to this gem of a book. Fully abreast of the most important academic questions, the book nevertheless wears its learning lightly and at times reads more like a devotional. Warmly to be commended to all readers of any or no faith communities.” —Craig L. Blomberg is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary and co-author of the groundbreaking book How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation. “Having lived in Utah among the Latter-day Saints for many years, the author affirms his own deeply Christian beliefs while respectfully seeking to reconcile differences between Mormon and Protestant theology and beliefs.” —Richard E. Bennett is Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University and former President of the Mormon History Association. “Bill has brought all of that experience to the writing of a book that expresses a pastor’s heart, a love of Mormon neighbors, theological savvy, and a Christ-centered spirituality ... a book that evangelical pastors and Mormon bishops can recommend with confidence.” —Richard J. Mouw was President of Fuller Theological Seminary,1993-2012.

In After Our Likeness, Miroslav Volf explores the relationship between persons and community in Christian theology. He seeks to counter the tendencies toward individualism in Protestant ecclesiology and give community its due.

"Peter Powers brings together critical sophistication in both theology and cultural history, while also demonstrating superior skills at literary analysis. There are few books that address the role of religion in American fiction, let alone ethnic American fiction. None do so in so profoundly revisionary a way as this."--Joseph T. Skerrett, Jr., University of Massachusetts-Amherst In Recalling Religions, Peter Kerry Powers demonstrates the pervasive influence of religion in the literature produced by ethnic women writers in late-twentieth-century America. Through close readings of works by Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Cynthia Ozick, the author shows how particular religious traditions have served as a resource for ethnic women, enabling them to sustain their communities in the face of oppression. Powers's analysis serves as an important corrective to earlier investigations of literature and religion. Too often, he argues, such studies have functioned with an abstract or individualistic notion of religion, thus downplaying the significance of ethnic traditions and practices. Other studies have emphasized the religious traditions of discrete groups but have failed to see the points of contact and common purpose between different ethnic experiences. By examining writers with disparate religious heritages, Powers introduces important new insights. He finds that even as traditions and cultural memories have nurtured ethnic wormen writers, their works have frequently rewritten or recreated such traditions for the present day--seeking, for instance, to overcome or transcend the sexism that may have characterized earlier periods. In its explorations of Walker, Kingston, Silko, and Ozick, Recalling Religions identifies broader trends that further our understanding of both American literatureand religious culture. The Author: Peter Kerry Powers is associate professor of English at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. His articles and reviews have appeared in South Atlantic Review, African American Review, American Literature, MELUS, and other publications.

We are at our human best when we give and forgive. But we live in a world in which it makes little sense to do either one. In our increasingly graceless culture, where can we find the motivation to give? And how do we learn to forgive when forgiving seems counterintuitive or even futile? A deeply personal yet profoundly thoughtful book, Free of Charge explores these questions--and the further questions to which they give rise--in light of God's generosity and Christ's sacrifice for us. Miroslav Volf draws from popular culture as well as from a wealth of literary and theological sources, weaving his rich reflections around the sturdy frame of Paul's vision of God's grace and Martin Luther's interpretation of that vision. Blending the best of theology and spirituality, he encourages us to echo in our own lives God's generous giving and forgiving. A fresh examination of two practices at the heart of the Christian faith--giving and forgiving--the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lenten study book for 2006 is at the same time an introduction to Christianity. Even more, it is a compelling invitation to Christian faith as a way of life. "Miroslav Volf, one of the most celebrated theologians of our day, offers us a unique interweaving of intense reflection, vivid and painfully personal stories and sheer celebration of the giving God . . . I cannot remember having read a better account of what it means to say that Jesus suffered for us in our place." -- Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

To be human is to long for home. Home is our most fundamental human longing. And for many of us homesickness is a nagging place of grief. This book connects that desire and disappointment with the story of the Bible, helping us to see that there is a homemaking God with wide arms of welcome—and a church commissioned with this same work. "Many of us seem to be recovering the sacred, if ordinary, beauty of place," writes author Jen Pollock Michel. "Perhaps we're reading along with Wendell Berry, falling in love with Berry's small-town barber and Jayber Crow's small-town life. . . . Or maybe we're simply reading our Bibles better, discovering that while we might wish to flatten Scripture to serve our didactic purposes, it rises up in flesh and sinew, muscle and bone: God's holy story is written in the lives of people and their places." Including a five-session discussion guide and paired with a companion DVD, Keeping Place offers hope to the wanderer, help to the stranded, and a new vision of what it means to live today with our longings for eternal home.

So your church website says you're welcoming, a rainbow flag flies out front, worship uses gender-inclusive language, and you make sure you greet the stranger next to you on Sunday mornings. But is all of that really enough? And what if those welcoming gestures actually keep visitors from returning and exclude dozens of other groups or people in your community? In True Inclusion, public theologian and pastor Brandan Robertson shares how to move your church from mere welcome to radical embrace. Pointing to a clear biblical imperative for radical inclusivity in the sanctuary and in the public square, Robertson presents a paradigm-shifting vision of community, "where nothing is simple, nothing is easy, but everything is beautiful." Learn practical, step-by-step approaches to becoming deeply, robustly, and richly inclusive of all people regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and socioeconomic status. Written for people and communities at every stage of the journey, True Inclusion will challenge and inspire you to embody a gospel of radical embrace for all.

More than almost anything else, globalization and the great world religions are shaping our lives, affecting everything from the public policies of political leaders and the economic decisions of industry bosses and employees, to university curricula, all the way to the inner longings of our hearts. Integral to both globalization and religions are compelling, overlapping, and sometimes competing visions of what it means to live well. In this perceptive, deeply personal, and beautifully written book, a leading theologian sheds light on how religions and globalization have historically interacted and argues for what their relationship ought to be. Recounting how these twinned forces have intersected in his own life, he shows how world religions, despite their malfunctions, remain one of our most potent sources of moral motivation and contain within them profoundly evocative accounts of human flourishing. Globalization should be judged by how well it serves us for living out our authentic humanity as envisioned within these traditions. Through renewal and reform, religions might, in turn, shape globalization so that can be about more than bread alone.