Ohne die Frauen ist keine Kirche zu machen: Der Aufbruch des Konzils und die Zeichen der Zeit
M. Eckholt
Ostfildern: Matthias-Grünewald Verlag, 2012. Pp. 231. Pb.
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Reviewed by Ursula King, University of Bristol in Modern Believing Apr 2013.
The Trinitarian Self: The Key to the Puzzle of Violence
C. K. Bellinger
Cambridge: James Clarke and Co., 2010. Pp. xxii, 167. Pb.
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Reviewed by Simon J. Taylor, Derby Cathedral in Modern Believing Apr 2013.
Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel
A. J. M. E. Christoyannopoulos
Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2010. Pp. viii, 336. Hb.
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Reviewed by Christopher Craig Brittain, University of Aberdeen in Modern Believing Apr 2013.
Inherit the Earth? Millennium Development Goals: So Near and Yet So Far
B. J. Butler
London: Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, 2013. Pp. xviii, 284. Pb.
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Reviewed by Richard Truss, Weybridge in Modern Believing Apr 2013.
What Does Europe Believe In? Between Secularisation and the Return of Religious Life
T. Dienberg, T. Eggensperger and U. Engel, eds.
Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2010. Pp. 315. Hb.
Reviewed by Michael Hoelzl (short review), University of Manchester in Modern Believing Apr 2013.
Christianity and the Renewal of Nature: Creation, Climate Change and Human Responsibility
S. C. H. Kim and J. L. Draper, eds.
London: SPCK, 2011. Pp.xviii, 135. Pb.
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Reviewed by Paula Clifford, Oxford in Modern Believing Jul 2012.
Migrations of the Holy: God, State, and the Political Meaning of the Church
W. T. Cavanaugh
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Pp.vi, 200. Pb.
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Reviewed by Esther D. Reed, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Jul 2012.
Supporting Dying Children and Their Families: A Handbook for Christian Ministry
P. Nash
London: SPCK, 2011. Pp.xii, 178. Pb.
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Reviewed by Sister Frances Dominica, Helen and Douglas House, Oxford in Modern Believing Jul 2012.
God Lost and Found
J. L. Pritchard
London: SPCK, 2011. Pp.xiv, 146. Pb.
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Reviewed by Susan Durber, Westminster College, Cambridge in Modern Believing Jul 2012.
Christianity and Contemporary Politics: The Conditions and Possibilities of Faithful Witness
L. Bretherton
Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Pp.xvi, 251. Pb.
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Reviewed by Anna Thompson, University of Chester and Eden Network in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Radical Democracy and Political Theology
J. W. Robbins
New York and Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2011. Pp.xiv, 213. Hb.
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Reviewed by Esther D. Reed, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Sharing Possessions: What Faith Demands, 2nd edn.
L. T. Johnson
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Pp.viii, 170. Pb.
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Reviewed by Clare Bryden, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Familiar Strangers: The Church and the Vegetarian Movement in Britain (1809-2009)
J. M. Gilheany
Cardiff: Ascendant Press, 2010. Pp.x, 274. Pb.
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Reviewed by Matthew Barton, University of Leeds in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Human Nature: Ecology, Ethics, Genes, and God
J. C. Peterson
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010. Pp.viii, 259. Pb.
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Reviewed by Celia Deane-Drummond, University of Notre Dame, Indiana in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Nature and Altering It
A. Verhey
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010. Pp.x, 150. Pb.
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Reviewed by Ann Marie Mealey, Leeds Trinity University College in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Respecting Life: Theology and Bioethics
N. Messer
London: SCM Press, 2011. Pp.xii, 236. Pb.
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Reviewed by Agneta Sutton, Heythrop College, London in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Is God Still at the Bedside? The Medical, Ethical and Pastoral Issues of Death and Dying
A. R. Evans
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Pp.xviii, 484. Pb.
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Reviewed by Robin Gill, University of Kent in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
Disabled Church - Disabled Society: The Implications of Autism for Philosophy, Theology and Politics
J. N. Gillibrand
London and Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010. Pp.206. Pb.
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Reviewed by Deborah Beth Creamer, Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado in Modern Believing Apr 2012.
No Faith in Religion
J. C. Saxbee
Winchester and Washington: O Books, 2009. Pp.vi, 165. Pb.
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Reviewed by Vaughan S. Roberts, Warwick in Modern Believing Jan 2012.
Publisher's review: If religion is characterised by the recruitment of God to serve our agendas, and faith is about putting our agendas at the service of God, then clearly there is too much religion in the world, and not enough faith. The first eight chapters of this book apply this religion/faith dichotomy to some crucial areas of interest to those exploring what it might mean to be people of faith in a world saturated with religion. The remaining chapters address issues of crucial importance to the future of organised religion in general, and the role of the Church of England in particular. From mediaeval polyphony to Andrew Lloyd Webber the development of a given theme through a sequence of variations has proved attractive to composers anxious to demonstrate the sometimes surprising potential of a simple melody. "No Faith in Religion" is a modest attempt to do something similar with two concepts, religion and faith, which are usually seen as simply synonymous but which are in fact subtly different and subject to being interwoven in numerous complex and unexpected ways.
Grace, Order, Openness and Diversity: Reclaiming Liberal Theology
I. C. Bradley
London and New York: Continuum, 2010. Pp.xviii, 190. Pb.
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Reviewed by Peter Sedgwick, St Michael's College, Llandaff in Modern Believing Jan 2012.
Divine Transcendence and the Culture of Change
D. H. Hopper
Grand Rapids, MI, and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Pp.xiv, 262. Pb.
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Reviewed by David Brown, University of St Andrews in Modern Believing Jan 2012.
The Gospel in the Global Village: Seeking God's Dream of Shalom
K. Jefferts Schori
London: Canterbury Press Norwich, 2009. Pp.viii, 184. Pb.
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Reviewed by Jody Stowell, Harrow Weald in Modern Believing Jan 2012.
Publishers notes: These memorable, beautifully written reflections reveal the concerns and passions of the first woman presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church as she looks back on the first two years of her episcopate. Leading the Episcopal Church during a time when many have held it responsible for the threat of schism hich faces the Communion, has been stormy at times and she has had her fair share of vitriol, yet her calm and unhurried demeanor belies a profound wisdom and unwavering spiritual stability. Here she openly writes about the joys and the trials of being appointed to an office that she never sought, she engages imaginatively with scripture, she considers the fraught internal issues she has faced in the church and - more important to her - the scandal of poverty and violence that cripples so many lives worldwide and its prophetic challenge the Church to rise above its own preoccupations and bring healing and release.
Forrester on Christian Ethics and Practical Theology: Collected Writings on Christianity, India, and the Social Order
D. B. Forrester
Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2010. Pp.xiv, 521. Hb.
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Reviewed by Tim Gorringe, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Jan 2012.
Understanding Faith: Religious Belief and Its Place in Society
S. R. L. Clark
Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2009. Pp. vi, 280. Pb.
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Reviewed by Celia Deane-Drummond, University of Notre Dame, Indiana in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
Words Made Flesh: Writings in Pastoral and Practical Theology
E. L. Graham
London: SCM Press, 2009. Pp. xviii, 3666. Pb.
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Reviewed by John Reader, Ironstone Benefice and William Temple Foundation in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
Beauty, Truth and Love: Essays in Honour of Enda McDonagh
P. Hannon and E. Duffy, eds.
Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Columba Press, 2009. Pp. 236. Pb.
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Reviewed by Kevin T. Kelly, Liverpool Hope University in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
Religion as a Conversation Starter: Interreligious Dialogue for Peacebuilding in the Balkans
I. Merdjanova and P. Brodeur
London and New York: Continuum, 2009. Pp. viii, 185. Hb.
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Reviewed by Donald Reeves, Soul of Europe, Crediton in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
The Devil's Children: From Spirit Possession to Witchcraft: New Allegations that Affect Children
J. La Fontaine, ed.
Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2009. Pp. xvi, 204. Hb.
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Reviewed by George D. Chryssides, University of Birmingham in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
Space for Grace: Creating Inclusive Churches
G. W. Goddard
Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2008. Pp. xx, 140. Pb.
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Reviewed by Ann Morisy, Streatham, London in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction, 2nd edn.
J. P. Wogaman
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Pp. xvi, 376. Pb.
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Reviewed by Alison Joyce, Edgbaston, Birmingham in Modern Believing Oct 2011.
The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens
G. J. Ward
London: SCM Press, 2009. Pp. 317. Pb.
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Reviewed by John Reader, Ironstone Benefice and William Temple Foundation in Modern Believing Jul 2011.
After War, Is Faith Possible? An Anthology
G. A. Studdert Kennedy, K. S. Walters, ed.
Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2008. Pp. xii, 225. Pb.
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Reviewed by Michael Brierley, Tavistock in Modern Believing Jul 2011.
The Whole Armour of God: Anglican Army Chaplains in the Great War
L. Parker
Solihull: Helion and Co., 2009. Pp. 94. Pb.
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Reviewed by Michael Brierley, Tavistock in Modern Believing Jul 2011.
Progressive and Conservative Religious Ideologies: The Tumultuous Decade of the 1960s
R. Lints
Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2010. Pp. vii, 224. Hb
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Reviewed by Hugh McLeod, University of Birmingham in Modern Believing Jul 2011.
The Immoral Bible: Approaches to Biblical Ethics
E. W. Davies
London and New York: T. and T. Clark Internation, 2010. Pp. x, 172. Pb.
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Reviewed by Adrian Thatcher, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Apr 2011.
Creation in Crisis: Christian Perspectives on Sustainability
R. S. White (ed.)
London: SPCK, 2009. Pp. xxii, 298. Pb.
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Reviewed by Mary Grey, St Mary's University College, Twickenham in Modern Believing Jan 2011.
The Future of Love: Essays in Political Theology
J. Milbank
London: SCM Press, 2009. Pp. xxii, 382. Pb.
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Reviewed by Steven Shakespeare, Liverpool Hope University in Modern Believing Oct 2010.
Jürgen Moltmann's Ethics of Hope: Eschatological Possibilities for Moral Action
T. Harvie
Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2009. Pp. xiv, 223. Hb.
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Reviewed by Brock Bingaman, Wesleyan College, Georgia, USA in Modern Believing Jul 2010.
Faith and Fertility: Attitudes Towards Reproductive Practices in Different Religions from Ancient to Modern Times
E. Blyth and R. Landau (eds.)
London and Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009. Pp. 256. Pb.
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Reviewed by Claire Foster, Ethics Academy, London in Modern Believing Jul 2010.
When the Vow Breaks: Contemplating Christian Divorce
G. Davidson
London: SPCK, 2009. Pp. xvi, 171. Pb.
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Reviewed by Adrian Thatcher, University of Exeter in Modern Believing Jul 2010.
Living Well and Dying Faithfully: Christian Practices for End-of-Life Care
J. Swinton and R. Payne (eds.)
Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009. Pp. xxiv, 287. Pb.
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Reviewed by James Woodward, College of St George, Windsor Castle in Modern Believing Jul 2010.
Forgiveness: How Religion Endangers Morality
R.A. Sharpe
Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2007. Pp. iv, 130. Pb.
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Reviewed by Anthony Bash, Durham University in Modern Believing Apr 2010.
Votewise Now! Helping Christians engage with the issues
Rose Lynas (ed.)
London: SPCK, 2009. Pp. xii, 116. Pb.
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Reviewed by Richard Harries, Barnes, London (Short Review) in Modern Believing Apr 2010.
Entering the New Theological Space: Blurred Encounters of Faith, Politics and Community
J. Reader and C. R. Baker (eds.)
Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2009. Pp. xiv, 241. Hb.
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Reviewed by Christine Jones, Urban Theology Unit, Sheffield in Modern Believing Oct 2009.
Remoralizing Britain? Political, Ethical and Theological Perspectives on New Labour
P. M. Scott, C. R. Baker and E. L. Graham (eds.)
London and New York: Continuum, 2009. Pp. xx, 258. Pb.
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Reviewed by Graeme Smith, University of Chichester in Modern Believing Oct 2009.
The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions
J. Neusner and B. D. Chilton (eds.)
London and New York: Continuum, 2008. Pp. xii, 185. Pb.
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Reviewed by Marcus Braybrooke, Clifton Hampden in Modern Believing Jul 2009.
The Vocation of Business: Social Justice in the Marketplace
J. Médaille
London and New York: Continuum, 2007. Pp. xiv, 359. Pb.
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Reviewed by Edmund Newell, Christ Church, Oxford in Modern Believing Jul 2009.
A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming
Michael S. Northcott
London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2007. Pp. xvi, 336.
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Reviewed by Neil Messer, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Oct 2008.
Christian Inculturation in India
Paul M. Collins
Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. Pp. xvii, 234.
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Reviewed by Thomas O'Loughlin, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Jul 2008.
Islamic Banking and Finance: What It Is and What It Could Be
Tarek El Diwany (Contributing Editor)
1st Ethical Charitable Trust, 2010. Hardcover, 536 pages.
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This text has been designed for use by professionals new to the field of Islamic banking and finance, and by students at undergraduate level or above. It covers the historical, theological, commercial, legal, institutional and macro-economic factors affecting the modern world of Islamic banking and finance and is organised into four main sections: Islam and the Shari'ah, Traditional Contract Forms, Contemporary Practices, and A Response to Capitalism. Views both for and against the current direction of the Islamic banking and finance industry are presented and a number of reforms are suggested at the institutional and contractual levels. Traditional and contemporary interpretations of Islam are contrasted, along with differences of opinion among the various schools of thought, so that the reader can better understand current discourse among scholars of Shari'ah.
Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition
Gary Dorrien
WileyBlackwell, illustrated edition, 2008. Hardcover: 752 pages.
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This book describes the founding and development of social ethics as a discourse in the realms of the academy, church, and general public. It analyzes the three major traditions of social ethics, explains their revisions and offshoots, interprets evangelical and neoconservative alternatives, and delineates the various confessional and cultural standpoints from which religious thinkers have construed the social meaning of Christianity. Almost from the beginning, 'social ethics' named a specific academic field and a way of thinking about Christian ethics that transcended the academy. Dorrien pays attention to both meanings, bringing together prominent academic voices and important exponents of social Christianity, including pastors, movement activists, and self-styled 'public intellectuals'.
"This book is a skillful tour de force and an indispensable resource.
With his encyclopedic knowledge of the field of social ethics and his seasoned
and fair analysis of issues and authors, Gary Dorrien is uniquely qualified to gift us
with this masterpiece."
Daniel C. Maguire, Marquette University
In the waning months of the Cold War, shortly before an expiring Soviet Union finally disintegrated, a group of neoconservative policymakers and intellectuals began to argue that the moment had come to create an American-dominated world order. Some of them called it 'the unipolarist imperative'. Instead of reducing military spending, they contended, the United States needed to expand its military reach to every region of the world, using America's tremendous military and economic power to create a new Pax Americana. This book describes how the ideology of American global preminence originated during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, developed in the 1990s, gained power with the election of George W. Bush, and reshaped American foreign policy after September 11, 2001.
Structured as a narrative, this account deals with government policymakers and outside advocates. It tells the story of the development of unipolarist ideology and its role in recent American foreign policy. It makes an argument about the nature and problems of this ideology, emphasizing that an unrivaled superpower makes the whole world its geopolitical neighborhood. It offers a critique of the unilateralist militarism of the second Bush administration and it contends that the problem of imperial expansiveness, though dramatically heightened by the Bush administration, did not begin with it. The problem is inherent in the anxiety of being a global hegemon.
Good God: Green Theology and the Value of Creation
Jonathan Clatworthy
Oxford: Jon Carpenter, 1997. Paperback: 240 pages.
Clatworthy examines our inherited value judgements about the world and their roots in different theories of creation. He explores the relationship between value judgements, cosmology and ethics to argue for defending the natural order and therefore adopting a 'green' agenda for social objectives, quite distinct from the left-right spectrum of modern political discourse.
Theology and Families
Adrian Thatcher
WileyBlackwell, 2006. Paperback: 288 pages.
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This timely book, by one of the world's leading theologians in this field, makes a positive theological contribution to present intellectual and practical discussions about families and children. It identifies and utilizes theological sources for thinking about real human families; and it reclaims for the Christian church the notion that real 'family values' are rooted in the life of the triune God.
Facing Death: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Paul Badham and Paul H. Ballard (eds.)
University of Wales Press, 1996. Paperback: 198 pages.
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The discussion of death is at last being brought out into the open, while the care of the dying is seen to involve more than the traditional services of doctor and priest. Facing death brings together contributors from the law, philosophy, medicine, social work, theology and religious studies to discuss issues such as hospice care, the arguments for and against euthanasia, and religious hope for eternal life.
