Denis R. Janz – författare

This book is the first unified and comprehensive attempt in the post-Cold War period to give an account of world Christianity's encounter with Marxism. After exploring the intellectual foundations of the antagonism on both sides, Janz examines the particular contexts of the USSR, the United States, Poland, Nicaragua, Albania, Cuba, and China, and suggests that the "Marxist project" is not as dead as one might imagine.

Denis Janz argues that the encounter with Marxism has been the defining event for twentieth century Christianity. No other worldview shook Christianity more dramatically and no other movement had as profound an impact on so many. Now the Cold War is over and as we approach the end of the century we need, Janz says, to ask ourselves what happened.This book is the first unified and comprehensive attempt to analyze this historic meeting between these two antagonistic worlds of thought and action. The intellectual foundation of this antagonism is to be found in Karl Marx himself, and thus the book begins with an account of Marx''s assault on Christianity. All the diverse philosophical and political manifestations of Marxism were ultimately rooted in Marx''s thought, and supporters based their greater or lesser hostilities toward Christianity on their reading of his critique. Janz follows this with an overview of Christian responses to Marx, extending from the mid-19th century to the onset of the Cold War. He argues that within this time frame Christianity''s negation of Marx was not absolute; the loud "no" to Marx bore with it an important, if muted, "yes."With this intellectual groundwork in place, Janz turns to an examination of the encounter as it unfolded in specific national contexts: the United States, the Soviet Union, Poland, Nicaragua, Cuba, China, and Albania. The experiences of these countries varied widely, from Poland where Christianity maintained its strongest independence, to Nicaragua where a Christian alliance with Marxism contributed to revolutionary change, to Albania where a Stalinist government attempted to abolish religion entirely. From this survey emerges the evidence that world Christianity has clearly internalized some of the prominent features of its antagonist, suggesting that the "Marxist project" is not as utterly defunct as many have assumed.

This volume in the Westminster Handbooks to Christian Theology series provides a compact and lucid treatment of the main elements of the theology of Martin Luther (1483-1546). Janz, a top Luther expert, discusses the theological understandings that made Luther a leading figure in the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. This splendid guide will serve as a welcome reference for careful and accurate descriptions of the key components of Luther's theology.The Westminster Handbook to Christian Theology series provides a set of resources for the study of historic and contemporary theological movements and Christian theologians. These books are intended to help students and scholars find concise and accurate treatments of important theological terms./p>