L. Gregory Jones – författare

"Spirituality" often takes us out of the public world to a more inward (so-called "mystical") space, while "politics" calls us beyond ourselves to the more material realities of social embodiment.

Theology and Scriptural Imagination brings together biblical exegetes, historians of the interpretation of Scripture, as well as contemporary philosophers and theologians who practice the kind of theological reflection it will take to celebrate the Word in season and out in a world that challenges the Scriptural imagination. As in previous volumes in this series, the essays here articulate overlapping as well as competing directions in modern theology. The editors hope that readers will seek out the common ground as well as the conflicts, to learn to taste the Word when it is bitter as well as sweet.

Brings together students of Scripture, the history of Christianity, and various contemporary theologies so that readers can consider and debate the ways diverse and often conflicting eschatological narratives, images and beliefs might bear on the new millennium.

Christians are supposed to forgive others as we''ve been forgiven. But hearing the call to forgive is different from knowing how to practice forgiveness at home and in the world. Forgiveness is about more than the isolated acts and words of individuals. To forgive and be forgiven, we need communal practices and disciplines for a way of life that makes for peace.Greg Jones and Célestin Musekura describe how churches and communities can cultivate the habits that make forgiveness possible on a daily basis. Following the Rwandan genocide, Musekura lost his father and other family members to revenge killings. But then he heard God tell him to forgive the killers. The healing power of forgiveness in his own life inspired him to work for forgiveness and reconciliation across Africa. Jones, author of Embodying Forgiveness, interacts with Musekura''s story to show how people can practice forgiveness not only in dramatic situations like genocide but also in everyday circumstances of marriage, family and congregational life. Together they demonstrate that forgiving and being forgiven are mutually reciprocating practices that lead to transformation and healing.

Narrative Theology is still with us, to the delight of some and to the chagrin of others. ''Why Narrative?" is in reprint because it represents what is still a very important question.This diverse collection of essays on narrative theology has proven very useful in university and seminary theology classes. It is also of great use as a primer for the educated layperson or church study group.Jones and Hauerwas have done an excellent job of selecting representative essays that deal with appeals to narrative in areas such as personal identity and human action, biblical hermeneutics, epistemology, and theological and ethical method.

Over the past decade prominent philosophers and theologians have returned the virtues to a significant place in moral reflection. Transformed Judgment contributes to the growing literature by arguing that the most coherent account of moral judgment is one grounded in, and lived in the presence of, the Triune God. L. Gregory Jones suggests that while there has been considerable discussion of the virtues and the activity of moral judgment, the discussion has tended to neglect the importance of friendship and the ways in which people learn to acquire and exercise the virtues in making wise moral judgments. The Christian tradition's claim that human beings are to live in relation to the mystery of the Triune God provides a distinctive understanding of friendship, the virtues, and moral judgment, claims Jones. Drawing on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, he develops his claim that the primary friendship a person should have is with the God who has befriended humanity in Jesus Christ; such friendship calls forth a life of transformative discipleship in friendship with others. Jones criticizes recent exponents of the virtues such as Martha Nussbaum, Edmund Pincoffs, and Stanley Hauerwas for failing to adequately recognize the difference theological claims make for ethics and moral judgment. He argues that an adequate understanding of how the virtues are acquired and character is formed reveals that theological claims about such matters as God, the world, and life and death make a decisive difference in moral judgment. Drawing on a wide range of literature from the philosophy of language and moral philosophy to theology and theological ethics, Jones establishes why it is crucial to attend to not only the formation of moral judgments, but also to transformation in moral judgment.