New Church's Teaching Series - Böcker

In this first volume to the New Church's Teaching Series James Griffiss provides an introduction to the Anglican tradition. He focuses especially on Anglicanism's ability to hold together theological continuity (especially the emphasis on the Incarnation) with social and cultural change. After discussing the Episcopal Church today and the ways in which it has changed over the past fifty years, Griffiss shows how the distinctive Anglican approach has been lived out in its history, spirituality, mission, worship, and approach to Scripture. Throughout, the book stresses the place of Anglicanism in the late twentieth century and its ability to be both flexible and traditional in rapidly changing cultures.The Anglican Vision is intended for wide parish use, including adult education, parish forums, inquirers and newcomers classes, and study groups throughout the church year. It includes a study guide, list of resources, and suggestions for further reading.

For many people the Bible is strange and unfamiliar territory, impossible to navigate without a certain kind of knowledge and skill. Roger Ferlo leads his readers through the practical difficulties of reading the Bible, offering advice that is true to the way Anglicans have read Scripture from the time of Tyndale and Cranmer.Ferlo explains why the Bible looks the way it does, the theology that lies behind the many different versions and translations, how to deal with the notes and cross-references, and the practical tools needed for studying the Bible. Above all he teaches the importance of approaching the Bible with respect—a book with a long history, complex traditions, and diverse authorship, which must be read on its own terms. Ferlo identifies the ground rules of reading Scripture for Anglicans, noting the particular ways Anglicans have read the Bible for revelation, insight, and ethical directives, and suggesting that Scripture itself contains many clues for unlocking its own mysteries.

The companion to Volume 2 of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Roger Ferlo’s Opening the Bible, Michael Johnston’s Engaging the Word teaches us how to use the critical and practical tools for reading the Bible described by Ferlo to interpret the Hebrew and Christian scriptures: what did they mean for their original audience and what do they mean for us today?Johnston introduces us to the key terms and concepts of biblical criticism that show us how to read Scripture on three key levels: the literal, historical, and prophetic. He explores with us passages that touch on questions of ethics, the nature of God, the teachings of Jesus, and eschatology, and offers vivid insights into the physical setting and geography of the Bible.Above all, the purpose of Engaging the Word is to help us become people who can read and interpret the Bible intelligently and perceptively. It offers the fundamental questions that we must ask of any biblical text in order to enter fully into its meaning for us and for our worshiping community:Who wrote the passage?When was it written?What does it actually say?For what community or group was it written?What was its message for that community?What is its message for us today?

In this down-to-earth book on the essentials of prayer, Margaret Guenther answers many of the common questions of the spiritual life, such as How do we learn to listen to God in our prayer? and, How do we develop a life of prayer in the midst of busy, active lives? She includes practical descriptions of a number of ways Christians have prayed through the centuries, from using the Jesus Prayer or rosary to praying with the stories of scripture and prayer book liturgies. Guenther also discusses basic matters of Christian practice, such as making a confession, intercession, going on retreat, simplifying our lives, using a journal to pray, finding a spiritual director, and praying through times of desolation when God does not seem to be listening.

Fredrica Harris Thompsett, a scholar of the English Reformation, introduces us to the role that history has played in creating and shaping the Episcopal Church as we know it today. In giving us the broad lessons of Anglican history, she explores in detail both the historian's task and Anglicanism's distinctive history, from its roots in Scripture and the English language Bible and prayerbook to its seventeenth century flowering in poetry and prose and the different forms it has assumed in the American landscape from the time of the Revolution right through to the late 20th century.Thompsett begins by discussing the relationship between history, tradition, and change, and goes on to outline ten key "touchstones" or milestones in Christian history that are of particular interest to Anglicans. Since it is the historian's task to write the "unwritten" as well as the official story of the church, chapter three is a history of ministry in the church, especially of lay ministry. Chapter four looks at three ways that Anglicans have handled conflict and controversy throughout its history, concentrating on the Elizabethan Settlement, the American Civil War, and the impact of Darwin and the new science. Chapter five discusses how theological insight can be "recycled" to shed new light on the problems of today, focusing on Anglican theology of creation and how it helps us address ecology as a spiritual crisis. Finally, chapter six focuses on how a living historical tradition affects the life and mission of the church today, and how we are a part of that history.

In this sixth volume of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Rebecca Lyman introduces us to the world of the early church. Beginning with the Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures in which the first followers of Jesus lived and worshiped, she traces the growth of the Christian church’s theology, worship, leadership, and ethics through its first six centuries, ending with Augustine of Hippo.Early Christian Traditions offers perceptive insights into the early church’s intense conflicts that reveal the often thin line between orthodoxy and heresy, between true and false teachers, and among the many competing versions of Christianity. Lyman describes the early church’s “family quarrels”—Gnosticism, Donatism, Arianism—as well as the theological, political, and linguistic issues that went into the making of the great creeds and established the apostolic tradition.

What Roger Ferlo did for the Bible in Opening the Bible, volume 2 of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Jeffrey Lee now does for the prayer book in volume 7 of the series. Opening the Prayer Book introduces us to the history and liturgies of The Book of Common Prayer, and helps us understand why the prayer book is such an important aspect of Anglican self-understanding. Lee begins with the fundamental question, “What is common prayer?” He explores some of the ways in which our worship according to The Book of Common Prayer affects who we are as a church, and the way it shapes our lives of faith. In chapter 2 Lee turns to the development of patterns of liturgy from the time of Jesus to the Reformation, tracing changes in the primary liturgies of baptism, eucharist, and daily prayer. The American prayer book is the focus of chapter 3, from the earliest revisions in the new nation through the liturgical scholarship that led to the substantial theological and liturgical changes in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Chapter 4 begins a survey of the pages of the prayer book itself. Lee examines in particular the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter, baptism and eucharist, and the daily office, with a view to understanding the way the parts of the services are rooted in the historical prayers of the church and at the same time reflect the living tradition of Christians today. This theme is further developed in chapter 5, which focuses on the prayer book and our common life. Here Lee discusses questions of how a common prayer book can be responsive to a growing variety of pastoral situations and diverse cultures in a fast-changing world. The final chapter addresses the future of the prayer book within the Anglican Communion, in light of demands for further revision and for greater freedom to adapt the prayer book to local needs and beliefs. As with each book in The New Church’s Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.

In this volume of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Mark McIntosh introduces the great mysteries of the Christian faith: the doctrines of creation, revelation, incarnation, salvation, and eschatology, which are all held together by the doctrine of the Trinity. To explain these beliefs for Christians today, particularly the Trinity, McIntosh begins with what we know: the language of relationship and mutuality, of friendship and family ties.The central theme of the book is our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with our neighbor, for such mutuality lies at the heart of every doctrine. McIntosh’s starting point is the fact that every one of us is a theologian, for we are all drawn to approach the mysteries of faith with attention and love. By drawing on our common experiences as members of a community of faith, particularly through the sacraments of baptism and eucharist, he helps us to explore these mysteries for ourselves and to see how we might live them in our daily lives.As with each book in The New Church’s Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.

In this volume of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Stephen Holmgren introduces us to the world of Anglican ethics and moral theology. He focuses on questions all people of faith must ask: How will I keep my baptismal promises? How am I meant to live “after Easter?”In developing a distinctively Anglican approach to ethics, with its emphasis on holiness, sanctification, and the need for spiritual disciplines, Holmgren identifies clear axioms for Anglican moral theology and the ethos required for moral decision-making on the part of individuals and church bodies. He explains why ethical reflection is not the same as church governance, and why the institution cannot “make” its moral theology.Holmgren also discusses the role of conscience and reason, the work of moral discernment, the difference between moral knowledge and saving knowledge, the meaning of natural law, and the high value Anglicans place on consensus. The final chapter provides a methodology for building a moral case in Christian ethics, specifically on Christian involvement with war and violence.As with each book in The New Church’s Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.

A Guide to The New Church's Teaching Series by educator Linda L. Grenz offers practical suggestions for using the books of the series in the diocese or congregation.A complete reference for clergy and lay leaders, teachers and small group facilitators, the guide provides a brief overview of each book and contains suggestions for additional activities to enhance learning. It surveys a wide variety of church groups and formats for using the series—from adult forums and Bible study groups to retreats and vestry meetings—and recommends volumes of the series that would be most helpful in each context. Finally, the guide offers specific guidelines for recruiting, teaching, and leading small groups in a chapter describing how to create and maintain a learning environment for adults.

In this volume of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Harold T. Lewis surveys the teachings and witness of Anglicanism and the Episcopal Church concerning the Christian vision of a righteous social order, including the challenges of the new millennium. Beginning with the Bible’s understandings of social justice, Lewis summarizes the Anglican witness of theologians like F. D. Maurice and William Temple and goes on to discuss the Episcopal Church in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Later chapters discuss the challenges of a new social order that face the church today raised by liberation theology, third-world debt and economic justice, and questions of race, gender, and human sexuality.As with each book in The New Church’s Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.

In this volume of The New Church’s Teaching Series, Titus Presler offers a fresh vision of mission in the multicultural environment of a global community. Arguing that Christian mission expresses God’s longing to embrace humanity in love, Presler explores how gospel understandings are being reshaped by Christians in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Christianity’s new centers of gravity. He explores the scriptural basis of mission, historical and contemporary Anglican approaches to mission, the encounter with other religions, and the interaction of gospel and culture. His ten principles for mission in the twenty-first century will help parishes and dioceses to engage in world mission as companions in mutuality.As with each book in The New Church’s Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.