David A Fraser

Leadership has a proclivity to go off ethical and moral rails. Too often ethical issues are passed over or lapses excused if the leader seems to bring value to the group. In times of great moral confusion or corruption, when anything goes to get ahead, there is great temptation to short circuit moral concerns. The time of the book of Ruth was just such a time. What we are shown in this marvelous story are people who swim against the tide of corruption surrounding them. The virtues of kindness and loyalty, the moral courage and strength of character brought the best out of Ruth and Boaz. It is a tale of the triumph of people who were faithful to their God and to the need to care for the desperately poor. It echoes in our day with the millions of refugees and asylum seekers. It is the story of how a wealthy man decided to care for an alien immigrant and an impoverished widow from his wider family. It raises issues of what role stories play in informing and inspiring our own ethical character.

Times of complexity and turbulence require great leadership skills. In the Bible the book of Judges offers insights into just such times and leaders. Recurrent crises and exploitative enemies surrounded Israel in that distant time. Yet God was actively moving the nation toward better leadership.

Matthew's Gospel is designed to facilitate growth in the Christian faith. This commentary focuses on Matthew as a manual of instruction for people who are followers of Christ and wish to deepen their understanding of his commands and spiritual practices. Emphasis is given to the ethical instructions, especially the Sermon on the Mount.

Colorfully written by two popular and respected sociologists, this volume shows how sociology has evolved, how it became divided from Christian faith, and how Christian sociologists can make sense of this branch of social science.

Two respected and popular sociologists offer a Christian view of sociology, the social science that examines the worlds of culture, customs, and organization. Frazer and Campolo explore the following questions and issues: - Does sociology address questions once answered by Christianity? - How did sociology and the Christian faith become divided? - What gifts does sociology bear for humanity and for Christianity? - Why do sociology and faith often seem mutually exclusive? - Is a Christian sociology possible? - What tools and concepts are available for thinking "Christianly" about society? The authors facilitate a "conversation" between sociology and Christianity about our "commonly shared social world" so that there might be "more fair play in our societal affairs and more people obtaining a fair share of the goods of this life and of the age to come." Cosponsored by the Christian College Coalition, Sociology Through the Eyes of Faith clearly and colorfully helps students and teachers understand how sociology has evolved and how Christian sociologists can make sense of it so that the interchange between Christian faith and sociology is not a "dialogue of the deaf."