Stephen Bevans

This book makes a case, from an ecumenical Christian perspective, for a theological anthropology and a missiology that are based on the essential significance of story, body, imagination, and relationality, in order to understand what it means to be human vis-a-vis God, the other, and creation. Such an interpretation, moreover, enables seeking and pursuing a common life for the whole creation in the force field of God's radical and transformative reign. To advance its argument, it engages contemporary culture, including cinema and, to a lesser extent, fiction and music.

This book makes a case, from an ecumenical Christian perspective, for a theological anthropology and a missiology that are based on the essential significance of story, body, imagination, and relationality, in order to understand what it means to be human vis-a-vis God, the other, and creation. Such an interpretation, moreover, enables seeking and pursuing a common life for the whole creation in the force field of God's radical and transformative reign. To advance its argument, it engages contemporary culture, including cinema and, to a lesser extent, fiction and music.

Afua Kuma's Jesus will surprise, even astound, you. This illiterate Ghanaian woman felt something was missing when she prayed. She dreamed of an angel who opened her mouth to praise the Lord from her heart, and she awoke to find herself praying in ways that no one had ever heard before. When she prayed over people in hospitals, the doctors, nurses, and visitors left their patients to be charmed by her praises. Afua leads us to see God's glory in the rivers, seas, forests, farms, villages, and even the chief's royal court. Her Jesus is the hearth preparing our food and the hunter who brings home hunks of hippo. His farm is between the sun and the moon. He is the chief's golden regalia, his musketeers, drummers, and horn-blowers. His arm is a cannon that blasts the soul-eating bomote and roasts the devil on a charcoal grill. He has anointed his priests to lift us out of the mud. Now thousands in cities, villages, and student campuses are enthralled by her praises. Why? It is as simple as life itself. For her, everything glorifies Jesus. Little Afua invites us to feel the glory that is all around us.

World and church have changed so much since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). With each change, religious congregations have had to review and update both their charism and mission, with ever new emphases in spirituality and mission. The 122 letters of the post-Vatican II superiors general of the Spiritans give some idea of the paths traced by missiology during the period. They offer a chronicle of missiological thinking through the turbulent time of crisis in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the gradual reclaiming of the Spiritans' essential charism of the evangelization of the poor, but in a very changed world and a very changed church.

World and church have changed so much since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). With each change, religious congregations have had to review and update both their charism and mission, with ever new emphases in spirituality and mission. The 122 letters of the post-Vatican II superiors general of the Spiritans give some idea of the paths traced by missiology during the period. They offer a chronicle of missiological thinking through the turbulent time of crisis in the 1960s and early 1970s, and the gradual reclaiming of the Spiritans' essential charism of the evangelization of the poor, but in a very changed world and a very changed church.

Leading Voices from across Christian Traditions Discuss the Mission of the ChurchWhat is the mission of the church? Every seminarian and church leader must wrestle with that question. No matter what designation a church uses to describe itself, it must also think critically about why it exists and what it should be doing. In this book, five leading voices representing a range of Christian traditions engage in an enlightening conversation as they present and compare their perspectives on the mission of the church. Each contributor offers his or her view and responds to the other four views. Contributors include Stephen B. Bevans, Darrell L. Guder, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Edward Rommen, and Ed Stetzer. The book's format is ideal for classroom use and will also benefit pastors and church leaders.

A collection of essays that demonstrates that to be effective in the twenty-first century, mission must be prophetic as it encounters other cultures and religious traditions. "When we speak as mission as dialogue, then, we are about as far away from imagining mission as 'conquering the world for Christ' and missionaries as 'marines of the Catholic Church' as we probably can get. There has indeed been a radical shift, both in the world in which the church does mission and within the church's own consciousness of the goodness and even holiness of that world." These words from one of the essays in this superb collection clearly demonstrate the changing of mission today. In this volume, Fathers Bevans and Schroeder address a primary challenge faced by Christians missioners today: How can they bring the Christian tradition to interact respectfully and effectively with members of other cultures and traditions from around the globe and still be prophetic?

This is a comprehensive guide to doing theology as part of the Catholic ecclesial community in today's global world. The book bears the hallmark of Bevans's work and experience teaching and doing pastorial work on five continents, bringing together insights garnered over a lifetime.

The Scottish theologian John Oman (1860–1939) conceived of God in terms of a personal reality who calls forth - rather than inhibits - freedom, creativity, and responsibility. Although he never wrote a book on God as such, all Oman's thought is based on this conception of God's radically personal nature and gracious - though often challenging - dealing with humanity. This book systematizes the thoughts on God which are scattered throughout Oman's writings, and places Oman in his historical and cultural context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the picture which emerges, evil and suffering are the result of cosmic independence and human freedom; God's power is revealed not in his ability to override human freedom, but in the patience to deal with its consequences, which include the emergence of moral and physical evil. For Oman, God's face has been revealed most clearly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whose gracious dealing with men and women shows God to be both eternal Father and abiding Spirit.

American Society of Missiology Series #65 In this comprehensive ecclesiology through a missionary lens Stephen Bevans unpacks the profound Catholic conviction that the church is missionary by its very nature as he considers what it means for the church to be on mission, in community, and together in discipleship. Contents 1 Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Foundation of the Church 2 The Spirit of Christ and the Birth of the Church 3 The Future that Calls Forth the Church: The Reign of God and the Church 4 The Mission that Calls Forth the Church: A Single, Complex Reality 5 The Dialogue that Calls Forth the Church: The Practice of Prophetic Dialogue 6 The Church as the People of God: Called to be a Blessing for All Nations 7 The Church as the Body of Christ: Sharing and Continuing the Mission of Jesus 8 The Church as the Creation of the Spirit: Presence, Challenge, Surprises 9 Dimensions of the Missionary Church I: Apostolicity and Catholicity 10 Dimensions of the Missionary Church II: Holiness and Unity 11 Baptismal Missionary Discipleship 12 Leadership for a Missionary Church 13 Ministerial Missionary Discipleship 14 Ordained Missionary Discipleship I: (Ordained) Ministry in History and Context 15 Ordained Missionary Discipleship II: A Theology of Ordained Ministry in a Missionary Church

This book is a correspondence between two theologians and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. In it the authors reflect on the nature of God, the efficacy of prayer, the value of experience, the nature of theology itself, the importance of Christian hope, and many other topics. The style is familiar and light, rich, and full of wisdom.

This book is a correspondence between two theologians and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. In it the authors reflect on the nature of God, the efficacy of prayer, the value of experience, the nature of theology itself, the importance of Christian hope, and many other topics. The style is familiar and light, rich, and full of wisdom.

The Scottish theologian John Oman (1860–1939) conceived of God in terms of a personal reality who calls forth - rather than inhibits - freedom, creativity, and responsibility. Although he never wrote a book on God as such, all Oman's thought is based on this conception of God's radically personal nature and gracious - though often challenging - dealing with humanity. This book systematizes the thoughts on God which are scattered throughout Oman's writings, and places Oman in his historical and cultural context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the picture which emerges, evil and suffering are the result of cosmic independence and human freedom; God's power is revealed not in his ability to override human freedom, but in the patience to deal with its consequences, which include the emergence of moral and physical evil. For Oman, God's face has been revealed most clearly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whose gracious dealing with men and women shows God to be both eternal Father and abiding Spirit.