Theological, Historical & Ethical Studies · Union with Christ Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church J. Todd Billings J. Todd Billings recovers the biblical theme of union

Theological, Historical & Ethical Studies

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New Release Dictionary of Scripture and EthicsJoel B. Green, general editor; Jacqueline E. Lapsley, Rebekah Miles, and Allen Verhey, associate editors

“A book as ambitious as the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics risks being too superficial to be helpful. I am happy to report that this is not the case for this imaginatively conceived and organized book. This book will quickly become an indispensable resource for Christian reflection on the moral life.”—Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University Divinity School

F r o m t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n

The growth of this literature [on the relation of Scripture and ethics] is one reason for the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics. Students need a reference tool that will survey the literature and provide an introduction to the ethics of Scripture, to the relevance of Scripture to contemporary moral questions, and to the paths by which one might make a way from ethics to Scripture and back again. Pastors need a reference tool that will survey the relation of Scripture and ethics in a way relevant to their tasks of preaching, teaching, and counseling. And specialists in biblical studies or in Christian ethics who want to enter a conversation with the specialists in the other discipline need a reference tool that will provide an account of particular features of the other discipline that are especially relevant to the conversation between disciplines.

E t h i c s C o n t r i b u t o r s I n c l u d e :

James T. Bretzke, SJEllen T. CharryKevin CorcoranMiguel A. De La TorreThomas Finger Jeffrey P. GreenmanDavid P. GusheeAmy Laura HallCraig HoveyBeth Felker Jones Brad J. KallenbergJames Keenan, SJD. Brent LaythamJames W. LewisD. Stephen LongRamón LuzárragaM. Therese Lysaught

Hugo MagallanesDavid Matzko McCarthyMark Thiessen NationChristine D. PohlStephen PostWyndy Corbin ReuschlingJoel James ShumanRonald J. SiderMax L. StackhouseGlen H. StassenPaul J. WadellSondra E. WheelerJonathan R. Wilson

See page 1 for a list of biblical studies contributors.

November 2011 • 896 pp. • cloth • $59.99 • 978-0-8010-3406-0Ethics, Biblical Studies

Joel B. Green (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament interpretation and associate dean for the Center for Advanced Theological

Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal for Theological Interpretation and the author or editor of numerous books. Jacqueline E. Lapsley (PhD, Emory University) is associate professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. Rebekah Miles (PhD,

University of Chicago) is associate professor of ethics at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. Allen Verhey (PhD, Yale

University) is professor of Christian ethics at Duke University Divinity School.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tThis MorTal FleshIncarnatIon and BIoethIcs

Brent Waters

208 pp. • paper$22.00978-1-58743-251-4

The Meaning oF sexchrIstIan ethIcs and the Moral lIfe

Dennis P. Hollinger

272 pp. • paper$24.00978-0-8010-3571-5

inTroducing Moral Theologytrue happIness and the VIrtues

William C. Mattison III

432 pp. • paper$29.99978-1-58743-223-1

reviving evangelical eThicsthe proMIses and pItfalls of classIc Models of MoralIty

Wyndy Corbin Reuschling

192 pp. • paper$24.00978-1-58743-189-0

Search by discipline online at www.bpgacademic.com 31

Theological, Historical & Ethical StudiesUnion with ChristReframing Theology and Ministry for the Church

J. Todd Billings

J. Todd Billings recovers the biblical theme of union with Christ for today’s church in this compelling volume, making a fresh contribution to the theological discussion with important applications for theology and ministry. Drawing on Scripture and classic Reformed theology, Billings shows how a theology of union with Christ can change the way believers approach worship, justice, mission, and the Christian life. He also illuminates how union with Christ can change the theological conversation about thorny topics such as total depravity and the mystery of God and provides a critique and alternative to the widely accepted paradigm of incarnational ministry. Throughout, Billings offers a unique and lively exploration of what is so amazing about being united to the living Christ.

E n d o r s e m e n t s

“J. Todd Billings has a wonderful grasp of theological reflection, old and new, brought into conversation with contemporary issues. He has written a breathtaking book that theologians and pastors will find provocative and instructive.”—Andrew Purves, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

“Drawing upon the likes of Augustine, Calvin, Bavinck, and others, Todd Billings ably demonstrates why the biblical truth of union and communion with God has had such historical and theological significance. Thankfully, he doesn’t leave us out of the story. Along the way he highlights why union with Christ continues to matter for our understanding of the Christian life, making insightful connections between adoption and participation, incomprehensibility and accommodation, justice and Eucharist, grace and action.” —Kelly M. Kapic, Covenant College

“Billings has been at the forefront of academic debates over the concept of union with Christ. With this book he shows all of us why union with Christ matters for our Christian lives and ministries and worship. Drawing on contexts as diverse as sixteenth-century Europe and contemporary Africa, Billings explores a theme that takes us to the heart of the gospel in a way that enriches and corrects our faith, our understanding, and our practices.”—Suzanne McDonald, Calvin College

“Billings expounds upon an important New Testament doctrine by exploring its contemporary ramifications in light of careful historical and exegetical reflection. This is a thought-provoking book that will ignite fresh conversations about the nature of our participation in Christ.”—Trevin Wax, author, Counterfeit Gospels and Holy Subversion

New Release

November 2011 • 192 pp. • paper • $19.99 • 978-0-8010-3934-8ebook: $19.99 • 978-1-4412-3454-4Theology

J. Todd Billings (ThD, Harvard University Divinity School) is associate professor of Reformed theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. He is the author of numerous articles and two award-winning books, including Calvin, Participation, and the Gift: The Activity of Believers in Union with Christ, which received a 2009 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tleTTers To a young calvinisTan InVItatIon to the reforMed tradItIon

James K. A. Smith

160 pp. • paper$14.99978-1-58743-294-1

desiring The KingdoMWorshIp, WorldVIeW, and cultural forMatIon

James K. A. Smith

240 pp. • paper$21.99978-0-8010-3577-7

reForMed dogMaTicsaBrIdged In one VoluMe

Herman Bavinck; John Bolt, ed.

864 pp. • cloth$59.99978-0-8010-3648-4

orThodox and ModernstudIes In the theology of Karl Barth

Bruce L. McCormack

320 pp. • paper$35.00978-0-8010-3582-1

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A Key to BalthasarHans Urs von Balthasar on Beauty, Goodness, and Truth

Aidan Nichols, OP

Hans Urs von Balthasar is widely recognized as perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. Yet students and nonspecialist readers often find Balthasar daunting. This volume is the ideal introduction to his work and captures the essence of what Balthasar wished to say. It unlocks the treasure of his theology by focusing on the beautiful, the good, and the true, the three qualities of being around which his great trilogy—The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama, and Theo-Logic—revolves.

E n d o r s e m e n t

“Combining profundity of thought with lucidity of expression, Aidan Nichols offers a penetrating discussion of Balthasar’s participation metaphysic. The fruit of decades of reading the German theologian, this little gem captures the unity of his massive trilogy on beauty, goodness, and truth by way of devotional exposition, thereby reminding us of theology’s basis in prayer and purpose of holiness. Few theological books are as pertinent, both culturally and doxologically, as this exercise in epistemological optimism!”—Hans Boersma, Regent College

E x c e r p t

Balthasar was deeply opposed to the separation of the beautiful from the true and the good. The idea of beauty, he lamented, has been reduced to that of a merely this-worldly aesthetics, with baleful consequences for Christian faith and morals. Beauty’s separation from the other transcendentals, and the consequent rise of what Balthasar terms the “aestheticisation” of the beautiful, is at least partly responsible, he thinks, for the inability of people to pray and contemplate. The notion of the sheer beauty of the divine Being has disappeared. The severance of beauty from goodness and truth also helps to explain the perceived reduction of the moral order to a self-centred relativism, and the retrenchment of the metaphysical order to a materialism placed at the service of either technology or psychology or both. The final upshot of all this, he predicts, will be incapacity for either faith or love. Unfashionably, Balthasar holds that, in the modern Western epoch, the church has become the guardian of metaphysics. We live in a period when “things are deprived of the splendour reflected from eternity.” In our time, only an orthodox Christian mind and heart can bridge the gap between, on the one hand, an acosmic spirituality—a religiosity concerned merely with salvation in some other realm, private, interior, extra-mundane—and, on the other hand, a present world consigned to domination by positivists for whom all that exists is only organised matter.

New Release

Now Available • 128 pp. • paper • $17.99 • 978-0-8010-3974-4Theology

Cannot export to EU and Commonwealth (Darton, Longman & Todd)

Aidan Nichols, OP (PhD, University of Edinburgh), of Blackfriars, Cambridge, is a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He previously served as John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at the University of

Oxford and fellow of Greyfriars, Oxford. He is one of the most prolific writers of theology in the English language and is the

leading authority on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tThe hearT oF caTholic social TeachingIts orIgIns and conteMporary sIgnIfIcance

David Matzko McCarthy, ed.

224 pp. • paper$26.00978-1-58743-248-4

an inTroducTion To nieTzscheLucy Huskinson

128 pp. • paper$14.99978-0-8010-4665-0USA and Canada only

an inTroducTion To KierKegaardPeter Vardy


dieTrich BonhoeFFeran IntroductIon to hIs thought

Sabine Dramm; Thomas Rice, trans.

272 pp. • paper$22.00978-0-8010-4609-4

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Theological, Historical & Ethical StudiesWar and the American DifferenceTheological Reflections on Violence and National Identity

Stanley Hauerwas

How are American identity and America’s presence in the world shaped by war, and what does God have to do with it? In this compelling volume, Stanley Hauerwas helps readers reflect theologically on war, church, justice, and nonviolence, exploring such issues as how America depends on war for its identity, how war affects the soul of a nation, the sacrifices that war entails, and why war is considered “necessary,” especially in America. He also examines the views of nonviolence held by Martin Luther King Jr. and C. S. Lewis, how Jesus constitutes the justice of God, and the relationship between congregational ministry and Christian formation in America. Students and teachers of Christian theology and ethics, American church history, and American cultural studies will value this work.


“Disenthralling Americans from war will require an authentic realism that displaces the illusions commonly passing for realism. In this luminous volume, Stanley Hauerwas continues the vital work of planting the signposts that show us the way.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston University; author, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War

C o n t e n t s

Introduction

Part 1: america and War

1. War and the American Difference 2. America’s God 3. Why War Is a Moral Necessity for America

Part 2: The liturgy of War

4. Reflections on the “Appeal to Abolish War” 5. Sacrificing the Sacrifices of War 6. C. S. Lewis and Violence 7. Martin Luther King Jr. and Christian Nonviolence

Part 3: The ecclesial difference

8. Jesus, the Justice of God 9. Pentecost: Learning the Languages of Peace 10. A Worldly Church: Politics, Theology, and the Common Good 11. A Particular Place: The Future of Parish Ministry 12. Beyond the Boundaries: The Church Is Mission Index

New Release

October 2011 • 208 pp. • paper • $19.99 • 978-0-8010-3929-4 ebook: $19.99 • 978-1-4412-3815-3Ethics, Theology, Christianity and Culture

Stanley Hauerwas (PhD, Yale University) is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University. He is the author of numerous books, including Cross-Shattered Christ, A Cross-Shattered Church, With the Grain of the Universe, A Better Hope, and Matthew in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tThe War oF The laMBthe ethIcs of nonVIolence and peaceMaKIng

John Howard Yoder; Glen Harold Stassen, Mark Thiessen Nation, and Matt Hamsher, eds.

240 pp. • paper$26.00978-1-58743-260-6

secreT FaiTh in The PuBlic squarean arguMent for the concealMent of chrIstIan IdentIty

Jonathan Malesic

256 pp. • paper$28.00978-1-58743-226-2

JusT War as chrisTian disciPleshiPrecenterIng the tradItIon In the church rather than the state

Daniel M. Bell Jr.

272 pp. • paper$24.00978-1-58743-225-5

WiTh The grain oF The universethe church’s WItness and natural theology

Stanley Hauerwas

256 pp. • cloth$26.99978-1-58743-016-9

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Hip-Hop RedemptionFinding God in the Rhythm and the Rhyme

Ralph Basui Watkins

Engaging CulturE

robert K. Johnston and William a. Dyrness, series editors

“From Gil-Scott Herron, Ice-T, DMX, Lil Kim, Mos Def, and Lauryn Hill to Christology, soteriology, and the role of the church, Hip-Hop Redemption is a brilliant read! Watkins’s gifts as a socio-theologian and hip-hop devotee come together in a way that redeems an essential dialogue for engaging realities of the church and today’s urbanized and global society.”—Ronald E. Peters, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta

“Hip-hop deserves the theological interpretation that Watkins provides. This book should have a wide readership.”—James H. Cone, Union Theological Seminary

“Watkins remixes hip-hop history from the inside—as a DJ and a scholar—with deep love and respect for the music. He engages in dual listening, connecting the plaintive raps of DMX and Common with the biblical tradition. Watkins also hears women calling hip-hop to a higher standard in the music of Lauryn Hill. Hip-Hop Redemption refreshed my playlist and my spirit.”—Craig Detweiler, Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture, Pepperdine University

“Watkins takes the reader on a allegorical theological journey into the heart of hip-hop culture and challenges us to examine the culture not just from the surface—with all its seemingly blasphemous aesthetics—but from a deeper theological vantage point asking this question: where does God show up and speak within and through hip-hop culture? This read is for anyone wanting to gain a deeper understanding of not just theology and culture, but how hip-hop’s redemptive value is shown in its style, prose, syntax, and spirituality. A valuable addition to the growing scholarship in the field of hip-hop theological study.”—Daniel White Hodge, California State University, Northridge; author, The Soul of Hip-Hop: Rims, Timbs, and a Cultural Theology

C o n t e n t s

1. When Did You Fall in Love with Hip-Hop? My Story and the Story of Hip-Hop: Intersections, Revelations, and Transformations 2. I Said a Hip-Hop: A Snapshot of Hip-Hop History 3. R U Still Down? Hip-Hop Culture as an Extension of the Blues 4. I Used to Love Her and I Still Love Her: Loving the Broken Beauty of Hip-Hop 5. “Slippin’ and Slidin’ I’m about to Give Up”: The Theological Truth in the Story 6. God Skipped Pass the Church: A Hip-Hop Theology and a Hip-Hop Theologian 7. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: A Socio-Theological Critique of Hip-Hop Conclusion: Umi Says: From Gil Scott-Heron to Mos Def

New Release

October 2011 • 176 pp. • paper • $17.99 • 978-0-8010-3311-7 ebook: $17.99 • 978-1-4412-3814-6

Popular Culture, Theology

Ralph Basui Watkins (PhD, University of Pittsburgh) is associate professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary and the author of several books, including From Jay-Z to Jesus and The Gospel Remix. He previously was assistant dean of the African American Church Studies Program and associate professor of society, religion, and Africana studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.

A l s o i n t h e S e r i e sFor The BeauTy oF The earTha chrIstIan VIsIon for creatIon care, 2nd ed.Steven Bouma-Prediger

256 pp. • paper$24.99978-0-8010-3695-8

PerForMing The sacredtheology and theatre In dIalogue

Todd E. Johnson and Dale Savidge

176 pp. • paper$22.00978-0-8010-2952-3

reel sPiriTualiTytheology and fIlM In dIalogue, 2nd ed.Robert K. Johnston

352 pp. • paper$25.00978-0-8010-3187-8

a MaTrix oF MeaningsfIndIng god In pop culture

Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor

352 pp. • paper$28.00978-0-8010-2417-7

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Theological, Historical & Ethical StudiesNew Release

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Evangelicals and Nicene FaithReclaiming the Apostolic Witness

Timothy George, editor

BEEson Divinity stuDiEs

timothy george, series editor

The Nicene Creed is the most universally accepted statement of Christian faith by Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox believers alike. In this volume, top scholars examine the Nicene Creed’s connection with the evangelical tradition, presenting evangelicalism as a renewal movement within the one holy catholic and apostolic church. Particular focus is given to the Creed’s practical outworking in the life of the church—its theology, spirituality, worship, and mission. This book will appeal to professors and students in theology, church history, and spirituality courses as well as pastors, church leaders, and scholars.

C o n t e n t s

Introduction: The Faith We Confess Timothy George

identity

1. The Faith Once Delivered: Nicea and Evangelical Confession Thomas C. Oden 2. The Gospel Promised by the Prophets: The Trinity and the Old Testament Mark S. Gignilliat 3. The Road to Nicea: The New Testament Frank Thielman 4. Whosoever Will Be Saved: The Athanasian Creed and the Modern Church Gerald Bray

history

5. The Reformers and the Nicene Faith: An Assumed Catholicity Carl L. Beckwith 6. The Nicene Faith and the Catholicity of the Church: Evangelical Retrieval and the Problem of Magisterium Steven R. Harmon 7. The Church Is Part of the Gospel: A Sermon on the Four Marks of the Church Carl E. Braaten 8. Confessional, Baptist, and Arminian: The General-Free Will Baptist Tradition and the Nicene Faith J. Matthew Pinson 9. Toward a Generous Orthodoxy Curtis W. Freeman

Practice

10. Practicing the Nicene Faith Elizabeth Newman 11. The Nicene Faith and Evangelical Worship David P. Nelson 12. Taking In His Coming Down Kathleen B. Nielson 13. The Will to Believe and the Need for Creeds John Rucyahana 14. Can the Church Emerge without or with Only the Nicene Creed? Mark DeVine 15. Life after Life after Death: A Sermon on the Final Phrase of the Nicene Creed Ralph C. Wood 16. Delighted by Doctrine: A Tribute to Jaroslav Pelikan Timothy George Index

November 2011 • 272 pp. • paper • $24.99 • 978-0-8010-3926-3ebook: $24.99 • 978-1-4412-3449-0Evangelicalism, Church History, Patristics, Theology

Timothy George (ThD, Harvard University) is founding dean and professor of divinity, history, and doctrine at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University. He is the author or editor of numerous books, serves as executive editor for Christianity Today, and is on the editorial advisory board of Books & Culture.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tgod The holy TriniTyreflectIons on chrIstIan faIth and practIce

Timothy George, ed.

176 pp. • paper$22.00978-0-8010-2765-9

J. i. PacKer and The evangelical FuTurethe IMpact of hIs lIfe and thought

Timothy George, ed.

256 pp. • paper$24.00978-0-8010-3387-2

nicene chrisTianiTythe future for a neW ecuMenIsM

Christopher R. Seitz, ed.

240 pp. • paper$26.00978-1-58743-021-3EU rights: Paternoster

evangelicals and TradiTionthe forMatIVe Influence of the early church

D. H. Williams

192 pp. • paper$22.00978-0-8010-2713-0EU rights: Paternoster



New Release Kicking at the DarknessBruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination

Brian J. Walsh

For forty years, singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn has been writing beautifully evocative music. In this creative theological and cultural engagement, Brian Walsh reveals the imaginative depth and uncompromising honesty of Cockburn’s Christian spirituality. Addressing the theological themes of creation, imago Dei, sin, and redemption, Kicking at the Darkness engages the rich imagery of Cockburn’s lyrics as a catalyst for shaping and igniting a renewed Christian imagination.


“Brian Walsh is not just a theologian; he’s a poet and a farmer, a father and a husband. He’s an intellectual who likes good music; he’s a lover of culture and a critic of culture. In this book, Walsh examines a musical legend and shows us how Bruce Cockburn’s work can point us to God and to God’s redemptive action in the world.”—Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner, www.thesimpleway.org

“What happens when one of the planet’s leading Christian thinkers and writers engages with one of the planet’s most brilliant songwriters and musicians? You’ll find out when you read Kicking at the Darkness, Brian Walsh’s new book about the music of Bruce Cockburn. I’m a dedicated fan of both of these men and I savored each page of this tremendous book.” —Brian McLaren, author, A New Kind of Christianity and Naked Spirituality

E x c e r p t

The world is too big to fit in a frame or even in a brain. And God is definitely too big to fit in a book. How about Cockburn? Can Cockburn fit in a book? Well . . . no. But it isn’t just the sheer size of the Cockburn catalog (now spanning some forty years and thirty albums) nor even the breadth of themes, motifs, issues, and images that characterize his work that makes it impossible to fit Cockburn in a book. Cockburn’s work, thought, beliefs, poetry, music, and songs can’t fit in a book because he won’t allow it. Or perhaps it would be better to say that attempting to “fit” Cockburn into a book would necessarily do violence both to the man and to his art. As we will see later in this book, Cockburn understands his life and his art more in terms of journey than destination. And so the only thing that a book that engages Cockburn’s art can do, if it is to honor this artist and not violate his artistic integrity, is to join him on his journey.

December 2011 • 240 pp. • paper • $18.99 • 978-1-58743-253-8Popular Culture, Theology

Brian J. Walsh (PhD, McGill University) is the bestselling author or coauthor of several books, including The Transforming Vision,

Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be, and Colossians Remixed. He is a chaplain at the University of Toronto and an adjunct professor of

theology of culture at Wycliffe College, Toronto.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tMere disciPleshiPradIcal chrIstIanIty In a reBellIous World, 2nd ed.Lee C. Camp

272 pp. • paper$21.99978-1-58743-230-9

ProPheTically incorrecTa chrIstIan IntroductIon to MedIa crItIcIsM

Robert H. Woods Jr. and Paul D. Patton

224 pp. • paper$19.99978-1-58743-276-7

everyday TheologyhoW to read cultural texts and Interpret trends

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson, and Michael J. Sleasman, eds.

288 pp. • paper$23.99978-0-8010-3167-0

living The saBBaThdIscoVerIng the rhythMs of rest and delIght

Norman Wirzba

176 pp. • paper$20.00978-1-58743-165-4

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Theological, Historical & Ethical StudiesBroken HallelujahsWhy Popular Music Matters to Those Seeking God

Christian Scharen

In Broken Hallelujahs, Christian Scharen offers a fresh theological perspective on engaging faith and culture through a wide range of popular music, including the blues, hip-hop, and rock. Through his examination of artists such as Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Leonard Cohen, and Billie Holiday, he provides a compelling theology of culture in conversation with C. S. Lewis that can look suffering and brokenness in the face because it knows of a love deeper than hate, a hope stronger than despair. Written engagingly yet with theological depth, this book will resonate with readers interested in the interface between pop culture, music, and theology, as well as with pastors and youth ministers.


“The realm of popular music, like much in pop culture, is often written off as bleak and godless. Scharen pleads that this is the result of a ‘constricted imagination,’ and rightly so. This very readable book will provoke discussions that are much needed in the church and beyond.”—Jeremy Begbie, Duke University

“Christian Scharen’s theological meditation on popular music shows why Christians and popular artists have serious spiritual concerns in common. He argues that pop musicians are already literate about the creative character of surrender in their lives and work, and that Christian theology too finds its center in graceful surrender to God with and for others. Fans of music and students of spirituality will and should be drawn in by the work of this discerning, inquisitive theological thinker and unapologetic—but not uncritical—music fan.”—Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University

C o n t e n t s

Part 1: god in Popular culture

1. The Seductiveness of Certainty 2. The Holy and the Broken Hallelujah 3. Why God Loves the Blues 4. Cries

Part 2: Popular culture in god

5. Grace and Karma 6. Surrender to the Music 7. Practicing Surrender Indexes

New Release

November 2011 • 192 pp. • paper • $17.99 • 978-1-58743-250-7Popular Culture, Theology

Christian Scharen (PhD, Emory University) is assistant professor of worship and theology and codirector of the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project at Luther Seminary. He is the author of a number of books, including One Step Closer and Faith as a Way of Life.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tone sTeP closerWhy u2 Matters to those seeKIng god

Christian Scharen

208 pp. • paper$15.00978-1-58743-169-2

eyes Wide oPenlooKIng for god In popular culture, reV. and exp. ed.William D. Romanowski

272 pp. • paper$22.99978-1-58743-201-9

resounding TruThchrIstIan WIsdoM In the World of MusIc

Jeremy S. Begbie

416 pp. • paper$28.00978-0-8010-2695-9EU rights: SPCK

Border crossingschrIstIan trespasses on popular culture and puBlIc affaIrs

Rodney Clapp

224 pp. • paper$24.00978-1-58743-003-9

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New Release Be Not AfraidFacing Fear with Faith

Samuel Wells

Does God heal? Where do I turn when my faith is fragile? How can I face my own death? Is there a gospel for the rich? What am I going to do with my life? In brief, to-the-point chapters, preacher and ethicist Samuel Wells lucidly and compassionately explores topics Christians are often reluctant to face—death, weakness, power, difference, faith, and living life to the full—and offers down-to-earth guidance in facing common fears in the life of faith. “The heart of the gospel speaks into the most numbing and terrifying moments of our lives with words of hope and joy amid fear and bewilderment,” writes Wells. Encouraging readers to look deep into the questions of their lives and deep into the heart of God, this book provides an intellectually rigorous but scripturally rooted and theologically accessible engagement with questions of faith. Pastors, seminarians, and all who want to know how the gospel can help them overcome common fears will value this work.


“A modern day C. S. Lewis, Sam Wells draws us closer to God’s story of eternal love in Be Not Afraid. At times bracing, at other times funny, his words plumb the dark depths of despair and offer hope without triviality, correction without cruelty. This book is a witty, vulnerable, challenging delight, a perfect bedtime companion in dark nights of the soul and a worthy friend when the lights come back on.”—Lillian Daniel, coauthor, This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers; contributing editor, Leadership

“In this book of reflections, Samuel Wells makes profound theological insight and artful language seem effortless. Each essay is a gem, the product of deep thought and the wordsmith’s craft. This book is so directly addressed to the reader’s heart and mind, so precisely on target about the fears that ensnare us, that Wells comes across not as a distant thinker but as a wise, understanding, and compassionate friend.”—Thomas G. Long, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

“Sam Wells has given us good medicine in this book that both diagnoses the fears of our times and offers the remedy of the gospel. In these engaging and wise essays, Wells addresses not only our fear of death but also our fear of life in all its messy complexity. With a deft mix of storytelling, biblical interpretation, and theological reflection, Wells assiduously tells us the truth about the world—a truth we can face because the way beyond fear is not through denial but through patience, hope, and courage. This is a timely and much-needed book for a church tempted to make self-protection more important than discipleship.”—Scott Bader-Saye, Seminary of the Southwest

November 2011 • 224 pp. • paper • $17.99 • 978-1-58743-302-3ebook: $17.99 • 978-1-4412-3440-7

Theology, Spirituality/Spiritual Formation, Ethics

Samuel Wells (PhD, University of Durham) is dean of the chapel and research professor of Christian ethics at Duke University. He is the author

of several books, including Power and Passion and Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics.

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A l s o o f I n t e r e s tiMProvisaTionthe draMa of chrIstIan ethIcs

Samuel Wells

236 pp. • paper$24.00978-1-58743-071-8EU rights: SPCK

good neWs For anxious chrisTians10 practIcal thIngs you don’t haVe to do

Phillip Cary

224 pp. • paper$14.99978-1-58743-285-9

FolloWing Jesus in a culTure oF FearScott Bader-Saye

172 pp. • paper$18.00978-1-58743-192-0

god does noT . . .entertaIn, play “MatchMaKer,” hurry, deMand Blood, cure eVery Illness

D. Brent Laytham, ed.

160 pp. • paper$20.00978-1-58743-229-3



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New Release

New Release

A New EusebiusDocuments Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337

J. stevenson and W. h. c. Frend, editors

“For half a century, A New Eusebius has been the means by which many of us first heard the voices of the early Christians in their own recording. Chronologically ordered and topically selected, this anthology still provides the most noteworthy witnesses to the Church’s formation in its sufferings, doctrinal disputes, and professions of faith.”—D. H. Williams, Baylor University

“J. Stevenson’s classic two-volume compilation, A New Eusebius and Creeds, Councils and Controversies, assembles snippets from a wide range of hard-to-find materials: acts of Christian martyrs, conciliar documents, fragments from heretics and persecutors, inscriptions on coins and catacombs, snatches of gossip in scattered letters. The final result is a brilliant mosaic of early Christianity.”—William Harmless, author of Augustine in His Own Words

April 2012• 432 pp. • paper • $45.00 (maximum discount 40%)978-0-8010-3971-3 ebook: $45.00 • 978-1-4412-3779-8Church History, Patristics, Historical TheologyUSA and Canada only (SPCK)

J. Stevenson (1901–1983) was fellow of Downing College, University of Cambridge. W. H. C. Frend (1910–2005) was chair of ecclesiastical history at the University of Glasgow, fellow of the British Academy, and fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s t

ignaTius oF anTioch and The ParTing oF The Waysearly JeWIsh-chrIstIan relatIons

Thomas A. Robinson

304 pp. • paper$27.99978-0-8010-4757-2

ProPheTs and gravesTonesan IMagInatIVe hIstory of MontanIsts and other early chrIstIans

William Tabbernee

368 pp. • paper$29.99978-0-8010-4781-7

Creeds, Councils and ControversiesDocuments Illustrating the History of the Church, AD 337–461

J. stevenson and W. h. c. Frend, editors

“Professors of early Christianity will enthusiastically welcome the reprint of these two extremely well-selected and unsurpassed collection of documents. These two textbooks have long set the standard for collections of original documents illustrating the practices and thought of early Christians. It is extremely useful for those who teach this period to have these texts back in print.”—Kevin Madigan, The Divinity School, Harvard University

“This collection of documents from the world of early Christianity is not only handy, but it also enlightens. Here, one has immediate access to ancient words on Gnosticism and Arianism, baptism and persecution, and canon and controversy. Here, in the antique, one may find something rare, something lovely, something new.”—D. Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary

April 2012 • 432 pp. • paper • $45.00 (maximum discount 40%)978-0-8010-3970-6 ebook: $45.00 • 978-1-4412-3780-4Church History, Patristics, Historical TheologyUSA and Canada only (SPCK)

J. Stevenson (1901–1983) was fellow of Downing College, University of Cambridge. W. H. C. Frend (1910–2005) was chair of ecclesiastical history at the University of Glasgow, fellow of the British Academy, and fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.


FroM nicaea To chalcedona guIde to the lIterature and Its BacKground, 2nd ed.Frances M. Young with Andrew Teal


The FaThers oF The churcha coMprehensIVe IntroductIon

Hubertus R. Drobner; Siegfried S. Schatzmann, trans.

688 pp. • cloth$49.99978-0-8010-4610-0



Cotton Mather and Biblia Americana—America’s First Bible CommentaryEssays in Reappraisal

Reiner Smolinski and Jan Stievermann, eds.

Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana was the first comprehensive Bible commentary composed in America. This volume serves as an essential companion to Biblia Americana as well as a useful resource in its own right. Written by some of the most prominent scholars in the field, these essays offer original, in-depth studies of Mather and his hitherto unpublished scriptural interpretations in the historical context of the early Enlightenment and the rise of Pietism.

Transcending the pejorative image of Puritan witch-doctor, Mather emerges from these essays as an erudite scholar and cosmopolitan theologian who was fully immersed in the rising developments of biblical exegesis around the turn of the eighteenth century. Whether facing the challenge of historical criticism or examining the meaning of race and gender in the Bible, Mather wrestled with scientific and religious questions that are still relevant today.

C o n t e n t s

Preface by Harry Stout

Introduction by Jan Stievermann

William van Arragon on Mather as an American Elijah

E. Brooks Holifield on abridging Mather

Francis J. Bremer on the ecumenical background

Oliver Scheiding on Mather’s transatlantic connections

Adriaan Neele on Peter van Mastricht and Mather

Winton U. Solberg on Mather and the Enlightenment

Michael Dopffel on biblical literalism and scientific inquiry

Paul Wise on empiricism and the invisible world

Rick Kennedy on Mather and commonplace-book historiography

Kenneth P. Minkema on Mather and the Historical Books

Reiner Smolinski on pagan origins in the Pentateuch

Harry Clark Maddux on euhemerism and ancient theology

Stephen J. Stein on comparing Mather and Jonathan Edwards on the Epistle of James

Paul S. Peterson on Christological interpretation of the Shechinah glory

Michael P. Clark on eschatological signs in Mather and Edwards

David Komline on Arianism, William Whiston, and Mather’s late eschatology

Helen K. Gelinas on the daughters of Eve and regaining Paradise

Robert E. Brown on nature, culture, and gender in Mather’s social theology

Jan Stievermann on the genealogy of races and the problem of slavery

New Release

Now Available • 616 pp. • paper • $70.00 (maximum discount 40%)978-0-8010-3969-0

Church HistoryUSA and Canada only (Mohr Siebeck)

Reiner Smolinski (PhD, Pennsylvania State University) is professor of early American literature at Georgia State University and general editor of Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana. Jan Stievermann (PhD, University

of Tübingen) is professor of the history of American Christianity at the University of Heidelberg, where he coordinates the Jonathan Edwards

Center. He is the executive editor of Biblia Americana.

A l s o o f I n t e r e s tBiBlia aMericana, vol. 1genesIs

Cotton Mather; Reiner Smolinski, ed.

1,360 pp. • cloth • $250.00 (maximum discount 20%)978-0-8010-3900-3USA and Canada only

The aMerican evangelical sTorya hIstory of the MoVeMent

Douglas A. Sweeney

208 pp. • paper$20.00978-0-8010-2658-4

coMMunion WiTh godthe dIVIne and the huMan In the theology of John oWen

Kelly M. Kapic

288 pp. • paper$30.00978-0-8010-3144-1

The surPrising WorK oF godharold John ocKenga, BIlly grahaM, and the reBIrth of eVangelIcalIsM

Garth M. Rosell

288 pp. • paper$19.99978-0-8010-3570-8

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A Public FaithHow Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good

Miroslav volf

“Our efforts as people of faith to bring our religious convictions into the public arena have clearly malfunctioned in recent years. But Miroslav Volf does not want us to retreat to a ‘private faith’ mentality. Instead he offers profound counsel about how faith-based public advocacy can promote the common good in our increasingly pluralistic world. This important book is packed with wisdom!”—Richard J. Mouw, Fuller Theological Seminary

“Why should Christians use the resources of their faith to speak to and to serve the common good? And how can they do that without coercing those who are not Christians? Miroslav Volf sets for himself the daunting task of addressing these two deep and urgent questions in a way that is both widely accessible and takes account of the scholarly literature. He succeeds on all counts.”—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University; Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia

Now Available • 192 pp. • cloth • $21.99 978-1-58743-298-9ebook: $21.99 • 978-1-4412-3207-6Public Affairs, Theology, Ethics

Miroslav Volf (DrTheol, University of Tübingen) is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He has written more than fifteen books, including Exclusion and Embrace (selected among the 100 best religious books of the twentieth century by Christianity Today) and The End of Memory.


The PoliTics oF disciPleshiPBecoMIng postMaterIal cItIzens

Graham Ward

320 pp. • paper$25.00978-0-8010-3158-8EU rights: SCM-Canterbury Press

claiMing aBrahaMreadIng the BIBle and the Qur’an sIde By sIde

Michael Lodahl

240 pp. • paper$22.99978-1-58743-239-2

Another ReformationPostliberal Christianity and the Jews

Peter ochs

“Several Jewish thinkers have applauded the recent efforts of Christian theologians to overcome supersessionism—the notion that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people in God’s covenant with Israel as the people of God—without abandoning their own Christian theology. Peter Ochs is one of the most prominent of these Jewish thinkers, and in Another Reformation, he articulates his applause with unprecedented theological insight and philosophical perspicacity.”—David Novak, University of Toronto

“Anyone wishing to discern the contours of a properly postliberal theological ethos in George Lindbeck, Robert Jenson, Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder, Dan Hardy, David Ford, or John Milbank could not find a more astute guide than Peter Ochs, whose exposition is as penetrating as his critique is incisive. Ochs’s focus (as a Jewish thinker) is the bugbear of ‘supersession,’ yet his clear goal is a mode of exposition and analysis freed from easy polarities.”—David Burrell, CSC, Uganda Martyrs University

Now Available • 288 pp. • paper • $27.99 978-0-8010-3940-9ebook: $27.99 • 978-1-4412-3203-8Theology, Philosophy

Peter Ochs (PhD, Yale University) is the Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books, including Crisis, Call, and Leadership in the Abrahamic Traditions and The Return to Scripture in Judaism and Christianity.


The PrioriTy oF chrisTtoWard a postlIBeral catholIcIsM

Robert Barron

352 pp. • paper$32.00978-1-58743-198-2

PosTMissionary Messianic JudaisMredefInIng chrIstIan engageMent WIth the JeWIsh people

Mark S. Kinzer

320 pp. • paper$32.00978-1-58743-152-4



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Retrieving NicaeaThe Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine

Khaled anatolios

Foreword by Brian e. daley, sJ

“With this impressive book, Khaled Anatolios takes his place alongside luminaries like R. P. C. Hanson and Lewis Ayres as one of the most distinguished interpreters of Nicaea and its legacy. Especially important is his sympathetic interpretation of Athanasius. For anyone who wants to understand Nicene Christianity and its relevance for today, Anatolios is quite simply indispensable.”—George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary

“A welcome addition to the flood of revisionary scholarship on patristic trinitarian theology in the last twenty years. Anatolios’s treatment helps us to see the perennial importance of the key figures of the fourth and fifth centuries for all of our thought on this central mystery of the Christian faith. The clarity of his exposition and his constant desire to draw out the consequences of historical exposition mean that this book will find a treasured place on the bookshelves of theologians and theology students across the board.”—Lewis Ayres, Durham University

October 2011 • 400 pp. • cloth • $39.99 978-0-8010-3132-8

ebook: $39.99 • 978-1-4412-3195-6Patristics, Church History, God, Historical Theology

Khaled Anatolios (PhD, Boston College) is professor of historical theology in the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He is the author of Athanasius: The Coherence of His Thought and the Athanasius volume in Routledge’s Early Church Fathers series.


early chrisTian greeK and laTin liTeraTure, 2 vols.a lIterary hIstory

Claudio Moreschini and Enrico Norelli; Matthew J. O’Connell, trans.

1,248 pp. • cloth$99.99978-0-8010-4719-0

The hoPe oF The early churcha handBooK of patrIstIc eschatology

Brian E. Daley, SJ

320 pp. • paper$30.00978-0-8010-4597-4

Athanasius

Peter J. leithart

FounDations oF thEologiCal ExEgEsis anD Christian spirituality

hans Boersma and Matthew levering, series editors

“If Christian theology had superheroes, Athanasius would perhaps lead the list thanks to his sometimes single-handed struggle to maintain trinitarian orthodoxy. Leithart’s excellent study shows Athanasius to be christocentric in his biblical interpretation and theology long before Barth made it fashionable to be so. Leithart has got the Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality series off to a splendid start.”—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Wheaton College and Graduate School

“Leithart possesses an in-depth and insightful knowledge of the entire Athanasian corpus, and he has examined all of the relevant secondary literature. His scholarship is impeccable. Moreover, Leithart’s splendid and stimulating originality resides in his clear and lucid articulation of Athanasius’s biblical theology and the metaphysics that lies within that biblical theology. Thus, he has made a substantial contribution to growing academic appreciation of the indispensable and fruitful relationship between the biblical text and the doctrinal statement.”—Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Cap, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC

Now Available • 224 pp. • paper • $27.99 978-0-8010-3942-3

ebook: $27.99 • 978-1-4412-3201-4Patristics, Church History, Theology

Peter J. Leithart (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College and serves as the organizing pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho. He is the author of numerous books, including 1 & 2 Kings in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible.


geTTing To KnoW The church FaThersan eVangelIcal IntroductIon

Bryan M. Litfin

304 pp. • paper$23.99978-1-58743-196-8

BeginningsancIent chrIstIan readIngs of the BIBlIcal creatIon narratIVes

Peter C. Bouteneff

256 pp. • paper$25.00978-0-8010-3233-2



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The Bible Made ImpossibleWhy Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

christian smith

“Biblicism remains one of the most entrenched and pressing problems facing the church. In his characteristically lucid, direct, and fair-minded fashion, Christian Smith asks questions about biblicism that need to be answered. Smith also begins to articulate an alternative, Christ-centered approach to biblical interpretation that is supremely constructive—a truly evangelical account of Scripture.”—Douglas A. Campbell, Duke University Divinity School

“Many books have been written either defending or detracting from an evangelical view of the Bible. Christian Smith, as a trained sociologist, offers a much-needed perspective: explaining evangelical biblicism as a sociological phenomenon. Smith’s analysis of the problem of biblicism and his offer of a way forward are important contributions to the current developments and tensions surrounding evangelicalism and the Bible.”—Peter Enns, author, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

Now Available • 240 pp. • cloth • $22.99 978-1-58743-303-0ebook: $22.99 • 978-1-4412-3205-2Hermeneutics/Exegesis, Christianity and Culture, Evangelicalism

Christian Smith (PhD, Harvard University) is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. He is the award-winning author or coauthor of numerous books, including Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults.


across The sPecTruMunderstandIng Issues In eVangelIcal theology, 2nd ed.Gregory A. Boyd and Paul R. Eddy

352 pp. • paper$24.99978-0-8010-3793-1

a high vieW oF scriPTure?the authorIty of the BIBle and the forMatIon of the neW testaMent canon

Craig D. Allert

208 pp. • paper$22.00978-0-8010-2778-9

As Christ Submits to the ChurchA Biblical Understanding of Leadership and Mutual Submission

alan g. Padgett

“Exploring critical questions regarding biblical interpretation, As Christ Submits to the Church offers a thoroughly Christian understanding of submission and service within marriage and the church. Alan Padgett opens much sky over the heads of those engaged in the evangelical conversation on gender and authority. This book is well worth our time and attention.” —Mimi Haddad, Christians for Biblical Equality, www.cbeinternational.org

“An insightful, compelling, and much-needed work, not only on the specific issue of women in leadership but also on the distinctive nature of Christian leadership in general. Combining theological and exegetical skills, Padgett has given us a scholarly yet broadly accessible book that moves us beyond some of the impasses the discussion on this hot topic has been bogged down in. Regardless of one’s stance on the women-and-leadership issue, this is a must-read for all who care about Christlike leadership.”—Greg Boyd, coauthor, Across the Spectrum

Now Available • 176 pp. • paper • $19.99 978-0-8010-2700-0ebook: $19.99 • 978-1-4412-3204-5Ethics, Gender Studies, Practical Theology/Church Life, Theology

Alan G. Padgett (DPhil, University of Oxford) is professor of systematic theology at Luther Seminary and the author or coauthor of several books, including Christianity and Western Thought (volumes 2 and 3), But Is It All True? The Bible and the Question of Truth, and Science and the Study of God.


a sWord BeTWeen The sexes?c. s. leWIs and the gender deBates

Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen

272 pp. • paper$22.00978-1-58743-208-8

liBeraTing TradiTionWoMen’s IdentIty and VocatIon In chrIstIan perspectIVe

Kristina LaCelle-Peterson

256 pp. • paper$24.00978-0-8010-3179-3



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Creator SpiritThe Holy Spirit and the Art of Becoming Human

steven r. guthrie

Foreword by Jeremy s. Begbie

“The renaissance in pneumatology and pneumatological theology takes a quantum leap with this book, which propels us into other dimensions of the Spirit that allow us to see, hear, and perceive the signs of the coming kingdom in the arts, music, and even Scripture. Creator Spirit participates in the re-creative work of the Spirit to make all things new and beautiful.”—Amos Yong, co-editor, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies; Regent University School of Divinity

“Guthrie’s book brings the Holy Spirit and art together into the creative center of human life. He shows how they illumine each other and, together, create spaces where God is glorified and we are allowed to become what God intended. This is one of the best treatments of the Holy Spirit’s activity in culture.”—William Dyrness, Fuller Theological Seminary


ebook: $24.99 • 978-1-4412-3198-7Pneumatology, Literature/Arts/Communication, Christianity

and Culture, Worship/Liturgy

Steven R. Guthrie (PhD, University of St. Andrews) teaches religion at Belmont University in Nashville, where he helped launch a new program in religion and the arts. He contributed to the Encyclopedia of Christianity and coedited Resonant Witness with Jeremy Begbie.


god in The gallerya chrIstIan eMBrace of Modern art

Daniel A. Siedell

192 pp. • paper$25.00978-0-8010-3184-7

The sPiriT Poured ouT on all FleshpentecostalIsM and the possIBIlIty of gloBal theology

Amos Yong

320 pp. • paper$30.00978-0-8010-2770-3

The Vampire DefangedHow the Embodiment of Evil Became a Romantic Hero

susannah clements

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Twilight Saga to HBO’s True Blood series, pop culture can’t get enough of the vampire phenomenon. Susannah Clements reveals the roots of the vampire myth and shows how it was originally immersed in Christian values and symbolism. Over time, however, vampires have been “defanged” as their spiritual significance has waned, and what was once the embodiment of evil has turned into a teen idol and the ultimate romantic hero. Clements offers a close reading of selected vampire texts, discerning between the variety of vampire stories presented in movies, TV shows, and novels.


“This book is so entertaining that you might almost miss how good the theology is. Give this book to anyone you know who loves vampire stories. They will not only thank you, but they will also find spiritual depths they never knew existed.” —Stephen H. Webb, Wabash College


ebook: $14.99 • 978-1-4412-1400-3Popular Culture, Literature/Arts/Communication

Susannah Clements (PhD, University of South Carolina) is associate professor and chair of the Department of Language and Literature at Regent University, Virginia. She contributed to the Dictionary of Literary Biography and has taught courses on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jane Eyre, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.


The Mind and The MachineWhat It Means to Be huMan and Why It Matters

Matthew Dickerson

256 pp. • paper$19.99978-1-58743-272-9

inTo The darKseeIng the sacred In the top fIlMs of the 21st century

Craig Detweiler

320 pp. • paper$22.99978-0-8010-3592-0