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In an age of distraction, this issue of Plough Quarterly looks at inwardness - how sustainable human community and social activism must be rooted in the spiritual life. How much of your day is spent in reality, and how much in a fake world? We've learned that screen time is bad for you, too much media consumption damages your heart, and Facebook can make you mentally ill. We're aware of the mind-altering power of advertising, the dehumanizing passions of our polarized politics, and the fact tha...

Pacifism, jihad and militarism--are these the only alternatives to global injustice? J. Daryl Charles considers the "just war" teaching of the church throughout history, comparing it with both pacifism and jihad/militarism and addressing the unique challenges of international injustice and global terrorism. J. Daryl Charles leads us to reconsider a Christian view of the use of force to maintain or reestablish justice. He shows how love for a neighbor can warrant the just use of force. Reviewing...

Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part ma...

Das Buch bringt religioese Konflikte in der galizischen Literatur zur Darstellung. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Analyse von literarischen Werken, die zwischen 1848 und 1914 entstanden, als Galizien noch "oesterreichisch" und durch eine grosse ethnisch-konfessionelle Vielfalt gepragt war. Zugleich stellt die Studie den Versuch dar, die literarische Deutung konfessioneller Beziehungen zwischen der roemisch-katholischen, griechisch-katholischen und judischen Bevoelkerung in Galizien unter Be...

Catholic Greg Bourke's profoundly moving memoir about growing up gay and overcoming discrimination in the battle for same-sex marriage in the US. In this compelling and deeply affecting memoir, Greg Bourke recounts growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, and living as a gay Catholic. The book describes Bourke's early struggles for acceptance as an out gay man living in the South during the 1980s and '90s, his unplanned transformation into an outspoken gay rights activist after being dismissed as a t...

Dewi Hughes' conviction is that the suffering through poverty of such a vast number of people in our day is overwhelmingly the result of the misuse of power by others. Hence, the underlying theme of this wide-ranging, challenging study is that poverty has to do with the way in which we human beings use and abuse the power God gave us when he created us.

It is often claimed that local churches provide a significant proportion of social care today. This important new study considers the reality of the church's involvement to offer compelling and concrete recommendations for the future. It proposes a transformational model of welfare that breaks free from the default approach of `eradicating the five giant evils - squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease'. Instead the authors focus on fostering five assets - relationship, creativity, partn...

Faith to Foster is a candid look into the life of ordinary foster parents TJ and Jenn Menn. It is a journey chronicling their decision making process, how the children arrived, the birth parents struggle to rehabilitate, help from friends and family, emotional goodbyes, and how faith in Jesus empowered them through it all. This is a story they wished they'd read before starting their foster parenting adventure. TJ and Jenn share their experiences and feelings in a way that encourages any reader...