The Tradition of the Elders

The Tradition of the Elders
Author: T. Hoogsteen
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2014-09-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630874736

The Tradition of the Elders, based on Matt 15:1-20 and Mark 7:1-23, explores how the oral law upheld and promoted the anti-Christian forces of Pharisaism and Sadduceism. As such, they appear repeatedly in the New Testament documents, often as "the law" and "the works of the law." For example, consider: - "When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law" (Rom 2:14). - "We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified" (Gal 2:15-16). - "Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law?" (Gal 4:21). But which law do these legal references concern--the Torah, the oral law, or the Decalogue? This important distinction between the oral law and the Ten Commandments is what The Tradition of the Elders sets out to make clear. All New Testament exegetes, including teachers and students, can benefit from an increased understanding of the enmity of the oral law against the Gospel.

Honoring Elders

Honoring Elders
Author: Michael D. McNally
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2009-08-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231518250

Like many Native Americans, Ojibwe people esteem the wisdom, authority, and religious significance of old age, but this respect does not come easily or naturally. It is the fruit of hard work, rooted in narrative traditions, moral vision, and ritualized practices of decorum that are comparable in sophistication to those of Confucianism. Even as the dispossession and policies of assimilation have threatened Ojibwe peoplehood and have targeted the traditions and the elders who embody it, Ojibwe and other Anishinaabe communities have been resolute and resourceful in their disciplined respect for elders. Indeed, the challenges of colonization have served to accentuate eldership in new ways. Using archival and ethnographic research, Michael D. McNally follows the making of Ojibwe eldership, showing that deference to older women and men is part of a fuller moral, aesthetic, and cosmological vision connected to the ongoing circle of life a tradition of authority that has been crucial to surviving colonization. McNally argues that the tradition of authority and the authority of tradition frame a decidedly indigenous dialectic, eluding analytic frameworks of invented tradition and naïve continuity. Demonstrating the rich possibilities of treating age as a category of analysis, McNally provocatively asserts that the elder belongs alongside the priest, prophet, sage, and other key figures in the study of religion.

The Way of the Elders

The Way of the Elders
Author: Adama Doumbia
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738706269

Readers catch a rare glimpse of West African spirituality in "The Way of the Elders," co-authored by a West African native raised in the Mande tradition. This spiritual guidebook explores offerings, charms, herbal healing, shamans, the importance of wildlife, and the four elements of nature.

Unclean

Unclean
Author: Richard Beck
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2012-05-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 071884047X

I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Echoing Hosea, Jesus defends his embrace of the unclean in the Gospel of Matthew, seeming to privilege the prophetic call to justice over the Levitical pursuit of purity. And yet, as missional faith communities arewell aware, the tensions and conflicts between holiness and mercy are not so easily resolved. In an unprecedented fusion of psychological science and theological scholarship, Richard Beck describes the pernicious (and largely unnoticed) effects of the psychology of purity upon the life and mission of the church.

Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount
Author: Ralph F. Wilson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2011-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780984734009

Manifesto: "a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer." The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is Jesus' most definitive statement of the principles of Kingdom living. In this study we'll seek to understand Jesus' radical teaching within its context of first century Judaism - then translate the principles into our own lives today. If we can understand what Jesus meant and absorb that into our spirit, we can grow to become the kind of disciples that make Him proud. The Sermon on the Mount provides an ethical and philosophical framework that can help us order our lives as Christ followers. But organized religion has domesticated Jesus and watered down his message, providing a low-dose familiarity that can make us immune to Jesus' full-strength teaching. Here we allow Jesus' uncompromising message to both shame us and enflame us to become part of a Christ-committed counter-culture to challenge the present world order. This examination of Jesus' manifesto in the Sermon on the Mount, with its provocative discussion questions, provides an excellent 13-lesson study for personal enrichment, for use by small groups and classes, and for sermon preparation by teachers and preachers.

40 Questions About Roman Catholicism

40 Questions About Roman Catholicism
Author: Gregg R. Allison
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0825486920

Straightforward answers about Roman Catholicism for a Protestant audience The Roman Catholic faith is one of the world's most widespread religious traditions, yet the unique aspects of Roman Catholicism elicit perennial questions from adherents and outsiders alike. Such questions tend to fall into three major categories: historical backgrounds, theological matters, and personal relationships. Using Catholic Church documents and the writings of Catholic scholars, Baptist systematic theologian Gregg R. Allison distills the teachings of Catholicism around forty common questions about Catholic foundations, beliefs, and practices. The accessible question-and-answer format guides readers to the areas of interest, including: Where do Roman Catholic and Protestant beliefs differ? What happens during a Roman Catholic Mass? How does Roman Catholicism understand the biblical teaching about Mary? Who are the saints and what is their role? How can my Roman Catholic loved ones and I talk about the gospel? 40 Questions About Roman Catholicism explores theology and practice, doctrine and liturgy, sacraments and Mariology, contributions and scandals, and many other things, clarifying both real and perceived differences and similarities with other Christian traditions.

Elders in Congregational Life (Newton)

Elders in Congregational Life (Newton)
Author: Phil A. Newton
Publisher: Kregel Academic
Total Pages: 194
Release:
Genre: Baptists
ISBN: 9780825494789

(Foreword by Mark Dever) A biblically functioning church requires intentional devotion to the New Testament model of the church. In this practical book, Phil Newton gives a definitive and biblical study of elder-based leadership.

Spiritual Elders

Spiritual Elders
Author: Irina Paert
Publisher:
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN:

Spiritual elders (startsy) are a quintessential part of Russian Orthodox spirituality, yet scholars have given relatively little focus to them. Elders whose authority came not from their position within institutional church but from their reputation for personal holiness were mediating agents between official and popular Orthodoxy. Acting as teachers, spiritual directors, counselors, and prophets, elders represented a particular form of ministry within the Church. The informal source of elders authority meant that their position was often in conflict with the bureaucratized Synod.In her highly readable book, Paert looks at both Imperial and Soviet Russia and examines the social and cultural contexts in which startsy operated, demonstrating how eldership was appropriated by both elites and lower classes. A significant contribution to the debate about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in modernizing Russian society, Paert s study shows that elders represented both the weaknesses and the strengths of Russian Orthodoxy s response to the challenges of modernity. Spiritual Elders promises to stimulate further discussion on the problems of spiritual authority, popular belief, the impact of a religious identity on a national one, and the interactions between church and society in the modern world. Historians of Russia and scholars of Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as general readers of religious history, will find this book of great interest.

Deacons

Deacons
Author: Matt Smethurst
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 143357165X

How Can Deacons Mobilize Service in the Church? Deacons are essential to a church's health—yet confusion abounds regarding their biblical job description. What's their God-given role in a local congregation and how do they relate to the church's overall mission? In this short book, Matt Smethurst makes the case that deacons are model servants called to meet tangible needs, organize and mobilize acts of service, preserve the unity of the flock, and support the ministry of the elders. Clearing away common misconceptions, Smethurst offers practical guidance for deploying deacons and helping churches to flourish.