Fortress Press

Judges 1: A Commentary on Judges 1:1 – 10:5

Mark S. Smith (Author), Elizabeth M. Bloch-Smith (Author)

This groundbreaking volume presents a new translation and detailed interpretation of the book of Judges, drawing on archaeology and iconography, textual versions, biblical parallels, and extrabiblical texts, as well as a thorough review of modern scholarship. Full literary and redactional analyses are included. Notably, archaeology is used to show how a story of the Iron II period employed visible ruins to narrate supposedly early events from the so-called "period of the Judges."

Teaching Reformation: Essays in Honor of Timothy J. Wengert

Luka Ilić (Editor), Martin J. Lohrmann (Editor)

Presented on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, this collection of essays honors the life and work of Dr. Timothy J. Wengert, a pastor and noted Reformation historian who brings to scholarship a deep sense of its practical dimensions in the life of the church.

In these essays, Wengert's students, colleagues, and peers follow in their honoree's footsteps by highlighting the implications of a rich tapestry of Reformation topics.

A Widower's Lament: The Pious Meditations of Johann Christoph Oelhafen

Ronald K. Rittgers (Author)

This book deals with Christian lament in the late Reformation by exploring the efforts of a talented yet little-known layman to cope with the death of his beloved wife. It provides full access to the remarkable work of private devotion that he authored to express his lament.

A work of haunting candor and searching faith, The Pious Meditations furnishes insight into life in the past as well as resources for life in the present.

Black Hands, White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America

Renee K. Harrison (Author)

The book bears witness to the role enslaved, Black-bodied people played in building the US, its physical and fiscal infrastructure, and the nation's capital, and calls for a substantial monument on the National Mall to affirm and document their contributions. This book will impact lives by adding significantly to the burgeoning and in-depth conversations on racial disparity, race relations, history-making, reparations, and monument erection and removal.

There Is No God and Mary Is His Mother: Rediscovering Religionless Christianity

Thomas Cathcart (Author)

In this personal, witty, and timely book, New York Times bestselling author Thomas Cathcart takes readers on a journey into belief and unbelief and leads them through to "religionless Christianity." He shows that, even absent traditional theological formulas and doctrines, Christianity can be credible, meaningful, and practical.

The End of College: Religion and the Transformation of Higher Education in the 20th Century

Robert Wilson-Black (Author)

The End of College chronicles the transformation of religion's role in higher education in the US during the first half of the twentieth century. This period witnessed an end to the religious college and its decidedly religious ends. In its place, the American university ushered in religion departments and religious studies, which sought to make a more complete democracy.

Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. Thirtieth Anniversary Expanded Edition

Cain Hope Felder (Editor)

A hallmark of American Black religion is its distinctive use of the Bible in creating community, resisting oppression, and fomenting social change. Stony the Road We Trod accomplishes this--and much more. This expanded edition contains a new introduction and three new essays that underscore the historic importance of this book for a new generation.

The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession

Bruce Chilton (Author)

The Herods explores the Herodian rule from Herod the Great's father, Antipater, until the dynastic sunset with Bereniké, Herod's great-granddaughter, describing the theocratic aims that motivated Herod and his progeny, and the groups and factions within Judaism and Christianity that often defined themselves in opposition to the Herodian project.

One Life to Give: Martyrdom and the Making of the American Revolution

John Fanestil (Author)

One Life to Give explores the spiritual origins of the American Revolution: martyrdom. John Fanestil traces the deep history of the tradition of martyrdom from its classical and Christian origins to the onset of the Revolutionary War. Ultimately, he articulates how the tradition of American martyrdom animated countless personal commitments to American independence, and thereby to the war. Only by understanding the inextricable role played by martyrdom can we fully grasp the origins of the American Revolution.

Christianity in Blue: How the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Theology Shape Progressive Identity

David A. Kaden (Author)

Christianity in Blue shows how liberal values and progressive attitudes are the fruits of taking seriously both the Bible and Christian tradition. But rather than treating these sources as the final word, Kaden argues that they are places to start exploring how to be a Christian in the world. Christianity in Blue helps both progressive and conservative Christians better understand the importance of the Bible, theology, history, and philosophy for building a loving church for everyone.

The Fragility of Language and the Encounter with God: On the Contingency and Legitimacy of Doctrine

Florian Klug (Author), Marcus Pound (Foreword by)

The Fragility of Language and the Encounter with God offers a theological account of the contingency of language and perception and of how acknowledging that contingency transforms the question of the development of doctrine. Klug argues that statements of faith cannot overcome contingency. Instead, the Catholic notion of receptive tradition is an attempt to cope rationally with the fragility of perception and language in humanity's orientation toward God.

Preaching the Headlines: Possibilities and Pitfalls

Lisa L. Thompson (Author)

Preaching the Headlines reframes preaching as an ongoing conversation between the modern world and the world of the biblical text. Preachers use what they know about life as a bridge to the text, while life in the text provides the bridge back to faith in the contemporary world. The goal of the book is to provide a process to aid preachers in doing theological reflection on the everyday world as an integral part of sermon development.

Where God Meets Man, 50th Anniversary Edition: Luther's Down-to-Earth Approach to the Gospel

Gerhard O. Forde (Author), Bradley C. Jenson (Contributor)

The fundamental theme of this book is the "down-to-earth" character of Luther's theology in the hope that it will help individual Christians today to be both faithful to God and true to their human and social responsibilities. This 50th Anniversary Edition includes a preface by Marianna Forde and a new study guide by Bradley C. Jenson, created to encourage new readings and conversations about Forde's influential take on Luther, theology, and the church.

Naming Neoliberalism: Exposing the Spirit of Our Age

Rodney Clapp (Author)

Neoliberalism is the spirit of our age. It consists of a panoply of cultural, political, and economic practices that set marketized competition at the center of social life. Though regnant, neoliberalism likes to hide. Naming Neoliberalism aims to expose the order to a wider range of readers--pastors, thoughtful laypersons, and students. It lays out what neoliberalism is, where it has come from, and how it can be confronted through and in the church.

Just Traveling: God, Leaving Home, and a Spirituality for the Road

Jaco J. Hamman (Author)

Just Traveling celebrates moving at the speed of being present to one's experiences, bridging distance and difference through acts of care. Following the scriptural witness of God as the Earthroamer, the book explores the liminal qualities of traveling through six movements: anticipating, leaving, surrendering, meeting, caring, and returning. Whether leaving home serves our wanderlust and curiosity or has personal or spiritual purposes, when we travel, we explore a beautiful, yet complex and troubled world.

Shelter Theology: The Religious Lives of People without Homes

Susan J. Dunlap (Author)

Shelter Theology offers insight into the worlds of the invisible: individuals experiencing homelessness and those living in extreme poverty. Based on over ten years of chaplaincy in a homeless shelter, Dunlap shares the nuanced theology of people in harsh circumstances and outlines how their beliefs and practices enable survival and resistance.

The Forgotten Luther III: Reclaiming a Vision of Global Community

Conrad A. Braaten (Volume Editor), Ryan P. Cumming (Volume Editor)

This book, the third in the Forgotten Luther series, invites congregations, with the help of five prominent church leaders and Luther scholars, to consider the shape of global mission in today's world. This study draws global implications from Luther's reforms and from the theology that shaped them. Accompanied by a discussion guide and videos of lectures and interviews, this book provides an excellent tool to help congregations engage the global mission of the church.

Neighbor Love through Fearful Days: Finding Purpose and Meaning in a Time of Crisis

Jason A. Mahn (Author)

Neighbor Love through Fearful Days is a reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic, the accompanying economic collapse, a summer of climate chaos, and the pandemic of white supremacy, as well as on the calling to "serve thy neighbor" and work toward the common good. Jason A. Mahn's real-time reflections take on the reality of life during these pandemics alongside perennial questions about purpose, faith, and vocation.

Luther's Rome, Rome's Luther: How the City Shaped the Reformer

Carl P. E. Springer (Author)

This book offers a fresh reevaluation of Martin Luther's tempestuous relationship with Rome, the city he visited as a young Augustinian friar and never thereafter forgot. Luther's Rome, Rome's Luther will help readers see the ancient city, the long-lived empire, and the sacred home of the papacy from Luther's complicated perspective.

Elements of Christian Thought: A Basic Course in Christianese

Eugene F. Rogers Jr. (Author)

In the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted classrooms around the world, Eugene Rogers transcribed the lectures that make his Introduction to Christian Thought course justly famous.

The result is an engaging introduction to the language--"Christianese"--that participants use to discuss God's activity in and for our world.

From Anselm to Wyschogrod, Rogers introduces us to the most interesting speakers of Christianese, enabling us to take part in the living conversation.