Recent Faculty Publications
Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire
By Jennifer Knust
Bible scholar Jennifer Wright Knust addresses the big questions that dominate today’s discussions and debates when it comes to sex and the Bible: Is premarital sex a sin? When, and in what contexts, is sexual desire appropriate? With whom can I legitimately have sex? Are same-sex relations permissible? In an era where the phrases, “the Bibl
e says,” and “God says,” are so often exploited, it is time to consider what the Bible actually does—or does not—say about monogamy, polygamy, homosexuality, gender roles, and sex.
Unprotected Texts directly and pointedly takes on widely shared misconceptions about sex, arguing that the Bible cannot—and should not—serve as a rulebook for sexual morality, despite popular claims to the contrary. From the Song of Songs’ lyrical eroticism to the rigid sexual rules of Leviticus—and everything in between—Knust parses the Bible’s contradictory, often surprising messages.
Skillfully revealing the latest insights from critical scholarship, Knust provides a compassionate and liberating model for navigating these deeply personal issues that affect us all.
About the Author: Professor Knust teaches and conducts research on the transmission and reception of the Gospels, ancient rhetoric and early Christian discourse, and gender and Christian origins. Her publications includeAbandoned to Lust: Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity (Columbia University Press 2005), Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions on Sex and Desire (HarperOne 2011) and, with Zsuzsanna Varhélyi, the edited volume Sacrifice in the Ancient Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2011). She has published essays on a variety of topics, including the letters of Paul, Latin versions of the Bible, and the transmission of the story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11), with essays appearing in Religion Compass, Journal of Early Christian Studies, the Harvard Theological Review and a number of edited volumes. She has received fellowships and awards from the American Association of University Women, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Association of Theological Schools/Henry Luce III Foundation. Dr. Knust is on the editorial board of online journal Religion Compass. Purchase this book!
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Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining
By Shelly Rambo
Rambo draws on contemporary studies in trauma to rethink a central claim of the Christian faith: that new life arises from death. Reexamining the narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the middle day-liturgically named as Holy Saturday-she seeks a theology that addresses the experience of living in the aftermath of trauma. Through a reinterpretation of “remaining” in the Johannine Gospel, she proposes a new theology of the Spirit that challenges traditional conceptions of redemption. Offered, in its place, is a vision of the Spirit’s witness from within the depths of human suffering to the persistence of divine love. Purchase this book!
About the Author: A constructive theologian, Shelly Rambo engages the textual tradition of Christianity with particular attention to postmodern literary analysis and criticism. Trained as both a systematic and constructive theologian, she is interested in how classical themes in the Christian tradition interact with and inform contemporary discourses around suffering, trauma, and violence. Her book, Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), forges a theology of the Spirit through engagements with postmodern biblical hermeneutics, a theology of Holy Saturday, and contemporary trauma theory. Her current research explores the significance of resurrection wounds in the Christian tradition in connection to contemporary discourses about wounding, both in popular culture and in the study of trauma. Her teaching and research interests include: feminist theory and theology, postmodern theology, pneumatology, and trauma studies. Through a series of faculty grants funded by the Center for Practical Theology and the Lilly Endowment, she has developed and presented workshops that offer religious leaders critical tools for thinking theologically about trauma.
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“Passion for Life: Power for Building Justice and Peace” in Grace Jantzen: Redeeming the Present.
By Mary Elizabeth Moore
Grace Jantzen was an internationally-renowned feminist philosopher of religion whose work has transformed the way we think about the interactions between religion, culture and gender in Western culture. Jantzen’s aim w
as to ‘redeem the present’ via a critique and reconstruction of staple concepts of the Western imaginary.
This unique book brings together many of Grace Jantzen’s colleagues and former students in a wide-ranging exploration of her enduring influence, ranging across philosophy of religion, to literature, psychoanalysis, theology, ethics and politics.
Part I assesses the ramifications of Jantzen’s affirmation that Western culture must ‘choose life’ in preference to a prevailing symbolic of violence and death. Part II explores some of the key voices which contributed to Jantzen’s understanding of a culture of flourishing and natality: Quaker thought and practice, medieval mysticism and feminist spirituality. Further essays apply elements of Jantzen’s work to the politics of disability, development and environmentalism, extending her range of influence into new and innovative areas. Purchase this Book!
Mary Elizabeth Moore
About the Author: Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore sees her primary work as working with others and contributing her small part toward repair of the world (tikkun olam). Her recent books include Teaching as a Sacramental Act, Ministering with the Earth, and Teaching from the Heart, plus the co-edited volumes Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World and Practical Theology and Hermeneutics. She has also written many articles on education, process and feminist theologies, and justice and reconciliation. Mary Elizabeth is married to Allen, and they have five children and eight grandchildren.
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“Observing Congregations: A Guide for First Visits (and Beyond).” The American Religion Data Archive: Learning Resources, October, 2009.
By Nancy Ammerman
“Observing Congregations” is a guide developed by sociologist and congregational researcher Nancy Ammerman to introduce students to the steps involved in observing a congregation or religious group from a sociological perspective. The guide poses many pertinent questions and issues for students to consider as they prepare to visit a congregation for the first time, as they observe religious services, and as they interact with members of a religious group. The guide also provides students with helpful suggestions for taking field notes and recording observations after visiting a congregation. Read this Article!
“The Challenges of Pluralism: Locating Religion in a World of Diversity.” Social Compass 57 (2): 154-167.
By Nancy Ammerman
Dr. Ammerman argues that religious pluralism is the normal state of affairs. Religion itself is multi-dimensional, and the several dimensions of religious and spiritual experience can be combined in myriad ways across individual lives. Preliminary findings from new research are presented, detailing modes of spiritual discourse that include mystery, majesty, meaning, moral compassion, and social connection. These dimensions find expression across multiple social institutions. In addition, religion is multi-traditional and organized by plural producers of the goods and services and events that embody and transform religious tradition. Finally, it is argued that religious pluralism must be studied in terms of the structures of power and privilege that allow some religious ideas to be given free voice, but limit the practice of other religious rituals or the gathering of dissident religious communities. Read This Article!
Also by Nancy Ammerman…
“American Evangelicals in American Culture: Continuity and Change” pp. 44-73 in Steven Brint and Jean Reith Schroedel, eds., Evangelicals and Democracy in America, Vol. 1. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Evangelicals and Democracy in America, Volume I is one of the most comprehensive examinations ever of this important current in American life and serves as a corrective to erroneous popular representations. These meticulously balanced studies not only clarify the religious and social origins of evangelical mobilization, but also detail both the scope and limits of evangelicals’ influence in our society. This volume is the perfect complement to its companion in this landmark series, Evangelicals and Democracy in America, Volume II: Religion and Politics. Purchase this Book!
Also by Nancy Ammerman
“Congregations: Local, Social, and Religious.” Pp. 562-580 in Peter B. Clarke, ed., Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion draws on the expertise of an international team of scholars providing both an entry point into the sociological study and understanding of religion and an in-depth survey into its changing forms and content in the contemporary world. The role and impact of religion and spirituality on the politics, culture, education and health in the modern world is rigorously discussed and debated. The study of the sociology of religion forges interdisciplinary links to explore aspects of continuity and change in the contemporary interface between society and religion. Using a combination of theoretical, methodological and content-led approaches, the fifty-seven contributors collectively emphasise the complex relationships between religion and aspects of life from scientific research to law, ecology to art, music to cognitive science, crime to institutional health care and more. The developing character of religion, irreligion and atheism and the impact of religious diversity on social cohesion are explored. An overview of current scholarship in the field is provided in each themed chapter with an emphasis on encouraging new thinking and reflection on familiar and emergent themes to stimulate further debate and scholarship. The resulting essay collection provides an invaluable resource for research and teaching in this diverse discipline. Purchase this Book!
Also By Nancy Ammerman…
Reviews
Review of A Sociology of Spirituality. Edited by Kieran Flanagan and Peter Jupp. In Review of Religious Research 51(2):223-224.
Review of Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History, by Mary Jo Maynes, Jennifer L. Pierce, and Barbara Laslett. In Contemporary Sociology 39(1):64-65.
Review of Faith Makes Us Live. By Margarita Mooney. In Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 48(4): 825-26.
About the Author: Dr. Nancy Ammerman is Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University’s School of Theology and Chair of the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her 2005 book, Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and their Partners (University of California Press) describes the common organizational patterns that shape the work of America’s diverse communities of faith. It was named distinguished book of the year by the American Sociological Association’s Religion Section. She has also written extensively on conservative religious movements, including Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World (Rutgers University Press, 1987). Her 1990 book, Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention (Rutgers University Press), was named distinguished book of the year by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR). Currently, with funding from the Templeton Foundation and a sabbatical grant from the Louisville Institute, she is exploring “Spiritual Narratives in Everyday Life,” a research project that analyzes how and when religion is present in the everyday worlds of ordinary Americans.
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The Aramaic and Egyptian Legal Traditions at Elephantine: An Egyptological Approach
By Alejandro Botta
The legal documents of Elephantine have been approached in three different ways thus far: first, comparing them to the later Aramaic legal tradition; second, as part of a self-contained system, and more recently from the point of view of the Assyriological legal tradition. However, there is still a fourth possible approach, which has long been neglected by scholars in this field, and that is to study the Elephantine legal documents from an Egyptological perspective. In seeking the Egyptian parallels and antecedents to the Aramaic formulary, Botta hopes to balance the current scholarly perspective, based mostly upon Aramaic and Assyriological comparative studies. Purchase this Book!
Reviewed by Margaretha Folmer.
Reviewed by Nikolaos Lazaridis.
Also by Alejandro Botta…
The Bible and the Hermeneutics of Liberation
Co-Edited with Chapters: “The Bible and the Hermeneutics of Liberation: Worldwide Trends and Prospects” and “How to Hide an Elephant on Fifth Avenue: Universality of Sin and Class Sin in the Hebrew Scriptures”
The same Bible that historically has been invoked to support exploitation is also a source of inspiration for those fighting oppression and injustice. This collection of essays highlights thedifferent receptions that liberationist hermeneutics has found in a number of contemporary contexts. The authors, originating from various countries and continents and nurtured by diverse theological insights, provide regional overviews of liberating struggles and liberation hermeneutics or engage the biblical text from various perspectives, including mujerista and feminist Afrocentric readings. This is an enriching panorama of ideas and readings all centered on the Bible as a key to liberation. Purchase this Book!
Reviewed by Jonathan Draper.
Also by Alejandro Botta…
Entries in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 5 Volumes.
“Nethinim,” (Vol. 4, 260-1); “Sea, Molten,” (Vol. 5, 140-1), “Shemaiah,” (Vol. 5, 225-6), “Solomon’s Servants,” (Vol. 5, 334).
This dictionary is the definitive starting point for research on any topic, place or person in the Bible, with emphasis on the crucial theological concepts. Based on the NSRV. Purchase this Book!
Also by Alejandro Botta…
Reviews
Review of S. Hafthorsson, A Passing Power: An Examination of the Sources for the History of Aram-Damascus in the Second Half of the Ninth Century B.C. Coniectanea Biblica Old Testament Series 54 (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2006), for Svensk exegetisk årsbok 74 (2009), 224-6.
Review of Andrew D. Gross, Continuity and Innovation in the Aramaic Legal Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 2008), for Aramaic Studies 7 (2009), 91-96.
About The Author: Alejandro F. Botta is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, Boston University School of Theology. He was born in Argentina, and earned his doctorate summa cum laude from the Department of History of the Jewish People, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has taught and/or lectured in Latin America, Europe, Israel and the United States. He is presently working on an Aramaic Namebook from Ancient Egypt (with Bezalel Porten), editing an Introduction to the Old Testament in Latin American Perspective (in Spanish, with Esteban Voth); and finishing a commentary on 1 Chronicles (in Spanish).
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The Spirit and Art of Conflict Transformation
By Thomas Porter
Transforming conflict into a positive rather than a negative force is a spiritual pursuit and needs to be grounded in biblical principles: love of God, neighbor, and self.
This book is a resource for seminary professors, leaders, ministers, mediators, facilitators, and conflict transformation consultants who want to approach their work in this way. Part I explains how we can prepare ourselves for the work of engaging conflict, and Part II explores how we engage others in conflict transformation, outlining specific processes. This book articulates the vision and practice of conflict transformation developed by the JustPeace organization. The mission of the JustPeace organization is: to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation, and restoration of community in and through the church universal to the world in which we live.
Interwoven with the practical instructions are stories that illustrate the potential for this new JustPeace approach. Purchase this Book!
About The Author: Dr. Thomas W. Porter, Jr. is a trial lawyer, mediator, teacher and minister. He teaches at Boston University School of Theology where he directs a concentration in Religion and Conflict Transformation. He is the Co-Executive Director of JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation in The United Methodist Church. He recently edited the book, Conflict and Communion: Reconciliation and Restorative Justice at Christ’s Table.
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What Price for Privitization?:
Cultural Encounter with Development Policy on the Zambian Copperbelt
By Elizabeth Parsons
What Price for Privatization?: Cultural Encounter with Development Policy on the Zambian Copperbelt considers how one African community experienced the sale to foreign investors of its main industry, a group of state-own
ed copper mines. Everyday Zambians saw a series of uncertain, shifting interactions among individuals, corporations, immaterial forces, and material interests as running counter to hard facts about the state of the mines and the country’s overall economy. Supernatural or spiritual forces played a powerful, negative role in what Zambians understood to be happening as a result of privatization. But there was no place within dominant development policy talk to account for this sort of knowledge.
Indeed, many of the disappointments and failures that have long characterized development activities can be traced to profound discrepancies existing when local knowledge infused with a particular worldview is overlooked by policymakers. The types of policies that have undergirded development interventions for almost sixty years have elevated economic, political, and operational interests over all others. But such ways of thinking about the world leave huge gaps in comprehension. This is particularly true in regard to the cultural and religious experiences of both the people who devise policies and those who live with the policy consequences. What Price for Privatization? documents such an instance and suggests some intellectual and practical means by which things might change on behalf of the global common welfare. Purchase this Book!
Also by Elizabeth Parsons…
Review
“A Localist Worldview” (Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Winter/Spring 2010)
Review of Robert Wuthnow’s Boundless Faith.
[Excerpt]: “Wuthnow has a reputation for producing insightful and timely analyses of this country’s evolving religious landscape; his latest work both continues that tradition and carries a challenge. The theologically and philosophically inclined, in particular, should heed his appeal for a major shift in understanding, not simply regarding the awareness that American Christianity is increasingly globally engaged, but of how that engagement fits in context.” Read this Review!
About The Author: Dr. Parsons is lecturer in religion and development at Boston University.
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“Asking at Abel: A Wise Woman’s Proverb Performance in 2 Samuel 20″ in From the Margins 1: Women of the Hebrew Bible and Their Afterlives.
Contributed by Katheryn Pfisterer Darr
Biblical women who are given only a few lines in the Bible, who are named only as the wife or sister or child of a man, can nonetheless play pivotal roles and cast long shadows. this volume brings together scholars, writers and art historians, who probe texts and trace reception history in exegesis, midrash, literature and the visual arts as they breathe life again into these biblical characters. Purchase this Book!
About the Author: Professor Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, a 1989 winner of Boston University’s prestigious Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, has authored three books, essays and articles for essay collections and major scholarly journals, respectively, and educational materials for the United Methodist Publishing House. To date, her writings have focused especially on the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Her current research/writing project is a study of proverbs appearing in ancient Israel’s prophetic corpus.
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“Paul” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, vol 5.
Contributed by James Walters
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome is the clearest and most accessible guide to the world of classical antiquity ever produced. This multivolume reference work is a comprehensive overview of 
the major cultures of the classical Mediterranean world–Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman–from the Bronze Age to the fifth century CE. It also covers the legacy of the classical world and its interpretation and influence in subsequent centuries. The Encyclopedia brings the work of the best classical scholars, archaeologists, and historians together in an easy-to-use format.
The articles, written by leading scholars in the field, seek to convey the significance of the people, places, and historical events of classical antiquity, together with its intellectual and material culture. Broad overviews of literature, history, archaeology, art, philosophy, science, and religion are complimented by articles on authors and their works, literary genres and periods, historical figures and events, archaeologists and archaeological sites, artists and artistic themes and materials, philosophers and philosophical schools, scientists and scientific areas, gods, heroes, and myths. Purchase this Book!
Also by James Walters…
Corinth in Context: Comparative Studies on Religion and Society
Co-Edited with Chapter: “Paul and the Politics of Meals in Roman Corinth.”
This volume is the product of an interdisciplinary conference held at the University of Texas at Austin. Specialist
s in the study of inscriptions, architecture, sculpture, coins, tombs, pottery, and texts collaborate to produce new portraits of religion and society in the ancient city of Corinth. The studies focus on groups like the early Roman colonists, the Augustales (priests of Augustus), or the Pauline house churches; on specific cults such as those of Asklepios, Demeter, or the Sacred Spring; on media (e.g., coins, or burial inscriptions); or on the monuments and populations of nearby Kenchreai or Isthmia. The result is a deeper understanding of the religious life of Corinth, contextualized within the socially stratified cultures of the Hellenistic and Roman periods
About the Author: Dr. Walters’ interests focus on Pauline studies and especially on the urban social context of Pauline communities in the Aegean basin (Greece and western Asia Minor). Dr. Walters is the author of one book, Ethnic Issues in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, and a number of scholarly essays.
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“Christianity — Roman Catholic,” “Cosmic Commons,” and ”Sacrament,” in The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, Vol 1, The Spirit of Sustainability.
Contributed by John Hart
The Spirit of Sustainability helps readers map out a “territory of values”–the moral worlds, axial concepts, and social practices–related to sustainability. In collaboration with the Forum on Religion and Ecology (FORE), an estab
lished network of leading scholars, it explores a wide range of topics and perspectives, from the promise and problems of appraoching sustainable lifeways, through gobal and indigenous religions, to major theories in philosophy and environmental ethics, and then to professional practices and social movements. This volume presents the various goals of sustainability–ecological integrity, economic health, human dignity, fairness to the future, social justice–and provides interpretive frameworks for reasoning through the combined challenges each goal presents, to both current and future generations. Purchase this Book!
About the Author: Dr. Hart’s teaching interests are in the areas of social ethics, environmental ethics, liberation theology and ethics, and science and Christianity. His research interests and writing are focused particularly on issues of social and ecological justice, and on ecology as a bridge between science and religion. Internationally known for his work in social ethics and environmental ethics, he has given almost two hundred presentations, on four continents: in twenty-five U.S. states and in Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, Nepal and England. He is the author of Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics, What Are They Saying About…Environmental Theology?, Ethics and Technology: Innovation and Transformation in Community Contexts and The Spirit of the Earth — A Theology of the Land.
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Messiaen the Theologian (Ashgate, 2010)
Edited by Andrew Shenton
For Olivier Messiaen, music was a way of expressing his faith. He considered it his good fortune to have been born a Catholic and declared that ‘the illumination of the theological truths of the Catholic faith is the first aspect of my work, the noblest and no doubt the most useful’. Messiaen is one of the most widely performed and recorded composers of the twentieth-century and his popularity is increasing, but the theological component of his music has so far largely been neglected, or dealt with superficially, and continues to provide a serious impediment to understanding and appreciating his music for some of his audience. Messiaen the Theologian makes a significant contribution to Messiaen studies by providing cultural and historical context to Messiaen’s theology.
An international array of Messiaen scholars cover a wide variety of topics including Messiaen’s personal spirituality, the context of Catholicism in France in the twentieth century, and comparisons between Messiaen and other artists such as Dante and T.S. Eliot. Interdisciplinary methodologies such as exegesis, theological studies and analysis are used to contribute to the understanding of several major works including Éclairs sur l’au-delá…, Sept Haïkaï and Saint François d’Assise.
By approaching Messiaen and his music from such important and original perspectives, this book will be of interest not only to musicians and theologians, but also to readers interested in the connection between spirituality and the arts. Purchase this book!
About The Author: Dr. Shenton directs the Master of Sacred Music program and the Boston University Messiaen Project [BUMP] (see www.oliviermessiaen.net). In addition to his position at the School of Theology, Dr. Shenton also serves on the faculties of the School of Music (CFA) and CAS/GRS.
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Joy to the World:
Mission in the Age of Global Christianity, A Mission Study for 2010 and 2011
Dana L. Robert
Joy to the World explores how mission and evangelism flow from joyous gratitude for the Good News of Jesus Christ. For United Methodists, Christian mission is a response to God’s presence in Jesus Christ, who came into the world with a message of forgiveness, joy, and hope for all of God’s creation. Christians carry this message wherever they go. They are living witnesses to the belief in Emmanuel–”God with us.” In God’s name, Christians go into all the world to share the Good News.
The purpose of this book is to explore the theology of mission and evangelism in the twenty-first-century context of Christianity as a world
wide religion. The three sections of the book reinforce one another; each can also be studied separately. Part I sets the biblical and historical context for the reality that Christianity is now the largest world religion, comprising roughly one-third of the population. This section discusses changes in the Christian population, mission structures, and women’s mission work over the past century. Part II discusses the theological foundations for Christian mission, drawing primarily upon the New Testament and on Methodist history as sources for United Methodist understandings of mission and evangelism. Part III examines several contemporary models of world mission–hospitality, healing, and reconciliation. As ambassadors for Christ, in the healing power of the Holy Spirit, United Methodists share God’s love. Hospitality, healing, and reconciliation are all ways of celebrating God’s intention to bring hope and wholeness to the world through Jesus Christ. Purchase this book!
About the Author: A leading historian of Christian mission, Dana Robert has been teaching at Boston University since 1984. Robert has directed nearly sixty doctoral dissertations in mission studies and the history of world Christianity. Former students hold teaching and ministry positions around the world. Robert directs the Center for Global Christianity and Mission here at BUSTH. Robert is a lifelong United Methodist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She serves on the Committee on Faith and Order for the denomination. With her husband, M.L. Daneel, an expert on African Indigenous Churches, she regularly participates in mission outreach in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. She has two sons, Samuel and John, and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
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Prophetic Protestant Sermons on America’s War in Iraq (Edwin Mellen Press, 2010)
Robert Allan Hill
This book features a collection of sermons that address specific questions pertaining to early twenty-first cen
tury American life, from the Great Recession to the war in Iraq. Each sermon demonstrates how the gospel contests uncritical faith in political and military power. Purchase this book!
Also by Robert Allan Hill…
Renewal: Thought, Word, and Deed
This collection of short essays, sermons, lectures, reviews, analyses, and poems is offered as a means to provoke thought, inspire imagination, and encourage conversation about the future of the church. Church renewal awaits a renewed synergy of theology, homily, and energy. Together, thought, word, and deed offer us much as we face an unforeseen future. There is much for which to be thankful, and much to be excited about as the church moves forward into the twenty-first century. A healthy future of stimulated learning, excellent leadership, and lay ministry—thought, word, and deed!—may be coming toward us. Purchase this Book!
About the Author: Robert Allan Hill teaches in the areas of Biblical Studies and Practical Theology. His passionate interest lies at the intersection of Scripture and life, especially in the work of preaching. Hence his research has combined publication related to the Gospel of John and Gnosticism, on the one hand, and preaching in ministry, on the other. Most of his writing, however, has been devoted to weekly sermons, over thirty years, in seven pulpits, some of which are collected, taped and published. As an elder in the United Methodist Church he has had experience in seven local churches, five different annual conferences, annual conference board assignments, General and Jurisdictional Conference participation, General Board membership, various speaking engagements, and denominational leadership discussions.
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Ritual and Deference:
Extending Chinese Philosophy in a Comparative Context (SUNY, 2009)
Robert Cummings Neville
Ritual and Deference develops Robert Cummings Neville’s thesis that contemporary philosophy has much to gain by
shaping itself through important themes of the Chinese Philosophical traditions, especially the themes of ritual and deference. Neville here offers a broad and detailed interpretation of the relevance of Confucianism and Daoism to contemporary issues. The discussion includes analyses of classical Confucian and Daoist texts, especially those of Xunzi and Laozi, and of the current scene of English-speaking philosophy advancing Chinese themes. The book also reflects on the nature of comparative philosophy as such, and the role that comparative has in the ongoing contemporary engagement with globalization, the clash of cultures, and scientific transformations of the worldviews of diverse civilizations. Neville stresses the importance of deferring to the integrity of cultures while still submitting them to normative analysis and criticism. Purchase this book!
Also by Robert Cummings Neville…
Realism in Religion: A Pragmatist’s Perspective (SUNY, 2009)
This work is a collection of studies dealing with theological truth-seeking versus identity-seeking, the context
ual character of theology, how to read scriptures, the global nature of theology, pragmatic semiotics as a tool for theology, the nature of value, the relation between pragmatism and process philosophy, comparative models of God and divine creation, divine nature versus divine will, and eternal life. Purchase this book!
About the Author: Robert Cummings Neville is Professor Philosophy, Religion, and Theology at Boston University and the author and editor of many books, including Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World, also published by SUNY Press.