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Doing Good, Departing from Evil: Research Findings in the Twenty-First Century emphasizes that goodness must be actively enacted, not abstractly discussed, that evil is present and must be fought, and that in-depth research into problems provides wisdom to proceed with that battle in the new century. Eleven scholars investigate problematic topics and offer potential guidance about racism, propaganda, marital tensions, educational inequities, college dropouts, elders' depression, neglect of the disabled, and even peacemaking between faith-based and secular social work agencies as well as Israelis and Palestinians. This collection offers no easy answers to complex problems, but points the way to potentially positive modes of mending the world, and invites readers to share in this challenging task.
List of contents
Contents: Carole J. Lambert: Introduction - Thomas Allbaugh: When Good Meaning Is Hard to Find: Reading Flannery O'Connor's Good Man as a Quest for the Good - Mark A. Eaton: Do the Right Thing: Ernest Gaines's A Lesson before Dying - Thomas Parham: Why Do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films? (The Remix) - Kimberly Battle-Walters Denu: For Better or Worse. . . Is Marriage a Good Thing? Christian Women Give Advice to Singles before They Say «I Do» - Chinaka S. DomNwachukwu: Through the Eyes of Faith: The Mandate of Teacher Goodness - Karen A. Longman: Maximizing the College Experience: Drawing out the Best in Students - Beverly Hardcastle Stanford: Through Wise Eyes: Thriving Elder Women's Perspectives on Thriving in Elder Adulthood - Kathleen Tangenberg: Spiritual and Moral Dimensions of Faith Related Social Services - Robert Duke: Peacemaking Left Behind: Can Orthopathy Help Evangelicals Promote Peace? - Kevin S. Reimer: The Transforming Moment: Compassionate Love and Disability in L'Arche - Why Research «Good» Topics? Statements by the Authors about Why They Chose Their Subjects.
About the author
The Editor: Carole J. Lambert is Professor of English and Director of Research at Azusa Pacific University in California. In addition to four National Endowment for the Humanities grants, she received a Fulbright fellowship to conduct research in Brussels, Belgium. She is the author of The Empty Cross: Medieval Hopes, Modern Futility in the Theater of Maurice Maeterlinck, Paul Claudel, August Strindberg, and Georg Kaiser (1990) and Is God Man¿s Friend? Theodicy and Friendship in Elie Wiesel¿s Novels (Lang, 2006), as well as co-editor, with William D. Brewer, of Essays on the Modern Identity (Lang, 2000). She earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and has published widely in several journals.
Report
«Perceptive readers value clear writing, unpretentious thinking, wise reflection, and penetrating insight. Carole J. Lambert and her contributors use all of those qualities to focus on what goodness means and requires in a world wracked by its absence. These essays are acts of goodness because they point toward the respect for others, the compassionate service, and the generosity of mind and spirit that remain essential if we are to keep affirming, as we should, that human life itself is good.» (John K. Roth, Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Founding Director of The Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, Claremont McKenna College)
«Goodness is one of those virtues whose meaning is often assumed, so its depths are rarely plumbed as they are in the wonderfully varied and richly personal essays in this book. I commend Carole J. Lambert and her...colleagues for producing such a refreshing, provocative, and inspiring work.» (Ken Perez, President, John Stott Ministries; Senior Partner, Colabra, LLC)
