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How might the Christian church effectively engage today's politically charged, profit-motivated world while remaining faithful to its biblical and theological roots? The contributors in this book argue that public theology provides a promising pathway forward. The public theology emerging from these pages has been influenced by the theological interests and commitments of Gary M. Simpson, Lutheran pastor and systematic theologian. His approach to public theology is intersectional and global; he artfully weaves together Lutheran theology and the civil society arena of Critical Social Theory. These essays provide three angles of vision on faith active in twenty-first century public contexts: contextual, ethical, and theological. While not mutually exclusive, these distinct strands of thought engage and challenge the church to substantial reflection on the challenging and often bewildering circumstances of the twenty-first century social world. Some reflect on God's activity within particular global contexts, others offer new perspectives on Lutheran confessional traditions, still others step boldly into innovative theological assertions. As the Christian church is ever forming and reforming, this book urges it to grapple with the "publicness" of its timely and timeless mission.
About the author
Samuel Yonas Deressa is associate professor of theology and the Global South, the Fiechtner Chair for Christian Outreach, and director of DCO Program at Concordia University St. Paul, Minnesota.Mary Sue Dreier is retired professor of pastoral care and missional leadership at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University (Columbia, South Carolina).Samuel Yonas Deressa is associate professor of theology and the Global South, the Fiechtner Chair for Christian Outreach, and director of DCO Program at Concordia University St. Paul, Minnesota.Mary Sue Dreier is retired professor of pastoral care and missional leadership at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University (Columbia, South Carolina).Josh de Keijzer (PhD Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary) is the author of Bonhoeffer's Theology of the Cross: The Influence of Luther in "Act and Being".Robert Kolb is professor of systematic theology emeritus at Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis.
