La problematica dei rapporti del cristianesimo con le altre religioni è da sempre più intricata e ardua che mai. Se l'incapacità mostrata dal cristianesimo di comprendere l'ebraismo è data per acquisita, il bilancio dei modi in cui esso ebbe a confrontarsi con le religioni cosiddette pagane resta disastroso, e oggi le chiese cristiane si trovano eredi di una tradizione teologica per la quale missione cristiana ha significato salvataggio di pagani da pratiche intrinsecamente malvagie. Nella sua indagine sul cristianesimo dei primordi e le religiosità pagane in età greca e romana, Luke Johnson muove da una definizione articolata di religione che consente di evitare le sacche usuali di attacco e difesa, gettando nuova luce su un dibattito tanto annoso quanto attuale.

La ricerca svolta da Luke Johnson mira a illustrare come la tradizione secolare della polemica cristiana antipagana, che relega nel demoniaco le pratiche religiose dei propri vicini, non sortisce altro effetto che mettere in ombra lo stato effettivo delle cose non solo nelle diverse religioni, ma nel cristianesimo stesso. In quest'ultimo i modi d'essere religiosi in passato e oggi sono nella sostanza i medesimi di quelli che s'incontrano nella prima «religione universale» con cui i cristiani entrarono in contatto ed ebbero a confrontarsi: il paganesimo dell'impero romano, con il quale condivisero sensibilità, usanze, istituzioni e anche linguaggio. Il secondo volume dell'opera - dedicato al secondo e terzo secolo - si chiude con ricchi indici (delle fonti, degli autori moderni e analitico).

Scripture points to the human body and lived experience as the privileged arena of Gods self-disclosure in the world, says Luke Timothy Johnson. Attention to both ordinary and extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit in and through the body is essential for theology to recover its nature as an inductive art rather than a deductive science and to serve as an expression and articulation of authentic faith in the living God.

Willingness to risk engaging actual human situations -- rather than abstract conceptualizations about those situations -- is required of the theologian, Johnson argues. InThe Revelatory Body he celebrates human experiences of activity, pleasure, pain, weariness, and aging, showing how theology might be enlivened through careful attention to the ways in which these bodily experiences disclose the movements of the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul was a vital force in the development of Christianity. Paul's historical and religious context affects the theological interpretation of Paul's writings, no small issue in the whole of Christian theology.Recent years have seen much controversy about the apostle Paul, his religious and social context, and its effects on his theology. In the helpful Counterpoints format, four leading scholars present their views on the best framework for describing Paul's theological perspective, including his view of salvation, the significance of Christ, and his vision for the churches.Contributors and views include:Reformed View: Thomas R. SchreinerCatholic View: Luke Timothy JohnsonPost-New Perspective View: Douglas CampbellJewish View: Mark D. NanosLike other titles in the Counterpoints: Bible and Theology collection, Four Views on the Apostle Paul gives theology students the tools they need to draw informed conclusions on debated issues.General editor and New Testament scholar Michael F. Bird covers foundational issues and provides helpful summaries in his introduction and conclusion. New Testament scholars, pastors, and students of Christian history and theology will find Four Views on the Apostle Paul an indispensable introduction to ongoing debates on the apostle Paul's life and teaching.

In this and every age, the church desperately needs prophecy. It needs the bold proclamation of Gods transforming vision to challenge its very human tendency toward expediency and self-interest to jolt it into new insight and energy. For Luke Timothy Johnson, the New Testament books Luke and Acts provide that much-needed jolt to conventional norms. To read Luke-Acts as a literary unit, he says, is to uncover a startling prophetic vision of Jesus and the church and an ongoing call for todays church to embody and proclaim Gods vision for the world.

?This book is written as an exercise in theological reflection on one of the knottiest questions imaginable: the connection between being a Christian and the way we own and use things. . . . When we turn to thinking about money and possessions, we find ourselves in murky waters. The things we own and use, like our sexuality, lie close to the bone of our individual and collective sense of identity.?So writes respected scholar Luke Timothy Johnson in his introduction to Sharing Possessions: What Faith Demands. Stepping purposefully into the ?murky waters? of owning and sharing, Johnson endeavors to clarify and define the ambiguous concept of human possession ? especially in relation to God?s divine ownership ? and to discern the Bible?s teaching on the mystery of human possessing and possessiveness.This second edition, reflecting thirty years of Johnson?s further thinking on the subject, features chapters expanded with fresh insights, helpful new study questions for each chapter, and a substantial epilogue updating the work.?All who found in Luke Johnson?s treatment of possessions as part of the mystery of human existence a deeper and more fruitful approach to the ?problems? of wealth and poverty will find in this new edition continued critical reflection and fresh insight. Those for whom this is a first encounter will find out what made it worth reissuing after thirty years.?? Sondra Ely WheelerWesley Theological Seminary

The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to “pagan” religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. 

In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James's Variety of Religious Experience, he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world. Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility.

Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbors, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions.  This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.

The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to “pagan” religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices. 

In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James's Variety of Religious Experience, he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world. Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility.

Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbors, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions.  This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.

This thoughtful, fully accessible exploration of the creed, the list of beliefs central to the Christian faith, delves into its origins and illuminates the contemporary significance of why it still matters.

During services in Christian communities, the members of the congregation stand together to recite the creed, professing in unison the beliefs they share. For most Christians, the creed functions as a sort of “ABC” of what it means to be a Christian and to be part of a worldwide movement. Few people, however, know the source of this litany of beliefs, a topic that is further confused by the fact that there are two different versions: the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed.

In The Creed, Luke Timothy Johnson, a New Testament scholar and Catholic theologian, clarifies the history of the creed, discussing its evolution from the first decades of the Christian Church to the present day. By connecting the deep theological conflicts of the early Church with the conflicts and questions facing Christians today, Johnson shows that faith is a dynamic process, not based on a static set of rules. Written in a clear, graceful style and appropriate for Christians of all denominations, The Creed is destined to become a classic of modern writings on spirituality.

Terzo volume - primo in ordine di uscita - della collana Sacra Pagina, un commentario in diversi volumi al Nuovo Testamento, tra i più famosi e prestigiosi al mondo, opera di un gruppo internazionale di biblisti cattolici. Presenta per ogni suddivisione del testo una traduzione originale dal greco, una serie di note dettagliate, l'interpretazione e una breve bibliografia. Nell'ampia introduzione vengono presentati i principi da tenere presenti in questa lettura, e una bibliografia generale.

Who is the real Jesus? How can we experience the mystery, compelxity, and richness of his spirituality and teachings in our lives today? In this gently instructive and inspiring guide, Luke Timothy Johnson leads us to a deeper understanding and practice of classic Christian spirituality and faith. Translating his biblical scholarship into simple, elegant language, he offers a compelling and wise reflection on the real Jesus--not the reconstructed historical figure but the resurrected Christ, a living savior we can encounter every day.

Living Jesus elucidates the mystery of Jesus' resurrection and its central role in the Christian experience. It explores the diversity and fullness of the New Testament views of Christ, revealing how each book's perspective can deepen our understanding of Jesus. Profoundly insightful, Living Jesus offers valuable lessons on how we can accept the Gospels' powerful invitation to an authenic Christian spirituality.

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In The Omega Rx Zone, Dr. Sears reveals a revolutionary new technological advance that helps treat chronic disease, improves athletic performance, and more. Never before available to the public, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil has the potential to make you a more emotionally stable, healthier person by allowing your brain to work at peak efficiency and controlling the hormonal responses that ultimately govern your body and mind. Drawing upon his own research as well as recently published studies, Dr. Sears shares new understanding of heart disease, cancer, depression, Alzheimer's, attention deficit disorder, chronic pain, Type 2 diabetes, infertility, and multiple sclerosis. Used in conjunction with the Zone program, these findings can help you to:

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Luke Timothy Johnson begins his study of the practical issue of how decisions are made in the church by admitting to a bias: that there ought to be a connection between what the church claims to be, and how it does things. Because the church claims to be a community of faith, it does not reach decisions simply on the basis of good management policy, or the analysis of market trends, or efficiency, or even ideological consistency, but in response to God's activity in the world that presses upon us and urges us to decision.
Faced with how to respond to God's leading, the church decides what to do on the basis of two realities: Scripture and discernment. Because it calls the church into being Scripture is the fundamental authority in the church's life. Yet it is not enough for a congregation simply to turn to the Bible when a decision must be reached, for Scripture does not directly address all issues which face the church today, and those it does often reflect greatly differing historical and social contexts than our own. Thus, added to the authority of Scripture in the church's decision making is a process of discernment, in which the members of the community, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, recall how God has worked in their lives as individuals and as a community and discern together God's direction for the future.
Johnson argues that this very pattern of decision making can be found in Scripture itself, notably in one of the central events of the book of Acts. Beginning with the conversion of Cornelius and culminating in the Apostolic Council of Acts 15, we see how a string of smaller narratives combine to tell the story of God's movement within their midst, and how this narrative became the basis for the reinterpretation of Scripture and the inclusion of Gentiles into the fellowship of the church. Looking at a number of thorny issues facing the contemporary church, Johnson demonstrates how the interaction of Scripture and discernment can and must become the basis for how we respond to the decisions with which the church wrestles today.

What makes this commentary on Luke stand apart from others is that, from beginning to end, this is a literary analysis. Because it focuses solely on the Gospel as it appears and not on its source or origin, this commentary richly and thoroughly explores just what Luke is saying and how he says it.