Robert J Schreiter

In the thirty years since Constructing Local Theologies first appeared, it has been the basic handbook for anyone interested in understanding the theological implications of cultural pluralism. While the themes of inculturation and contextualisationhave been increasingly familiar, the insights of this groundbreaking work remain startlingly fresh and original. The proliferation of local theologies and the emergence of voices from the margins continue to challenge traditional assumptions that the theology of the dominant culture is universal and undetermined by context.

Encompassing recent developments in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and communication theory The New Catholicity explores the many aspects of globalization that challenge Christianity as it enters into its third millennium. In Schreiter's view, a deep irony, perhaps even a paradox, is concealed within the riddle of globalization. Such forces as feminist, liberation, ecological, and global theological movements find their counterparts in antiglobalism, ethnification, and primitivism. Liberation thought in a post-Soviet world seeks to be more realistic about economics but finds "reformist gradualism" a bitter pill to swallow. Intercultural theologies find analogous difficulties when they attend to "integrated" as opposed to "globalized" concepts of culture. The seeming polar opposition of [bad] "syncretism" and [good] "synthesis" in the context of changing religious identities end up much less amenable to simple value judgments than they once appeared to be.

Noting that Christians in the 20th century have not been able to make up their minds whether God and our corporate lives have anything to do with each other, Dyrness explores the century's theological trends. Citing the impact of contemporary hermeneutics, Dyrness shows how the Bible still functions as a master narrative wherein Christians can find themselves. Dyrness addresses various aspects of contemporary culture, constructing a theology of embodiment that connects culture and worship in concrete ways. For all those concerned with issues of religion and culture, particularly of the raging Culture Wars, 'The Earth is God's' offers an informed Evangelical view that is at once balanced and hopeful.

In a world of conflict in which religious differences play a significant role, reconciliation grows increasingly important. The Ministry of Reconciliation shows how with a spirituality of reconciliation we can create the spaces in which reconciliation can happen, and with human strategies, how the process of reconciliation can move forward. For all those working to overcome the effects of violence - whether in communities and societies, or even in neighborhoods and families - The Ministry of Reconciliation offers a sure guide and inspiration to the way of divine shalom.