By Hugh McGinlay

Polebridge Press publishes some controversial books and some controversial authors (for example Jesus Seminar, John Spong, Don Cupitt, Lloyd Geering, John Dominic Crossan).

One of their authors is Nigel Leaves,Warden and Dean of Studies of John Wollaston Anglican Theological College in Perth.His recent title The God Problem – alternatives to fundamentalism offers new ways of talking about God in a society that seems increasingly uncomfortable with some of the more traditional images and language.

Paternoster Press from the UK now includes what is called the ‘Paternoster Digital Library’ series. As the name suggests, these are digitally produced editions of older titles that are still in demand.

Recent titles include Not Ashamed of the Gospel (New Testament interpretations of the death of Christ) by Morna Hooker (184227450, $8.95); The Olive Branch (An evangelical Anglican doctrine of the Church) by Tim Bradshaw (1842274449, $59.95) and Christ in our Place (The humanity of God in Christ for the reconciliation of the world) by Travis Hart and Daniel Thimell (184227449X, $74.95).

Hillenbrand Books is an imprint of Liturgical Training Publications in Chicago and continues to publish in a fairly specialised area of theology and worship.

Among their new titles, Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform (978159525021, $155.00) by Anthony Ruff is an excellent reflection on those principles that govern appropriate liturgical music in Roman Catholic and other churches. In an age when often ‘anything goes’, here is a scholarly work that provides a balanced answer to the ongoing debate about the place of music in Christian worship.

Keith Ward’s new edition of Divine Action (Templeton Foundation Press, 97815994710, $1.95) examines God’s role in an open and emergent universe, looking at what is involved in our understanding of creation and offering a rationale for the role of divine operation and providence in a world of scientific law and intelligibility.

A new book about the Anglican Church reveal much about the internal workings of that denomination. Bishop Tom Frame of St Mark’s in Canberra has written his Anglicans in Australia (UNSW Press, 97808840809, $9.95) as a way of providing a short but well researched history of the Anglican Church in Australia, and of identifying what he sees as the challenges for the church in the future, not least because of the deep divisions found within the denomination.

An exciting new title from DLT in London is Hugh Rayment-Pickard’s 50 Key Concepts in Theology (9780225222, $4.95). The author considers the central theological issues of the Christian tradition (atheism, atonement, biblical criticism, fundamentalism, eschatology, etc.) and in a series of short essays, introduces the themes and gives a short history of the movements and trends within that area, including the principal writers and thinkers on the topics. One reviewer says;“He has supplied a sound guide for the perplexed and a stimulus to argument amongst the interested”.

The Language of God by Francis Collins, head of the Gnome Project (Free Press, 978141542742, $29.95) was on the New York Times bestseller list. At a time when faith is under attack from celebrated atheists from a scientific background, here is an authoritative book from a scientist who firmly believes that faith and science can coexist harmoniously and profitably. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life, yet is a person of deep faith in God.

How do we make moral decisions and what is so special about this process for Christians? And if it is all so obvious,why do the various churches have different approaches in the guidance they offer their members? John Harrod, Principal of Hartley Victoria College in Manchester, has a new book called Weaving the Tapestry of Moral Judgement – Christian ethics in a plural world

(97807120187, Epworth, $9.95) in which he opens up to us the wide range of philosophies and traditions that influence how we reach moral decisions. He is comfortable enough within his Christian tradition to acknowledge room for uncertainty in particular cases, inviting us to consider seriously what informs our moral choices and decisions and, basically, the kind of people we seek to be and become.

In a more specific moral area that has pressing implications for us as believers, Michael Northcott’s A Moral Climate: the ethics of global warming (9780225284, DLT, $9.95) laments the fact that generally the debate over global warming has failed to engage most Christian leaders, despite this being – he asserts – one of the biggest moral dilemmas of our time. His new book examines theological attitudes to climate change, from the complacent to the apocalyptic. Northcott is a priest of the Episcopal Church in Scotland and Professor of Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. He is well placed to reflect upon and argue persuasively for Christians to confront our personal and social responsibility for climate change. He plans to visit Australia in May next year.

For some in the churches, science and theology are often experienced as unusual companions. Faith Seeking Understanding: approaching God through science (9780809144518, Paulist, $2.95) by John Shackleford believes that science is a gift of God, given to us to use in our quest to understand God. He explores the scientific evidence for a personal, loving God as part of an ongoing dialogue between science and faith.The current debates about creationism and evolution make all the more pressing the need for such informed books that show how religious faith can live in harmony with the methodology of scientific enquiry.

Recently, Paternoster in the UK issued a new edition of A Thousand Tongues by John Lawson (Paternoster, 9781842275504, $7.95). As the title suggests, this is an exploration of the hymns of John Wesley not simply for their uplifting, experiential aspects but, more importantly, to discover the depth of their theology and biblical allusion. The book will be welcomed by people who have used the Wesley hymns over the years and are familiar with that tradition; and by contemporary liturgists looking for models of hymnody as a way of teaching basic Christian truths. The book is organised according to the great truths of our faith, with a succinct commentary on Wesley’s theological understanding of those truths and how he expressed them in his hymns.

What do theologians have to say about genetic technologies? Two of them from the Department of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the University of Aberdeen have edited a new book from Continuum. Theology, Disability and the New Genetics edited by John Swinton and Brian Brock (T & T Clark, 978057045584, $5.95) comes out of a conference held at the University of Aberdeen in 2005 and is a series of essays that considers the promises and perils of today’s genetic medicine, raising a fundamental question: will our acceptance of genetics make us less accepting of others?

On a related topic, Templeton Foundation Press have published The Altruistic Species by Andrew Flescher and Daniel Worthen (Templeton, 9781599471228, $58.95). Subtitled ‘Scientific, philosophical and religious perspectives of human benevolence’, the book asks basic questions about altruism – what motivates altruism and how essential is altruism to the human experience? The book argues for the existence of altruism against competing theories that view benevolence as self-interest in disguise.This is a book not only for scholars of social ethics and moral psychology but for anyone who is seriously concerned about living ethically.

Finally, from Continuum we have The Mary Magdalene Cover-up – the sources behind the myth – by Esther de Boer (Continuum, 97805701822, $4.95). Unlike some recent best-sellers, here is a scholarly account of the history of Mary Magdalene that brings together an impressive range of texts from the first century when she was alive to the sixth century when her image as a penitent sinner was invented.
Further details of the titles are on our website www.rainbowbooks.com.au or you can consult your local Christian bookshop.