Toward a Transformed Christianity: Engaging Religion, Politics, and Culture - Paperback

by Earl Zimmerman (Author)

This is a time of disillusionment with organized religion and the church. Many--especially younger generations--are walking away because their churches no longer feel relevant to them. Others are leaving as conscientious objectors because they are morally outraged by the church's failures. Furthermore, this is an anxious time of rapid social change involving political, ecological, and religious turmoil. Can this great religious recession and the church's response to these troubling circumstances be a gateway to renewal? What might a corresponding transformed Christianity look like? How can the experience of past generations inform the journey of transformation? How can the Christian vision of a beloved community, that embodies life-giving spiritual, ecological, and social transformation, inspire believers today? This book considers how Christians can faithfully and creatively engage their changing religious terrain. It draws on the author's experience as a pastor and religious scholar, as well as his church assignments in Asia. Each chapter addresses the various questions and challenges that ordinary people and insightful church members have brought up in conversation. Such questions arouse hopes and dreams for a different future.

Author Biography

Earl Zimmerman is a writer, church educator, environmentalist, and avid gardener. He has decades of experience as a religious scholar, as a pastor, and in church service in Asia. He has a PhD in religion and culture, an MDiv, and an MAR. He is the author of Practicing the Politics of Jesus and the co-editor of Telling Our Stories: Personal Accounts of Engagement with Scripture.