New Releases by John Howard

At the center of all John Howard Yoder’s thought is the scriptural witness, and at the center of the scriptural witness is Christ, the one who “came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph. 2:17). This collection of short, accessible studies of key biblical texts provides a wonderful point of entry into Yoder’s more difficult theological writings; it can also serve as a guide for a small group Bible study on the theme of Christian peaceableness.

Basically, there are three measures of success in the cinema. First off are pictures like "The Crowd" and "Applause" that achieve rave reviews and even go on to win awards, but don''t recover their negative costs. Then there are the movies the critics hate, but the public enjoys. All three versions of "Back Street", for instance. Finally come the pictures everyone loves, like "From Here To Eternity" or "Sunset Boulevard". In the annals of success in Hollywood''s Golden Age, one name stands out above all others: Cecil B. DeMille. His famous pictures reviewed here include both versions of "The Buccaneer", "The Crusades", "Sign of the Cross", "The Story of Dr Wassell" and "Union Pacific". But the book also notes a DeMille "B" movie that tied up a fair amount of money but proved so unpopular it was released in some territories as a support. The book also covers some of Hollywood''s other disastrous failures, including the M-G-M movie that cost over $4 million to make and returned virtually nothing.

Many of your favorite movie musicals are sure to be represented in this book. Classics like "Rose Marie" and "Calamity Jane" rub shoulders with "Artists and Models," "Babes on Broadway," "The Bohemian Girl," "The Inspector General" and "The Kid from Brooklyn." Bing and Bob are off on "The Road to Singapore," Eddie Cantor is involved in "Roman Scandals," while Mitzi Gaynor enjoys her stay in "South Pacific." Will Rogers, Jeanne Crain and Alice Faye all have a go in the various versions of "State Fair" and we catch Deanna Durbin in "Three Smart Girls," "Three Smart Girls Grow Up," "It Started with Eve" and "Something in the Wind." And that''s just a small sampling of the wonders in store in "More Movie Musicals."

What is a mixed movie? A film to which artists of various nationalities contribute. Popular examples are "Land of the Pharaohs," "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Casino Royale" and "The Sundowners." British players like Errol Flynn, Stewart Granger, Rex Harrison and James Mason have always been welcome in Hollywood. Not so well known are the numerous examples of American actors who lent their talents to British films, such as Robert Ayres, Phyllis Kirk, Mona Freeman, Frank Sinatra, Carol Lynley, William Bendix, Russ Tamblyn, William Holden, Raquel Welch, Joan Crawford, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson, Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, Alex Nicol, Zachary Scott, and Wayne Morris, to mention but a few such appearances that are detailed in this book.

This third collection of widescreen wonders photographed in CinemaScope, focuses on such popular movies as "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," "Cleopatra," "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Bus Stop," "There''s No Business Like Show Business," "The Seven Year Itch," "Let''s Make Love," "Peyton Place," "North to Alaska," "The Longest Day," "The Eddy Duchin Story," "Far from the Madding Crowd," "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," "The Helen Morgan Story," "A Star Is Born" and "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Available for the first time in English, John Howard Yoder''s study sheds new light on the development of his thought. In the course of his investigation into the dialogues between the earliest Anabaptists and the Swiss Reformers. Yoder uncovers the issues that would emerge fully in his later work as a theologian and ethicist.

Jesus created around himself a voluntary society that was counter to everything his society knew or expected. Jesus gave his members a new way to deal with offenders, with violence, with money, with leadership, with a corrupt society. He gave them a new pattern of relationships between man and woman, and an enlarged understanding of what it means to be human. This is the original revolution: the creation of a distinct community with its alternate set of values and its coherent way of incarnating them. Such a group is not only a novelty, but is also, if lived faithfully, the most powerful tool of social change.

John Howard Yoder went to Europe after the Second World War as a young volunteer. Yoder worked as an aide in a children''s home in Elsace, France and completed his doctorate under Karl Barth in Basel, Switzerland. Because of his incomparably clear and sharp thinking he quickly became one of the most sought after speakers on pacifism at seminars as he worked towards an Anabaptist renewal of the church. In this context Yoder succeeded in reopening the theological debate on Christians and political responsibility with the larger church to which persecution had put an end 400 years earlier. Biblical scholar Timothy J. Geddert translated two of these lectures, originally given in Germany, as a resource to understand Yoder''s invitation to begin an exploratory journey that leads to Jesus Christ''s peace church.

Can a war really be considered justÓ? If so, which wars, and under what circumstances? If not, why not? When War is Unjust provides a systematic exploration of these questions for students of ethics, Christian doctrine, and history. For centuries the just war tradition has been the dominant framework for Christian thinking about organized conflict. This tradition sets a number of specific conditions which must be satisfied before a particular war can termed justÓ and therefore supportable by the faithful Christians. John Howard Yoder, himself a pacifist, approaches the just war theory on its own terms. His purpose: to introduce the student to this just-war tradition, and to offer a critical framework for evaluating its tenets and applying them to real conflicts. When War is Unjust takes the just war tradition seriously, and holds its proponents accountable in a critical debate about when - if ever - war can be justified. It is a readable and thought-provoking primer on the history, criteria, and application of just war teaching in Christian churches.

Dour-faced Moe Howard with his sugar-bowl haircut, his bald, chubby brother Curly and frizzy-haired Larry have poked, slapped, ear-yanked and nose-twisted their way into people''s hearts across the world - and into film history. Their nearly 200 two-reel comedies, made between 1933 and 1958, have been translated into over 25 languages, entertained nearly six generations of fans and are seen somewhere in the world every single day. The Three Stooges Scrapbook is a historical overview of their time in showbusiness.

Howard''s unparalleled history of "queer" life in the South shows how homosexuality flourished in the conservative institutions of small-town life, interspersing the life stories of both the ordinary and the famous. 22 halftones. 4 maps.

Readers will discover that it is not possible to disengage John Howard Yoder’s practice of ecumenical dialogue from his vision of the church. Yoder’s approach to ecumenical dialogue correlates with his conception of the faithfulness of the church. His vision of the church poses challenges for Christians of all communions because he calls both for disciplined dialogue and for faithful servanthood that renders the confession of Jesus Christ’s lordship meaningful. This collection of 17 essays on themes ecclesiological and ecumenical is intended to demonstrate the substantial unity of Yoder’s work over the past four decades. Many of these essays are often cited by researchers but have been till now unobtainable. Three of these texts have never been published before. Editor Michael Cartwright has contributed a substantial introduction on the “Yoderian” project, and a select bibliography prepared by Mark Nation catalogs Yoder’s writings—published and unpublished—on ecclesiology and ecumenism.

Using the text of the New Testament, this engaging study criticallyexamines the traditional portrait of Jesus as an apolitical figure and clarifies the true impact of Jesus'' life, work, and teachings on his disciples'' social behavior. This second edition is updated and expanded.

In this volume of essays John Howard Yoder projects a vision of Christian social ethics rooted in historical community and illuminated by scripture. Drawing upon scriptural accounts of the early church, he demonstrates the Christian community''s constant need for reform and change. Yoder first examines the scriptural and theoretical foundations of Christian social ethics. While personally committed to the "radical reformation" tradition, he eschews "denominational" categorization and addresses Christians in general. The status of Christian community, he argues, cannot be separated from the doctrinal content of beliefs and the moral understanding of discipleship. As a result, the Christian''s voluntary commitment to a particular community, as distinct from secular society, offers him valuable resources for practical moral reasoning. From a historical perspective, Yoder reviews the efforts of sixteenth-century radical (or Anabaptist) reformers to return to the fundamental ethical standards of the New Testament, and to disengage the community, as a biblically rooted call to faith that does not imply withdrawal from the pluralistic world. Rather, radical commitment to Christianity strengthens and renews the authentic human interests and values of the whole society. His analyses of democracy and of civil religion illustrate how Christianity must challenge and embrace the wider world.