The Shame Factor

Description: This volume deals with the varied forms of shame reflected in biblical, theological, psychological and anthropological sources. Although traditional theology and church practice concentrate on providing forgiveness for shameful behavior, recent scholarship has discovered the crucial relevance of social shame evoked by mental status, adversity, slavery, abuse, illness, grief and defeat. Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists have discovered that unresolved social shame is related to racial and social prejudice, to bullying, crime, genocide, narcissism, post-traumatic stress and other forms of toxic behavior. Eleven leaders in this research participated in a conference on "The Shame Factor," sponsored by St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE in October 2010. Their essays explore the impact and the transformation of shame in a variety of arenas, comprising in this volume a unique and innovative resource for contemporary religion, therapy, ethics, and social analysis. About the Contributor(s): Robert Jewett taught for 20 years at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and is currently a Guest Professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is the author of Mission and Menace: Four Centuries of American Religious Zeal, and is Theologian in Residence at St. Mark's Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Wayne L. Alloway Jr. is Senior Pastor of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Lincoln and is also a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. John G. Lacey is Executive Pastor of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a lifelong student of the Bible with a passion for teaching and writing about the Scripture.