A unique and incisive exploration of the place and nature of friendship in both its personal and civic dimensions

InTowards Friendship-Shaped Communities: A Practical Theology of Friendship, distinguished theological researcher Anne-Marie Ellithorpe delivers a constructive and insightful exploration of the place and nature of friendship as innate to being human, to the human vocation, and to life within the broader community. Of particular interest to members and leaders of faith communities, this book responds to contemporary concerns regarding relationality and offers a comprehensive theology of friendship.

The author provides an inclusive and interdisciplinary study that brings previous traditions and texts into dialogue with contemporary contexts and concerns, including examples from Indigenous and Euro-Western cultures. Readers will reflect on the theology of friendship and the interrelationship between friendship and community, think critically about their own social and theological imagination, and develop an integrative approach to theological reflection that draws on Don BrowningsFundamental Practical Theology.

Integrating philosophical, anthropological, and theological perspectives on the study of friendship, this book presents:

Perfect for graduate and advanced undergraduate students taking courses on friendship or practical theology,Towards Friendship-Shaped Communities: A Practical Theology of Friendshipwill also earn a place in the libraries of scholars of practical theology and community practitioners, including ministers, priests, pastors, spiritual advisors, and counselors.

Anne-Marie Ellithorpe is Research Associate at the Vancouver School of Theology. She is co-editor ofVisions of the End Times: Revelations of Hope and Challenge, Co-Chair of the AAR seminar unit Religious Reflections on Friendship, and a member of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the International Academy of Practical Theology.

Illustrations ix

Abbreviations x

Acknowledgments xii

Introduction 1

Part I The Current Reality 23

1 The Place of Friendship 25

2 Coexisting Friendship Worlds 47

Part II A Deep Remembering Friendship, Community, Resistance 73

3 Friendship and First Testament Writings 75

4 Friendship and Second Testament Writings 94

5 Friendship in Classical and Christian Traditions 107

Bridge: Shifts in Vision 122

Part III Theology, Friendship, and the Social Imagination 137

6 Mutuality: God, Creation and Community 139

7 Open Friendship, Becoming Kin, and the Human Vocation 159

8 Love, Spirit-Shaped Friendships, and Friendship-Shaped Communities 171

Part IV Practicing Friendship 195

9 Friendship and Community: Ideals and Implementation 197

Conclusion 213

Appendix: A Correlational Approach to Theological Reflection 217

Glossary 227

Index 230