Professor Emeritus, LeRoy Aden, formerly of the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia and Adjunct Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary has just published with Wipf and Stock a volume of 116 pages entitled Guilt and the Search for Fulfillment. LeRoy is an articulate theologian deeply ensconced in the historic Lutheran equation of Law and Gospel. He knows more about guilt personally and theologically than anyone else I know. As in all his published works, he demonstrates here his superb skill in sharing his perspective with us in a highly readable style for anyone from a bright high schooler to an inquiring graduate student. The style is very similar to that of his 2005 Augsburg volume, In Life and Death, The Shaping of Faith. This book exudes the passion and heart of the pastor that Aden is in all his relationships. It would be nice if the book had zeroed in more aggressively and plainly upon the radical notion of universal and unconditional grace, which seems to be the core of Pauline and Johannine theology, as well as that of the Covenant of Grace in Genesis 12 and 17. However, to do that Aden would have had to depart from the classical line in the ortho Theology of Scripture, the fatal flaw of Christendom since the Ecumenical Creeds of the 4th and 5th centuries.

I have finished writing my chapters for HHA except for the conclusion to each of the three volumes, which, of course, cannot be written until all the other contri-butors have turned in their chapters, due 01 Jun 12. I am considering dedicating this work to the memory of Alan Segal and adding an 25 page excursus that provides a critical digests his final book on Life After Death, A History of the Afterlife in Western Religions, a massive volume 866 + xii pages profoundly relevant to the content of this present 3 vol work.

Things are moving along smoothly in the preparation of a 3 vol set, entitled Heaven, Hell, and Afterlife: Eternity in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, (Ellens, ed.), contracted to be submitted to ABC-CLIO Praeger Publishers on 01 Jul 2012.  Approximately 50 scholars from all three Abrahamic religious communities  are signed to contribute to this set. The set will appear in the Praeger Series: Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. This set is scheduled to appear by year end.

Likewise, progress is vigorously advancing on another 3 volume set, entitled Winning Revolutions: The Psychology for Successful Revolts for Freedom, Fairness, and Rights (Ellens, ed.),  contracted for submission to Praeger Publishers on 01 Oct 2012. An equal stable of scholars in the psycho-sociology of Religion, Politics, and Economics has agreed to contribute. This set will be published in April 2013.

Another volume that is in preparation for publication in 2013 is Job and Jonah: Two Hillarious Cases Against God - Reflections on the Problem of Pain (Ellens, ed.).