Deconstructing God

Deconstructing God PDF

Author: Ian Gurvitz

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2010-06-22

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781450518277

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WINNER 2011 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS -- RELIGIOUS NON-FICTION Deconstructing God makes a case for an understanding of religion that transcends the conventional categories in which one is either a believer, an atheist, or agnostic, by focusing on mysticism as the experiential core of religion. The book makes the case that this paradigm we've inherited in western culture has left us stuck in a series of false arguments about the subject of religion: Whether there is or isn't "a God"; the religion vs. science debate, the faith vs. reason debate. We bat these discussions back and forth under the illusion that we're engaged in a meaningful dialogue about religion, when all the while there is a more subtle understanding of the phenomenon, in the form of a very human, earthly psychological experience that, while generally referred to as "mystical" is really only a mystery in the sense that it has been obscured by our false understanding. Per Meister Eckhart: "God is at home, it's we who have gone out for a walk." "Although I don't agree 100% with Ian Gurvitz's analysis of religion -- who does on this subject? -- I loved reading this insightful, funny, and illuminating book. And we both think Pat Robertson is a douchebag." Bill Maher

The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida

The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida PDF

Author: John D. Caputo

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1997-09-22

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 9780253211125

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The Prayer and Tears of Jacques Derrida takes its point of departure from Derrida's more recent, sometimes autobiographical writings and closely examines the religious motifs that have emerged in his later works. John D. Caputo's provocative interpretation of Derrida's thinking also makes an original contribution to the question of the relevance of deconstruction for religion. Caputo's Derrida is a man of faith who bridges Jewish and Christian traditions. The deep messianic, apocalyptic, and prophetic tones in Derrida's writings, Caputo argues, bespeak his broken covenant with Judaism. Through its startling exploration of Derrida's impossible religion, the book sheds light on the implications of deconstruction for an understanding of religion and faith today--from back cover.

Deconstructing Jesus

Deconstructing Jesus PDF

Author: Robert M. Price

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2009-09-25

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1615921206

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After more than a century of New Testament scholarship, it has become clear that the Jesus of the gospels is a fictive amalgam, reflecting the hopes and beliefs of the early Christian community and revealing very little about the historical Jesus. Over the millennia since the beginning of Christianity various congregations, from fundamentalist to liberal, have tended to produce a Jesus figurehead that functions as a symbolic cloak for their specific theological agendas. Through extensive research and fresh textual insights Robert M. Price paves the way for a new reconstruction of Christian origins. Moving beyond the work of Burton L. Mack and John Dominic Crossan on Jesus movements and Christ cults, which shows how the various Jesus figures may have amalgamated into the patchwork savior of Christian faith, Price takes an innovative approach. He links the work of F.C. Baur, Walter Bauer, Helmut Koester, and James M. Robinson with that of early Christ-myth theorists-two camps of biblical analysis that have never communicated. Arguing that perhaps Jesus never existed as a historical figure, Price maintains an agnostic stance, while putting many puzzles and scholarly debates in a new light. He also incorporates neglected parallels from Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and Buddhism. Deconstructing Jesus provides a valuable bridge between New Testament scholarship and early freethinkers in a refreshing cross-fertilization of perspectives.

What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (The Church and Postmodern Culture)

What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (The Church and Postmodern Culture) PDF

Author: John D. Caputo

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2007-11-01

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9781441200365

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This provocative addition to The Church and Postmodern Culture series offers a lively rereading of Charles Sheldon's In His Steps as a constructive way forward. John D. Caputo introduces the notion of why the church needs deconstruction, positively defines deconstruction's role in renewal, deconstructs idols of the church, and imagines the future of the church in addressing the practical implications of this for the church's life through liturgy, worship, preaching, and teaching. Students of philosophy, theology, religion, and ministry, as well as others interested in engaging postmodernism and the emerging church phenomenon, will welcome this provocative, non-technical work.

The Case for Religion

The Case for Religion PDF

Author: Keith Ward

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-10-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1780746709

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A brilliant and accessible rebuttal of The God Delusion from one of Christianity's most incisive thinkers In this, his first new book since the best-selling God: A Guide for the Perplexed (Oneworld, 2002), Keith Ward turns his attention to the role - and the validity of religion over the centuries and in the world today. His erudite yet informative and factual narrative outlines the various attempts that have been made throughout history to explain religion, including the anthropological, psychological, sociological and philosophical theories of key thinkers from Immanuel Kant to Sigmund Freud. Adopting a comparative approach, the book covers all the religious traditions from West and East alike, concluding in a compelling manner that not only are the world faiths much more than a series of theoretical perspectives, but that, in the face of discord and violence, religious understanding retains more resonance than ever before within our global community.

Deconstructing Calvinism Revised Edition

Deconstructing Calvinism Revised Edition PDF

Author: Hutson Smelley

Publisher: Xulon Press

Published: 2011-08

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1613799381

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Does God love everyone? When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, did he die for the sins of the elect only or for the sins of the whole world? Can anyone respond in faith to the gospel message? Or is the act of believing a gift of God only given to a subset of humanity called the elect so that the rest of humanity is unable to believe and destined to spend eternity apart from God? What does the term elect mean in the New Testament? These are fundamental questions about the God of the Bible and the salvation He provides in Jesus Christ. This book invites you to sit as an unbiased juror and consider the traditional principles of TULIP Calvinism as explained by the leading Calvinists in their own words, then to weigh their proffered Scriptural evidence to make your own determination. This book will address exegetically all of the most commonly cited proof texts for Calvinism, with a thorough consideration of the "pillar" passages like John 6:44, Romans 3 and 9, and Ephesians 1:4. This book will defend a middle ground position (called NULIF - "new life") between TULIP Calvinism and Arminianism and demonstrate that you can tell people with confidence that God loves them, Jesus died for their sins, and they can be saved by trusting Christ for the forgiveness of their sins based on his finished work at Calvary. HUTSON SMELLEY is an attorney, Bible teacher and seminary student residing in Houston, Texas with his wife and seven children. He has a degree in Biblical Studies from the College of Biblical Studies, a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Houston, a M.S. in Mathematics from Texas A&M University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston. His website can be found at www.proclaimtheword.net.

Fractured Faith

Fractured Faith PDF

Author: Lina AbuJamra

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 0802499430

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After your faith has fractured, let what takes its place be the real thing . . . at last. Somewhere along the way, the Christianity you knew began to crumble. You began to suspect your faith was misplaced. Disillusionment set in. Churches hurt you. Their people failed you. Christian institutions were exposed as fake. And in it all, God was silent. Is He gone? Or is God really there, waiting for you to find Him instead of the counterfeits? If you’re walking this difficult spiritual path, Lina AbuJamra understands you. After experiencing the near deconstruction of her own faith, Lina had to rebuild something more solid when the faith she once knew let her down. With her diagnostic style that comes from her training as an ER doc, Lina helps you grapple with questions like: Where is God in my pain? Is this how Christians are supposed to act? Why did my story end up this way? Is this the normal Christian life? Why is it so hard for Christians to love? Let Fractured Faith help you find your way back to God. You just might discover that the real God has been waiting for you all along.

Deconstructing Your Faith without Losing Yourself

Deconstructing Your Faith without Losing Yourself PDF

Author: Angela J. Herrington

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2024-02-20

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1467466670

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How to heal religious trauma by releasing harmful beliefs Have you experienced #ChurchHurt? Are you frustrated by judgmental church people supporting oppressive systems? Do you have doubts about the faith tradition you were raised in but are afraid of losing your community? Angela J. Herrington has been there. And with over a decade of experience as a life coach, she can teach you how to begin healing religious trauma through deconstruction. Lively and empathetic, Angela will gently guide you through deconstructing your faith. This concise and actionable handbook will • give you permission to trust yourself, • show you how to seek new perspectives and information, • teach you how to embrace vulnerable exploration and self-compassion, and • help you release unhealthy beliefs that are harming you and marginalized persons. Deconstructing your long-held beliefs can be isolating and overwhelming. But you don’t have to do it alone. Begin your healing journey with Deconstructing Your Faith without Losing Yourself.

Re-treating Religion

Re-treating Religion PDF

Author: Alena Alexandrova

Publisher: Fordham Univ Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0823234649

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One of the most complicated and ambiguous tendencies in contemporary western societies is the phenomenon referred to as the "turn to religion." In philosophy, one of the most original thinkers critically questioning this "turn" is Jean-Luc Nancy. Re-treating Religion is the first volume to analyze his long-term project "The Deconstruction of Christianity," especially his major statement of it in Dis-Enclosure. Nancy conceives monotheistic religion and secularization not as opposite worldviews that succeed each other in time but rather as springing from the same history. This history consists in a paradoxical tendency to contest one's own foundations--whether God, truth, origin, humanity, or rationality--as well as to found itself on the void of this contestation. Nancy calls this unique combination of self-contestation and self-foundation the "self-deconstruction" of the Western world. The book includes discussion with Nancy himself, who contributes a substantial "Preamble" and a concluding dialogue with the volume editors. The contributions follow Nancy in tracing the complexities of Western culture back to the persistent legacy of monotheism, in order to illuminate the tensions and uncertainties we face in the twenty-first century.