God's Many-Splendored Image

God's Many-Splendored Image PDF

Author: Verna E. F. Harrison

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2010-06

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 080103471X

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This fresh approach to theological anthropology applies patristic wisdom to contemporary discussions of what it means to be human.

God's Many-Splendored Image

God's Many-Splendored Image PDF

Author: Nonna Verna Harrison

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2010-06-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 144121240X

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What does it mean to be a human being made in the image of God? This book makes the case that the divine image can be seen in not just one or two aspects of human identity but in all of them. The author, a specialist in early Christianity, reveals the light that leading theologians of the early church shed on contemporary discussions of what it means to be human. Each chapter explores a different facet of the divine image and likeness and maps out a path that can lead toward wholeness and holiness. This fresh approach to theological anthropology brings Greek patristic theology to students in a readable fashion.

Growing into God

Growing into God PDF

Author: John Mabry

Publisher: Quest Books

Published: 2012-08-28

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0835609014

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Offers a straightforward look at the Christian mystical tradition, using examples of the classical mystical journey from the lives of Christian mystics.

Godly Heretics

Godly Heretics PDF

Author: Marc DiPaolo

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-04-08

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0786467800

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When computers freeze, they are "rebooted" and soon working properly again. Similarly, legendary thinkers throughout history have argued that Christianity should start fresh by recapturing the humanitarian spirit of Jesus' original message. These include such disparate individuals as Thomas Jefferson, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, and the religious leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Surprisingly enough, even classic television shows and films meant to be entertaining--Lost, Battlestar Galactica, It's a Wonderful Life, Groundhog Day, Decalogue, and A Charlie Brown Christmas--are attempts to apply the basic principles of Christianity to modern times. This book offers new essays by scholars of literature, film, history, theology and philosophy examining how various thinkers and storytellers over time have conceived of a reinvented Christianity. In confronting this controversial idea, this book examines how unorthodox interpretations of the Bible can be some of the most valid, how visions of Jesus as a revolutionary may be the most historically sound, and how compassionate Christians such as Origen have wrestled with the eternal questions of the existence of evil, the gift of free will and the promise of universal salvation.

The Human Being

The Human Being PDF

Author: Hans Schwarz

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2013-12-20

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0802870880

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This overview of Christian anthropology by Hans Schwarz uniquely emphasizes three things: (1) the biblical testimony, (2) the historical unfolding of Christian anthropology through the centuries, and (3) the present affirmation of Christian anthropology in view of rival options and current scientific evidence. Schwarz begins by elucidating the special place occupied by human beings in the world, then ponders the complex issue of human freedom, and concludes by investigating humanity as a community of men and women in this world and in the world beyond. While maintaining a strong biblical orientation, Schwarz draws on a wide range of resources, including philosophy and the natural sciences, in order to map out what it means to be human. Schwarz's Human Being will interest anyone who is concerned with how in the face of fascinating scientific insights we can intelligently talk today about human sinfulness, human freedom, and human beings as children of the God who created us.

God's Voice Within

God's Voice Within PDF

Author: Mark E. Thibodeaux

Publisher: Loyola Press

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 082943304X

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Many of us do not trust our own thoughts, feelings, and desires when it comes to discerning God’s will. Instead we look outside ourselves to determine what God wants from and for us. In God’s Voice Within, spiritual director Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, shows us how to use Ignatian discernment to access our own spiritual intuition and understand that the most trustworthy wisdom of all comes not from outside sources, but from God working through us. God’s Voice Within is intended for people who know that there is more to the spiritual life than they are currently experiencing and are ready to take the next step in their walk of faith by making effective discernment—specifically Ignatian discernment—a daily practice. Ultimately, God’s Voice Within teaches us to discern what is at the root of our actions and emotions, which in turn allows us to respond to God’s promptings inside us rather than unconsciously reacting to life around us.

American Evangelicalism

American Evangelicalism PDF

Author: Christian Smith

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2014-12-10

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 022622922X

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“An excellent study of evangelicalism” from the award-winning sociologist and author of Souls in Transition and Soul Searching (Library Journal). Evangelicalism is one of the strongest religious traditions in America today; twenty million Americans identify themselves with the evangelical movement. Given the modern pluralistic world we live in, why is evangelicalism so popular? Based on a national telephone survey and more than three hundred personal interviews with evangelicals and other churchgoing Protestants, this study provides a detailed analysis of the commitments, beliefs, concerns, and practices of this thriving group. Examining how evangelicals interact with and attempt to influence secular society, this book argues that traditional, orthodox evangelicalism endures not despite, but precisely because of, the challenges and structures of our modern pluralistic environment. This work also looks beyond evangelicalism to explore more broadly the problems of traditional religious belief and practice in the modern world. With its impressive empirical evidence, innovative theory, and substantive conclusions, American Evangelicalism will provoke lively debate over the state of religious practice in contemporary America. “Based on a three-year study of American evangelicals, Smith takes the pulse of contemporary evangelicalism and offers substantial evidence of a strong heartbeat . . . Evangelicalism is thriving, says Smith, not by being countercultural or by retreating into isolation but by engaging culture at the same time that it constructs, maintains and markets its subcultural identity. Although Smith depends heavily on sociological theory, he makes his case in an accessible and persuasive style that will appeal to a broad audience.” —Publishers Weekly

Kierkegaard, Religion and the Nineteenth-Century Crisis of Culture

Kierkegaard, Religion and the Nineteenth-Century Crisis of Culture PDF

Author: George Pattison

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-07-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9780521010429

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Kierkegaard is often viewed in the history of ideas solely within the academic traditions of philosophy and theology. The secondary literature generally ignores the fact that he also took an active role in the public debate about the significance of the modern age that was taking shape in the flourishing feuilleton literature during the period of his authorship. Through a series of sharply focussed studies, George Pattison contextualises Kierkegaard's religious thought in relation to the debates about religion, culture and society carried on in the newspapers and journals read by the whole educated stratum of Danish society. Pattison brings Kierkegaard into relation to not only high art and literature but also to the ephemera of his contemporary culture. This has important implications for our understanding of Kierkegaard's view of the nature of religious communication in modern society.

The Quest for God and the Good Life

The Quest for God and the Good Life PDF

Author: Mark T. Miller

Publisher: Catholic University of America Press

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0813221390

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Throughout this introductory text, progress, decline, and redemption constitute a systematic framework for examining the central terms of Catholic theology, as well as key notions in Lonergan's theology. The book provides a firm foundation for students of Lonergan as well as anyone interested in understanding Catholic theology and applying it to ministry, education, and other fields.

Dignity and Destiny

Dignity and Destiny PDF

Author: John F. Kilner

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2015-01-08

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 0802867642

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Misunderstandings about what it means for humans to be created in God's image have wreaked devastation throughout history -- for example, slavery in the U. S., genocide in Nazi Germany, and the demeaning of women everywhere. In Dignity and Destiny John Kilner explores what the Bible itself teaches about humanity being in God's image. He discusses in detail all of the biblical references to the image of God, interacts extensively with other work on the topic, and documents how misunderstandings of it have been so problematic. People made according to God's image, Kilner says, have a special connection with God and are intended to be a meaningful reflection of him. Because of sin, they don't actually reflect him very well, but Kilner shows why the popular idea that sin has damaged the image of God is mistaken. He also clarifies the biblical difference between being God's image (which Christ is) and being in God's image (which humans are). He explains how humanity's creation and renewal in God's image are central, respectively, to human dignity and destiny. Locating Christ at the center of what God's image means, Kilner charts a constructive way forward and reflects on the tremendously liberating impact that a sound understanding of the image of God can have in the world today.