Религия: прочее
Различные книги в жанре Религия: прочееFood and God
The central thesis of this book is that Western culture, and American culture in particular, needs an immediate change with regard to food and eating. Western over-indulgence is exacerbated by hunger and deprivation in the world. Learning to think theologically, and not just medically or psychologically, about one's eating habits will lead to positive personal and communal changes. In Food and God, Joel Soza offers readers a deeper understanding of Christian faith, one that will help them learn to think of eating as not merely a physical act, but as a spiritual exercise. Readers will become more aware of world need and preference for others while also learning how to improve their own health, control their own weight, and develop greater spiritual awareness and sensitivity in the daily and routine activity of eating. This book evaluates both Old and New Testaments, as well as some theology in the history of the Church, to arrive at an understanding of how one should think about food and eating in relationship to God and the world. The reader will learn of the key role food plays in the biblical creation and temptation narratives. They will learn of the enormous labor that went into food preparation in the ancient world, and what sages have had to say about food indulgence throughout time and many cultures. Finally, readers will encounter Jesus's invitation to think about food in spiritual ways, gaining an understanding as to what it means that Christianity is a movement with table fellowship at the forefront of its faith expression.
Pages Called Holy
Seeking to live a Christian life in this American society can often evoke a wide range of emotions, and the precipitation sometimes looks like poetry. Times of great joy as well as times of disappointment and great sorrow are excellent catalysts for a kind of poetry that speaks in real ways to real people. This project contains both joy and sorrow, in an attempt to express different aspects of the changing atmosphere of the religious experience in the twenty-first century. I believe poetry can speak simply to deeper theological ideas in a way that is both deeply beautiful and deeply true. At times theology can be a very inaccessible subject for the average layperson, but it can also have a certain simple beauty that anyone can appreciate. As I have read and learned about theology, I've always found that the most profound ideas can be written out logically in essays and books, or they can be stated in succinct but imaginative phrases. I write with the latter category in mind. Pages Called Holy has been written over the past three years as I live, work, and learn in a local church. Most of these poems have their inspiration in the struggles of church life and the disparity between what I see happening and what I see God calling the Church to be. It is this tension that brings life to the poetry I write, and it is my hope that these poems would speak to an audience of the countless numbers of believers across all generations who feel that same tension between what is and what could be.
Last Call
Last Call is a book of poems that explores the journey and search for our elusive God. This is the journey of the soul, and the search is joined through the intimacies of everyday experiences, the confusions of relationships, the ever-present struggle with aging and mortality, and the wanderings amid the mysteries of faith. These poems reflect that, even in our uncertainty and not-knowing, we are continually summoned to live with an abiding sense of gratitude. That is the way home.
Pain as a Means of Grace
This text provides a novel approach to a critical issue–the potential of pain. Initially, the potential of pain is explored by way of paradise lost, as an explanation of why things are as we experience them. The book then entertains the classic Job narrative, as it pertains to addressing the question of why the godly suffer. The passion narratives next invite our attention and the collective voices of the martyrs appear as a logical extension of the sufferings of Christ. This leads into a more analytical treatment of the topic, highlighting key aspects of the extended discussion. Moreover, the text begins and concludes with examples meant to illustrate pain as a means of grace.
True and Reasonable
In the Bible, faith is contrasted with sight, not with reason. The apostle Paul consistently reasoned with his listeners, persuading them regarding the truth of his message, establishing a precedent for Christian apologetics (Acts 17:17, 18:4, and 18:19). He did so because the Christian faith is reasonable.
This defense begins with arguments in favor of theism: a finite universe, physical laws hospitable to life, and the origin and complexity of life. These factors suggest the existence of a brilliant and powerful creator who designed the universe, our world, and us.
But is it possible to know the designer? Yes. The next section deals with the authority of Scripture, and more exactly with why the Bible is superior to every other source, legitimizing its claim to divine origin. Several key prophetic passages are analyzed, including Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9. Since it is humanly impossible to accurately forecast the future with specificity, the fact that Scripture consistently does so indicates that it is a special composition whose message about the designer should be carefully considered.
From the authority of the Bible, the work turns to the person of Jesus Christ. He alone fulfills the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, and the other prophets. Moreover, the cohesive message of the apostles-the primary sources-following the crucifixion, even under considerable duress, further testifies to the reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. When these factors are combined, the Christian faith is endorsed by considerable philosophical, scientific, historical, and biblical evidence, making its truth claims quite probable, intellectually satisfying, and entirely reasonable.
Practicing Discipleship
Despite a plurality of doctrinal statements on war, peace, and nonviolence, some United Methodists sustain a commitment to nonviolence. Through qualitative research, Practicing Discipleship draws out lived theologies of nonviolence in order to understand how nonviolent United Methodists define, ground, and practice nonviolence, and to give that voice opportunity to challenge church doctrine and thereby the wider church. An analysis of statements from the Book of Disciplines and the Book of Resolutions reveals the plurality of Methodist teachings on moral issues related to war and peace. While such plurality is indicative of the inclusive tradition of United Methodism, Johnson shows that it also causes confusion, thus hindering the vitality and authority of the church's witness. This study's qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with twelve nonviolent United Methodists reveals a lived theology rooted in Scripture and theological reflection: it points particularly to a christocentrism that posits nonviolence as central to Christ's teachings and example. While study participants affirm the tradition of openness in the United Methodist Church, they also call for more tangible and extensive support for and education about nonviolence as a faithful option for Christians. Through amicable and constructive practical-theological dialogue, doctrinal plurality, and ecclesial openness are affirmed as appropriate and possible only within the context of the church's profound commitment to serious discipleship, which includes transformation toward nonviolence. Implications of this interaction include developing and adopting a more truthful conception of a nonviolent ethics, moving toward broadly conceived Christian formation in nonviolence, and fostering ongoing ecclesial dialogue about difficult moral issues of war, peace, and nonviolence.
Protestant Pulse
Leaving room for doubt and mystery, this book addresses the question of whether or not God exists. The author draws upon life-long personal experiences and her graduate school days as a middle-aged, Protestant wildcard at Weston Jesuit School of Theology. After considering a theological problem, turnings of her heart, divine guidance, and earthly unbinding, she discusses images of God, God's actions, and dwelling in God not as dogma but as reflections in prose, poetry, and prayer.
Prophets for Our Time
The books of Obadiah and Jonah can be read in just ten minutes. Yet these two books, written nearly three thousand years ago by two very different Hebrew prophets, address attitudes and actions that we struggle with even today. The valuable lessons the ancient writers have for people of the twenty-first century truly make them prophets for our time.
Prophets for Our Time strikes a balance between scholarly study and practical exposition to bring these two prophetic books alive for modern readers. The result is a practical, readable book that clearly explains the meaning of the biblical text. Maps, charts, and suggestions for personal application and further study enhance the value of the book, making it a very useful tool for personal and group study.
Psyche, Soul, and Spirit
A spirit runs through the interdisciplinary essays of this book–a spirit that lives within them and hovers above them, at once intelligent and profoundly simple. Although each essay focuses on a certain topic, whether it is the Buddhist saint Milarepa, the prophet Jeremiah, or the Christian saint Teresa of Avila, whether it is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict or subtleties of the spirit, these essays have penetrable borders that dissolve at the seams, and touch each other religiously, philosophically, and psychologically. The use of an interdisciplinary methodology that draws from the wisdom of different disciplines in regard to values, such as courage in the face of attacks and integrity in the midst of a worldly environment, culminates in a rich source of inspired guidance for everyday life.
Fire, Water, and Wind
Fire, Water, and Wind explores the forming of a healthy sense of personal identity. The impetus for Fire, Water, and Wind was the observation that people are searching for meaning and identity, are dissatisfied with their current situations, and many are actively seeking escape from their current life experiences. This is evidenced by the number of people involved in high-risk activities, be it drug or alcohol abuse, gambling, prostitution, multiple sex partners, smoking, or violent crimes. But does it have to be this way? Following the finding in the fields of psychology and neuroscience that narrative plays a key role within the context of identity formation, Fire, Water, and Wind offers an understanding of identity formation that is grounded in the biblical narrative that enables and equips one to face the varied challenges of life. Concluding that a narrative understanding of ones identity and ongoing formation as a follower of Jesus incorporates an integration of heart and mind, body, and soul, that requires the nurturing of a biblical imagination and unconscious, looking at the signs, symbols, and metaphors, encouraging ones life wholly alive. Enabling one to answer the «What should I live for?» question.