Религия: прочее
Различные книги в жанре Религия: прочееDark Splendor
Mistakes, disappointments, suffering, and heartbreak can prevent us from growing physically, emotionally, even spiritually, or they can propel us to a new way of life. Building on the contributions of therapists, holistic healers, and spiritual mentors such as Richard Rohr, James Hollis, Elizabeth Lesser, Bill Plotkin, Ken Wilber, and Thich Nhat Hanh, Dark Splendor takes us on a journey into «depth» spirituality, exploring the two halves of life, noting how the perspectives and experiences of the first half of life either leave us frozen emotionally and spiritually, or serve as stepping stones to the vibrant maturity called «the second half of life.»
This «further journey» is not chronological, nor does one magically stumble upon it at midlife or in times of crisis, though these often serve as catalysts. The second journey is largely unknown today, even by people we consider deeply religious, since most individuals and institutions remain stymied in the preoccupations of the first half of life, establishing identity, creating boundary markers, and seeking security. The first-half-of-life task, while essential, is not the full journey. Furthermore, one cannot walk the second journey with first-journey tools. One needs a new toolkit. Dark Splendor provides the transformational tools that help transport us to the mystery and beauty of the second half of life.
The world is more magical, less predictable, more autonomous, less controllable, more varied, less simple, more infinite, less knowable, more wonderfully troubling then we could have imagined being able to tolerate when we were young. –James Hollis
God comes to you disguised as your life. –Paula D'Arcy
Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, Third Edition
Professor David Entwistle's Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is now available in a fully revised 3rd edition. Changes and additions have made throughout this unique volume, including: * 42 additional pages * expanded list of models discussed * more questions for discussions, and * an updated bibliography.
As disciplines, psychology and theology share an overlapping interest in the nature and functioning of human beings. This book provides an introduction to many of the worldview issues and philosophical foundations that frame the relationship of psychology and theology, includes scholarly reflection on the integration literature, and surveys five paradigms of possible relationships between psychology and Christianity. The book is designed to help readers become aware of the presuppositional backdrops that each of us brings to these issues, and to understand various approaches for relating psychology and Christianity as partly based on presuppositional assumptions. Questions at the end of each chapter are included to help readers evaluate both the material and their own burgeoning approach to integration. This book is ideal as a textbook for students of psychology and other behavioral and social sciences (social work, sociology, theology, counseling, pastoral counseling) at both the graduate and undergraduate level. It is also written for the broader readership of psychologists, counselors, pastors, and others who are interested in integration.
The Reluctant Minister
"Here are the details of an amazing life. . . . This is a book well worth reading."–Very Revd John Miller
"A work rich in human interest, redolent of the grace of God, and completely honest in describing both the author's struggles with a sense of call to ministry, and the highs and lows of subsequent pastoral experience."–Angus Morrison, Church of Scotland Moderator, 2015-16
The Bishop, the Mullah, and the Smartphone
Not so long ago the world resisted change, often using religious-reasoning. Small wonder–the printing press, a sixteenth century disruptive device, split Christianity. Now the globe welcomes digital disruption, even praising it as a solution for faltering economies. Religions don't have much choice but to follow, because information is a prime asset of faith. Believers treasure and reframe their past, and present. However, both old and current data is now available in huge quantities, visually and instantly. Movies provide more spiritual guidance than holy texts, and terror merchants use the uncontrollable Internet to gain hearts and minds. Nevertheless a turbulent re-mythologization of adherents towards peaceful versions of their belief can be tracked. There are positive things we can all do to help, which is just as well in a world that suggests only political acts count.
Jesus and Pocahontas
Most Americans know the story of Pocahontas, but not the fact that she was a Christian, and the reasons for her dramatic conversion. Pocahontas had a history-altering encounter with Jesus Christ. A key figure was Alexander Whitaker, pioneer Anglican missionary in Virginia, who taught Pocahontas the Christian faith–but is almost totally unknown today. This story of Pocahontas has never fully been told. Or it has been ridiculed. Yet it is true, as this book now documents. In these pages the real Pocahontas comes alive as a flesh-and-blood person with her own thoughts and decisions. This book shows the beauty, the romance, and the tragedy of Pocahontas's short life. It also traces the way the Pocahontas story has been used and misused over the past four hundred years, opening the door to the larger issue of the suppression of native peoples in U.S. history. The real story of Pocahontas presents a timely case study both in the history of missions and the history of America–an investigation of the interplay between gospel, culture, and national mythology.
Church Planting in Europe
Church leaders and those who endeavor to plant new churches in Europe today face tremendous challenges, not least because the church itself is considered by many to be outdated, irrelevant, or even an abusive sect. Drawing on a wealth of experience, Church Planting in Europe helps to answer the question of how churches can become more relevant to the societies in which they exist. From biblical and missiological reflections to case studies and practical examples, the book gives insights into many of the key issues that church planters and those concerned with «missionary» renewal of existing churches are grappling with. Special attention is paid to the sociocultural and religious characteristics of Europe, which is marked by secularization, new forms of spirituality, and a unique Christian heritage, asking, what are typical barriers and bridges for the communication of the gospel? The contributors represent a wide variety of backgrounds and contexts across Europe and this is reflected in the breadth of topics covered. The chapters were presented during the Mission in Europe Symposium in Belgium (July 2014), and the highlights of the discussions afterwards are also included. The result is a valuable resource for church leaders, mission practitioners, and theologians alike.
Life in the Spirit
What would the church look like if Christians saw their lives as constituted by the Spirit's presence to live as Jesus lived? In a time when being «led by the Spirit» is defined more by achieving the «American Dream» than by Jesus's life, answering this question rightly seems all the more critical for the church to survive in a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity. Building upon the work of post-Constantinians John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas and upon the Trinitarian Spirit-Christology of Leopoldo Sanchez, this account of the Christian life provides a framework for seeing one's Christian life as one transformed by the Spirit to live in the resurrection reality of Jesus's sonship with the Father in the Spirit. In the process, one will discover that, for Jesus, being led by the Spirit meant trusting his Father to the point of death on a cross, trusting God to resurrect him even if he did not save him. Should it mean the same for Christians today? If so, this would require the church to reimagine its ministries for the Spirit to work repentance and faith rather than simple agreement. For Christians living in the Spirit, their lives might look very different.
Corinthian Democracy
In this innovative study, Anna Miller challenges prevailing New Testament scholarship that has largely dismissed the democratic civic assembly–the ekklēsia–as an institution that retained real authority in the first century CE. Using an interdisciplinary approach, she examines a range of classical and early imperial sources to demonstrate that ekklēsia democracy continued to saturate the eastern Roman Empire, widely impacting debates over authority, gender, and speech. In the first letter to the Corinthians, she demonstrates that Paul's persuasive rhetoric is itself shaped and constrained by the democratic discourse he shares with his Corinthian audience. Miller argues that these first-century Corinthians understood their community as an authoritative democratic assembly in which leadership and «citizenship» cohered with the public speech and discernment open to each. This Corinthian identity illuminates struggles and debates throughout the letter, including those centered on leadership, community dynamics, and gender. Ultimately, Miller's study offers new insights into the tensions that inform Paul's letter. In turn, these insights have critical implications for the dialogue between early Judaism and Hellenism, the study of ancient politics and early Christianity, and the place of gender in ancient political discourse.
The Bridge
Philosophers of religion and theologians have long wrestled with the concept of revelation. Does God reveal truth to human subjects primarily through sacred texts or audible voices? Through inner experiences or pronouncements of religious leaders? What is the relationship between the truths given in revelation and those discoverable by reason? Revelation is a challenge not only to scholars, but also for churchgoers. How can the same God command one person to do one thing and another to do something quite different? In The Bridge, Michael McGowan explores how a number of great twentieth- and twenty-first-century thinkers understand the concept of revelation. Using insights from their work and some recent advances in literary theory and communication studies, he constructs a model of revelation in which «symbol» and «narrative» figure heavily. Ancient ideas are given new life in this contemporary explication of the nature of revelation, God as the Revealer, and revelation's implications.
A Treasury of Illustrations and Quotations from Walking With Jesus
The Apostle Paul, in exercising his ineffable wisdom, draws this magnificent letter to a close in an extraordinary manner. Certainly, he could have concluded it after telling the masters and servants how to treat one another. But, no, he did not. He proceeded to challenge them to become Christ's Ambassadors and to be proficient in this high calling, despite the daily obstacles, pressures, and temptations. What does Paul boldly state after having told Christ's followers, [t]hat we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight (trickery) of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive? That they will have a life of ease, no problems or worries, and no challenges, disappointments, or hardships? No! But, he did tell them how to conduct themselves in all of life's different phases. Further, that they were to walk in love, as Christ hath also loved us, and that not everyone hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Paul, contra to the practice today of many preachers, teachers, and church officers, knew the problems that Christ's followers faced and he boldly addressed them. He unequivocally stated that there were things appointed for them to do. Knowing these things and the difficulties encountered in following Christ, he issued a battle call to each and every follower, saying, take (up) unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Paul was forthright in describing the benefits and challenges of Walking With Jesus as well as the attitude, conduct, and conversation precluding one from entering the kingdom of Christ and God. If we are to be Christ's Ambassadors, whether it be preacher, teacher, church officer, or profess- ing Christian, we are to know our duties and carry them out resolutely. What are they? They include, but are not limited to: discharging our duties honorably; being loyal subjects; following instructions; knowing the Word; and obeying Christ's commands. May we, along with Paul, pray the following with humility and sincerity: For which I am an ambassador . . . that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak as one of His ambassadors.