Eternal Life: A New Vision

Eternal Life: A New Vision PDF Author: John Shelby Spong
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060778423
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Jesus for the Non-Religious, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Sins of Scripture, and many other books, is known for his controversial ideas and fighting for minority rights. In Eternal Life: A New Vision, a remarkable spiritual journey about his lifelong struggle with the questions of God and death, he reveals how he came to a new conviction about eternal life. God, says spong, is ultimately one, and each of us is part of that oneness. We do not live on after death as children who have been rewarded with heaven or punished with hell but as part of the life and being of God, sharing in God’s eternity, which is beyond the barriers of time and space. spong argues that the discovery of the eternal can be found within each of us if we go deeply into ourselves, transcend our limits and become fully human. By seeking God within, by living each day to its fullest, we will come to understand how we live eternally. Always compelling and controversial, Spong, the leading Christian liberal and pioneer for human rights, wrestles with the question that all of us will ultimately face. In his final book, Spong takes us beyond religion and even beyond Christianity until he arrives at the affirmation that the fully realized human life empties into and participates in the eternity of God. The pathway into God turns out to be both a pathway into ourselves and a doorway into eternal life. To Job’s question “If a man (or a woman) dies, will he (or she) live again?” he gives his answer as a ringing yes!

Eternal Life: A New Vision

Eternal Life: A New Vision PDF Author: John Shelby Spong
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060778423
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Jesus for the Non-Religious, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Sins of Scripture, and many other books, is known for his controversial ideas and fighting for minority rights. In Eternal Life: A New Vision, a remarkable spiritual journey about his lifelong struggle with the questions of God and death, he reveals how he came to a new conviction about eternal life. God, says spong, is ultimately one, and each of us is part of that oneness. We do not live on after death as children who have been rewarded with heaven or punished with hell but as part of the life and being of God, sharing in God’s eternity, which is beyond the barriers of time and space. spong argues that the discovery of the eternal can be found within each of us if we go deeply into ourselves, transcend our limits and become fully human. By seeking God within, by living each day to its fullest, we will come to understand how we live eternally. Always compelling and controversial, Spong, the leading Christian liberal and pioneer for human rights, wrestles with the question that all of us will ultimately face. In his final book, Spong takes us beyond religion and even beyond Christianity until he arrives at the affirmation that the fully realized human life empties into and participates in the eternity of God. The pathway into God turns out to be both a pathway into ourselves and a doorway into eternal life. To Job’s question “If a man (or a woman) dies, will he (or she) live again?” he gives his answer as a ringing yes!

Death and Eternal Life

Death and Eternal Life PDF Author: John Hick
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664255091
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
In this cross-cultural, interdisciplinary study, John Hick draws upon major world religions, as well as biology, psychology, parapsychology, anthropology, and philosophy, to explore the mystery of death. He argues that scientific and philosophical objections to the idea of survival after death can be challenged, and he claims that human inadequacy in facing suffering supports the basic religious argument for immortality.

Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven

Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven PDF Author: Christopher M. Brown
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 081323414X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven treats four apparent problems concerning eternal life in order to clarify our thinking about perfect human happiness in heaven. The teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas provide the basis for solutions to these four problems about eternal life insofar as his teachings call into question common contemporary theological or philosophical presuppositions about God, human persons, and the nature of heaven itself. Indeed, these Thomistic solutions often require us to think very differently from our contemporaries. But thinking differently with St. Thomas is worth it: for the Thomistic solutions to these apparent problems are more satisfying, on both theological and philosophical grounds, than a number of contemporary theological and philosophical approaches. Christopher Brown deploys his argument in four sections. The first section lays out, in three chapters, four apparent problems concerning eternal life—Is heaven a mystical or social reality? Is heaven other-worldly or this-worldly? Is heaven static or dynamic? Won’t human persons eventually get bored in heaven? Brown then explains how and why some important contemporary Christian theologians and philosophers resolve these problems, and notes serious problems with each of these contemporary solutions. The second section explains, in five chapters, St. Thomas’ significant distinction between the essential reward of the saints in heaven and the accidental reward, and treats in detail his account of that in which the essential reward consists, namely, the beatific vision and the proper accidents of the vision (delight, joy, and charity). The third section treats, in five chapters, St. Thomas’ views on the multifaceted accidental reward in heaven, where the accidental reward includes, among other things, glorified human embodiment, participation in the communion of the saints, and the joy experienced by the saints in sensing God’s “new heavens and new earth.” Finally, section four argues, in four chapters, that St. Thomas’ views allow for powerful solutions to the four apparent problems about eternal life examined in the first section. These solutions are powerful because, not only are they consistent with authoritative, Catholic Christian Tradition, but they do not raise any of the significant theological or philosophical problems that attend the contemporary theological and philosophical solutions examined in the first section.

Eternal Life

Eternal Life PDF Author: Andrew Wommack
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781595484635
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In this booklet, Andrew teaches on eternal life.

People Who Met Jesus

People Who Met Jesus PDF Author: Ronald J. Lavin
Publisher: CSS Publishing
ISBN: 0788023470
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
People Who Met Jesus is a book that will command the undivided attention of readers who yearn to know more of the significance of their relationship to the risen Lord. By delving in depth into the words and experiences of both well-known and cameo biblical characters, readers will come to a greater appreciation of the life-pervading influence of their relationship to the living Lord. (from the Introduction) Reuben T. Swanson Former Secretary Evangelical Lutheran Church in America In the latest installment of his popular series examining the basics of the Christian faith, Ron Lavin takes another look at the final days of Jesus' life on earth through the eyes of the people whose lives were changed by their encounters with the Lord. Lavin examines their stories, both familiar and little-known, and highlights how their experiences intersect our lives. By telling the story of Jesus, they point us toward God. People Who Met Jesus is an ideal Lenten group study resource -- each chapter includes questions for stimulating discussion. It's also excellent for adult Sunday school or new member classes throughout the year, as well as for sermon preparation or personal meditation. Ron Lavin is the award-winning author of more than 20 books, including the CSS titles Turning Griping Into Gratitude (on the Psalms) and Way To Grow (on small group dynamics). He is the former Pastor-Director of Evangelical Outreach for the Lutheran Church in America, and pastored five thriving congregations, all of which grew substantially under his leadership. Lavin is a popular speaker and church consultant on evangelism and small groups.

Outgrowing Cultic Christianity

Outgrowing Cultic Christianity PDF Author: Robert P. Vande Kappelle
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725299755
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
We live in a time of religious warfare, not just between different religions, but also between those with differing versions of the same faith. This religious distrust and political conflict may be the worst in American history since the Civil War. Speaking as a “progressive conservative,” biblical scholar Robert Vande Kappelle uses a four-stage model of faith development to rethink core Christian doctrines. Starting with current events and a discussion on the role of religion, this book examines how inadequate faith development makes people of faith susceptible to misinformation, conspiracy thinking, and even to cultic mindsets. People of faith do not choose to believe a lie; they all want to believe what is true. Hence, it is surprising that, in the realm of religion, so many people are willing to rely upon untested and even highly disputed beliefs, beliefs most received as children. Unfortunately, many of these teachings are based upon ancient hopes and fears rather than upon factual historical information. Taken literally, dualistic teachings concerning heaven and hell, sin and salvation, good and evil, and apocalyptic beliefs such as the “end times” and the imminent return of Christ to earth are questionable, not only because they are beyond historical and scientific verification, but also because they can be misused by authoritarian leaders to control and mislead devout individuals. Thankfully, there is a way to outgrow cultic Christianity. The path to spiritual maturity comes by restoring the role of religion, a form of spirituality discovered not by addition, but by a process of subtraction. Outgrowing Cultic Christianity is useful for individual or group study. Each chapter concludes with questions suitable for discussion or reflection.

From Mormon to Mystic

From Mormon to Mystic PDF Author: Erin Jensen
Publisher: Balboa Press
ISBN: 1452523789
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
From Mormon to Mystic: Journey from Religious Disillusionment to Soulful Liberation chronicles the journey of a sixth-generation Mormon woman. She travels a path that takes her from a tightly knit and theologically strict religious community to the open expanses of a mystical understanding of reality. Erin Jensen weaves together the account of her transformation and the strands of insight that come from James Fowler's Stages of Faith. By rooting her narrative in the vivid details of the steps she takes along the way, the author tells how she weathers her life's challenges, including a federal court "witch" trial, and emerges from the depths of several "dark nights of the soul." While From Mormon to Mystic immerses itself in the details of one life, it simultaneously offers guidance for anyone seeking to overcome the strictures of rigid systems of belief and behavior. In its pages, the reader will learn how to make his or her way toward freedom and wholeness by understanding how faith develops, learning to work with shadow qualities, practicing non-attachment, taking personal responsibility, trusting one's ability to choose, appreciating the power of total forgiveness, connecting to inner sources of wisdom, and embracing a state of consciousness filled with hope, love, and peace. From Mormon to Mystic: Journey from Religious Disillusionment to Soulful Liberation offers both a narrative of one woman's path to spiritual freedom and a guide for others who seek their own way from the confines of their current circumstances to the liberation they desire to envision for the own futures.

The New Heretics

The New Heretics PDF Author: Rebekka King
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 147982206X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Charts the development of progressive Christianity’s engagement with modern science, historical criticism, and liberal humanism Christians who have doubts about the existence of God? Who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus? Who reject the accuracy of the Bible? The New Heretics explores the development of progressive Christianity, a movement of Christians who do not reject their identity as Christians, but who believe Christianity must be updated for today’s times and take into consideration modern science, historical criticism, and liberal humanism. Drawing on three years of ethnographic fieldwork in North America, Rebekka King focuses on testimonies of deconversion, collective reading practices, and the ways in which religious beliefs and practices are adapted to fit secular lives. King introduces the concept of “lived secularity” as a category with which to examine the ways in which religiosity often is entangled with and subsumed by secular identities over and against religious ones. This theoretical framework provides insight into the study of religious and cultural hybridity, new emerging groups such as “the nones,” atheism, religious apostasy, and multi-religious identities. The New Heretics pays close attention to the ways that progressive Christians understand themselves vis-à-vis a conservative or fundamentalist Christian “other,” providing context concerning the presumed divide between the religious right and the religious left. King shows that while it might be tempting to think of progressive Christians as atheists, there are religious and moral dimensions to their disbelief. For progressive Christians the act of questioning and rejecting God—alongside other theological tenets—is framed as a moral activity. Ultimately, the book showcases the importance of engaging with the ethics of belief in understanding contemporary Christianity.

Adventures in Spirituality

Adventures in Spirituality PDF Author: Robert P. Vande Kappelle
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725263904
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Contrary to popular culture, the goal of life is not happiness, but meaning. Those who seek happiness by trying to avoid or finesse conflict, suffering, doubt, and change will find life increasingly superficial. Feeling good is a flawed measure of life, but living meaningfully is transformative, for then one is living a developmental rather than a regressive agenda. The ego does whatever it can to make itself comfortable, whereas spirituality is about wholeness. Adventures in Spirituality represents the culmination of Dr. Vande Kappelle's forty-year teaching career, incorporating in one volume his views on topics as varied as theology, Christology, biblical interpretation, spirituality, ethics, world religions, religion and science, faith and reason, and church history. Reared in Costa Rica, the son of missionary parents, Dr. Vande Kappelle describes his journey from belief to faith as a transition from precritical to postcritical understanding, from evangelical Christianity to what he calls "alternative orthodoxy." Narrating the shift from first- to second-half-of-life experience, he introduces readers to core principles that shaped his values, thinking, and way of life. Useful for individual or group study, Adventures in Spirituality encourages readers to take risks with their lives and faith, affirming that this is how one grows spiritually.

The Homiletic Review

The Homiletic Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Theology, Practical
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description