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Author: Margaret Placentra Johnston
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781732164802
Category : Religion and science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
MOST OF US HAVE LIMITED SPIRITUAL VISION - and don't even know it! - With two trillion galaxies in an expanding universe, how could it be that only the Christians are "saved?" - Traditional religious symbols are losing power in a changing world (Most people don't even know they are supposed to be symbols) - Our rational minds keep wanting to question but conventional religious leaders tell us to just "trust" them (or trust scripture, or tradition) - Despite declining church attendance, interest in the spiritual search is at an all-time high. New ways of making meaning are arising. - A study of all religions reveals a common core - a longing shared by all humans. Could this be the basis of the spiritual search? - In the 21st century we need a BIGGER STORY of what religion and spirituality are all about. Our traditional scriptures were written in a time when people had no idea of the vastness of the universe. The spiritual messages they were able to receive suffered from lack of awareness about science and about wisdom from other cultures: their worldview was insular. Today educated people have little excuse for maintaining this kind of insularity. Advances in science and global communications call us to develop a more comprehensive (less myopic) perspective about the UNIVERSAL human search for meaning and connection that formed the basis for ALL our religions. In Overcoming Spiritual Myopia, practicing optometrist and award-winning author, Margaret Placentra Johnston* challenges you on a journey toward a BIGGER STORY about religion and spirituality.
Author: Margaret Placentra Johnston
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781732164802
Category : Religion and science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Get Book Here
Book Description
MOST OF US HAVE LIMITED SPIRITUAL VISION - and don't even know it! - With two trillion galaxies in an expanding universe, how could it be that only the Christians are "saved?" - Traditional religious symbols are losing power in a changing world (Most people don't even know they are supposed to be symbols) - Our rational minds keep wanting to question but conventional religious leaders tell us to just "trust" them (or trust scripture, or tradition) - Despite declining church attendance, interest in the spiritual search is at an all-time high. New ways of making meaning are arising. - A study of all religions reveals a common core - a longing shared by all humans. Could this be the basis of the spiritual search? - In the 21st century we need a BIGGER STORY of what religion and spirituality are all about. Our traditional scriptures were written in a time when people had no idea of the vastness of the universe. The spiritual messages they were able to receive suffered from lack of awareness about science and about wisdom from other cultures: their worldview was insular. Today educated people have little excuse for maintaining this kind of insularity. Advances in science and global communications call us to develop a more comprehensive (less myopic) perspective about the UNIVERSAL human search for meaning and connection that formed the basis for ALL our religions. In Overcoming Spiritual Myopia, practicing optometrist and award-winning author, Margaret Placentra Johnston* challenges you on a journey toward a BIGGER STORY about religion and spirituality.
Author: Stephen U. Aja
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 1594674906
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 182
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Book Description
Author: Edwin E. Olson
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 166673120X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
How can we transcend our tribal, philosophical, and religious differences? Is it possible to develop a global consciousness to resolve the peril to our biosphere and other human-made existential crises? Become Conscious of Wholeness: Humanity’s Only Future explores how connecting human consciousness with Universal Consciousness will give individuals and societies a sense of being complete, not fragmented. Accessing Universal Consciousness, the fundamental wisdom, intelligence, and love in the Universe, will align their identity and purpose and free them from limiting beliefs and fears. Universal Consciousness is the organizing, unifying force, beyond space and time, filled with the creative potential from which our diverse philosophies, religions, and primordial traditions emerged. When Consciousness is understood from multiple scientific, spiritual, psychological, and mystical perspectives, what is of ultimate value becomes clear—our relationships with each other and the Earth, our essential Wholeness. The reader will explore various portals to Universal Consciousness, drawing upon their own mystical and spiritual experience to develop a more holistic Self. Specific action steps are also presented to reframe religion, reimagine education and mental wellbeing, and reform the business organizations, government agencies, and divisive politics that perpetuate a fragmented view of reality.
Author: Margaret Placentra Johnston
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 0835630455
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 314
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Book Description
Faith Beyond Belief gives a much-needed voice to the “good” people who have left their church but whose spirituality continues to mature. Johnston uses first-person stories as well as known spiritual authorities in describing various stages of religious growth. Some of these real-life accounts are by nonbelievers; others are by those among the growing numbers of the “spiritual but not religious.” All are thoughtful people with too much integrity to live what they consider a lie. The stories of the nonbelievers-including an ex-Catholic, a former Mormon, and a clandestine Muslim apostate who left his community after the attacks of 9/11-show how complete confidence in human reason can lead away from literal religious interpretation. But, while that step is a necessary one on the spiritual path, it is only intermediate. Her second set of stories are of people at the “mystic” level who can tolerate paradox and see truth and reality as multidimensional. Johnston’s book will help doubters to see things in a new light as well as those who are struggling to clarify their own spiritual vision. It also points beyond the atheist/believer controversy wrecking such divisive havoc in our culture today.
Author: Stuart C. Devenish
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1630870447
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 154
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Book Description
In a cinematic culture where multiple visions of reality "play" at the same time, it is critical that Christian believers know how to confidently identify and "discern," among other stories, the Jesus-story that defines their most important commitment in life. Using the optical metaphor of the "eye of faith," the author identifies the spiritual life as a "visual life." Through themes such as "looking through Jesus' eyes," the bible as a "visionary text," and the church as a "wide-eyed people," he builds a connecting bridge between the seeing-soul in Christian spirituality, and the twenty-first century as the "age of the eye." The key words for this exploration are spirituality, discipleship, insight, luminescence, and optical "therapy." The author proposes the need for a "catechism of the eye" that will lead to the renewal of Christian ministry, spirituality, discipleship, and identity.
Author: Larry Osborne
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 0781411319
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 210
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Book Description
Meet a man forced to live in a fast changing and godless society. He faced fears about the future, concern for his safety, and the discouragement of world that seemed to be falling apart at warp speed. Sound familiar? His name was Daniel, and with the power of hope, humility, and wisdom, he not only thrived, he changed an empire while he was at it. Though he lived thousands of years ago, he has a much to teach us today. Even in Babylon, God Is in Control In Thriving in Babylon, Larry Osborne explores the “adult” story of Daniel to help us not only survive – but actually thrive in an increasingly godless culture. Here Pastor Osborne looks at: - Why panic and despair are never from God- What true optimism looks like- How humility disarms even our greatest of enemies- Why respect causes even those who will have nothing to do with God to listen- How wisdom can snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat For those who know Jesus and understand the full implications of the cross, the resurrection, and the promises of Jesus, everything changes – not only in us, but also in our world.
Author: Danny Dodson
Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198
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Book Description
One of the primary teaching methods of Jesus, the master teacher, was His use of parables. Jesus' parables were simply short stories that were true to life and taught valuable spiritual truths to His listeners. Similar to how Jesus used parables, this book uses nostalgic and often humorous events from the author's own life to illustrate and explain some valuable spiritual truths from the Holy Scripture. If we are paying attention, life events can certainly teach us a whole lot about our omnipotent God. Then if we will allow God to communicate with us through his Holy Scripture, we will learn all we need to know about how to live an abundant life now and prepare for eternal life in the world to come. The author has done his share of preaching over the last fifty years. Yet much more often than not, he has been the one in the pew gleaning valuable knowledge from preachers and teachers. And when you add his secular engineering background and love of humor, this mixture of experiences has given the author a unique perspective on the truth in God's Word, which will be evident in this book. His stated purpose for writing this book is both to entertain and spiritually uplift his readers. He is hopeful that it will increase the faith of his readers and inspire them to live holy lives as we wait anxiously for our Lord's return.
Author: Richard M. Smoley
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399185569
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
This epic, thrilling journey through Bible scholarship and ancient religion shows how much of Scripture is historically false--yet the ancient writings also resound with theologies that crisscrossed the primeval world and that direct us today toward a deep, inner, authentic experience of the truly sacred. From a historical perspective, the Bible is shockingly, provably wrong--a point supported by today's best archaeological and historical scholarship but not well understood by (or communicated to) the public. Yet this emphatically does not mean that the Bible isn't, in some very real measure, true, argues scholar of mysticism Richard Smoley. Smoley reviews the most authoritative historical evidence to demonstrate that figures such as Moses, Abraham, and Jesus are not only unlikely to have existed, but bear strong composite resemblances to other Near Eastern religious icons. Likewise, the geopolitical and military events of Scripture fail to mesh with the largely settled historical time line and social structures. Smoley meticulously shows how our concepts of the Hebrew and Christian God, including Christ himself, are an assemblage of ideas that were altered, argued over, and edited--until their canonization. This process, to a large degree, gave Western civilization its consensus view of God. But these conclusions are not cause for nihilism or disbelief. Rather, beneath the metaphorical figures and mythical historicism of Scripture appears an extraordinary, truly transcendent theology born from the most sacred and fully realized spiritual and human insights of the antique Eastern world. Far from being "untrue," the Bible is remarkably, extraordinarily true as it connects us to the sublime insights of our ancient ancestors and points to a unifying ethic behind many of the world's faiths.
Author: Giles B. Gunn
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195024532
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 265
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Book Description
In a unique and probing analysis, this study examines the function of literary criticism in religious studies and explores the relation of literature to religion in the works of major American writers.
Author: Elaine Leong Eng
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113680627X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 134
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Book Description
Learn how faith and psychological insight can combine to help Christians overcome physical disabilities! After being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, Dr. Elaine Leong Eng, author of “Martha, Martha”: How Christians Worry, knew she had to make important life changes. This genetic disease would soon cause her eyesight to fail. Her impending blindness meant that she would no longer be able to practice as an obstetrician/gynecologist. Her family life would never be the same, nor would her self-image. A Christian Approach to Overcoming Disability: A Doctor's Story is the poignant and inspiring story of Dr. Eng’s ultimately triumphant struggle with an untreatable illness and a life-changing disability. Once I heard the diagnosis, I knew it was God’s way of granting my prayer to be a full-time mom to my babies. God had prepared my heart to accept this news. This so-called “tragedy” in my life was very much for the good. I had the chance to “see” and care for my children during those precious young years. To play with them, sing songs, teach them, feed them, and do all those wonderful mothering things that many take for granted. And now that they are grown, I can see in my mind’s eye all those great images and memories. I enjoyed motherhood so much that I would not have changed my life in any way if given the chance. This autobiographical book articulates the challenges faced by the blind and offers faith-based and psychological techniques for coping with disability. It highlights dozens of Scriptural passages that can provide an important foundation for coping, and draws upon Dr. Eng’s experience as a psychiatrist to identify important issues and feelings about blindness and its psychological and emotional impact on every aspect of life. In this insightful book, you’ll find: firsthand information about the experience of becoming disabled, and about living with, even celebrating, that disability and the new opportunities it presents insight about what family, friends, students, and colleagues go through when someone close to them becomes disabled biblical references that demonstrate the importance of God in meeting physical challenges important scriptural foundations for coping practical techniques for coping with disability—from both religious and psychological perspectives advice on overcoming the feeling of being “damaged goods” and other problems of self-esteem common to the disabled A Christian Approach to Overcoming Disability will inspire you with its message of hope. It offers insights about finding inner peace no matter what hand life has dealt you and making the most of whatever God has planned for your life. Anyone who knows a Christian who has any type of physical disability will benefit from reading this book.
