Author: Diana Villegas
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739168126
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 131
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Book Description
The author discusses the importance of the theological study of spirituality as necessary for interpreting one's Christian path in a pluralistic world.
Author: Carl McColman
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
ISBN: 1506485766
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
In popular usage, "mysticism" typically refers to New Age or Eastern forms of spirituality. However, the mystical tradition is also an important component of the Christian tradition. At its heart--and much like its expression in other faith traditions--Christian mysticism is an ancient practice that incorporates meditation, contemplation, worship, philosophy, the quest for personal enlightenment, and the experience of Divine presence. This volume is a comprehensive introduction and guide to Christian mysticism. It is a big book about a big possibility: the hope of achieving real, blissful, experiential unison with God. Among the topics covered here are a general introduction to mysticism, the Bible and mysticism, the history and types of Christian mysticism, biographical sketches of leading Christian mystics, and practical instructions about practicing mysticism today. This is a breathtaking work that explores a form of spirituality that has changed lives over the course of 2,000 years. Learning about Christian mysticism and how it has been articulated through the centuries will prove inspirational for today's seekers, regardless of the faith tradition. "The mystic is not a special kind of person; every person is a special kind of mytic." --William McNamara
Author: Fitzroy John Willis
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532680449
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 220
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Book Description
In a pluralistic world of competing truth claims, how can one discern what is truly representative of God? How can we live and communicate what is authentically “spiritual?” How do we bridge the religious impasse between believers and a post-Christendom and pluralistic context where individuals may consider themselves to be spiritual, yet are offended by the person of Jesus? Can relativism be an effective means of evaluating truth from falsehood? What role should race, gender, and socioeconomic background play in society and the church? These are just a few of the questions this study addresses in presenting a more balanced, dialogical, and biblical criterion for authentic spirituality. The insights on how to discern, live, and communicate what is authentically spiritual are significant for interreligious and ecumenical dialogue across denominations. These insights contribute a way to more effectively communicate divine truths to all, for it is conversant with various sources of knowledge about God and is accountable to feedback from these sources of truth. For example, tacit knowledge such as that derived from faith, and spiritual gifts, as well as rational, or philosophical claims to truth, along with Western, Eastern, and Southern modes of thinking, are all incorporated.
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1786073021
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
How did Christianity become the dominant religion in the West? In the early first century, a small group of peasants from the backwaters of the Roman Empire proclaimed that an executed enemy of the state was God’s messiah. Less than four hundred years later it had become the official religion of Rome with some thirty million followers. It could so easily have been a forgotten sect of Judaism. Through meticulous research, Bart Ehrman, an expert on Christian history, texts and traditions, explores the way we think about one of the most important cultural transformations the world has ever seen, one that has shaped the art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics and economics of modern Western civilisation.
Author: Cynthia Avens
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781420834925
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 456
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Book Description
A hidden tradition of Christian spirituality has always existed alongside the institution of the Christian church. In the past only a few hardy pilgrims explored the mysteries of the hidden tradition on the "spiritual bypaths," whereas the majority of Christians traveled upon the familiar "highway" represented by the church. However, the challenges of our modern world demand that we explore the riches of Christianity's hidden tradition, and recent discoveries have opened the spiritual bypaths to all dedicated seekers. Walking the Path of ChristoSopia invites you to join in the quest along the nature, feminine, and mystical bypaths of Christian spirituality as it integrates scholarly investigations of the hidden tradition with practical applications to help the contemporary seeker explore these bypaths.
Author: David B. Perrin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134159153
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 359
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Book Description
This book provides a new introduction to the study of Christian spirituality, exploring it through the human sciences and ranging from philosophy and hermeneutics to psychology, history, sociology and anthropology. Systematic and progressive, it introduces the key approaches and shows how they relate to the understanding, study and practice of spirituality. Covering a vast amount of ground - from traditional themes such as images of God, spiritual direction and pilgrimage to more contemporary issues, such as place and space, cyberspace and postcolonialism - the author takes an ecumenical, inclusive stance, allowing the book to be used in a wide variety of courses and across denominations.
Author: Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan
Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
ISBN: 9004504966
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 326
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Book Description
"This book brings together a variety of religious and non-religious perspectives on religious pluralism. It explores the key philosophical and legal issues associated with religious freedom and social harmony"--
Author: John Macquarrie
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 152
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Book Description
While advocates of "religionless Christianity" assert that modern men and women have outgrown traditional expressions of worship, prayer, and spirituality, Macquarrie shows how these aspects of religious experience are critical in our search for a healing and fulfilling communion with God and God's people. He also describes and interprets those traditional rites and spiritual disciplines--Stations of the Cross, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the Daily Offices, Reconciliation of a Penitent--perhaps latent, yet superbly suitable to meet the needs of the contemporary search for wholeness and holiness.
Author: Michael Downey
Publisher: Paulist Press
ISBN: 9780809136803
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164
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Book Description
A readable overview of the contemporary spiritual scene that defines, outlines and advocates several models or methods for studying Christian spirituality. Aimed at college undergraduates and useful for those in spiritual counseling and direction.
Author: Joseph A. Bracken
Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press
ISBN: 1599471647
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
“If someone were to ask, ‘Where is God?’ how would you respond?” Joseph A. Bracken, SJ, uses this question as a springboard to introduce the process-relational metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and other process theologians as he tries to reconcile the sometimes-conflicting views of traditional Christian doctrines and the modern scientific world. To present this material in an accessible manner to a broader audience, Bracken reworks Whitehead’s “model” of the God-world relationship, showing that God is involved in an ongoing, ever-changing relationship with all creatures. He also discusses the work of other contemporary theologians to help Christians come to terms with their role in our multi-dimensional pluralistic society. Bracken examines divine and human creativity, the collective power of good and evil, divine providence and human freedom, prayer, altruism, and the fundamental question, “What is truth?” He shows how Whitehead’s process thought approach to these issues could “harmonize” traditional Christian beliefs and contemporary culture, benefiting faith and reason. Understanding the God-world relationship subtly influences our attitude toward ourselves, toward other human beings, and indeed toward all of God’s creatures, says Bracken. His revision of Whitehead’s metaphysical vision in terms of a cosmic community shows how modern views of the world and God can be accepted and kept in balance with the traditional biblical views found in the Christian faith and how this balance can help Christians make better choices in a world shaped both by contemporary natural science and by traditional Christian spirituality. “If we truly believe that in God, we live and move and have our being and that, as a result, we share with the divine persons in a deeply communitarian way of life together with all of God’s creatures, we may be more readily inclined to make the periodic sacrifice of personal self-interest to pursue the higher good of sustained life in the community. In the end, it is simply a matter of seeing the ‘bigger picture,’ realizing what life is ultimately all about.”
