Download or read book Baptized Imagination written by Kerry Dearborn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The imagination has been called, 'the principal organ for knowing and responding to disclosures of transcendent truth'. This book probes the theological sources of the imagination, which make it a vital tool for knowing and responding to such disclosures. Kerry Dearborn approaches areas of theology and imagination through a focus on the nineteenth century theologian and writer George MacDonald. MacDonald can be seen as an icon whose life and work open a window to the intersection of word, flesh and image. He communicated the gospel through narrative and image-rich forms which honour truth and address the intellectual, imaginative, spiritual, and emotional needs of his readers. MacDonald was also able to speak prophetically in a number of areas of contemporary concern, such as the nature of suffering, aging and death, environmental degradation, moral imagination and gender issues. Dearborn explores influences which shaped him, along with the wisdom he has offeredin the formation of significant Christian writers in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Authors such as C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden, Frederick Buechner and others attribute to MacDonald key paradigm shifts and insights in their own lives. A study of MacDonald does not offer a formulaic approach to theology and the imagination, but the possibility of gleaning from his rich harvest relevant nourishment for our own day. It also provides a context in which to assess potential weaknesses in imaginative approaches to theology.

Download or read book Baptized Imagination written by Kerry Dearborn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The imagination has been called, 'the principal organ for knowing and responding to disclosures of transcendent truth'. This book probes the theological sources of the imagination, which make it a vital tool for knowing and responding to such disclosures. Kerry Dearborn approaches areas of theology and imagination through a focus on the nineteenth century theologian and writer George MacDonald. MacDonald can be seen as an icon whose life and work open a window to the intersection of word, flesh and image. He communicated the gospel through narrative and image-rich forms which honour truth and address the intellectual, imaginative, spiritual, and emotional needs of his readers. MacDonald was also able to speak prophetically in a number of areas of contemporary concern, such as the nature of suffering, aging and death, environmental degradation, moral imagination and gender issues. Dearborn explores influences which shaped him, along with the wisdom he has offeredin the formation of significant Christian writers in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Authors such as C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden, Frederick Buechner and others attribute to MacDonald key paradigm shifts and insights in their own lives. A study of MacDonald does not offer a formulaic approach to theology and the imagination, but the possibility of gleaning from his rich harvest relevant nourishment for our own day. It also provides a context in which to assess potential weaknesses in imaginative approaches to theology.

Download or read book Re Imagining Nature written by Alister E. McGrath and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reimagining Nature is a new introduction to the fast developing area of natural theology, written by one of the world’s leading theologians. The text engages in serious theological dialogue whilst looking at how past developments might illuminate and inform theory and practice in the present. This text sets out to explore what a properly Christian approach to natural theology might look like and how this relates to alternative interpretations of our experience of the natural world Alister McGrath is ideally placed to write the book as one of the world’s best known theologians and a chief proponent of natural theology This new work offers an account of the development of natural theology throughout history and informs of its likely contribution in the present This feeds in current debates about the relationship between science and religion, and religion and the humanities Engages in serious theological dialogue, primarily with Augustine, Aquinas, Barth and Brunner, and includes the work of natural scientists, philosophers of science, and poets

Download or read book Come Let Us Adore written by Andrew Marr and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2011-07-07 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since their founding as St. Gregorys Priory in Valparaiso, Indiana in 1939, the monks of St. Gregorys have published newsletters to share community news and reflections on the Christian life. In 1999, they published a collection of photos and articles from their newsletters called Singing Gods Praises: The First Fifty Years. This successor volume brings together thoughtful articles and evocative photos published over the next twelve years that explore the spiritual journey as lived through the Rule of St. Benedict and celebrate the seasons of Christmas and Easter with meditations on their deeper meaning. Ideal reading for strengthening the heart for prayer. The articles collected here are written by the monks of Saint Gregorys Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan, the home of a community of men living under the Rule of Saint Benedict within the Episcopal Church. The editor, Andrew Marr, has been the communitys abbot since 1989.

Download or read book Jack Lewis and His American Cousin Nat Hawthorne written by D. G. Kehl and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When he was a student at Oxford University, C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend expressing his great admiration of and enthusiasm for the novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne, particularly The House of the Seven Gables and Transformation (British title of The Marble Faun). This study examines the parallels between these two kindred spirits and their works, focusing on their similar worldviews, their personal backgrounds and lifestyles, and the "Ultimates" they both pondered. It discusses common themes in their works, such as myth, scientism, and "the great power of blackness." Their respective attitudes toward these issues and others, such as faith, repentance, heaven and hell, confession, church attendance, the clergy, and Puritanism are strikingly similar. Considerable attention is given to "companion pieces" of the two writers, with discussion of the so-called "Fortunate Fall" in The Marble Faun and Perelandra, veil imagery in "The Minister's Black Veil," The Blithedale Romance, and Till We Have Faces, influence of Bunyan's allegory on The Pilgrim's Regress and "The Celestial Railroad," and multiform love in The Four Loves and The House of the Seven Gables. Examination of such affinities between these two writers and their works provides mutual illumination and enhanced appreciation of each.

Download or read book Breath for the Bones written by Luci Shaw and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2009-08-31 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The double question we must always ask is,‘How does faith inform art?’ and ‘How can art animate faith?’” Imagination, appreciation of beauty, creativity: all of these qualities have been given to us by God. For the Christian artist, the drive to create something wonderful is also a means to glorify and better understand our Lord. Using excerpts from her own works as well as those of writers who have gone before her—Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, C.S. Lewis, and others—poet and writer Luci Shaw proves that symbolism and metaphor provide ways for humans to experience God in new and powerful ways. Shaw offers a rich and thought-provoking exploration of art, creativity, and faith. Believing that art emanates from God, she shows how imagination and spirituality “work in tandem, each feeding on and nourishing the other.” Faith informs art and art enhances faith. They both, for each other, are “breath for the bones.” Provocative, enlightening, and above all, inspiring, Breath for the Bones will help readers discover the artist within, and bring them further along the path to God Himself. Include s Discussion Questions and Writing Exercises

Download or read book In the Highest Degree Volume Two written by P. H. Brazier and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-10-31 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theological and philosophical works of C. S. Lewis were grounded in the argument from reason (being a form of revelation that predates nature and relates to the divine; i.e., the Word of God, Christ the Logos). These essays provide some understanding of the essentials to Lewis's philosophical theology--that is, the essentia, "in the highest degree." Lewis's corpus can seem disparate, but here we find unity in his aims, objectives, and methodology, a consistency that demonstrates the deep roots of his philosophical theology in Scripture, Greek philosophy, patristic and medieval theology, and some of the Reformers, all framed by a reasoned discipline from a perceptive and critical mind: method and form, content and reason, for the glory of God. From an analysis of reason to the evidence of Christ as the light of the world across human endeavors and religions, a doctrine of election, and an understanding of Scripture ("the Philosophy of the Incarnation," as Lewis termed it), in fundamental arguments with various modern/liberal theologians, we find evidence for the actuality of the incarnation: the divinity of Christ.

Download or read book C S Lewis On the Christ of a Religious Economy 3 1 written by P. H. Brazier and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-05-03 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: C. S. Lewis--On the Christ of a Religious Economy I, Creation and Sub-Creation opens with Lewis on creation, the fall into original sin, and the human condition before God and how such an understanding permeated all his work, post-conversion. For Lewis, Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is the agent of creation and its redeemer. This leads into Lewis's representation through sub-creation: explaining salvation history and the purpose of the creation and the creature through story (The Chronicles of Narnia, The Space Trilogy, Screwtape, etc.), but also the question of multiple incarnations, and the encounters he pens between Aslan-Christ and creatures. What does this tell us about the human predicament and our state after the fall? This volume forms the first part of the third book in a series of studies on the theology of C. S. Lewis titled C. S. Lewis: Revelation and the Christ. The books are written for academics and students, but also, crucially, for those people, ordinary Christians, without a theology degree who enjoy and gain sustenance from reading Lewis's work.

Download or read book Journey with Jesus written by Larry Warner and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-07-02 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A Journey with Jesus, spiritual director Larry Warner guides us through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, similar to the way he's been leading people through them in person. Here's what he's observed: "The Spiritual Exercises helped people reconnect with Jesus and with themselves in life-giving ways. It was powerful." Ignatius wanted to help everyone, no matter what age or stage of life, experience Jesus. Through prayers and Scripture readings that largely focus on the life of Christ, the Spiritual Exercises that have been so powerful and growth-inducing for so many, including Warner, can be a tool for transformation in you as well. The exercises are designed to help you encounter the person of Jesus foster a deeper relational knowing of Jesus cultivate a greater desire and freedom to say yes to Jesus This book will guide you through Ignatius's traditional thirty-day retreat approach as well as the nine-month journey which allows you to take these practices into the "real world" each day. And you don't have to go on a retreat to do it. You can start now, and grow in Christlikeness right in the midst of your life. Are you hungry for Jesus and ready to do something about it? Are you committed to a sticking with a sustained journey of growth and formation in Christ? Then this book is for you. Open these pages, and let Warner guide you on the journey toward deeper intimacy with Jesus.

Download or read book Storied Revelations written by Gisela H Kreglinger and published by Lutterworth Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parables were used by Jesus to reveal to us the kingdom of God and to move us from being bystanders to active recipients of God's work of revelation. However, parables are constantly at risk of being buried as 'mummies of prose', as George MacDonaldputs it. We become so familiar with the language of Scripture that Jesus' parables no longer work on us in this revelatory and transforming way. George MacDonald, the Victorian poet and theologian, observed this very process at work in Victorian society. It was a culture saturated with Christian jargon but often devoid of a profound understanding of the gospel for its own time and culture. The language of Scripture no longer penetrated people's hearts, imaginations, and attitudes; it no longer transformed people's lives. MacDonald, called to be a pastor, turned a story and more specifically the 'parabolic' as a means of spiritual awakening. He created fictive worlds in which the language of Jesus would find a new home and regain its revelatory power for his particular Victorian audience.

Download or read book Faith Hope and Poetry written by Malcolm Guite and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2012 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faith, Hope and Poetry explores the poetic imagination as a way of knowing; a way of seeing reality more clearly. Presenting a series of critical appreciations of English poetry from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day, Malcolm Guite applies the insights of poetry to contemporary issues and the contribution poetry can make to our religious knowing and the way we 'do Theology'. Readers of this book will return to their reading of poetry equipped with new insights and enthusiasm and will be challenged to integrate imaginative ways of knowing into their other academic and intellectual pursuits.

Download or read book Drinking from the Wells of New Creation written by Kerry Dearborn and published by James Clarke & Company. This book was released on 2015-02-26 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Holy Spirit, as God's abiding presence to draw people to Christ, can cleanse wounds and bring love and hope into our hearts. Kerry Dearborn's insightful focus on the Holy Spirit transforming our moral imagination and putting us on the path of reconciliation with Jesus Christ is both profound and encouraging. Biblical analysis, historical surveys and references to acclaimed theological authors support Dearborn's nuanced yet practical application of imagination as a tool for awakening, recovery, and dissolving intellectual or psychological barriers that isolate us from God. She considers effectively how imagination can be connected to reality, and is able to delve deep into this vein of thought with startling clarity. Drinking from the Wells of New Creation provides spiritual guidance for dealing with oppression in society; an issue that affects people both within and outside the Christian faith. The acknowledgement of reconciliation as a creative process provides a fresh outlook and will excite those delving into both theological and psychological studies, as well as those seeking to understand God's unification of life, regardless of tribe, tongue and nation.

Download or read book Imaging the Story written by Karen Case-Green and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-05-08 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant." (Emily Dickinson) This course follows the contours of the salvation story through the lens of the arts. Putting visual art and poetry in conversation with the Bible, it seeks to engage the imagination. Rather than analyzing the narrative, the reader is invited to behold it and respond to it through "making"--either verbally or visually. At times, the church has treated the imagination like an embarrassing relative. Yet the Bible is image-rich, drawing widely on the imagination, and we are each made in the image of the creator God. It is time to bring the imagination out of the corner! "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2:10 NIV) Whether following it as a group or reading it alone, this course book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the salvation story and the arts. It is particularly for those who feel permission is needed to pick up a paintbrush--or any other creative medium--just for the love of it.

Download or read book Romantic Religion written by R. J. Reilly and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 2006-08 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 10 lectures at The Hague, March 20-29, 1913 (CW 145) Address in Berlin, February 3, 1913 "The future of spiritual esoteric movements such as ours will depend more and more upon the realization that human spiritual development is necessary. Whoever rejects or is hostile toward spiritual development will thus have identified with what is no longer useful on Earth, with what is withered and shriveled, and will have abandoned cosmic evolution as willed by the gods." --Rudolf Steiner On February 3, 1913, the first General Meeting of the newly formed Anthroposophical Society was convened in Berlin. Six weeks later, in Holland, Rudolf Steiner spoke for the first time to an anthroposophic audience in a detailed, intimate way about individual esoteric training and the subtle effects of spiritual development on every level of one's being. Beginning with questions regarding the body's experience of food and drink--meat, coffee, alcohol, and so on--he lays out the progression of anthroposophic spiritual inner work, up to direct perception of "Paradise" and the Holy Grail. He discusses the role of human beings in our evolution that takes place between the forces of Lucifer and Ahriman. Included is Steiner's important lecture "The Being of Anthroposophy," which this volume introduces to the English-speaking world. This edition also includes Steiner's "introductory words," previously available only as an unpublished German typescript. The Effects of Esoteric Development is a translation from the German of Welche Bedeutung hat die okkulte Entwicklung des Menschen für seine Hüllen--physischen Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib--und sein Selbst? (GA 145).

Download or read book America Discovers C S Lewis written by K. Alan Snyder and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The continuing interest in the works of C. S. Lewis, long after his death in 1963, is a testament to the influence his writings have had on the English-speaking world, not to mention the many translations of his works into other languages. His own home nation of Great Britain was actually slower in appreciating his offerings than the United States. Lewis's books made a major impact on the American reading public, starting with the publication of the American version of The Screwtape Letters in 1943. Lewis has not only influenced the lives of Americans we may consider prominent, but also the multitude of individuals who have come across his works and have been deeply affected spiritually by what they read. The goal of this study is to document, as much as possible, the impact of Lewis on Americans from his lifetime until the present day. It also seeks to understand just why Lewis "caught on" in America to such a degree and why he remains so popular.

Download or read book Phantastes Illustrated Edition written by George MacDonald and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-11-13 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald. The story centers on the character Anodos and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly Novalis. It concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and over there he hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady". Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals. George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors including W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence".

Download or read book Living Under Water written by Kevin J. Adams and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our truest identity isn’t something we create or build ourselves. It’s a gift we receive. We live under water. What does baptism mean? And what do we do with it? Kevin Adams—an experienced pastor and church planter who has baptized people of all ages and spiritual origins—makes the case that baptism isn’t merely a one-time ceremony but something to be lived and affirmed throughout one’s life. In Living under Water, Adams shares stories that illustrate how baptism shapes one’s identity and enters us into an alternate narrative, one ongoing since the dawn of creation, through which we understand our truest selves with all our joy and trauma and by which we are united with a group of people unbound by race or language, continent or generation. Foregrounding baptism in the lives of Christians means foregrounding baptism in the life of the church. Anchored in both theology and real-world experience, Adams shows how that can happen while engaging honestly with the history (and ongoing reality) of baptism’s corruptions and abuses. This book is for pastors and parishioners of any Christian tradition who long for baptism to be bigger than a set of doctrinal bullet points—nothing less than the gospel story enacted with water.