Download or read book Br mmer on Meaning and the Christian Faith written by Vincent Brümmer and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2006 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a wide-ranging selection from the writings of a leading contemporary philosophical theologian, Vincent Brummer. In his many books and articles Brummer has demonstrated how the tools of philosophical analysis are not only fruitful but also essential for dealing with the central issues of systematic theology. The title of this volume, Meaning and the Christian Faith, highlights two characteristic themes that recur throughout the many writings of Vincent Brummer. Much of his work has been devoted to exploring the meaning of the Christian faith, and especially of its central claim that God is a personal being whose fellowship believers may enjoy. On the other hand, Brummer has also shown that religious belief should not be understood as an explanatory theory but rather as a way in which believers understand the meaning of their lives and their experience of the world and direct their lives accordingly.
Download or read book Transcending All Understanding written by Walter Kasper and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2011-04-13 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a popular account, by one of Europe's leading theologians, of the meaning of Christian faith and the serious contemporary challenges to that faith. Kasper has gathered together various lectures and revised and reworked them for publication. Not intended to be a theological treatise on faith, these very readable reflections address some of the real obstacles to the understanding and deepening of personal faith in today's world. Kasper examines the problem of "the handing on of the faith" that exists almost everywhere today. Faith itself is in question today, not simply the "how" of its being taught or handed on, but the "what" and "why" of faith. The knowledge of the faith has fallen to a new low today, and many of the fundamental attitudes of belief - reverence, humility, trust and devotion - have become foreign to us. Kasper provides profound insights into these problems and then give clear solutions to this modern dilemma.
Download or read book Key Words of the Christian Faith written by Reinder Bruinsma and published by Review and Herald Pub Assoc. This book was released on 2008 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you were asked to define the essence of Christianity, what would you say? Which words would you choose to describe the life-changing pursuit of something completely intangible? All too often, ¿Christian¿ words are used superficially, without comprehension of their truest meaning¿surface answers to humanity¿s most important questions. But these words influence your sole connection to eternal life.
Download or read book Web of Meaning written by Bruce Norman Kaye and published by Christian Education Publications. This book was released on 2000 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Christian Faith written by Friedrich Schleiermacher and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 1999-03-11 with total page 779 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic work of Christian theology, which seeks to present the Christian faith in its entirety.Schleiermacher was equally at home in the theological systems of Protestant orthodoxy and the new world of thought shaped by the historical and natural sciences and German philosophy. He follows a confident course through the entire range of themes in dogmatics but leaves both the dogmatic task and the individual themes transformed by a powerful and original mind. A new foreword by B. A. Gerrish summarises the dogmatic goals of The Christian Faith and corrects some common misreadings of his work.
Download or read book Faith Without Dogma written by Margaret Isherwood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life is a constant search for meaning, and reflective minds need to find deeper and more comprehensive meaning than that normally proffered by the orthodox teaching of any creedal religion. When this book was initially published in 1964, religion had begun to recognize the importance of psychology and psychology had considered a spiritual principle in man. Miss Isherwood’s purpose in writing this book is to relate science and religion more closely. Her theme is that the evolution of consciousness from protozoa provides a link which not only gives grounds for faith in life and an inspiration for carrying development forward, but which reveals that, as we continuously work at deepening our insight into the realms of spirit, the life process appears to us as steadily more meaningful. Her engaging writing style makes this a fascinating glimpse at a philosophy of religion starting to engage with science.
Download or read book The Reawakening of Christian Faith written by Bernard Eugene Meland and published by . This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Heart of Christianity written by Marcus J. Borg and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith. For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices. Borg reclaims terms and ideas once thought to be the sole province of evangelicals and fundamentalists: he shows that terms such as "born again" have real meaning for all Christians; that the "Kingdom of God" is not a bulwark against secularism but is a means of transforming society into a world that values justice and love; and that the Christian life is essentially about opening one's heart to God and to others.
Download or read book Foundations of Christian Thought written by Mark P. Cosgrove and published by Kregel Academic. This book was released on with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a veteran Christian educator, this readable book describes the relationship between the Christian faith and the world of learning by looking at the five modern worldviews competing with Christian theism.
Download or read book The Christian Church as Social Process written by Norman Pittenger and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-05-03 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most important movements in recent philosophy and theology is the “process thought” associated with the name Alfred North Whitehead, the distinguished Cambridge thinker who died in 1947. In North America this conceptuality is increasingly being used by Christian theologians for the restatement of Christian faith, worship, and practice. The present book is the first attempt, by a British theologian, to apply this kind of thinking to the interpretation of the church itself. In an earlier book, “The Last Things” in a Process Perspective, Dr. Pittenger interpreted death, judgement, heaven, and hell in this new way. Now he turns to the church, its nature, its purpose, its ministry, its concern for the world, its interest in social issues, and seeks to show how the Christian fellowship is a “social process” in which the Love which is God and which was incarnate in Jesus is continuing to work in the affairs of men through the community which took to Jesus as its Lord and Master. “Process thought” is at last receiving its due recognition in Britain. In this book the reader will find an application of that conceptuality to the institution which all too often has been looked upon as wooden and static. The contention of the author is that the church, rightly understood, is a dynamic, living, vital, and forward-looking fellowship. He believes that acceptance of this truth will revitalize the discipleship of Christians and will attract and interest those who hitherto have dismissed the church as an outworn and dead “establishment.”
Download or read book Faith and Modernity written by Philip Sampson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-08-05 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The distinctive social and cultural developments of recent years are so familiar to us as to become invisible. So write the editors in the introduction. Although no missionaries worth their salt would try to evangelize without first studying the cultural and spiritual background of their hearers, the church in the late twentieth century often does not begin to understand modern and postmodern thinking. At the second conference of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization in Manila, 1989, Dr. Os Guinness gave a paper on Faith and Modernity, which provoked great interest. As part of the response to his paper a conference was held in Uppsala, Sweden in 1993, at which an international group of experts probed more deeply into the questions of modernity and post modernity. Participants represented the United States, Canada, India, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. They included such well-known experts as Os Guinness, James Hunter, Lesslie Newbigin, Vinay Samuel, Elaine Storkey, and David Wells. Each of them has contributed to this volume, covering such topics as: What is Modernity? Truth and Authority in Modernity Information Technology and Christian Faith New Age Modernity and Spirituality Modernity and Morality This collection of papers is offered as a resource and a challenge to the church for its mission in the context of the modern world.
Download or read book Choosing Faith written by John W. Saultz and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A belief is a judgment that we assume to be true when making life decisions. Our beliefs cannot conclusively be proven true or false. Beliefs can be as simple as our preference for food or as profound as our religious beliefs. How are beliefs different from knowledge or opinion? How do beliefs develop and change over time, and how do they become the foundation of our purpose in life? This book is divided into three sections. The first explains how beliefs are formed in childhood and modified and adapted when we become adults. The second section explores different types of belief and introduces the notion of moral beliefs about right and wrong and religious beliefs about the existence and nature of God. The final section of the book explains how beliefs are prioritized into a faith that becomes our framework for making life decisions. The beliefs we hold most dear form the building blocks of our purpose in life. We have the freedom to choose our beliefs, so we have the freedom to choose our purpose. The goal of this book is to help the reader think deeply about this process and explore the meaning of this freedom.
Download or read book Christian Foundations written by Kathleen R. Fischer and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'I found myself praying from Christian Foundations in new ways. Of course, like most academics, I had heard it all before. But I haven't- not this way, at least. It was truly an experience of talking to God while thinking about God- not a bad way to do theology...Needless to say, I will use it with my undergraduates.' -Dr. Thomas Groome, Boston College
Download or read book Revisiting Christianity written by Marius C. Felderhof and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a view of Christianity and Christian thinking that draws on some key thinkers from Plato to Wittgenstein and represents a thoughtful 'common sense' theology offered as an alternative to the anti-intellectualism of many contemporary Christians and to the distortions of Christianity provided by some of the most vocal critics. Seeking to make accessible some traditional Christian thinking and practices that are rooted in the desire to make the most of life, Felderhof highlights the additional Platonic corollary that unless we have learned to live well, we shall not properly understand, thus presuming the mutual interdependence of theory and practice. Felderhof portrays how Christian theology is to do with making sense of what Christians do and how generally we are best advised to live. This is an invaluable introduction to key themes for students and a wide range of readers.
Download or read book Faith among Faiths written by James L. Fredericks and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Without Absolutes God is not God written by Ronald A Train and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Absolutes As a Christian it is foundational, I believe, to hold to absolutes. For example; a Christian should have absolutes about God's ontology (the principle of being), absolutes about theology (the study of God), absolutes about Christology (the study of Christ) and absolutes about pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit). Each of the foregoing absolutes, I believe, impact upon how one constructs a world view and how one considers the wider implications of God's kingdom work; hence, why I have titled this collection of essays "Without absolutes, God is not God". I guess the reader will be asking him or herself why is there a requirement to hold to absolutes. The need for absolutes is not complex. In reality the argument determines whether one is a believer or non-believer in the triune God. A believer will weigh whether God revelationally' speaks into this world generally and specifically. A non-believer will object to such a proposition and as a consequence leave him or herself open to other belief systems. To perhaps put it another way a non-believer is faced with the choice of deciding whether God is a reality or whether God is a creation of human imagination. Decision making, then, is crucial when accepting the triune God and his work. Does one make a decision to believe in God empirically or does one make a decision to believe in God from a position of faith? It is my view that God cannot be known empirically (i.e. by trial or experience) but rather he can only be known by faith. However, it depends on how we define faith. Those who accept other belief systems would argue that they too have a faith or a belief in some god or person. In the Christian context, however, faith is an action based on the accepted evidence. In other words if one accepts that the written word of God is substantially true (2 Peter 1:20-21)and that the Word of God (Jesus of Nazareth) is who he is recorded as being or is who he claims to be (John 1:1-5; 14:6-7) then faith is given substance. But I would go further and argue that authentic faith is derived from a spiritual encounter with God which then enables the recipient's faith response to be one which is prompted or ignited by God. My argument is supported from Scripture (1 Corinthians 12:9; Ephesians 2:8-9) and from personal experience. Both of the foregoing references I suggest argue that faith is a gift which has its origin in God. Hence, faith is not only prompted by God but also sustained by him. The analysis of such faith is that it is revelatory and constitutes an utter reliance on who God is and why he exists. Revelatory Faith Evangelicals argue that faith is a gift from God. However, this argument is treated with caution by others. Existentialism suggests that faith "is made possible and so granted, by the gracious approach and self-disclosure of being" . Interestingly, at this point, there is no great variance between the latter perspective and Martin Luther who argued that faith originates with, or is at least aroused, by God. Contemplating the third article of the Apostle's Creed, he wrote: I believe that I cannot of my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. Modernists, also argue that faith constitutes a person's response, but only after having been drawn to God's work of salvation. This argument suggests faith to be an a priori act of God, an act that prompts recognition that in the Christ, God is endeavouring to share his own life. This arousal of faith, then, affects worship, praise and prayer and the practise of Christian discipleship. The same argument suggests, further, that the prior love of God and the response of love that it generates are what shape a person's Christian faith. Biblical support for these theological reflections is found in Ephesians
Download or read book Whole Church written by Rune Larsson and published by BoD - Books on Demand. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whole church, for the sake of the world. A church informs about its faith through all that it is, says and does. This threefold way of telling determines what the recipient hears. Therefore, if a church wants to be true to its mission it must constantly ask itself two questions: What is the church's calling, and what is the message it sends? How do our churches deal with this challenge? The Church is not for its own sake, but for the world, one of the analyzed documents says. It is called to be an instrument for our loving God ́s plan to heal a broken world. The basic pattern is found in the Holy Scriptures, but in every time and every cultural context the Church must seek relevant ways and forms. And why not do this in conversation and with open ears to the experiences of others, and with the courage to change, if necessary? The first part of the book is the result of such a listening. Perhaps it surprises someone that I turned to three American Catholics to listen to their experiences. Inspired by the radical message of the Second Vatican Council, they challenge their own church to a radical paradigm shift on the way of being a trustworthy church. Using the model they developed as a base, I turned to my own church, the Uniting Church in Sweden, by asking the same question battery, and the same to an ecumenical document, The Church: Towards a Common Vision. And the result? Yet another reminder that every church that wants to be part of God's mission for the sake of the world must constantly test itself in the face of the critical questions of how it faithfully can pass on its message of joys and hope to the world.
