Download or read book Heaven and Philosophy written by Simon Cushing and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a collection of essays analyzing different issues concerning the nature, possibility, and desirability of heaven as understood by the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity. and Islam. Topics include whether or not it is possible that a mortal could, upon bodily death, become an inhabitant of heaven without loss of identity, where exactly heaven might be located, whether or not everyone should be saved, or if there might be alternative destinations (including some less fiery versions of Hell). Chapter authors include believers and skeptics, well-known philosophers, and new voices. While some chapters are more challenging than others, all are written in a style that should be accessible to any interested reader.
Download or read book Paradise Understood written by T. Ryan Byerly and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of seventeen philosophical essays that systematically investigate heaven, or paradise, as conceived within theistic religious traditions.
Download or read book Heaven and Earth Are Not Humane written by Franklin Perkins and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2014-05-23 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: That bad things happen to good people was as true in early China as it is today. Franklin Perkins uses this observation as the thread by which to trace the effort by Chinese thinkers of the Warring States Period (c.475-221 BCE), a time of great conflict and division, to seek reconciliation between humankind and the world. Perkins provides rich new readings of classical Chinese texts and reflects on their significance for Western philosophical discourse.
Download or read book Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven written by Christopher M. Brown and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2021-08-22 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Beyond Heaven and Earth written by Gabriel Levy and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An approach to understanding religion that draws on both humanities and natural science but rejects approaches that employ simple monisms and radical dualisms. In Beyond Heaven and Earth, Gabriel Levy argues that collective religious narratives and beliefs are part of nature; they are the basis for the formation of the narratives and beliefs of individuals. Religion grows out of the universe, but to make sense of it we have to recognize the paradox that the universe is both mental and material (or neither). We need both humanities and natural science approaches to study religion and religious meaning, Levy contends, but we must also recognize the limits of these approaches. First, we must make the dominant metaphysics that undergird the various disciplines of science and humanities more explicit, and second, we must reject those versions of metaphysics that maintain simple monisms and radical dualisms. Bringing Donald Davidson’s philosophy—a form of pragmatism known as anomalous monism—to bear on religion, Levy offers a blueprint for one way that the humanities and natural sciences can have a mutually respectful dialogue. Levy argues that in order to understand religions we have to take their semantic content seriously. We need to rethink such basic concepts as narrative fiction, information, agency, creativity, technology, and intimacy. In the course of his argument, Levy considers the relation between two closely related semantics, fiction and religion, and outlines a new approach to information. He then applies his theory to discrete cases: ancient texts, modern media, and intimacy.
Download or read book The Politics of Heaven and Hell written by James V. Schall and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Politics of Heaven and Hell makes an invaluable contribution to the understanding of classical, medieval, and modern political philosophy, while explaining the profound problem with modernity. Christianity "freed men from the overwhelming burden of ever thinking that their salvation will ultimately come from the political order", writes Fr. James Schall, S.J. Modernity, on the other hand, is a perversion of Christianity, which tries to achieve man's salvation in this world. It does this by politicizing everything, which results in the absolute state: "The distance from the City of God to the Leviathan is not at all far once the City of God is relocated on earth." The best defense against this tyranny is "the adequate description of the highest things, of what is beyond politics". Both reason and revelation are needed for this work, and they are eloquently and ably set forth in this book.
Download or read book The Confucian Creation of Heaven written by Robert Eno and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1990-06-01 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrating that the relation between practice and theory in early Confucianism is highly systematic, the author suggests that Confucianism represents a species of 'synthetic' philosophy, distinct from the analytical traditions of the West but equally rigorous in its attempt to disclose the foundations of understanding. He illustrates how theory served as an ancillary activity, expressing ethical insights derived from the systematic structure of core ritual practice, and legitimizing those insights in terms of teleological model of their efficacy in creating a divinely ordained political utopia. The central agenda of the early Confucians is pictured as the preservation and promotion of ritual skills and the aesthetic social perspectives they generate. Metaphysical and political theory serve as practical vehicles mediating between the skill-based philosophy of the early Confucian community and the changing features of the intellectual, social, and political environments in which that community had to survive.
Download or read book The Shadow of God written by Michael Rosen and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Rosen shows how the redemptive hope of religion became the redemptive hope of historical progress. This was the heart of German Idealism: purpose lay not in God’s judgment but in worldly projects; freedom required not being subject to arbitrary authority, human or divine. Yet purpose and freedom never shed their theistic structure.
Download or read book Heaven and Hell written by Bart D. Ehrman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over half of Americans believe in a literal heaven, in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. Ehrman shows that eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament, and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. He recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Ehrman shows that competing views were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. -- adapted from jacket
Download or read book Preparing for Heaven written by Gary Black, Jr. and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-10-13 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his acclaimed books, renowned writer, speaker, and philosophy professor Dallas Willard explored the nature of Christian life in God's Kingdom. Yet one topic remained undisclosed: Willard's understanding of heaven and eternal life. In the months before his death, Willard engaged in moving and insightful conversations about the meaning of life and the life to come with close friend and theologian Gary Black Jr. These inspiring dialogues were steeped in biblical theology as well as practical wisdom grounded in the here-and-now. In Preparing for Heaven Black reveals not only Willard's profound and liberating vision of life after death, he also deftly unpacks the implications these realities hold for our lives today. Black shows how Willard understood our mortal lives as preparation for what comes next—that death is not the end of one life and the beginning of another, but rather a transition through which we continue the transformational work begun on Earth. Informative, challenging, and poignant, Willard and Black's conversations and insights challenge us to reconsider our beliefs—that perhaps the line separating the afterlife from this life is not as absolute as we think, and that there is work to be done both now and in the glorious life to come. As a result we will find that our faith is more vibrant—and eternal—than we have dared to imagine.
Download or read book Criticism of Heaven written by Roland Boer and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2007 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do some of the major Marxists of the twentieth century engage extensively with theology? What is the influence on their other work? This book explores the instersections between Marxism and theology in the work of Ernst Bloch, Walter Benjamin, Louis Althusser, Henri Lefebvre, Antonio Gramsci, Terry Eagleton, Slavoj Zižek and Theodor Adorno.
Download or read book Heaven the Heart s Deepest Longing written by Peter Kreeft and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2013-02-11 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major book on the subject of heaven, this expanded edition examines the hunger for heaven that is so strong in all of us. Fascinating and upbeat, Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing thoroughly explores the psychological and theological dimensions of this search for total joy and for the ultimate reality that grounds it.
Download or read book Philosophy of Heaven written by Mazhar Merhebi and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2018-06-29 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophy of Heaven is a creative writing of subconscious fact in higher states of consciousness, through which Merhebi presents his redefinition of the philosophy of feeling and understanding of the universe. This is an ideal gift to the one who has everything and a treasure to the one who has nothing. In over one hundred chapters, he shares a very important world and entertains our minds and souls. Merhebi emerges as a thinker, feeler, doodler, humorist, lover, and soul handler, and above all, he provokes your mind. He expresses his feelings and ideas in a variety of ways poetically, theoretically, and mathematically but always challenges the readers feelings and beliefs on politics, religion, philosophy, personal self-sufficiency, trade, love, discrimination, parenthood, domination, relationships, time and space, and the structure of the universe. His self-professed aim for this book is to generate a theory of the geometric forms of the invisible commonsense logic as nothing to be truth. He proposes that as humans of the day, we believe in what is beyond our knowledge capacity and we function by need. He sees the challenge as one of bringing what we feel in line with what we know, harmoniously accommodating our conscious knowledge with the needs of our subconscious feelings.
Download or read book Heaven written by Jerry L. Walls and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-08-15 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Christian doctrine of heaven has been a moral source of enormous power in western culture. It has provided a striking account of the ultimate good in life and has for two millennia animated the hope that our lives can be fully meaningful. Recently, however, the doctrine of heaven has lost much of its grip on the western imagination and has become a vague and largely ignored part of the Christian creed. Not only have our hopes been redefined as a result, but our very identity as human beings has been altered. In this book, Jerry L. Walls argues that the doctrine of heaven is ripe for serious reconsideration. He contends not only that the orthodox view of heaven can be defended from objections commonly raised against it, but also that heaven is a powerful resource for addressing persistent philosophical problems, not the least of which concern the ground of morality and the meaning of life. Walls shows how heaven is integrally related to central Christian doctrines, particularly those concerning salvation, and tackles the difficult problem of why faith in Christ is necessary to save us from our sins. In addition, heaven is shown to illumine thorny problems of personal identity and to be an essential component of a satisfactory theodicy. Walls goes on to examine data from near-death experiences from the standpoint of some important recent work in epistemology and argues that they offer positive evidence for heaven. He concludes that we profoundly need to recover the hope of heaven in order to recover our very humanity.
Download or read book The Philosophy of Heaven written by Phoebe Marie Holmes and published by Kessinger Publishing. This book was released on 2005-12 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Download or read book All Under Heaven written by John H. Berthrong and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1994-03-22 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a study of comparative philosophy and theology. The themes are the critical issues arising from the modern interpretation of Confucian doctrine as they confront the Christian beliefs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Download or read book Heaven written by Jerry L. Walls and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-08-15 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Christian doctrine of heaven has been a moral source of enormous power in western culture. It has provided a striking account of the ultimate good in life and has for two millennia animated the hope that our lives can be fully meaningful. Recently, however, the doctrine of heaven has lost much of its grip on the western imagination and has become a vague and largely ignored part of the Christian creed. Not only have our hopes been redefined as a result, but our very identity as human beings has been altered. In this book, Jerry L. Walls argues that the doctrine of heaven is ripe for serious reconsideration. He contends not only that the orthodox view of heaven can be defended from objections commonly raised against it, but also that heaven is a powerful resource for addressing persistent philosophical problems, not the least of which concern the ground of morality and the meaning of life. Walls shows how heaven is integrally related to central Christian doctrines, particularly those concerning salvation, and tackles the difficult problem of why faith in Christ is necessary to save us from our sins. In addition, heaven is shown to illumine thorny problems of personal identity and to be an essential component of a satisfactory theodicy. Walls goes on to examine data from near-death experiences from the standpoint of some important recent work in epistemology and argues that they offer positive evidence for heaven. He concludes that we profoundly need to recover the hope of heaven in order to recover our very humanity.
