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This is not a theology of neurodiversity. It is a theology from neurodiversity. In her ground-breaking and daring theological exploration, Claire Williams considers how the experience of God for an autistic person challenges and interrogates our normal theologies about knowing God. Demonstrating how her autistic perspective offers a distinct and fresh hermeneutical lens, Williams shows that a liberation theology of neurodiversity can gift the church a new way of understanding worship, practice, ethics and even the nature of Christian hope itself.

Dans les deux premières études nous montrons que, pour Spinoza, l'important est moins Dieu que la connaissance que nous en avons et que le nom de Dieu signifie avant tout l'excellence de la connaissance intuitive. Dans la troisième, le corps est entendu comme les trois genres de connaissance. Par ses faiblesses il induit imagination et passions. Il est également le corps social à la concorde duquel veille la raison éthique. Enfin, par son essence, il participe de l'éternité et de la créativité infinies de son Attribut. Dans la quatrième, en filigrane d'une philosophie du salut individuel, transparaît le vif désir que s'instaure un accord de tous (idées et sentiments) sur l'essentiel, à savoir l'amour de Dieu, c'est-à-dire l'amour de la vérité.

If we really believed that God knowing was enough—and left it there—our questions, worries, and angst over life's struggles would find more than temporary relief.Many of us wake up every day with looming anxieties over our future and a weariness we can't shake. We have more questions than answers and live with difficult daily realities and secrets we feel we cannot share. The question remains for most believers: How can I fix it, make sense of it, or solve it?Enter God Knows: a guidebook to lead the modern believer to a place of release, relief, and reliance upon the omniscience of God. Inspired by the seldom-studied book of Nahum, God Knows details the behind-the-scenes picture we are missing, what His great knowing entails, and how his omniscience provides daily perspective to bring the healing and peace we are all desperate to find.In God Knows, you will:experience freedom by learning the difference between privacy and secrecy,develop renewed belief in your abandoned dreams and goals, still known by God,realign your idea of God's omniscience being far away to how it daily affects you,release your fears for the future as you develop a different outlook on tomorrow through God's lens, andlearn how to deal with injustice in light of God's knowledge of it.God is doing his job well: the justice, the plan, the working together for our good even when we can't see or understand. The problem is not God. Learn to release what has been burdening you and watch His plan for your life unfold.

Die durch Kants Philosophie ausgelöste'kopernikanische Wende'beschränkt das Wissen auf die empirische Welt. Dies macht die Gotteserkenntnis problematisch. Schleiermacher übernimmt die Grundgedanken Kants und sieht damit Gott auch als ein unerkennbares'Ding an sich'. In diesem Zusammenhang wird die Frage, wie man einen Zugang zu Gott finden kann, zum gemeinsamen Problem ihrer Religionshilosophie. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert die Gemeinsamkeiten und die Unterschiede zwischen Kant und Schleiermacher in Bezug auf die Unerkennbarkeit Gottes. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass Kant die Moral als Zugang zu Gott sieht, aber die apriorische Gotteserkenntnis nicht aufgibt. Dagegen leugnet Schleiermacher jede Möglichkeit der apriorischen Gotteserkenntnis; die Eigenschaften Gottes werden allein aus dem ursprünglichen religiösen Gefühl abgeleitet.

Why does God feel so far away? The reason--and the solution--is in your attachment style.We all experience moments when God's love and presence are tangible. But we also experience feeling utterly abandoned by God. Why?The answer is found when you take a deep look at the other important relationships in your life and understand your attachment style. Through his years working in trauma recovery programs, extensive research into attachment science, and personal experiences with spiritual striving and abuse, licensed therapist Krispin Mayfield has learned to answer the question: Why do I feel so far from God?When you understand your attachment style you gain a whole new paradigm for a secure and loving relationship with God. You'll gain insights about:How you relate to others--both your strengths and weaknessesThe practical exercises you can use to grow a secure spiritual attachment to GodHow to move forward on the spirituality spectrum and experience the Divine connection we all were created forYou'll learn to identify and remove mixed messages about closeness with God that you may have heard in church or from well-meaning Christians. With freedom from the past, you can then chart a new path toward intimate connection with the God of the universe.

In Mysterion, Fr. Harrison Ayre reveals the sacramental worldview, a forgotten way of seeing and living the Christian life that can help us understand what it means to be “in Christ,” participate in Christ's life, and allow Christ to live in us.

New York Times Bestseller! Kathie Lee Gifford and Rabbi Jason Sobel the authors of the New York Times best seller The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi bring you an exciting new life-changing message that will help you read the Bible with new eyes and take you into the heart of God's people in Scripture – from Abraham to Ruth to Jesus and His early followers.In The God of the Way, Rabbi Jason shares wisdom from his Jewish heritage and helps us read Scripture in the cultural context of biblical times. Kathie Lee adds personal stories and reflections from her spiritual journey and studies, serving as a companion as you go deeper in your own relationship with God.You will experience:The God of the How and When: When you don't know the details…God does.The God of His Word: When you can't see God…trust His heart and the promises in His Word.The God Who Sees: When you feel abandoned and forgotten…God knows and cares about you.The God of the Other Side: When you feel overwhelmed and unworthy…God never passes by but crosses over and brings freedom. Journey into God's word, from the creation of the world through the desert and empty places, the Hebrew nation, and meet Jesus, the disciples, and his followers. As you do, you will see how you are part of God's epic story of redemption – a radiant testimony to the truth that belief in God's promises is never wasted.

How to engage both your mind and your emotions in your walk with God.

Most thoughtful people live in an interregnum between science and religion. Traditional religious answers concerning the beginning, purpose, and end of life are questioned by the natural sciences, with neuroscience conceivably constituting the last frontier where skeptics and believers explore common ground. The question concerns the nature of reflective and creative moments in life. Can these be reduced to the intersect between the nerve cells and molecules of the physical brain? Does this account for the human sense of mystery, or even spirituality? Is there a nexus between the physical and unknown dimensions of existence? The mutation in the history of theism suggest that progressive theology in the West may be set for a further change.

Ist Gott erkennbar? Auf diese – nicht nur für die Theologie, sondern auch für die Philosophie und die Wissenschaften insgesamt – fundamentale Frage geht Paulus in Röm 1,19 ff. ein. Er ist vertraut mit dem Alten Testament und der jüdischen Überlieferung, kennt aber auch die griechische Popularphilosophie seiner Zeit. Was Paulus dazu ausführt, ist grundlegend geworden für die christliche Verkündigung und Unterweisung, Lehre und Theologie. Paulus lehrt: Gott ist erkennbar, nämlich als der Schöpfer aus und in seinem Schöpferhandeln, aber er ist nicht erfassbar in seiner Essenz. Im Hintergrund von Röm 1,19 f. steht, sachlich verwoben mit dem Schöpfungsgedanken, das Theologumenon der Offenbarung Gottes durch seine Werke. Es ist alttestamentlichen Ursprungs, wurde aber auch in der hellenistisch-jüdischen Theologie zur Zeit des Paulus gebraucht. Es ist bei Paulus nicht Bestandteil einer'natürlichen Theologie', sondern vielmehr des biblischen Offenbarungsverständnisses. Daher ist es Kriterium für die sachgerechte Bewertung von Religion und Religiosität. Das kann es freilich nur sein, wenn die Unterscheidung zwischen heidnischer Religiosität und jüdisch-christlicher Offenbarung durchgehalten wird. In der Theologie des 20. Jahrhunderts, und zwar in der Exegese wie in der Dogmatik, ist diese Grenzziehung bis zur Unkenntlichkeit verwischt worden. Die Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, dazu beizutragen, dass dieses offenbarungstheologische Kriterium bei der Beurteilung dessen, was unter natürlicher Religion und Theologia naturalis zu verstehen ist, in Theologie und Kirche wieder in Geltung gesetzt wird.

I and Thou is a summons calling us to dialogue today. Like the call Buber himself received, the book invites us to encounter the Other, our counterparts both human and eternal. Buber's spiritual awakening, his engagement with his people and his times, his wide reading, and his grief are contexts that open up this call to us to join with him in the fullness of a life of dialogue. If we follow Buber into his study, into the struggle of his inner life, into his achievement of dialogical existence--he opens up the wonders of I and Thou to us as his testament and his call to us to turn to dialogue, and he shows us the path to the fulfillment of that life. This book ushers us to that place.

If we want to see God in the midst of our struggles, we have to change the way we look for him. There is no denying that miracles, answers to prayer, and abundant blessings testify to God's presence. When the desires of our hearts are filled, it's easy to see him. But what about the seasons when he seems invisible? Scripture tells us God never sleeps, but it is easy to feel like he is not attuned to our needs. Shift explores the life-changing truth that when we adjust our lens to focus our eyes on God rather than on what we wish we were seeing in our lives, he reveals himself to us. In fact, those moments when he seems invisible to us are often when others see him the most in us. When Jesus walked the earth, he looked to God for his earthly needs. Jesus had deep a relationship with the Father that fueled his mission, his purpose, and his effectiveness. Scripture tells us that we can have that too. But there is a shift that needs to take place in our hearts and minds. No matter our circumstances, we can see God in our lives—right here, right now.

Everyone struggles at times in their lives and wonders if this is all there is. Are we facing life on our own? Does God exist? Does the Lord even care about me and my life? Actually, God's divine presence is all around us and moving in mighty ways. We just do not always take time to pay attention and recognize what the Lord is doing in our everyday lives. What if you could learn how to open your eyes to God's blessings and miracles that are all around us and accessible to your situation? A good place to start is by asking the question,'Where have you seen God?'This book is overflowing with amazing stories of how God has divinely spoken and opened up opportunities for the author and some of those around her. Each chapter is an inspiring account of an experience that teaches touching lessons about what is really important in life and how to live life to its fullest. You will laugh and cry, but most of all you will realize that God exists today just as powerfully as in Bible times. These stories are a heartwarming witness to God's personal involvement in our everyday lives.

La ignorancia es una bendición, excepto para el autoconocimiento. Lo que no conoces acerca de ti puede dañarte# a ti, a tus relaciones y a la forma en que vives la vida. Además, puede mantenerte en un plano superficial con Dios. ¿Quieres aprender a descubrir quién eres y por qué tropiezas una y otra vez con los mismos patrones autodestructivos? Encuentra la respuesta en el antiguo sistema de tipos de personalidad llamado Eneagrama, cuya asombrosa precisión para describir la personalidad que poseemos los seres humanos #tanto de forma positiva como negativa# ha elevado su popularidad en los últimos años. Aunque otros autores han explorado sus conexiones con la espiritualidad cristiana, no hubo anteriormente un enfoque tan práctico, exhaustivo y accesible de abordar como el que Ian Morgan y Suzanne Stabile han logrado. Al comenzar a efectuar los cambios que puedes empezar a hacer hoy mismo, la sabiduría del Eneagrama te ayudará a encaminarte hacia la senda que te conducirá a la mejor y más genuina versión de ti mismo. #Si quieres comprenderte a ti mismo y comprender a aquellos que te rodean, este libro profundo y brillante es un excelente punto de partida#.-#W. m. Paul Young, autor de La cabaña

‘This is Wright at his best – exegete, theologian, churchman, and public intellectual rolled into one.'Miroslav Volf ‘Wright's crowning achievement.'John CottinghamBuilding on his critically acclaimed Gifford Lectures, N. T. Wright presents a richly nuanced case for a theology based on a renewed understanding of historical knowledge. The question of'natural theology'interlocks with the related questions of how we can conceive of God acting in the world, and of why, if God is God, the world is full of evil. Can specific events in history, like those reported in the Gospels, afford the necessary point from which to answer such questions? Widely shared cultural and philosophical assumptions have conditioned our understanding of history in ways that make the idea of divine action in history problematic. But could better historical study itself win from ancient Jewish and Christian cosmology and eschatology a renewed way of understanding the relationship between God and the world? N. T. Wright argues that this can indeed be done, and in this ground-breaking book he develops a distinctive approach to natural theology grounded in what he calls an'epistemology of love'. This approach arises from his reflection on the significance of the ancient concept of the'new creation'for our understanding the reality of the world, the reality of God and their relation to one another.

'Goodness like a fetter.'The hymn'Come Thou Fount'reminds us that God's laws were created to draw us closer to him. But reading the law is intimidating. Deuteronomy is a long and ancient book full of speeches and laws for a wandering people on the cusp of entering a land filled with hostile nations. What could Deuteronomy have to say for modern readers who face vastly different issues? Invited to Know God shows that Deuteronomy is simply about knowing God. The book is a divine portal, drawing people into the ancient presence of God. To understand God better, we need to understand Deuteronomy better. Rather than being a dusty book of ancient laws, Deuteronomy calls those who love God to know Him better, choose the path to life, and flourish under His loving wisdom and guidance. God's laws bind our wandering hearts to him.

In this thought-provoking examination of how people encounter God, Wade Howell examines the way humans come in contact with the divine. Howell presents a biblical, theological, and philosophical case for why people, who are physical, can have a relationship with God, who is spirit. With an emphasis on centrality of the local church, Howell demonstrates how God designed the church to satisfy the most intimate human needs, which God placed in humans so he could be the source of their fulfillment. With a heart for people and a love for God's church, Howell echoes Augustine in showing why our soul is restless until it finds rest in God through his church.

'While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come.'(1 Timothy 4:8 CEB) Christians crave a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. The spiritual disciplines are historical practices that can guide us in our daily walk, bringing us closer to Christ. The Holy Living series brings a fresh perspective on the spiritual disciplines, enabling us to apply their practices to our current lives. Practicing these spiritual disciplines opens us to God's transforming love.In order to fully embrace study as a spiritual practice, we must first rid ourselves of the idea that study is a boring, dull, and unimaginative exercise. Study as a spiritual practice is, in fact, just the opposite: exciting, stimulating, and imaginative. It is a way to encounter and experience the living God; examine and discover more of ourselves in relation to God; and deepen our faith in God. It helps ground us in what God thinks and helps us reorder our priorities. It enlivens and energizes our faith. Study fills us with God's words, and the more we study, the more of God's words fill our hearts and minds and inform our thoughts, words, and actions. This book challenges our preconceptions of study and offers practical steps on how to develop the habit of study. This is one of series of eight books. Each book in this series introduces a spiritual practice, suggests way of living the practice daily, and provides opportunities to grow personally and in a faith community with others who engage with the practice. Each book consists of an introduction and four chapters and includes questions for personal reflection and group discussion.Other disciplines studied: Celebration, Confession, Discernment, Neighboring, Prayer, Simplicity, and Worship.

We are experiencing God always. The experience of God, however, transcends our capacity to comprehend it. We will never fully grasp what God is, but this does not mean we should stop trying. Our ideas about God set the tone for our spiritual development. The further we are willing to journey into the mystery of God, the more we will be transformed by it. The bigger the ideas, the bigger the God, and the more our lives will reflect God. When I set out to write Where is God? it was my intention to entertain the biggest ideas possible. I wanted to understand the God of all things--the God of religion and science, the God of music and beauty, the God of life and death, the God of love. This is a book of ideas, big ideas.

Im Weisheitsgedicht Ijob 28 - als zentrales Kapitel des Buches Ijob dem Mund des leidenden Ijob entstammend - spielt die Wahrnehmung (der Weisheit) Gottes eine grundlegende Rolle. Die vorliegende Studie sucht dem mit Herangehensweisen einer ästhetischen Theologie des Alten Testaments auf die Spur zu kommen und damit einen neuen Verstehenshorizont zu eröffnen. Dabei birgt das Ergebnis das Potential, Strukturen des Lebens zu heben und bewusst zu machen, um desgleichen deren Erneuerung im Horizont der Gottesfurcht herauszufordern.

The study of Christian theology in the last half century has seen a major renaissance in Trinitarian thought which has attempted to connect Trinitarian theology to all aspects of Christian faith and practice. This revival has often addressed the unfortunate split which has haunted much modern theological endeavour between theology and both prayer and practice, the disjunction between thought about God and the movement of the heart toward God in transformed lives. Drawn from papers given at a Pusey House conference in 2015, the contributors to this collection explore what it means to know and love the Triune God, and how the knowledge of God can be a transforming and saving knowledge.

Meister Eckhart ist der transzendental-mündige Aufklärer par excellence. Transzendentale Menschenwürde eignet dem Menschen durch die Gottesgeburt in der Seele. So ist er gotwizzender mensche. Eckharts transzendentaler Bezug, der sich aus biblischen, aristotelischen, (neu)platonischen, christlichen, jüdischen und arabischen Quellen lebendig speist, wirkt wirklich. Das Christentum ist in seinem transzendental-intellektuellen Bezug begrifflich überzeugend zu denken. Eckhart sagt, dass'er seine ganze Hoffnung auf niemanden geneigt habe, denn auf Gott allein.'

Here is a fresh look at how science contributes to the bigger picture of human flourishing, through a collage of science and philosophy, richly illustrated by the authors'own experience and personal reflection. They survey the territory of fundamental physics, machine learning, philosophy of human identity, evolutionary biology, miracles, arguments from design, naturalism, the history of ideas, and more. The natural world can be appreciated not only for itself, but also as an eloquent gesture, a narrative and a pointer beyond itself. Our human journey is not to a theorem or a treatise, but to a meeting which encompasses all our capacities. In this meeting, science is the means to find out about the structure of the physical world of which we are a part, not a means to reduce ourselves and our fellow human beings to mere objects of scrutiny, and still less a means to attempt the utterly futile exercise of trying to do that to God. We have intellectual permission to be open to the notion that God can be trusted and known. The material world encourages an open-hearted reaching out to something more, with a freedom to seek and to be received by what lies beyond the scope of purely impersonal descriptions and attitudes.

Was können wir über Gott wissen? Nach Auffassung des Autors, die dieser in seinem luziden Essay systematisch begründet: nichts. Diese Auffassung ist kein Atheismus, sondern ein religiöser Agnostizismus, der zwar auf eine reiche historische Tradition zurückblicken kann (angefangen vom frühen Christentum über mittelalterliche Denker wie R. Bacon, Duns Scotus und Ockham bis zu Hume und Kant), aber im gegenwärtigen religiösen Diskurs nur eine marginale Rolle spielt. Wolfgang Detel geht in seinem Essay von dem grundlegenden Gottesbegriff der führenden monotheistischen Religionen aus, die Gott als maximal große immaterielle Person, also als unendlichen Geist betrachten. Sein zentrales systematisches Argument ist, dass wir Gott nicht einmal denken und daher erst recht nichts über ihn wissen können. Zugleich arbeitet er heraus, dass Gott selbst kein Denker sein kann. Dabei stehen die beiden grundlegenden Merkmale Gottes im Mittelpunkt: Wenn Gott absolut perfekt ist, muss er aktual unendlich sein; aber aktuale Unendlichkeit können wir Menschen als endliche Wesen nicht denken. Und wenn Gott ein maximal großes und perfektes Wesen ist, dann muss er ein perfekter Geist sein und über optimale Denkfähigkeit verfügen; doch die Ideen eines perfekten Geistes und einer optimalen Denkfähigkeit sind inkonsistent, so dass wir Gott weder als Geist noch als Denker denken können. Das Besondere an Detels Vorgehensweise ist der Rückgriff auf moderne wissenschaftliche Theorien der Unendlichkeit und des Geistes. Sein Essay schließt mit einigen Reflexionen über eine zeitgemäße Religiosität ohne Gott – eine Religiosität, die tiefer ist als Gott, die auf infantiles und spekulatives religiöses Wunschdenken verzichten kann, die über Ambitionen auf politischen Einfluss und dogmatische Menschenführung erhaben ist und die uns gerade deswegen erfüllen und voranbringen kann.

The question of God in experience is, according to Hugh Ross Mackintosh, a question of whether and how God self-manifests to some humans in their experience, perhaps in conscience. Does God self-authenticate or self-evidence God's reality to some humans, in their experience? This book contains sixteen of Mackintosh's essays and two of his sermons that address this question. Mackintosh describes God as an intentional agent with goal-directed causal powers--not just an idea, a principle, or a law. He thus holds that God is an active personal agent capable of interpersonal communion with humans. Mackintosh pays careful attention to the experience of being forgiven and redeemed by God. God in experience, then, is God in moral experience. Mackintosh invites his readers to consider whether their experience includes an experienced moral challenge, an encounter with a God who seeks our redemption.

Martin Buber's I and Thou argues that humans engage with the world in two ways. One is with the attitude of an ‘I'towards an ‘It', where the self stands apart from objects as items of experience or use. The other is with the attitude of an ‘I'towards a ‘Thou', where the self enters into real relation with other people, or nature, or God. Addressing modern technological society, Buber claims that while the ‘I-It'attitude is necessary for existence, human life finds its meaning in personal relationships of the ‘I-Thou'sort. I and Thou is Buber's masterpiece, the basis of his religious philosophy of dialogue, and among the most influential studies of the human condition in the 20th century.

The postmodern American church desperately needs the reminder that truth, to have any teeth at all, must be absolute. By the same token, the church desperately needs to embrace the fact that absolute truth, far from being oppressive, sets us free. To be able to know the truth is the remarkable gift of the Bible, and the Bible is a remarkable gift to the church. David Watson, likewise, gives us a gift in Scripture and the Life of God, a wise teaching on why the Bible matters, why we trust its authority, and how learning to converse with the Scriptures can lead us into the very heart of God.

Yo y Tú (Ich und Du), escrito en 1923, es la obra más emblemática del filósofo judío Martin Buber, por haber dado el giro del pensamiento monológico al dialógico, el cual se expresa así: cada uno es quien es en su relación con el otro. Según Buber, el ser humano se relaciona de dos formas con la existencia: la actitud del Yo hacia el Tú, que genera relaciones siempre abiertas y de mutuo diálogo, y la relación Yo-Ello, referida al mundo y sus objetos tal como lo experimentamos. Pero ambos tipos de relación son inextricables y nos llevan en último término a la relación entre el ser humano y la eterna fuente del mundo, Dios, el Tú eterno que, por su naturaleza misma, no puede volverse Ello, y al cual solo es posible llegar mediante cada Tú particular.

There is a longstanding tradition that God whispers in our ears. He does not shout. It is in'the holy whisper,'writes the Quaker mystic, that we hear Abba's voice, not in the noise of clamoring crowds or the incessant barrage of social media. To hear the voice of God is an awesome thing--to know his thoughts, to intuit his love, to participate in his good pleasure. It is both a gift to be received and art to be cultivated. It can call to us when we least expect; but we can train ourselves to become receptive listeners. We need help to separate the cacophony of voices calling to us from the quiet whisper of Abba--barely audible. Since our wordy world masks the quiet, respectful voice of God, we need to recognize the primary ways that Abba communicates with his creation. We must embrace practices that move us out of lives of distraction and exchange old patterns of living with new ways of seeing and hearing. From our deep Christian past we hear the voice of St. Augustine murmur,'Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. I shall hear your voice and make haste to clasp you to myself.'

The Areopagus speech of Acts provides a helpful study of how Paul both engaged and confronted the contemporary culture of his day to present the message of Christianity to his hearers in Athens. How does Paul, as a Jew, contextualize the message for his audience of Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens on the topic of God as Creator in Acts 17:24? Paul touches on a subject of contentious debate between Stoics and Epicureans when he identifies God as Creator. Stoics believed in a creating deity, something akin to Plato's demiurge of the Timaeus. Epicureans ridiculed such an idea. By using the identification of God as Creator, Paul engages a common controversy between schools of philosophy.

For fans of Deepak Chopra, Rudy Tanzi, and Andrew Newberg. A renowned behavioral neurologist provides insights to some of the most curious spiritual questions we all face. Is there a God?It's a question billions of people have asked since the dawn of time. You would think by now we'd have a satisfactory, universal answer. No such luck…Or maybe we do and we just need to look in the right place. For Dr. Jay Lombard that place is the brain, and more importantly the mind, that center of awareness and consciousness that creates reality.In The Mind of God, Dr. Lombard employs case studies from his own behavioral neurology practice to explore the spiritual conundrums that we all ask ourselves: What is the nature of God? Does my life have purpose? What's the meaning of our existence? Are we free? What happens to us when we die?For Lombard, these metaphysical questions are a jumping-off point for exploring the brain in search of the seat of the soul. It is neuroscience, the author contends, and how we and our brains interpret what's going on around us that can lead us to a deeper and more fulfilling faith. Mixing his personal experiences in the medical field (including compelling cases such as the male patient who really thought he was pregnant and a woman who literally scared herself to death) along with his own visionary insight into spiritual experience, Lombard has much to tell us about the nature and power of belief—and what we can do to focus our beliefs in a positive direction. If you want to find more meaning in your life or are searching for a deeper understanding of why we believe what we believe, then this book can lead to an exciting transformation in the way you see and understand the world around you. With cutting-edge research and provocative case studies, renowned behavioral neurologist provides insights to some of the most curious spiritual questions of mortality.

This collection of new essays written by an international team of scholars is a groundbreaking examination of the problem of divine hiddenness, one of the most dynamic areas in current philosophy of religion. Together, the essays constitute a wide-ranging dialogue on the problem. They balance atheistic and theistic standpoints, and they bring to bear not only on the standard philosophical perspectives but also on insights from Jewish, Muslim, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The apophatic and the mystical are well-represented too. As a result, the volume throws fresh light on this familiar but important topic in the philosophy of religion. In the process, the volume incorporates contemporary work in epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. For all these reasons, this book will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students in philosophy of religion and theology.

Im Leben moderner Menschen hat Gott keinen Platz. In vermeintlich christlich geprägten Gesellschaften verschwindet Religion aus der Öffentlichkeit, Glück und Lebenssinn werden jenseits eines religiösen Horizonts gesucht. Wie kann der Mensch des säkularen Zeitalters Gott erfahren, wo scheinbar nur innerweltliche Sinnkategorien zur Verfügung stehen? Wie kann Glaubensverkündigung geschehen, die die Existenzbedingungen moderner Menschen ernst nimmt?

Die Schriften des Corpus Areopagiticum sind beseelt vom Wurzelbewusstsein des esoterischen Christentums. Sie stehen in der uroffenbarungsgeschichtlichen Tradition einer prisca sapientia, die das verborgene Wesen des Christentums dem Menschen durch eine Geheimlehre zugänglich zu machen beabsichtigt. Die christliche Geistlehre des Dionysius steht damit aber in einem grundlegenden Spannungsverhältnis zur Theologie, die als „kanonisches Wissen von der Offenbarung“ den Hieratismus des kirchlichen Kultsystems selbst für „Mystagogie“, das heißt für das Arkanum des Christentums ausgibt. Nach Dionysius ist Mystagogie aber nur dann von göttlicher Herkunft, wenn die selbstentäußerte Gottheit des Logos sich als Antlitz Jesu im gottförmigen Nous des Mysten selbst inkarniert. Vergöttlichung ist Schau, die der Nous des Mysten von der in ihm fleischgewordenen Gottheit Jesu selbst aktuiert. Sie ist theosophische Erkenntnis der sich im Nous ereignenden Kenosis Jesu, die der Nous selbst macht, weil sie ganz seine ist. Die göttliche Arkanwissenschaft der Mysten Jesu wird von Dionysius in der Schrift „Über die mystische Theologie“ als die „Theosophie der Christen“ (MTh I, 1; 997 A) bezeichnet.

'For anyone who is fascinated by the phenomenon of religion, this is a deeply interesting book.'Mary WarnockAlthough we can all give meaning to our lives by trying to live well, is there some given meaning to be discovered?Science cannot answer this question, and philosophical arguments leave the issue open. The monotheistic religions claim that the meaning has been revealed to us, and Christians see this is above all in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Described by Rowan Williams as'that rarity, a Christian public intellectual', Richard Harries considers the Christian claim in the context of an in-depth discussion of the nature of evil and how this is to be reconciled with a just and loving God. Drawing on a wide range of modern literature, he argues that belief in the resurrection and hope in the face of death is fundamental to faith, and suggests that while there is no final intellectual answer to the problem of evil, we must all, believer and nonbeliever alike, protest against the world and seek to change it, rather than accept it as it is.

How can God be three and one? How can God take on a human nature? If God planned everything, how can I be responsible? Do my prayers make any difference in God's plan? Christians may attempt to'know'God to the best of their ability--leading some to limit God as they contain Him within tidy answers for human understanding. In The Majesty of Mystery, K. Scott Oliphint encourages believers to embrace the mysteries of Christian faith: the Trinity, the incarnation, eternal life, and the balance between God's sovereign will and human choices. Drawing from the Reformed tradition and interacting with the biblical text, Oliphint shows how a profound recognition of our own limitations can lead us into a richer awareness of God's infinite majesty. Written with deep theological knowledge and threaded with everyday implications, The Majesty of Mystery connects the dots between humanity and God, belief and practice, mystery and worship. Oliphint invites readers to rediscover the purpose to which all theology aims--the worship of the incomprehensible God who faithfully reveals himself in Scripture.

What do we do with a God who calls Himself'jealous,'who allows suffering in the world, and who promises in His Word to judge everyone on earth? How does that reconcile with the image of God popular in evangelical churches - loving, forgiving, and shepherding us? More importantly, how does a person going through hard times learn to embrace a God who can allow such difficult circumstances? Longtime pastor and director of Open Doors Kurt Bruner explores who God is, how He works in our lives, and how we can see Him at work.

Have you ever considered spirituality but decided you couldn't make sense of all the jargon? You're not alone. Why settle for ‘New Age'when you don't understand the Age-Old?In this book, you'll discover real experiences and real insight – nothing fictional, or second-hand (except maybe this book one day). If you don't think (even slightly) differently after reading this book, either you're not thinking enough, or you didn't stop and think ‘Why are we here?'To quote the original Matrix film, ‘Free your mind'; discover possibilities you thought were impossible, when you already knew the Mission was Impossible. But this one doesn't come with popcorn!I'm not here to tell you to ‘look within', or that ‘the Kingdom of God is within', I'm here to tell you – look for God, because the delusion is to believe in nothing at all!

'This book contains a careful, thorough, and where necessary skeptical as regards doubtful evidence (especially in the case of Plato and the Old Academy) of the beginnings in European thought of the negative or apophatic way of thinking and its relations to more positive or kataphatic ways of thinking about God. One of its greatest strengths, perhaps the greatest, is that the author makes clear that none of the persons concerned, Hellenic, Jewish or Christian, was engaged in the pursuit of a philosophical abstraction, or the heaping of rhetorical superlatives on God. They were rather concerned to present the origin of the universe as an intimately present living reality which infinitely transcends our thought and speech. This, combined with careful attention to the varieties of negative theology and its relations with positive, and the particular difficulties experienced by the members of the various traditions involved, makes the book the best introduction to the negative theology available.'-A. H. Armstrong, Emeritus Professor of Greek, University of Liverpool, England. Emeritus Professor of Classics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Senior Fellow of the British Academy.

'God is Self-Revealed'we are assured by many Christians today. Yet this conviction stems only from eighteenth-century Enlightenment debates. Early and ongoing Christians, with their Jewish roots, trusted God as a committed and saving but heavily clouded presence (whether by God's choice, or our inadequacy, or both). Continuing Christian tradition has thus insisted that there is much more to this God than we can hope to get our heads round. Yet such Christians have trusted that this loving, saving, triune God's purpose is to transform us Godward.'The divine Word became as we are so we might become as he is.'Meanwhile, some of us at least can find ourselves drawn to share with our predecessors and one another in imagining how this may be. And then we may be drawn to realize in practice what we imagine--in active service to God among fellow humans and all God's fragile creation. Then, we may hope, we may have been brought to know God more nearly as God is. Gerald Downing first argued this fifty years ago, and here he restates the issues with fresh insights and renewed hope.

In this challenging and engaging discussion, F. Gerald Downing draws on evidence from Ancient Jewish and New Testament scriptures to analyse the changing history of the concept of'revelation'within Christianity. Through the discussion of central concepts in the philosophy of language, such as reference and identity, Downing provides a comprehensive analysis of our notion of the concept of knowledge through revelation and self-revelation. Formation for Knowing God contains an overview of the history of the debate regarding the methods and extent of God's revelation, specifically his self-revelation. Downing argues that the conviction that God is selfrevealed stems from eighteenth-century Enlightenment debates, and has no roots in the early Christian tradition, from which we learn that God is incomprehensible. Downing rejects the view that it was the primary purpose of Christ's death to show God's love, claiming that this is unsupported by the scriptural evidence. The positive thesis argued by Downing isthat what has been revealed to us is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of faith. Downing's Formation for Knowing God will challenge the assumptions of its readers, providing an alternative and thought provoking approach to the nature of knowledge and certainty within Christianity.

The Face of God Among Us is an examination of religious history that aims to find out exactly who the founders of the great religions of the past were, and what their role has been in the development of human society. Author John Hatcher looks at the lives and stations of the Prophets of the past--Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, and Bahaullah--and asks: Who exactly were these exalted beings? Were they ordinary humans, temporarily inspired by God? Are they God incarnate, as some believe? Or are they a different category of being all together? In the course of his investigation, Hatcher uncovers a pattern in religious history that seems to hold the answers to all these questions. In doing so, he offers a new insight into the method by which the Creator educates humankind, and provides us with a fascinating perspective about our existence on this planet.

When we say that God is mystery, we mean that the Supreme Being is unknown and unknowable, incapable of being analysed, inexplicable, incomprehensible. This is often described as a basic tenet of Christian faith, and, on one level, we all accept it. On another, however, it seems to be the case that most of us experience enormous difficulty in truly embracing it. In short, although we are usually content to say that God is mystery, we behave as though this were not the case. We have our own pet ideas, our own versions of what God is. These are the products of our intellects and imaginations. Where mystery is concerned, however, those faculties of ours are simply not enough. In fact, they can all too easily get in the way. Well aware of this, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing pointed out that the Supreme Being cannot be grasped by thought. God can be grasped only by love. Unless we take hold of this basic insight, all our religious enterprise, indeed our religion, is likely to be misguided. The first two chapters of this book deal largely – although not exclusively - with mistakes we commonly make in this regard. The rest of the book then turns to the subject of our need to encounter mystery, and discusses the wonders that are revealed to us when we do succeed in opening ourselves up to the incomprehensible God. Within this context, there is a good deal of discussion about a number of related matters, including the kingdom of God, prayer, the concept of poverty in the Gospel message, the concept of miracle, enlightenment, faith, love, and, of course, the mystery of the human person.

O livro transformador de vidas de J. I. Packer tem aprofundado a fé o entendimento de milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo. Explicando quem é Deus e como podemos nos relacionar com ele, Packer divide seu livro em três partes: A primeira dirige nossa atenção para como e por que conhecemos a Deus. A segunda destaca os atributos de Deus. A terceira os benefícios usufruídos por aqueles que o conhecem intimamente.

First published in 1938, this title presents the greater part of the 1933 Gifford Lectures in natural theology, given by Edwyn Bevan. The questions raised regarding the element of symbolism in religious conceptions takes the reader to the very heart of the religious problem, and addresses some of the most fundamental questions posed by theology and comparative religion: the nature of ‘Spirit'; the spiritual efficacy of sacred histories and the images they utilise, in particular those found in the Bible; the ambiguous role of language, not only in relation to God but also to the world around us; and the uncertainties pertaining to ‘rationalism'and ‘mysticism'. Symbolism and Belief offers the student of theology, philosophy, scriptural exegesis and anthropology a wide-ranging resource for the study of religious discourse.

An eminent psychologist and engineer presents a provocative analysis of the concept of God through the lens of scientific inquiry.This is a study of the concept of God, not from the perspective of any religious tradition, but as a pervasive social phenomenon that has prevailed through the ages. An expert in engineering and applied psychology, author Thomas B. Sheridan offers unique perspective on the subject. In What Is God?, he asks whether the concept of God can be modeled in denotative language (much as modeling in science, medicine and modern professions) in contrast to connotative language (e.g., myth, metaphor, art and music). Sheridan adopts the assumption of model-based reality, as currently prevalent in physics and some branches of philosophy. That criterion means an entity can be called real for public discourse purposes only to the extent that a credible model can be made of what the entity is or how it works—as opposed to the private reality of thoughts, perceptions, or dreams. What follows is a truly provocative and enlightening through experiment with far-reaching implications.“It is rare to see the ultimate question of God as prime mover examined as a problem open to rigorous scientific inquiry. Thomas Sheridan has now done it with admirable clarity.” —Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Meaning of Human Existence

'The publication of Martin Buber's I and Thou was a great event in the religious life of the West.'Reinhold NiebuhrMartin Buber was a prolific and influential teacher and writer, who taught philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem from 1939 to 1951. Having studied philosophy and art at the universities of Vienna, Zurich and Berlin, he became an active Zionist and was closely involved in the revival of Hasidism. Recognised as a landmark of twentieth century intellectual history, I and Thou is Buber's masterpiece. In this book, his enormous learning and wisdom are distilled into a simple, but compelling vision. It proposes nothing less than a new form of the Deity for today, a new form of human being and of a good life. In so doing, it addresses all religious and social dimensions of the human personality. Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith

A theology of spirituality, community, and society. Brian Edgar has identified an element crucial to the corporate spirituality, meaningful discipleship, and effective mission of the church in our day. Friendship (with God and others) is a category that goes to the very nature of relationships. Edgar uses the wide-ranging perspectives of biblical scholarship, theology, ethics, philosophy, and sociology in God is Friendship to develop our understanding of friendship. Brian Edgar is Professor of Theological Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He taught previously at the Melbourne School of Theology and has served as the Director of Public Theology for the Australian Evangelical Alliance.