Baptized Imagination
Baptized Imagination

Author: Kerry Dearborn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 131717626X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Baptized Imagination
Baptized Imagination

Author: Kerry Dearborn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1317176251

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Re-Imagining Nature
Re-Imagining Nature

Author: Alister E. McGrath

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1119046351

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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

Come Let Us Adore
Come Let Us Adore

Author: Andrew Marr

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2011-07-07

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 1462030467

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Jack Lewis and His American Cousin, Nat Hawthorne
Jack Lewis and His American Cousin, Nat Hawthorne

Author: D. G. Kehl

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2013-03-29

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1610978366

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Breath for the Bones
Breath for the Bones

Author: Luci Shaw

Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM

Published: 2009-08-31

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1418589187

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“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

C.S. Lewis—On the Christ of a Religious Economy, 3.1
C.S. Lewis—On the Christ of a Religious Economy, 3.1

Author: P. H. Brazier

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2013-05-03

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 1621896390

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

In the Highest Degree: Volume Two
In the Highest Degree: Volume Two

Author: P. H. Brazier

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2018-10-31

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1532658907

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Journey with Jesus
Journey with Jesus

Author: Larry Warner

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-07-02

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0830867538

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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. 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.

Storied Revelations
Storied Revelations

Author: Gisela H Kreglinger

Publisher: Lutterworth Press

Published: 2014-08-28

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0718842146

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.