Creatures of Possibility
Creatures of Possibility

Author: Ingolf U. Dalferth

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1493405861

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A Prominent Theologian Explores What It Means to Be Human Preeminent scholar and theologian Ingolf Dalferth offers mature reflections on what it means to be human, a topic at the forefront of contemporary Christian thought. Dalferth argues that humans should be defined not as deficient beings--who must compensate for the weaknesses of their biological nature by means of technology, morals, media, religion, and culture--but as creatures of possibility. He understands human beings by reference to their capacity to live a truly humane life. Dalferth explores the sheer gratuitousness of God's agency in justifying and sanctifying the human person, defining humans not by what we do or achieve but by God's creative and saving action. In the gospel, we are set free to interact with the world and creation.

Never Home Alone
Never Home Alone

Author: Rob Dunn

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 154164574X

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A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us -- prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.

God, Human, Animal, Machine
God, Human, Animal, Machine

Author: Meghan O'Gieblyn

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0525562710

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A strikingly original exploration of what it might mean to be authentically human in the age of artificial intelligence, from the author of the critically-acclaimed Interior States. • "At times personal, at times philosophical, with a bracing mixture of openness and skepticism, it speaks thoughtfully and articulately to the most crucial issues awaiting our future." —Phillip Lopate “[A] truly fantastic book.”—Ezra Klein For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes's division of mind from world made materialism our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness—i.e., souls—might be illusions. Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence—identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself—urgently require rethinking. Meghan O'Gieblyn tackles this challenge with philosophical rigor, intellectual reach, essayistic verve, refreshing originality, and an ironic sense of contradiction. She draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.

Crucified and Resurrected
Crucified and Resurrected

Author: Ingolf U. Dalferth

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 1493400118

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This major work, now available in English, is considered by many to be one of the finest and most significant contributions to modern Christology. Preeminent scholar and theologian Ingolf Dalferth argues for a radical reorientation of Christology for historical, hermeneutical, and theological reasons. He defends an orthodox vision of Christology in the context of a dialogue with modernity, showing why the resurrection, not the incarnation, ought to be the central idea of Christological thinking. His proposal is both pneumatological and Trinitarian, and addresses themes such as soteriology, the doctrine of atonement, and preaching.

Kafka's Creatures
Kafka's Creatures

Author: Marc Lucht

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2010-06-22

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0739143964

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Kafka's Creatures: Animals, Hybrids, and Other Fantastic Beings is an interdisciplinary collection of essays on Franz Kafka's use of non-human creatures in his writings. It is written from a variety of interpretive perspectives and highlights diverse ways of understanding how Kafka's use of these creatures illuminate his work in general.

Creatures Like Us?
Creatures Like Us?

Author: Lynne Sharpe

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Published: 2015-11-24

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1845405145

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As a child brought up among animals, Lynne Sharpe never doubted they were essentially 'creatures like us'. It came as a shock to learn that others did not agree. Here she exposes the bizarre way in which many philosophers - including even some great and humane ones - have repeatedly talked and written about animals. They have discussed the topic in terms of non-existent abstract 'animals', conceived as defective humans, entirely neglecting the experience of people who have wide practical knowledge of companion animals - such as horses and dogs - through working with them. She testifies to the interesting nature of these creatures' lives, noting that the usual narrow approach to animals carries with it also a distorted notion of human life as essentially cerebral and language-centred.