This work seeks to create a via media between the tradition of divine impassibility and the contemporary preference for divine possibility within formal theological reflection. Rather than dismissing divine impassibility as a Hellenized and antiquated notion, the author seeks to reconfigure how this axiom functioned for the early church as a way to complement and deepen the present tendency toward divine possibility. At stake in these discussions is not only the coherence of God-talk across time but also what Christians take to be their guiding vision of God's character and action in the world, a vision that inevitably determines the shape of Christian discipleship.
New York Times bestseller What is Jesus worth to you? It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily... But who do you know who lives like that? Do you? In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus. Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment -- a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.
How can you share the gospel with someone who doesn’t care? As Western culture becomes increasingly indifferent to questions of faith, diverted by secularism, comfort, and distraction, believers encounter many people who don’t so much doubt God as they are apathetic toward him. In Apatheism, Kyle Beshears urges us to recapture the joy of our salvation and demonstrates how to faithfully display the love of Christ to apatheist friends and neighbors.
Understanding Apathy and How to Combat It For many Christians, apathy can feel inescapable. They experience a lack of motivation and a growing indifference to important things, with some even struggling to care about anything at all. This listlessness can spill over into our spiritual lives, making it difficult to pray, read the Bible, or engage in our communities. Have we resigned ourselves to apathy? Do we recognize it as a sin? How can we fight against it? In Overcoming Apathy, theology professor Uche Anizor explains what apathy is and gives practical, biblical advice to break the cycle. Inspired by his conversations with young Christians as well as his own experiences with apathy, Anizor takes a fresh look at this widespread problem and its effect on spiritual maturity. First, he highlights the prevalence of apathy in our culture, using examples from TV, movies, and social media. Next, he turns to theologians, philosophers, and psychologists to further define apathy. Finally, Anizor explores causes, cures, and healthy practices to boldly overcome apathy in daily life, taking believers from spiritual lethargy to Christian zeal. This short ebook is an excellent resource for those struggling with apathy as well as parents, mentors, and friends who want to support someone in need. Examines the Individual and Cultural Experience of Apathy: Analyzes the concept, experience, and healing from apathy; explores influences from philosophers to pop culture to understand its nature Practical Steps for Dealing with Apathy: Identifies 7 causes as well as healthy habits to fight against indifference Accessible for Students and Mentors: A great guide for high school and college students and those who counsel them; youth and young adult pastors; teachers; and anyone struggling with apathy or who knows someone who is
Explaining how to become a Christian hedonist, a bestselling author offers guidance on how to find spiritual joy to readers who are unsure of where to seek it.
This book is about how to read and study the Bible. This book is about getting the non-Christian to learn how to study the Bible, and this book is for the Pastor and theologian who needs to have their "refresh" button pressed. This book is in fact for anybody desiring to know the Book of ages. If you are new to the Word or are a seasoned teacher. If you do not know where to begin, or you have tried countless times and feel overwhelmed and frustrated, this is the book for you!
The question of God's relationship to evil is a long-running one in the history of Christianity, and the term often deployed for this task has been theodicy. The way theodicy has historically been pursued, however, has been problematic on a number of counts. Most significantly, these efforts have generally been insufficiently theological. This work hopes to subvert and reconfigure the theodical task in a way that can be accessible to nonspecialists. Overall, the book hopes to cast the "god" of theodicy as the triune God of Christian confession, a move that shapes and alters distinctly all that follows in what has traditionally been considered a philosophical matter.
The Suffering of the Impassible God provides a major reconsideration of the issue of divine suffering and divine emotions in the early Church Fathers. Patristic writers are commonly criticized for falling prey to Hellenistic philosophy and uncritically accepting the claim that God cannot suffer or feel emotions. Gavrilyuk shows that this view represents a misreading of evidence. In contrast, he construes the development of patristic thought as a series of dialectical turning points taken to safeguard the paradox of God's voluntary and salvific suffering in the Incarnation.
