Dangerous Passions, Deadly Sins
Dangerous Passions, Deadly Sins

Author: Dennis Okholm

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2014-07-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1441246460

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This volume unpacks the psychological insights found in the writings of three early monks--Evagrius Ponticus (fourth century), John Cassian (fifth century), and Gregory the Great (sixth century)--to help us appreciate the relevance of these monastic writers and apply their wisdom to our own spiritual and psychological well-being. The book addresses each of the seven deadly sins, offering practical guidance from the early monastic tradition for overcoming these dangerous passions. As Dennis Okholm introduces key monastic figures, literature, and thought of the early church, he relates early Christian writings to modern studies in psychology. He shows how ancient monks often anticipated the insights of contemporary psychology and sociology, exploring, for example, how their discussions of gluttony compare with current discussions regarding eating disorders. This book will appeal to readers interested in spirituality, early monastic resources, and ancient wisdom for human flourishing, as well as students of spirituality and spiritual formation.

The Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins

Author: Kevin M. Clarke

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2018-05-18

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0813230217

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Gluttony -- Lust -- Greed -- Anger -- Sloth -- Envy and sadness -- Vainglory and pride.

Aquinas's Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance
Aquinas's Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance

Author: Matthew Levering

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess

Published: 2019-11-30

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0268106355

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In Aquinas’s Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance, Matthew Levering argues that Catholic ethics make sense only in light of the biblical worldview that Jesus has inaugurated the kingdom of God by pouring out his spirit. Jesus has made it possible for us to know and obey God’s law for human flourishing as individuals and communities. He has reoriented our lives toward the goal of beatific communion with him in charity, which affects the exercise of the moral virtues that pertain to human flourishing. Without the context of the inaugurated kingdom, Catholic ethics as traditionally conceived will seem like an effort to find a middle ground between legalistic rigorism and relativistic laxism, which is especially the case with the virtue of temperance, the focus of Levering’s book. After an opening chapter on the eschatological/biblical character of Catholic ethics, the ensuing chapters engage Aquinas’s theology of temperance in the Summa theologiae, which identifies and examines a number of virtues associated with temperance. Levering demonstrates that the theology of temperance is profoundly biblical, and that Aquinas’s theology of temperance relies for its intelligibility upon Christ’s inauguration of the kingdom of God as the graced fulfillment of our created nature. The book develops new vistas for scholars and students interested in moral theology.

Glittering Vices
Glittering Vices

Author: Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2020-06-02

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1493422162

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Drawing on centuries of wisdom from the Christian ethical tradition, this book takes readers on a journey of self-examination, exploring why our hearts are captivated by glittery but false substitutes for true human goodness and happiness. The first edition sold 35,000 copies and was a C. S. Lewis Book Prize award winner. Now updated and revised throughout, the second edition includes a new chapter on grace and growth through the spiritual disciplines. Questions for discussion and study are included at the end of each chapter.

Putting Joy Into Practice
Putting Joy Into Practice

Author: Phoebe Farag Mikhail

Publisher: Paraclete Press

Published: 2019-04-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1640603204

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Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church is an invitation to a life of joy. Phoebe Farag Mikhail explains what joy is and how to experience it through seven spiritual practices that cultivate our inner lives and connect us to our communities. These seven practices, which include giving thanks, hospitality, praise, and more, take us on a journey that leads to joy through the giving and receiving of sacrificial love. She describes her own experiences and struggles with joy and offers practical ways to implement these practices to increase joy in our own lives and in the lives of all those around us.

Restore Such a One
Restore Such a One

Author: Lance M. Bacon

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2024-08-01

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13:

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Widespread deficiencies in spiritual formation see an increasing number of ministers buckle under the significant burdens common to the task. There are seasons when a powerful triad of the flesh, the world, and the devil converge (Eph 2:2-3, cf. Jas 3:15 and 1 John 2:16). Misdirected attempts to fulfill emptiness, find worth, or heal longstanding wounds ensue. Widespread instances of sexual immorality result. Sound exegesis and analysis of theological doctrine presents an allowance, in certain cases, for ministerial restoration. However, this necessitates an intimate and intricate approach that differs significantly from the varied solutions churches and denominations offer. Few restoration programs bring a biblical response to bear. Remarkably rare are restoration programs that look to correct causal factors and commit to congregational care. This program orients itself on an understanding of brokenness and the need for holistic (re)formation. The latter requires fallen ministers to progress beyond biblical confession and repentance to partner with the Holy Spirit and key authorities such as an overseer, mentors, Christian mental health professionals, and a designated congregation. The unitive goal is a "sanctifying psychopathology" that properly diagnoses spiritual and emotional health; eradicates the adverse influences of emotional, cultural, and spiritual factors; and redirects self-oriented patterns of thought and behavior.

Formational Leadership
Formational Leadership

Author: Marcus K. Kilian

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2018-07-17

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1532634188

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This book addresses the problem of toxic leadership in Christian contexts. Toxic leadership behaviors of narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive leaders will be emphasized. To counteract toxic Christian leadership, this book proposes a leadership development model, called formational leadership, which is based mostly on Wesleyan spirituality, but also includes monastic and Pentecostal spiritualities. Formational leadership is an eclectic leadership development model that includes components of transformational, authentic, and primal leadership approaches. Formational leadership emphasizes the spiritual, emotional, and ethical development processes in the leader and includes an analysis of orthokardia, orthodynamis, and orthopraxis. These components have a circular relationship with one another. Orthokardia includes the concepts of spiritual and emotional maturity that a Christian leader needs to develop in order to become an ethical and effective leader. Orthodynamis includes right power and influence motives based on Christian affections that should inform formational leadership. Orthopraxis refers to “right” and “just” leadership behaviors informed by Wesley’s social holiness and justice values that need to be adopted as organizational core values. The implications of these components for leadership development are outlined in chapters 4–6 that include practical steps for helping toxic leaders change their dysfunctional and harmful intentions and behaviors.

To Be Welcomed as Christ
To Be Welcomed as Christ

Author: Nicholas Scott-Blakely

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-02-22

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1532674481

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Mainstream American evangelicalism is facing an identity crisis. Many wonder whether or not evangelical communities can become safe spaces that better enable people to enjoy, love, and know God and all that God cares about. This book, in honor of Dennis Okholm's decades of leadership in the academy and the church, commends the ways in which he has attempted to help his own communities flourish. His goal of filling the pews with theologically and biblically literate Christians is a much-needed example of steadiness and wisdom to an otherwise turbulent reality facing those who wish to maintain some association with the evangelical label. The emphases that appear in the contributions to this book represent Okholm's passion for the life of the church, his desire for evangelicalism to be a more hospitable home for all within its fold and in relation to other communities, and his desire for friendship and community to have a more prominent role in theological and biblical reflection. To Be Welcomed as Christ offers an example for engaging one's own community and the communities of others with the hospitality of Christ. Table of Contents 1. Theology as a Healing Art Ellen T. Charry 2. To Be Welcomed as Christ--Into the Church Todd Hunter 3. Participating in God's Mission: A Proposal at the Boundaries of Evangelicalism Justin Ashworth 4. Evangelicalism: A Home for All of Us Vincent Bacote 5. Herstory: Reclaiming Women's Voices for the Evangelical Tradition Jennifer Buck 6. Thinking Theologically about Interfaith Dialogue Richard J. Mouw 7. Talking with Evangelicals: The Latter-day Saint-Evangelical Dialogue in Retrospect Robert Millet 8. The Monkhood of All Believers: On Monasticism Old and New Rodney Clapp 9. When Friends Become Siblings: A Pauline Theology of Friendship Scot McKnight 10. Wiri Nina in the Body of Christ: Considering Friendship from an African Perspective David Fugoyo-Baime 11. Of All These Friends and Lovers: Remembering the Body and the Blood Craig Keen 12. Is it OK to be Proud of Your Humility? Robert Roberts 13. Dennis Okholm Michael McNichols Epilogue: At the Advice of a Sister: The Benedictine Way for the Unexpected Benet Tvedten, OSB

Hope for the Oppressor
Hope for the Oppressor

Author: Patrick Oden

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-07-26

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1978709161

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The liberating work of God calls the oppressed out of oppression and the oppressor out of oppressing. The challenge in seeking a thorough liberation of oppressors is to help them understand their need for freedom and how to seek this freedom in their own contexts. Patrick Oden provides a holistic biblical, historical, and theological analysis that diagnoses the underlying motivations and inclinations that lead to oppression. Part one addresses the context of oppression, in which most participants in oppression do not actively seek to harm others but are caught up in systems that tend toward the diminishment of others. Part two examines the biblical and early Christian response to oppression, discovering a thread that avoids condemning participation in society generally while also cautioning the people of God about being co-opted by society. Part three discusses how oppressors can withdraw from oppression, through a constructive analysis of four contemporary theologians—Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jürgen Moltmann, Sarah Coakley, and Jean Vanier—each of whom contributes to a widening vision of liberated and liberating life in which the once-oppressed and former oppressor can find peace together in community.