For centuries science and faith have been drifting apart. Science lost its transcendent foundations, faith lost its credibility. Science conquered the future; faith got stuck in the past. Science unleashed unprecedented powers; faith became a private pastime. The economic and ecological consequences are catastrophic. Science and faith must reconnect and lead the way out of the crisis.
For centuries science and faith have been drifting apart. Science lost its transcendent foundations, faith lost its credibility. Science conquered the future; faith got stuck in the past. Science unleashed unprecedented powers; faith became a private pastime. The economic and ecological consequences are catastrophic. Science and faith must reconnect and lead the way out of the crisis.
What Would It Be Like to Restore Sanity? What would it be like to work together again in creative and generous ways? What would it be like to be curious about who you're with rather than judging or fearing them? What would it be like to engage together in exploring possibilities rather than withdrawing in conflict or disagreement? What would it be like to be working well together? From 50 years working with leaders globally, I state with full confidence that leadership has never been more difficult. And it's not our fault. We've been good and caring leaders, we've led people in empowering, engaging ways to create meaningful, productive work. But now we face external conditions far beyond our control to change, dynamics intensifying at shocking speed. The perfect storm is here, created by the coalescence of climate and human-created catastrophes. As leaders dedicated to serving the causes and people we treasure, confronted by this unrelenting tsunami, what are we to do? I state my answer to this also with full confidence: We need to restore sanity by awakening the human spirit. We can achieve this only if we undertake the most challenging and meaningful work of our leader lives: Creating Islands of Sanity. An Island of Sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge created by people's commitment to form healthy community to do meaningful work. It requires sane leaders with unshakable faith in people's innate generosity, creativity, and kindness. It sets itself apart as an island to protect itself from the life-destroying dynamics, policies, and behaviors that oppress and deny the human spirit. No matter what is happening around us, we can discover practices that enliven our human spirits and produce meaningful contributions for this time.
Christians trying to "save the planet" have to relate "creation" with "salvation." This volume explores the ways in which this task is approached by a wide range of recent theological movements.
This book addresses a variety of important questions on nature, science, and spirituality: Is the natural world all that there is? Or is it possible to move ‘beyond nature’? What might it mean to transcend nature? What reflections of anything ‘beyond nature’ might be found in nature itself? Gathering papers originally delivered at the 2018 annual conference of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT), the book includes contributions of an international group of scientists, philosophers, theologians and historians, all discussing nature and what may lie beyond it. More than 20 chapters explore questions of science, nature, spirituality and more, including Nature – and Beyond? Immanence and Transcendence in Science and Religion Awe and wonder in scientific practice: Implications for the relationship between science and religion The Cosmos Considered as a Moral Institution The transcendent within: how our own biology leads to spirituality Preserving the heavens and the earth: Planetary sustainability from a Biblical and educational perspective Issues in Science and Theology: Nature – and Beyond will benefit a broad audience of students, scholars and faculty in such disciplines as philosophy, history of science, theology, and ethics.
World Christianity and Ecological Theologies invites scholars in religious studies and theology from different continents and contexts to a North-South dialogue on environmental ethics, political ecology, and ecofeminism. Throughout the global pandemic, the connection between environmental rapacity, religion, and political interests has once again called scholarly attention to the important conversation on public religion and global environment-related issues. Acknowledging a deficit among scholars of World Christianity in addressing environmental concerns and the field's limited language for framing those concerns, this book aims to bring the fields of study of World Christianity, religion, and ecology into a sustained conversation, with the goal of expanding the theoretical horizons of these fields. World Christianity and Ecological Theologies reiterates that all Christian theologies are contextual, as they shape and are shaped by specific historical and cultural circumstances. It aims at showcasing the ways in which the intersection of religion and ecology is approached by scholars in religious studies and theology in the Global South or by those in conversation with them in the Global North, pointing to what can be generated if these bodies of scholarship are engaged as dialogue partners to investigate new patterns of religious environmentalism.
Africa needs leaders and Christians from every walk of life to rediscover their identity and purpose in all spheres of society. African Public Theology sounds a clarion call to accomplish this vital task. God created all humans equally, intending for us to live in community and take responsibility for the world around us – a mandate we need to act on. Through faithful application of Scripture to contexts common in the continent today, contributors from across Africa join as one to present a vision for the Africa that God intended. No simplistic solutions are offered – instead African Public Theology challenges every reader to think through the application of biblical principles in their own community, place of work and sphere of influence. If we heed the principles and lessons that God’s word has for society, culture and public life, then countries across Africa can have hope of a future that is free from corruption and self-promotion and is instead characterized by collective stewardship and servant-hearted leadership.
The book encourages Christians to take valid scientific theories on board. They are God's way of displaying the profundity, complexity and greatness of God's creation. They can become God's instruments to master the looming economic-ecological crises. Science can help believers update their worldview, restore the credibility of their message, and regain their contemporary relevance; faith can afford the scientific enterprise a new grounding, direction and vision. God's creative power' is explored by science and God's benevolent intentionality' is proclaimed by the Christian faith. Major Christian convictions can be restated on this basis to make sense to our scientifically informed contemporaries.
Recovering Sanity is a compassionately written examination of the experience of psychosis and related mental illnesses. By presenting four in-depth profiles of illness and recovery, Dr. Edward Podvoll reveals the brilliance and chaos of the psychotic mind and demonstrates its potential for recovery outside of traditional institutional settings. Dr. Podvoll counters the conventional thinking that the millions of Americans suffering from psychosis can never fully recover. He offers a bold new approach to treatment that involves home care with a specially trained team of practitioners. Using "basic attendance," a treatment technique inspired by the author's study of Buddhist psychology, healthcare professionals can use the tools of compassion and awareness to help patients recover their underlying sanity. Originally published as The Seduction of Madness, this reissue includes new introductory material and two new appendices.
How did it all begin? How do we even start to engage the differences between creation narratives in the Christian Bible and modern scientific theory? The authors of this book explore hermeneutic approaches and developments in biblical studies to set the scene for a religious approach. This approach is open to the possibility that a literalist approach to Scripture is, in fact, the most unjustifiable reading of the Bible. This may profoundly affect how we view God, the cosmos, and even ourselves. To be able to read the Bible from the perspective of an open present and future paves the way for suppressed uncertainties to be liberated. This paves the way for humankind to freely question all things without being enslaved by imposed religious dogma. This is not to say that religion has served its purpose, but it is far from it. With the rise of technological advancements come other social and anthropological problems, not to mention the challenge we face on a global scale with climate change, et cetera. Just as we dare to peek over the edge of a future without religion, the authors bring us back to the fundamental teachings of faith traditions, Christianity in particular. They remind us that the solutions to these challenges are to be found in us becoming ‘better humans’. Becoming ‘better humans’ brings us back into the arena of faith traditions. When technology may lead to social disconnection and narcissism, religion calls for love of self and neighbour. Where greed-inspired advancements threaten the future of our planet, religion teaches us to be in relationship with our environment and to be custodians of it.
